Page 64 of I Knew You Were Trouble

‘They can think what they like,’ Aidan says, running his hands through his hair just as the doors open to the lobby.

At the ground floor, Aidan steps forward and helps me wheel the Peli cases out of the lift. ‘You want help taking these to a car?’ he asks.

‘If you don’t mind,’ I say.

His eyes dance as he smiles at me. ‘Why would I mind?’

I let him walk beside me, and everything is tingling again. He has that effect on me.

‘Oh, and Lexi,’ Ziggy says behind me.

I turn around. ‘Yes?’

‘Sorry, I forgot to mention something in the lift back there. The lads have requested a moratorium on filming in Dubai. Just for a few days, alright? So, no cameras. You can pick things up again once we get to Rome.’

I nod. ‘Fine,’ I say, even though I already have twenty questions.

Aidan walks beside me to the exit. ‘No filming?’ I ask him, my brow raised.

‘Wasn’t my decision,’ he says.

‘Am I allowed to know whose it was?’

‘Miller’s.’

I give him a look. He’s hiding a smile.

‘I didn’t argue it. Why would I argue anything that advocates you spending more of your spare time with me?’

Outside, the temperature hovers around twenty-two degrees. There are no girls gathered outside the hotel, due to tight security restrictions. There’s a car outside waiting for me. The driver sees me and pops open the boot.

Aidan wheels the Peli cases to the car, loading them inside. Leaving the boot open, he checks that there’s no one else around before putting one arm behind my back and pulling me closer to him. ‘I still can’t believe they put you in a different hotel.’

‘No kisses in public, remember?’ I remind him with a coy smile. ‘We talked about this.’

‘I don’t care if Ziggy sees.’

I ease back from his embrace. ‘Well, I do. Silverpix can’t find out about this.’

‘About what?’

‘About… whateverthisis.’

Aidan sobers. He takes my hand. ‘Will you come and visit me tonight? Before the final show? I have to go to the airport straight after. I need to see you before I leave.’

Samara Al-Noori is sending Aidan a private jet to pick him up. Aidan’s ex-girlfriend certainly isn’t short of money, and it makes me insecure, though I’m trying hard to act unfazed.

‘How would I find you?’

‘I’ll ask Bodhi to fetch you. Make sure we can be alone.’ He exhales shakily. ‘All I want is for us to be alone.’

He glances behind him as two strangers emerge from the hotel through a revolving door, walking the other way. Aidan leans back, checking for signs of Ziggy back inside the lobby.

‘One kiss. Please,’ he says as he comes back to me.

‘Later.’

His expression is pained. ‘What if I can’t wait?’

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