The Pretend Girlfriend (A Billionaire Love Story #1)(58)

Gwen's need nearly overpowered her with its sudden appearance. Her body ached for him, deep inside. This, too, was better than the dream. It was real. The fantasy couldn't live up to the reality.

She put her hand on his knee, feeling the heat of his body warming the khakis. Her hand started traveling up his thigh. Aiden's kisses became more insistent the farther her hand went.

The desire to touch and see and taste every last inch of his body overwhelmed her. Her hand moved faster, eager to reach its goal.

But then he stopped her, grabbing her wrist lightly. The kissing stopped, and he pulled back flushed and out of breath.

Gwen's body burned as all that frustrated energy sought release and couldn't find any. She slumped back against the couch, rubbing at her face.

"We shouldn't. We can't..." Aiden said. He stood up. She felt his weight lift off the couch.

"Why?" Gwen said, "Why are you doing this to me?"

"I'm sorry," Aiden replied. He turned away from her, his arms crossed and his shoulders heaving.

"What was that, then? A pity kiss? I really am just another one of your charity cases, aren't I?" Gwen said. If her legs didn't feel like warm jelly, she would have gotten up and left right then. She couldn't go on like this anymore, with the constant mixed messages, the teasing, the fantasies and the unspoken feelings between them.

"No, you're not. I keep telling you that. Why won't you believe me?" Aiden said.

"Because I never know when you're telling the truth. You say one thing, but then behave as though the opposite were true. You pretend that this is just a business deal, but then you do something like this. I don't know who you are. I'm not even sure you know who you are."

That silenced him, at least for a moment. The quiet dragged on, and Gwen couldn't stand it.

"Can't you tell me why you're really doing this? What aren't you saying?" Gwen said.

Aiden started, "It's my father, Henry..."

Gwen threw up her hands, "Of course it is. Everything always comes back to him, doesn't it? Why do you let him have such power over you, Aiden? I know how angry he makes you, but you just never seem to do anything about it. Why? Tell me why... Or we're done. I'll leave right now and you'll never see me again, contract or no."

To illustrate her point, Gwen pushed herself up off the couch. She tried to do it with some dignity, but the loose rubber bands in her legs didn't care about that. She started to topple towards the coffee table.

Aiden saw, and caught her just in time. She beat her hands against his chest. "Stop it! Just let me go! Let go!" He did. Gwen started to sway again, and he reached out. She held up a warning finger and backed away. The heat of her anger and frustration soon burned away the slack in her muscles.

Aiden started to speak, but she interrupted him, "No more deflections, or saying something that means nothing. Don't tell me it's none of my concern, or that it doesn't matter. Give me a straight answer, for once. I'm a grown-up; I can handle it." Gwen crossed her arms, hugging herself tightly.

Aiden's shoulders slumped, but he nodded. He sat down on the couch again, then motioned for her to do the same. She didn't.

"Please just sit," he said.

She wasn't going to at first, but relented. Anger can only keep your back straight and your legs rigid for so long. It will give me a chance to get my strength back, she told herself.

"I will, but only because I want to. Not because you asked," she said.

Aiden knew better than to argue the point. She sat at the opposite end of the couch from him, leaning against the armrest. There was a gap almost the length of the center cushion between them.

She hated how comfortable the couch was, and wished then that he had some nice-looking but painful thing in its place. It's hard to stay angry when you're comfortable, she found.

"It's complicated," Aiden started.

"Everything's complicated. Life's complicated. Being complicated isn't an excuse. I'm sure I can understand, if you just give me the chance," Gwen said.

He waited another moment to see if she had finished her interruption, then continued, "You're right. It does come back to my father. But it's not just him. In the ride back here today, you mentioned my mother. She's part of it, too."

Gwen couldn't help herself. Anger makes you stupid. "What, does she also run a huge business? Maybe a rival to your father's, and now you have to choose between them?" It was funny how life could mimic a soap opera, she thought.

Aiden replied, "No. My mother died a long time ago, Gwen."

Embarrassment and guilt instantly drowned out the anger. Gwen wondered whether modern medicine had come up for a cure to foot-and-mouth disease yet. "I'm sorry..." she began. Aiden forestalled her with a raised hand.

"Don't worry about it. Like I said, it was a long time ago. I don't remember her at all."

"You must have been really young when it happened, then," Gwen said. She thought about how that must have been for him, growing up without a mother. That, in turn, made her feel so grateful and lucky that she grew up with both her parents alive and well, no matter how they thought of each other.

"Very," he said. He licked his lips and glanced around the apartment. This was hard for him. Gwen wanted to tel him it was okay, that he could stop now, but he barreled through.