Page 55 of One Time in Paris
She reached into the waistband of her skirt and pulled off her battery pack. “Help me take this off, will you?” She teased the hem of her shirt up, turning her back to him.
Aiden stepped closer, his pulse hammering in his throat as he reached for her. When his fingertips skimmed the bare skin of her waist, he inhaled sharply. Isla shouldn’t be having this effect on him.
Yet it was undeniable.
Focusing on the wire to the camera and microphone, he tugged it, but found it threaded under her bra. Deftly, he unhooked the bra clasps. She gasped, hugging her arms to her chest. “What are you doing?”
“Untangling the damn wire.”
“By taking my bra off?” She threw a laughing glance back at him. “I swear, Aiden. Every time I’m around you lately, some article of clothing seems to magically fall off me.”
Don’t think about it.
But dammit. The image of her, gorgeous and half naked in his bed, wasn’t that easy to scrub from his memory.
Impossible, actually.
He tore his gaze from her and finished with the wire, then hooked her bra once again.
She turned and grinned. “Thank you.” Quickly, she wound the wire around the battery pack, then hurried toward the van. After opening the door, she set the pack on the passenger seat and closed the door. “I’m all yours.”
She sauntered back toward him, completely unaware of the weight of her own words.
He tilted his head toward the sedan he’d rented. “This way.” A knot formed in his stomach as they went toward it.
Telling her about their marriage was necessary, but he’d let the matter take on its own life at this point.I shouldn’t have waited so long to tell her.Too much time has passed.
He held the door open for her, then shut the door behind her after she’d slid into her seat.
Moving around to the driver’s side, the smell of new leather and car cleaning soap reached him. Yet, somehow, he swore he could still find the trace of her perfume or scent it was that she wore that made her smell so incredible.
God, I sound like a man obsessed.
“Where are we headed?”
Isla laughed lightly. “Back to the glamorous motel. Make a right out of the parking lot. It’s only a couple of minutes down the road. Turns out this is an itty-bitty town, hence that scene you saw outside the bar. Boyd is trying to put a bit more filler material into this episode since there isn’t much to see in town. Today, we spent most of the day hiking at Mount Magazine. We visited a monastery yesterday, and did the town spring festival on Saturday.”
“So, a fight in a pub is filler material?” Aiden gave her a curious look.
“Yeah. Tomas and I are having a fight.” Isla leaned back in the seat. “And we’re going to make up at Callum and Liddy’s elopement party. They’ll film a short segment with us happy once again and then move on.”
What on earth?
“And Callum is all right with this?”
She grimaced. “I haven’t quite worked up the nerve to tell him yet.”
“Isla—”
“I know. I’m going to. Soon. And if I can’t, I’ll just figure out a way to firmly tell Boyd no.”
“But you’ve already agreed to it?”
“Just a verbal agreement. Nothing in writing. Boyd was furious with Davy for falling short with this location. He felt as though we could have explored a different city instead. This kept him happy. Actually, that’s what I had called about on Saturday—to get your opinion. But I handled it on my own.” She pointed to the left. “That’s the motel up there.”
He slowed, then turned into the car park, a sinking feeling going through him as he caught sight of theNo Availabilitysign. And he hadn’t booked a hotel yet because he’d been counting on checking in to wherever the crew was staying. “Are there other hotels close to this?”
Isla laughed and shook her head. “Well, I think there’s a bed-and-breakfast closer to Mount Magazine. Maybe.” She gave him a closer look as he parked. “Do you not have a place to stay?”
