“I don’t know.” I mock. “Good universities?”
“And then what? Elite jobs. An expensive house in an upper-class neighbourhood. German cars. Wife. Kids. The whole cliché. What after?”
He seems bored with the whole list, but then again, why wouldn’t he? Since his birth, he already knows he’ll have it all without making any effort. He was destined to be King Enterprises heir.
Someone else might’ve felt the pressure, but Aiden is the opposite. He lives for challenges, so the whole mapped out future must look so dull in his eyes.
“If it were up to you, what would you have done?” I ask.
He lifts his head abruptly as if he’s been taken by surprise, then grins. “Kidnap you into my cave.”
“I’m serious.” I hit his leg underneath the table and take a sip of water to soothe my dry throat.
“I’m also serious. You’re the only thing that breaks the endless vicious cycle.”
I choke on the water and it splatters all around the table and my jacket.
Aiden laughs and offers me a napkin. “Jesus.”
Instead of giving me the napkin, he reaches over and wipes my cheeks and around my mouth while I stare at him.
Somewhere in between, the napkin slips away and he grazes my cheeks with his fingers. Then he dips them down to my bottom lip, tracing them with the tip of his fingers as his smouldering gaze devours my mouth.
Each stroke is like a lightning bolt to my aching core. My thighs clench in a futile attempt to chase away the throb.
“Aiden…”
“Hmm, sweetheart?” His attention never leaves my lips.
“We’re in public.” My whisper is barely audible over the erratic beat of my heart.
“I’m not even kissing you,” he says in a slightly husky tone. “I’m only wiping away the water ever so innocently.”
Yeah, right.
I try to control my breathing and fail. “Nothing about you is innocent.”
“But there’s so much innocence about you, sweetheart.” He leans in to whisper in hot sultry words. “And I’m tempted to tarnish it.”
That should scare me, and maybe it would have a few weeks ago, but now, I can only feel myself falling harder and faster than anyone should. My nipples tighten and I’m so glad that the uniform’s jacket is thick enough to conceal my reaction to him and his words.
Something flashes in my peripheral vision. My head snaps to the window, but there’s no one there except for the man who’s still reading from his book and sipping his coffee.
“What is it?” Aiden puts two fingers under my chin and turns me back to face him.
“I swear someone was watching us just now.”
“I would’ve seen them. No one is out there.”
“I must be imagining things.” I stand up, still trying to fight the throb between my thighs. “I’m going to the washroom.”
I leave before Aiden makes me sit on his lap or something crazier.
In the empty washroom, I remove my jacket and put it under the hand dryer.
I’m not even a minute in when the door to the washroom clicks opens.
I feel him before I see him.