Page 63 of The Lies I've Told
“I’m taking your things inside.”
“And I can’t go with you? I want to see your place,” she argued.
Stepping out of the cab, I leaned my head in through the window, enjoying the adorable pout on her face. “No time,” I explained. “If this is your first trip in New York, we’ve got a lot of ground to cover, and I’m not about to waste it by showing you my poor excuse of an apartment. So, hold tight, and I’ll be right back.”
To my surprise, she reached up and planted a deep and urgent kiss against my lips. I returned it, cupping the back of her head through the open window as onlookers passed by, whistling and cheering.
“Don’t be long.” She grinned when I finally pulled away.
I did as I had been told, grabbing her luggage out of the back of the car and making my way into the apartment building with haste. I was in such a chipper mood after that kiss, I swore, I was singing show tunes all the way up the elevator.
That was, until I walked down the hallway and found James standing at my door.
“You were supposed to land this morning. What happened?”
Leave it to James to get right to the point.
I cleared my throat, my smile dying the moment I saw him. “I changed my flight,” I said simply as I noticed his eyes lingering on the scruff that had begun to accumulate across my jawline.
“You’ve got lipstick on your face,” he said, not bothering to wait for me to unlock my own door. He pulled out his spare key and did it himself, taking note of the luggage in my hand.
“So, who is she? Flight attendant? Waitress?”
“Jesus, James. Do you really think so little of me?”
“You have the track record. I’m just working off previous experience here.”
He pushed through the front door, and I followed him, going for the bedroom to drop off Millie’s things.
“She’s different,” I said.
“Oh?” he said from the living room, sounding genuinely interested. “How so?”
“I don’t know. She just is.”
“Come on, Aiden. I’ve heard this before. Every so often, you meet a woman, and you say she’s different. And then, two weeks later, she’s gone. So, please, do me a favor and—”
“I told her about Ben,” I blurted out, instantly ceasing his words.
I left out the part about how she didn’t quite remember, but it did the trick. His eyes widened, and he understood.
“Do I get to meet her?” he asked, taking a seat on my sofa, all doubts gone.
He had always been comfortable here, more so than I ever was at his ridiculous Manhattan high-rise. Even though I was at the top of my field, he would always make more.
But James had always been the most ambitious of the three of us. Ben had been the dreamer, and James was the take-charge, older-brother type. Me? I was the drifter. The one caught in between.
But that had all changed the night Ben died.
His death had given me a purpose.
And I’d been honoring his legacy ever since.
“No,” I said. “You won’t get to meet her.”
He let out a ragged breath. “So, she’s not different from the rest.”
“She is,” I replied, heading for the door. “She’s extraordinary. That is why I have to let her go, and you know exactly why.”
