Page 100 of One Time in Paris
“Callum?” he managed, his throat feeling strangled.
Silence.
“What are you doing?” Liddy asked Callum, a tone of surprise in her voice. “Why’d you take my phone?”
Then Isla’s phone rang once again.
Aiden’s eyes flew to Isla’s. He held a hand out to her, then hit the mute button on his mobile. “It’s Callum. He heard your phone ring beside me.”
“Oh my God,” she gasped, eyes flaring with worry.
“Aiden?” Callum’s tone was measured. Deadly calm. “Is Isla there with you?”
What the fuck was he supposed to do here?
He wanted to tell Callum, not have him find out like this.
Unmuting his mobile and putting the speaker on once again so Isla could hear, Aiden drew a deep breath.
“What in the hell is going on?”
Isla bolted toward him, then snatched the mobile out of his hands. “All right. Stop. Yes, I’m hanging out with Aiden for breakfast this morning.”
Oh, bloody hell. This just keeps getting worse.
Lying about things wouldn’t help.
“Really? Then why did Aiden say he had no idea what you might be up to? And why the fuck is Aiden wherever the hell you are rather than in New York?” The questions came out as furious demands.
“Because I saw you calling, and I told him I wasn’t ready to talk to you,” Isla said calmly, sitting on the edge of the bed and hugging the towel to her chest. Her poise, given the situation, was incredible, which Aiden imagined had to do with her acting skills.
Her answer silenced Callum for a moment.
Aiden finished dressing, watching her with caution. Isla didn’t look at him, her gaze firmly fixed on her free hand.
“Isn’t it six thirty in the morning there?” Callum asked at last.
“Yes, but call’s at seven. Look, Cal, the truth is that I’m still pretty angry with the way you went over my head and interfered with Tomas. You had no right to go digging up an old boyfriend or to interfere with my production in any way. If I had ever done anything like this to your professional life, you would have been justifiably furious with me.”
“I told him all this, by the way,” Liddy sang in the background.
“Isla, look, I don’t know how else to apologize. You’re right; I shouldn’t have interfered. I freely admit that I was in the wrong, and if I could go back and do it all again, I wouldn’t repeat that mistake. But how long are you going to continue to hold on to that?”
Isla sighed. “It’s not that easy when I’m the one who has to pretend I’m my ex’s girlfriend for several days. Each time I work, it’s just another reminder of how little you trust in my decisions. I’m fully capable of choosing what’s best for me—and for our family—without your permission, Callum.”
Aiden sank into a chair opposite the bed and leaned forward, clasping his hands.
She was right, of course. And if they weren’t hiding something massively more important, Isla was justified in making Callum grovel.
But now? This would just be another fissure in an already strained relationship.
And I feel so much worse because of my part in all this.
“I’m sorry,” Callum said at last. “I won’t ever interfere like that again, I promise. Am I still picking you up from the airport on Wednesday?”
“I’d like that,” Isla said. “I’m still going to be there.”
“Good. Hand me back to Aiden, will you?”
