Page 64 of One Time in Paris
“This is a dangerous game, Isla,” he growled, his grip tightening on the wheel.
She just smiled, that wicked little smile that made his blood heat. “Then admit it.”
He exhaled, staring at the road, his hands clenching on the wheel. A muscle ticked in his jaw. He wanted to resist. He wanted to stop this before it went too far.
But fuck, she felt good against him.
He should be fighting it. Fighting her.
And then he lost.
“What do you want me to admit? That I want to pull this car over, bend you over the bonnet, and fuck you until we’re both senseless?”His rough voice was thick with need. “Fine. I admit it. I want you, Isla. If that smoke alarm hadn’t stopped us, I wouldn’t have wanted to stop. But, maybe, thank God it did. Destroying my friendship with Callum worries me, and I don’t know how to navigate these new, unchartered waters with you.”
He snuck a glance at her, taking his eyes off the road in time to see her grin, apparently satisfied.
Tricky little vixen.
“I’m going to have blue balls tomorrow, you know.”
“Look, we have to talk about this. I can’t go back to the unbearable lack of communication between us. I know you weren’t looking for this complication in your life, and honestly, neither was I. And I don’t know what any of it means. Maybe it’s just lust, and maybe nothing will come of it. But don’t we owe it to ourselves to find out, Aiden?”
“But find out what? God, Isla. This is more than a complication. Let’s say we have sex. Then what? We just keep having sex until we decide we want to have a relationship? You’re in Costa Rica. I’m in London. Our lives are set for the foreseeable future.”
“Do you want me to ask you for a lifetime commitment?” Isla raised her brows. “Why do we have to have everything figured out now? Can’t it just be sex? Two people who are attracted to each other enjoying the moment—what little time they get to spend together.”
He shook his head, amazed that he was even having this conversation. The irony wasn’t lost on him. He’d broken up with Lola because shewanteda lifetime commitment. Now, here he was, and the idea of not defining everything. ..matteredsomehow.
Becauseshemattered. Callum, too. He wasn’t about to just screw her and not think of the consequences.
“So, we’d be what? Friends with benefits? You think Callum wouldn’t murder me for that? Too many people know that something’s happened between us for him not to eventually find out, Isla.”
“And like I said, it’s none of his business. Or how about this? Let me handle telling Callum—he’smybrother.”
“And he’s my best friend. He’ll expect me to be honest with him.”
“It’s notdishonest.It’s just not his business,” she repeated. “He started dating your sister-in-law’s sister—one of his employees—without asking permission, didn’t he? Of all people, he has no room to judge us. He didn’t care about the chaos he created when he got together with Liddy, did he? He just saw what he wanted and went for it.”
She has a point.
He released a slow sigh. “But I’m not Callum. Believe it or not, I didn’t become CEO of my father’s company by being irresponsible and throwing caution to the wind.”
“I know that,” she said softly.
He gave her a sidelong glance. “Do you, Isla? Do you know how often I’m awake in the middle of the night, unable to breathe with the weight of everything on my shoulders? Quinn stepped aside because he couldn’t handle the pressure. Quinn—the dependable and responsible one. I’m not half the man my older brother is.”
She leaned her head back against the seat-rest. “To begin with—and I say this with all the love in my heart toward Quinn—I would take you a thousand times over Quinn. He never knew how to let loose and have fun. Never carried me on his back out to the yard so I could see the glowworms at dusk like you did that summer I broke my leg. You don’t have to be Quinn. The man you are has grit and tenacity. Creativity and determination. I like that man, Aiden.”
His hand tightened around the steering wheel. “Maybe I did once. These days, I just feel exhausted. Uninspired. Like I’m drowning, and there’s no lifeboat in sight.” He leaned forward as he pulled into the heart of the small town, the replica of the Eiffel Tower looming from a street corner up ahead.
“Hmm. I don’t believe that. Pull over.”
Aiden shot her an incredulous look.Does she want to have sex? Now?
She must have caught the question in his eyes because she laughed. “No, I didn’t mean that. As much as I would love to be bent over a bonnet, I had something else in mind. Right there. At that Eiffel Tower Park.”
At the park? What could she possibly want to do there?The park was tiny...not much besides the Eiffel Tower replica and a few benches. But he did as she requested, pulling the car off the road. Flicking a wary gaze at the fountain, he said, “I’m not climbing in another fountain if that’s what you have in mind. I’d rather not drive through the night with soaked trousers.”
“It’snotwhat I have in mind, but that could be interesting.” Isla’s eyes practically twinkled. “Do you have any ribbon? Rope?”
