The Pretend Girlfriend (A Billionaire Love Story #1)(80)

"So where are we going?" Gwen said, trying to forget about Henry and real life.

Aiden shrugged, "I don't know; I've been following you since we got in here. I've never been before. It's pretty nice. Quiet."

Gwen stopped dead. Aiden carried on another step until the slack in their arms tightened and he realized what happened. "What?" he said, looking around, trying to figure out why they'd halted.

"You don't know where you're going?" Gwen said, "But I've been following you!"

Aiden started to speak, but it turned into a laugh. Gwen tried to look annoyed with him, but couldn't help joining in. "So we're lost?" she said. That didn't actually sound so bad.

"I suppose so," he replied.

"Hey, don't people get mugged in here?" Gwen said.

Aiden faked a frightened glance over his shoulder, "I think so. Don't worry, if anyone comes at us, I'll hide behind you."

Gwen rolled her eyes, "My gallant knight." That would be quite the picture: a strapping young man cowering behind a girl. She prodded him in the stomach.

"Hey!" he said, poking her in return. It tickled.

This situation quickly escalated to a full-on tickle fight, Aiden chasing her down the path. Gwen shrieked in mock fright. When she realized she was actually putting distance between the two of them, she slowed down. All the giggling and mock yells quickly exhausted her lungs, anyway.

The object of this game wasn't escape, after all.

Aiden broke from the path when they reached a curve while Gwen stayed the course. His little shortcut, dried twigs and old leaves crackling beneath the soles of his expensive shoes, paid dividends. He jumped out in front of her and pulled her close. Gwen gave his chest a couple of weak punches as a token resistance. But then he squeezed her closer, pinning her arms between their bodies.


Again, Gwen felt the isolation of that quiet path, no one around to see them but the sparrows and the squirrels.

"Caught you," Aiden said.

The chase had tired them both out, and they both panted for air.

"I can see that. But the question is... What are you going to do with me? I'm afraid I left all my money at home," Gwen said, playing up the highwayman fantasy currently under construction in her mind.

Aiden grinned, the expression taking on a wolfish cast that sent a shiver down Gwen's spine. Certain areas of her body began getting quite warm, to put it in more polite terms. Her thoughts kept straying back to the previous night's escapades, when their bodies had been similarly pressed together.

Aiden caught on quickly. "Well, I'm sure there's something you have of value..." His hands slid down, coming to rest at the small of her back. Gwen's mouth went dry, and she needed to work up some saliva before she could continue.

The floodgates really opened then. For a few moments, her mind whisked her back to the previous night, with its memories of their two entwined bodies writhing on Aiden's pillow top mattress.

Back in the present, she became intensely aware of Aiden's body pressed against hers. He was solid and broad, warm and comforting. And, judging by his reaction to the sensation of her body against his, his thoughts went along the same line as hers.

"So, what price are you asking?" Gwen said, wondering how alone they really were. Wow, I really have come a long way, she thought. Two-weeks-ago-Gwen would never be thinking about doing what present-Gwen had on her mind.

"I think..." Aiden said, his hands sliding down to encompass much more adult-oriented territory, "I'll take everything. Every last penny."

"Shame on you!" Gwen said, even as she tilted her head back a little to give him a better angle from which to kiss her. He obliged, his mouth hot on hers. In his enthusiasm, his arms encircled her more tightly than before.

It wasn't that Gwen didn't like the kiss; she just liked the ability to breathe more. She pushed against him, trying to pull her head back.

Maybe it was those signs of struggle, or perhaps her good-spirited shrieks from earlier. Whatever it was, Gwen suddenly felt something big ram against Aiden and bowl him over, tearing her from his arms.

"Hey! Hey, stop!" she said as a man in a dark uniform scuffled with Aiden on the ground.

Then Gwen saw the man's cap on the ground a few feet away. A cap adorned with the shield of the NYPD. Then she noticed more details, like the gun belt around the cop's waist.

He thinks Aiden was mugging me or something!

"It's okay!" Gwen said, "We were just kissing. He's my boyfriend, it's okay! You don't have to arrest him."

Apparently Aiden hadn't realized that the man currently trying to pin him to the ground was a cop. As soon as he heard the word "Arrest" he stopped dead. The cop then had no trouble flipping him over onto his stomach.

"Really, I'm fine. It was nothing, I'm sorry, officer," Gwen said.

The cop finally paused, one hand at his side in the process of opening up his handcuffs pouch. "Did you say he's your boyfriend?" the cop asked, looking over his shoulder. He was a lantern-jawed man with a broad nose to match. At that angle, Gwen couldn't see his nametag.

She picked up his cap and held it out for him. The officer took it and stood. "I heard screams, and when I came to check it out I thought you were struggling against him."