Page 91 of One Time in Paris
“I still haven’t told Callum yet.” She cleared her throat. “Honestly, I think I held off because I wasn’t sure if there would be anythingtotell. But now that you’re here, we have to think of a way to tell him.”
“Maybe we can tell him together at the party next weekend. In person. I don’t want you to have to do it alone, Isla.” Aiden sipped through his straw. “But I can’t say I’ve been the best at answering his texts recently.”
“Neither have I.” Isla stared down at her feet, twisting the toe of her shoe into the dusty ground.
And now, after all this time, it almost felt ridiculous to be so concerned. What’s done in Vegas was just that. And it could be annulled.
Why have we made such a big deal out of that?Considering a relationship...okay, that merited a conversation. But if Aiden was Callum’s best friend, then that suggested he was someone Callum thought highly of, right? Had they potentially made a mountain out of a molehill?
Maybe it was because they’d felt the need to lie in the first place. Owning those lies would be a tough admission. And considering that she’d been so angry with Callum after the whole Tomas situation, she hadn’t wanted to yield the moral high ground.
Not to mention the fact that sheneededto talk to Callum about how unhappy she was at the inn.
But now, the longer they waited to tell him, the more it felt like they were making a mess of something that could be solved with a simple conversation. Yet avoidance was easier. Less intrusive to the tenuous happiness she’d found with Aiden after weeks of angst.
Aiden reached for her, then kissed the top of her head. “Why don’t we get that tiger?”
She nodded, pushing away the worries she’d allowed to creep into that moment. Aiden finished his hot dog, ate a few fries, then tossed his tray. He wiped the salt from his fingertips, then took her hand once again and headed toward the game booth.
“Two,” he said, reaching for a few bills.
“That’s twenty bucks,” the teenager at the booth said, pointing at two seats, worn with age. “You get three shots. If you hit the target three times, you win.”
Aiden raised his brows. “For a stuffed tiger?” He handed over the money, though.
“See, I could very quickly become an expensive date,” Isla teased. “Though I thought you only needed one try.”
“One is for me. The other is for you.” Aiden pointed at one seat. “You first.”
“I don’t know how to do this,” she protested but sat regardless.
“It’s easy,” Aiden leaned in close to her from behind, setting her hand on the trigger. “Look down the sight, pull the trigger.”
“Mmm. ..nothing like sexy mansplaining.” She let her cheek brush against his jawline, though, and her body tingled at his nearness. “If I win, you owe me a real date.”
“And if you lose?” He hadn’t moved, and the scent of his cologne made her want to lean over and kiss the smirk off his lips.
“Same thing.”
“You know how to drive a hard bargain, Miss Skye. Maybe I’ll drag you into my office with me next time I need to do business negotiations.”
She leaned away from him, smiling as she looked down the sights. “Oh yeah?” Her finger tightened against the trigger.
He pressed closer still. “Of course, if I had you in my office, I’d sit you on my desk like on that coffee table in the guesthouse. Except this time, it would be my mouth doing the work.”
The rifle went off, and the teenager at the booth ducked.
Aiden chuckled. “Nice aim.”
“Asshole. You made me miss.”
“Why?” His voice was silky in her ear. “Because I said I’m dying to eat you out?”
Another miss.
She glared at him. “You are a brat.” She took the last shot as he laughed, this time at least hitting the paper target.
As he sat for his turn, she sidled up beside him. “I’d return the favor,” she said. “But then I wouldn’t get a tiger.”
