Page 40 of Forbidden Romeo

She looks up from her phone and glances around, looking for someone. Looking forme,I realize with a start. Looks like my cue. I jump down from my perch and straighten out my shirt. Whatever happens today, my number one priority has to be to find Roisin. Aimee being here is just a cover; it doesn’t matter how great her legs look in slim jeans.

The pressure was tangible back at the compound. I may not have been in the room, but Padraic’s orders to search for Arnie Knight trickled down to me eventually. By which point, Morris was already on the warpath. Slipping out without him or anyone else noticing was almost too easy.

With everyone distracted, now would be the perfect time to show up with Roisin. All I have to do is focus…

Aimee’s smile is bright and warm when she spots me walking over to her.

“You came!”

“It would be poor form if I didn’t, considering I invited you.” I place a hand on the small of her back, unable to deny myself a kiss a moment longer.

She hums happily against my lips before pulling away. “How was your day?”

There is something so natural and easy about the way she asks me this, as if we’ve been doing this routine far longer than we have. “Not as good as my morning.”

“Was everything okay with your dad?”

I try not to flinch at that before shrugging off the question. “He threw a fit and now he’s threatening to take his toys and go home, but I daresay he has more pressing things on his mind now. How are you? I thought you said you were working tonight?”

“There was a change of plans,” she replies. I wait for her to elaborate further, but she doesn’t.

I shake my head with a smile. “Elusive as ever. Well, you won’t catch me complaining that I have you all to myself.” The wink I give her makes a beautiful blush spread across her heart-shaped face.

She coughs a little in embarrassment before nodding toward the boardwalk. “Shall we get going?”

I offer her my arm, and she takes it readily. “Have you been here yet?”

“No.”

“Then allow me to show you around.”

Like any other mild evening of the year, Coney Island has a steady trickle of tourists and locals wandering up and down the beach looking at the various attractions the boardwalk has to offer. I’d only ever come here offseason like this, it’s too easy to get stuck in the crowds when the sun is out, and the lines are much more manageable now.

We pass the Ferris wheel, and I tug her toward it. “The view won’t be as good as the hotel, but…”

Aimee merely grins in return.

***

I thought maybe by getting a bird’s-eye view, I’d have a better chance of spotting a stray redhead in the crowds. But by the time we get back down from the Ferris wheel, I’m no closer to finding Roisin.

Not that I can concentrate on my search. There is just such an overwhelming lightness to being in Aimee’s company. She makes the world seem manageable, like no matter what you’re going through, there’s a solution to it. The weight in my chest entirely evaporates whenever she’s around.

I glance down at her as we continue down the boardwalk, only to find her scanning the faces of the people we pass.

“You okay?” I ask, concern lacing my voice.

Aimee looks up, her eyes flickering with a mix of curiosity and worry.

She offers me a reassuring smile. “Yeah, sorry,” she replies. “I just thought I saw someone I knew.”

I raise an eyebrow, intrigued by her sudden shift in demeanor.

“New York is a big city,” I remark. “It’s hard to run into people.”

Aimee’s gaze lingers on the crowd, her expression pensive.

“You’d be surprised,” she says softly, her voice filled with a hint of mystery.

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