Page 50 of One Time in Paris
Leaning her head back against the brick, she closed her eyes.
But would it really hurt to get Aiden involved?
Aiden wouldn’t think it was strange if she reached out to him again, would he? He might be able to offer her some advice about this situation with Boyd’s proposal since he knew Callum better than most people.
Before she could overthink it, she dialed.
The phone rang once, twice . . . four times.
Then a woman’s voice came across the line. “Hello?”
Maybe an assistant?“Can I speak to Aiden?”
“Isla? It’s Lola. We’re at brunch, and he stepped away from the table, I’m afraid.”
Isla’s heart squeezed hard.
Oh.
Oh God.
Brunch? Why is he having brunch with his ex?
Unless—maybe—they’d gotten back together again? Maybe that was why Aiden hadn’t answered her text.
“I can tell him you called,” Lola said
Her chest burned as though someone had just stolen the oxygen from all her lungs, and she strangled, “No. No need. Thank you.”
She ended the call, face burning.
What the hell?Why had this hurt so much?
She’d seen Aiden and Lola together at Christmas. It hadn’t bothered her then, had it? But Lola was tall and gorgeous. Polished and elegant.
Her opposite in nearly every way.
And that’s the sort of woman Aiden’s into.
She shouldn’t care. She couldn’t care about it.
Yet her throat felt thick, her heart still encased in a painful grip.
“I have bigger, more immediate things to worry about,” she gritted to herself, then peeled herself from the wall. She fanned her face and squared her shoulders, determined to put Aiden out of her mind once and for all.
She had to help Davy.
Striding back toward Boyd and the others, she walked with a confidence she didn’t feel.
What’s the best foot forward here?
Was there really a choice?
She exhaled, pressing her lips together, then held Boyd’s gaze. “Fine,” she said, voice tight. “I’m in.”
19
AIDEN
