The Pretend Girlfriend (A Billionaire Love Story #1)(70)

Her stiff legs complained when she levered herself out of the chair, and she resisted the urge to press her hands into the small of her back and stretch. And there was something else inside, too, intertwined with the exhaustion. A sort of manic energy that she knew would keep her from going to sleep for hours.

If I feel like this, how must Aiden feel? Gwen wondered.

"Aiden..." she said, coming up behind him and putting a hand on his shoulder.

A long sigh blew out his cheeks. He looked ready to fall over. All that false confidence and assuredness had drained him. "Let's go, okay?"

Gwen nodded, linking her arm with his. They got out to the car, both of them welcoming the relative privacy of the tinted windows.

"Let's get Miss Browning home," Aiden said, nodding to the driver.

"Very well," the man replied.

But that didn't feel right. It wasn't right to leave Aiden like this, tired and near the breaking point. He shouldn't be alone all night, she knew, stewing in his doubts and fears. He'd talked a big game, she gave him that. But behind it all was a floundering helplessness as he grasped for some solution to the problems put to him by Henry.

"No!" Gwen said, the vehemence in her voice startling both her and Aiden. When she continued, she tried to keep her energy a bit more under control. "What I mean is, I don't want you to be alone right now."

"I'll be fine..." he started.

"Are you kidding me? I'll go home when I'm ready. And right now, I'm not. You can't get rid of me that easily."

Aiden regarded her with a look she didn't immediately recognize, a small smile playing across his lips. "Apparently not..." He pinched the bridge of his nose for a second, squeezing his eyes shut as well. When he opened them again, he'd made up his mind. "Well, we're already in Manhattan. My place is much closer than yours. Care to join me for a nightcap?"

"A nightcap? Is this 19th century London?" Gwen said, grateful to inject a joke into this otherwise somber evening. "If you mean something nice to drink to sooth the nerves, then yes."

"Great. My place, then," Aiden said.

She just wanted to make sure that he was all right, that he was handling this well. Yes, Gwen thought, that's all. Though, she couldn't help feeling a certain tickle of anticipation deep inside her at being alone with him in that condo of his again.

One drink, and then I'll get a taxi home, she figured.

But back at Aiden's apartment, they didn't drink anything at all. They got inside, kicked off their shoes, and went to immediately collapse on the couch. Aiden turned on a single lamp. Its warm light softened the shadows.

As soon as they sat down, Gwen knew that she wasn't going home that night.

"That went better than expected," Aiden said, tugging his tie loose.

He looked so sexy, reclining like that. Gwen couldn't keep herself from tracing the outline of his jaw with her eyes, and she squeezed her hands into tight balls so that they couldn't reach up and undo all his shirt buttons.

"Yeah, you were great, really. I can't believe how great. How did you manage that?"

Aiden lifted his palms in supplication, "I guess I learned how to spin things from the master himself."

"You won this one. Don't think about him," Gwen said.

"Winning is hardly the term I would choose. More like fought to a draw. Or maybe a fighting retreat... Why won't you go home, Gwen?"

Something hitched in Gwen's throat. She forced herself to breathe, evenly and deeply. "I told you. I wanted to make sure you were all right..." She reached out to touch his shoulder, but Aiden grabbed her wrist. He squeezed, almost to the point of pain, before relaxing his grip.

"That's not why. Don't lie to me," he said. He still hadn't let go of her wrist. She didn't try to pull it free.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she replied.

She gasped as he pulled her hand close to his mouth. His hot breath washed over her fingers. Gooseflesh crawled up and down her body. Her lips parted. Why was his apartment so hot all of a sudden?

"You do know. And I know. Gwen, I've had to try so hard to hold back. You have no idea how hard it's been."

Gwen barely breathed the word, "What?" All she could concentrate on was how close her fingers were to Aiden's lips.

"But I can't do it anymore. I don't have the strength... Why did you have to insist on staying with me tonight?" he said. His thumb started gently massaging the sensitive skin on the bottom of her wrist. Her heart started thumping in her chest.

Am I asleep? Gwen thought. I must be asleep.

"Don't have the strength for what?" she asked.

"To keep myself from doing this..."

Aiden kissed the tip of her forefinger. Then the next, and the next. His lips slid up the back of her hand, leaving a hot trail behind. When he stopped, he placed her hand against his cheek. His stubble tickled at her palm. His eyes seemed to sparkle in the warm lamplight, and his lips glistened invitingly.

She couldn't help leaning in and kissing him. Her whole body committed to the action, and she felt drawn to him. Some part of her wondered if he would break away, as he had so many times before.

But this time he didn't.

No, this time he pulled her up onto his lap, and she straddled him. The temperature in the room, and inside of her, both already at an all-time high, ratcheted up another ten degrees or so.