No Kissing Allowed (No Kissing Allowed #1)(47)

I spun around in my chair and peered behind her to make sure no one was walking by. “What did you hear?”

She lowered her voice and leaned in. “They want Aidan to take over the London office.”

The pen I’d been twirling in my hand dropped from my grasp, and I scrambled to pick it up from the ground—along with my jaw. “The London office? I thought he was just going for three days?” She had to be mistaken. Aidan would have told me. Right?

Her eyebrows threaded together. “How did you know he’d be gone for three days? No one seemed to know where he was this morning other than Dorothy and Gayle.”

Shit. “Oh, um, he mentioned it in our last meeting,” I said, hoping my voice sounded even.

Alexa shrugged. “Well, I’m betting he’s over there to talk about the move. I bet he’s already accepted it. And who could blame him? I can only imagine how much money they’re offering.”

“There are more important things than money.”

She laughed. “Yeah, like what? At least for him? He’s single. There’s nothing keeping him here. He’d be crazy to turn it down.”

I opened my mouth to argue with her and realized that there was nothing to argue—at least not for work Cameron. Work Cameron shouldn’t care what Aidan did. She should be as interested in the gossip as Alexa. But in the moment, all I wanted to do was call him and ask if it was true, if this was the real reason for our arguments the last two days. Was he trying to find an easy out so he could go to London without any guilt? And who could blame him for wanting the job? He’d control that office, make more money, and further prove to his father that he could be successful without the Graham name.

“Hey…are you all right? You look pale,” Alexa said.

I swallowed hard. “Yeah. Absolutely. I was just thinking about a project creative is working on this morning for me. I need to go check on it. Want to do lunch?”

“For sure. See you in a few,” she said as she rushed off.

My phone buzzed from beside my computer, and I peered down to find a new text from Aidan. Meetings all day, but I want to talk. Call you tonight?

Right, meetings to discuss you moving there, I wanted to text back, but I didn’t want to ask him about it over text or on the phone. For now, I had to hold this in until we could talk about it in person. The sad thing was that he’d been gone all of a day, and I already missed him terribly. Three days was going to feel like an eternity, but then, I’d have to prepare myself for the hard fact that our relationship was hitting its expiration date. Stupidly, I convinced myself that Aidan’s fears about us were his way of trying to protect me. But now I learned that Aidan was moving to London. Would he wait to break it off, or give me the news over the phone tonight?

The thought made my heart clench tight, bracing itself for the pain to come. I read the text again, unsure of how to respond without giving away my thoughts. This wasn’t supposed to happen. This was supposed to be fun and easy—casual. When did my heart get involved?

And that was the real issue. My heart had always been involved, because I wasn’t a casual kind of girl. I wanted what my parents had, what my mom had with Eric. I wanted love and commitment and willingness to push through the hard stuff. The problem was, I also wanted Aidan, and he didn’t want those things. So what did that mean for us?

I pressed the phone to my forehead, frustrated that I had to wait to talk to him. I wanted to hash this out now. But now wasn’t an option, so I simply typed back, Tonight , and clicked send.

Never had one word held so much dread.

…

Lauren and Alexa were already seated at the restaurant when I arrived for lunch. With Aidan out of the office and Gayle leaving early for the day, I felt more at ease taking a proper, hour-long lunch without feeling guilty.

I sat down and tried to listen in to their conversation.

“You should totally apply,” Lauren said before taking a drink of her water.

“I can’t. There are no open positions.”

A waitress came by to take my drink order, and as soon as she walked away I asked, “What position? Where?”

Alexa sank back into her chair. “It’s stupid. But I really want to move up at Sanderson-Lowe. I want to be an account manager, but there are no open positions right now.”

“Oh. Well, what about other positions? I saw something open up in creative a few weeks ago.”

She shook her head. “I know nothing about design, but I think I’m good with clients. I’ve been trying to pay attention to the latest campaigns, to learn. Do you think you could put in a good word for me with Gayle? Oh! Or better yet, Aidan? He seems to really like you.”

At that Lauren began to choke on her drink, sputtering. I shot her a look that said zip it or else, and then focused back on Alexa. “Definitely. I’m sure they’d consider you if a position opened up.”

“I hope so,” she said. “I don’t want to be an administrative assistant forever. I know I can do more. I just need to focus on finding a way.”

My eyebrows drew together. “What do you mean ‘a way’?”

She shrugged. “Well, Peyton, that new AM under Brody, is always late. I bet Brody would have an issue with it if a little birdie told him.” She grinned wickedly, and I shook my head.

“You can’t out her like that. It wouldn’t be right.”