The Pretend Girlfriend (A Billionaire Love Story #1)(34)

But whoever said fears had to be rational? No one who's ever been afraid of something.

"Well, we can't all be rich jet setters. Hey, here's the contract. Come on, the couch in the living room is comfier than it looks."

She squeezed by him through the doorway, then pulled the door shut. He needed to take a quick step back to avoid having it slamming in his face. Gwen made a mental note to always keep that door closed whenever Aiden was around.

Gwen pulled the curtains back from the living room window. The view was pretty dismal, being the apartment complex on the other side of the lot. But it let a good amount of light in.

Aiden examined the old couch in question, then sat down. It groaned beneath his weight, and he clutched at the armrest as though the whole thing might collapse under him. It didn't.

"The couch's bark is worse than its bite. And see? Nice and comfy!" Gwen said, plopping down beside him.

It groaned alarmingly at that, too, and Aiden again grabbed for the armrest. Gwen tried not to laugh. She'd done it on purpose. It was nice to see some genuine emotion on Aiden's face that wasn't irritation.

The couch, being old and worn like it was, bowed in towards the center. She couldn't keep from leaning in towards him a bit, their thighs touching lightly. If Aiden noticed the contact, he didn't say anything about it.

She put the contract on the table. Aiden leaned in and flipped through until he got to the conditions section. He started going over them. Somehow, the legalese sounded a little less dry when spoken with his voice. While listening, Gwen tore the plastic off her wrap and ate it.

She already knew all this stuff. Aiden kept glancing at her, waiting for questions.

"So, I take it you really did already look at it?" he said.

"Yep."

"Oh, well then. I guess I should probably get going," he said, looking down at the couch, trying to figure out the best exit strategy.

"No, I think you should stay," Gwen said.

"Oh?" Aiden replied, surprised. Gwen felt some of that, too.

"Yeah. See, this whole thing isn't going to work out until we get a few other things down. Things not covered in the contract."

"Like what?" Aiden said. He looked like he didn't know whether he should feel relief at not having to figure out how to get off the couch yet.


"Well, real relationships happen because people like each other. They get to know each other, you know? They find they have common interests, like the same music or movies or books. If we don't know anything about each other, how are we ever going to convince anyone this is serious?"

Aiden took that in and nodded slowly, apparently still not quite believing her. "Didn't you read the Wikipedia article?"

Gwen had been half expecting him to snort in derision and leave. Sarcasm laced his voice, but he didn't make any moves to get up. She took that as a good sign.

"Yeah, I did. And that told me some stuff, but that's all biographical. It doesn't tell me anything about the person behind those facts... Okay, like, I know that you're interested in charity, and ethical business practices. But what about..." Gwen glanced around the spare living room. When she saw the old TV, she smiled and looked back at him, "What about movies and TV?"

"What about them?"

"What do you like to watch? Like, have you ever seen When Harry Met Sally?"

It was something of a leading question. Looking at the TV reminded Gwen of her continued debate with Beatrice, about love and friendship between the sexes. She wondered which side of that argument Aiden supported. Though, she had a pretty strong inkling.

"Maybe once. A long time ago," he replied.

It took some more digging, some more prodding, and more probing questions, but Aiden eventually opened up. Gwen found that she really did want to know what he watched, what he listened to, the section of the bookstore he liked to check out first.

And her expectations didn't always line up with reality, either. Aiden did enjoy the occasional mindless shoot-em-up or thriller, but he also loved some real classics like Casablanca. His favorite book was The Count of Monte Cristo and he apparently liked to listen to classical works while studying, and classic rock while working out.

And that answered another of her questions: that he did, in fact, like to keep in shape. She eyed his shoulders and the way his tailored jacket hugged them.

And, she noticed, Aiden wasn't even forcing anything. He smiled when he told her about the first time he'd been out of North America.

Again, Gwen found herself experiencing a certain level of comfort with Aiden, a certain level of attraction. She looked down and both saw and felt their thighs still touching.

Wasn't it possible that he felt something, too? He said that he didn't. But maybe he was hiding it from himself, or just keeping it from her for some obscure reason.

And that led her into her next point.

"See? Now I know you a little better. But there's more than just knowing things about the other person. There are also feelings... It's hard to describe. There's this sort of... familiarity you feel with the other person. This comfort. Like when you've just met someone pretty much, but it feels like you've known them forever, you know?"

"Yes, I know," Aiden said. He made eye contact when he spoke, and Gwen felt a small flutter of excitement low in her chest.