Page 49 of Beautifully Complicated

“Tell him you’ve got a boyfriend.”

“And when he wants to meet that boyfriend? What do I say then?”

“Tell him he’s on the east coast. Or back in Ireland. As long as he knows you’re off limits that’s all that matters.”

Though Aiden’s obviously concerned about Daniel’s feelings, his use of the termoff-limitssets of warning bells.

“Is this strictly about making sure I’m not leading anyone on, or are you worried someone might think I’m available?”

“Both,” he says to the floor, caramel eyes partially hidden by the blond hair that’s getting just a bit too long, though it doesn’t detract from his beauty.

“Where’s this coming from, Leanbh? You know I’m spoken for.”

He shrugs a shoulder without looking up. “Sometimes I wonder why you’d put yourself through all these rules and secrecy when you could be with someone else out in the open.”

“I could say the same thing about you.”

“No one else compares to you.” Aiden’s cheeks are pink when he finally lifts his face.

“That’s exactly how I feel. Other people aren’t you.”

He smiles, though it doesn’t quite reach his eyes.

I think I know how to fix that.

“Would you like to go to the lecture?”

Aiden gasps, eyes flashing with excitement just before they seem to dim. “We can’t.”

“We can’t go as boyfriends, but we can go as colleagues. And if Daniel’s there too no one would think twice. What do you say? Come to the lecture with me?”

I feel like the luckiest man on the planet when he says, “Okay.”

***

“I would’ve expected you two to be sick of each other after all the time you spend in the lab,” Daniel says when Aiden and I meet him for the lecture two days later. Though he’s smiling brightly, I hear a bite to his words that I’m not sure is real or imagined

All the talk about crushes might be coloring my perception.

“Half the time we’re so busy working we don’t even talk, so it almost feels like you’re by yourself,” Aiden says expertly.

Even though that’s a bit of a white lie, he delivers it so smoothly I once again find myself in awe of his poise.

“It’s also hard to talk when your assistant has his earbuds in.” I do my part. “I have to text him to get his attention since he can’t hear when I say his name.”

“You don’t still find music distracting when you’re analyzing data?” Daniel looks at Aiden skeptically.

Still?

“Oh, I do,” Aiden says. “But my earbuds have a noise canceling feature I use to block out anything that might be distracting.”

Well, that embellishment nearly backfired. Maybe I should leave the storytelling to Aiden.

I stuff my hands in my pockets and walk a step behind the two of them as we head for the entrance.

“So, what you’re saying is you find this guy distracting.” Daniel points his thumb in my direction.

“Not at all. I tend to block things out preemptively so it’s easier to concentrate. It has nothing to do with Kier.”

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