The Pretend Girlfriend (A Billionaire Love Story #1)(67)

"Head what off? Aiden, what's going on?" Gwen said, deciding to follow him after a moment's pause. They went over to the entrance hall. Aiden already had his shoes on, and he looked at Gwen expectantly. She knelt, grabbing for her flats.

Just as she began slipping them onto her feet, she stopped.

"Is there something wrong?" Aiden said.

"Yes: you're not telling me what's going on," she replied. Gwen wasn't sure how to feel. Clearly, London was off the table now because of whatever this nameless assistant told Aiden over the phone. Part of her actually felt a little relief at that. Another side of her insisted this was an awful turn of events, and that it must somehow be her fault. And still another particularly annoying part told her that if the trip was off, she really needed to get back to her essay. Unable to decide which notion she wanted to side with, she did her best to ignore them all.

"I'll tell you in the car. We really don't have much time... Will you put your shoes on and come with me, please?" Aiden said, stressing the final word. All the excitement from when he'd initially burst into her apartment with his desire to run away with her was gone. So much so that Gwen wondered if she would ever see that part of him again.

"Okay, fine. But I can't possibly see what could be so important."

Gwen pulled her shoes on. As usual, Aiden held the door for her. However, out in the hall, while she tried to find her keys to lock up, he didn't wait. He started right for the elevator, jabbing at the button.

Hearing the satisfying click of the deadbolt sliding into place, Gwen hurried over to join him. "You know, pressing the button over and over doesn't actually make it come any faster. They've done studies."

Aiden shot her a look, then shoved the offending hand into a jacket pocket. The anxiety, or whatever it was inside him, still wanted a way out. He started tapping his foot. "The stairs would've been faster than this!"

His uneasiness started affecting Gwen, too. She felt it as a sudden uptick in her heart rate, and as the barely suppressed urge to start tapping out a beat to match his. These had to be the slowest elevators in the world. What, was there some guy standing on the roof turning a winch to power them or something? Maybe the stairs weren't such a bad idea.

The elevator chimed. As soon as enough space opened in the doors, Aiden stepped in, with Gwen fast behind him.

A little old lady wearing far too much perfume and a frumpy old sweater already waited inside. Her eyes widened at the sudden appearance of the young people, and she crowded back into the corner.

"Going down?" Aiden said, tugging at his jacket.

The woman nodded at him, and then he inspected the panel of buttons to make sure the ground floor was selected. Satisfied, he crossed his arms and watched the display count down the floors.

It had to be simultaneously the most boring, the slowest, and the most suspenseful elevator ride of Gwen's life. She badly wanted to shove him against the wall, jab him in the chest with her finger, and demand to know exactly what was going on. However, she couldn't. Not with the stinky old lady glancing suspiciously between the two of them. So Gwen stayed silent, forcing herself to look casual. She didn't think she blinked one the whole way down.

They reached the ground floor without spontaneously combusting from the tension. And they even managed to walk briskly down through the foyer to the front door. Aiden tried to get that door for her, but she headed him off, pushing it open and then holding it for him instead. He was too distracted to notice.

The two of them piled into the back of the car, where Aiden instructed the driver to take them to the Carbide Solutions building in Manhattan.

Gwen was proud of herself. She managed to wait until the car started going forward before turning on Aiden.

"So now will you tell me what's going on? What was so important that we had to rush down to the car..."

For just one dreadful, heart-squeezing moment, Gwen thought she might have pulled on two different shoes. She squinted down in the relative darkness, trying not to look too weird, trying not to draw attention to her faux pas if that was the case. Her shoulders relaxed when she saw that she had, indeed, put on a matching pair.

"There's been a... development..." Aiden said.

"Development? What does that even mean?" Why did businessmen and politicians have to pick words that sounded like they meant something, but actually meant nothing at all?

"Yes... Sorry, I'm just trying to think of what to say to fix this," Aiden replied.

"Fix what? What's happened?"

"There's been an accident at one of our foundries... one of our plants. People are hurt, Gwen."

Gwen felt her own problems begin falling away. Suddenly, it seemed silly to be upset at something like not being able to take a fancy trip out of the country. Especially in the face of whatever accident had happened.

Her hand sought his, finding it in the shadows of the cabin. She squeezed his fingers, and he gave a reassuring squeeze in response.

"Are there any other details? Where? What? How?" She sounded like a children's grammar book.

Aiden chafed at his face with his other hand. He looked so preoccupied, as though he was barely with her in the back of the Town Car. Pulling himself back to reality, he said, "It's at our main site in China. There weren't many details. This is bad, Gwen. Many of my corporate reforms and charity drives were directed at that site, trying to get more up-to-date labor laws, safety equipment, that sort of thing. I've been using it as a sort of poster child for my work... If something's gone wrong, it could be a scandal."