The Pretend Girlfriend (A Billionaire Love Story #1)(91)

Aiden peered over the guard rail and examined the sky around them, squinting against the sunset. "I'm not sure. I think it might be a..."

The buzz turned into a deafening roar as a helicopter climbed into view in front of them, the rotors slicing through the air and buffeting Aiden and Gwen with wind. Instinctually, they crouched low. The chopper rotated to expose its long side, and Gwen understood.

A man slid the door open and pointed a big, shoulder-mounted camera at them.

Aiden touched her shoulder and she looked at him. All the wash from the rotors sent his perfectly-tousled hair into a wild dance. He mouthed one word at her (yelling was useless; helicopters are loud).

And that word was: Henry.

Then he grabbed her hand and they retreated to the elevator, both of them leaning against the back of it as they descended, relieved to be out of the noise and wind.

"Time was pretty much up, anyway," Aiden said, trying to joke.

Neither of them laughed. Worry twisted in Gwen's gut. She'd been daring to hope that maybe Henry had finally decided to leave well enough alone, that maybe he'd given up trying to pull his son into his influence and get rid of Gwen.

She hated him for spoiling that perfect moment with Aiden. A deep regret ached inside at the loss. She was sure they'd been close to another big milestone, but it had been snatched away. "How did he know?" she asked.

"I don't know. He probably has a GPS on my car, or my phone. Or both. Maybe he's having me followed; I wouldn't put it past him. Who knows what he's willing to do? Let's just be happy we got away so easily."

"Yeah..." Gwen said, that anxiety in her stomach not going away. That really had been an easy escape. Almost as though Henry had sent in the helicopter as a ruse.

"The lobby!" Gwen said, lurching forward so that she could jam her finger against the button for the second floor. It lit up at her touch.

"What? What is it?" Aiden replied.

"I'll bet you a million dollars he's got something waiting for us down in the lobby. Think about it."

"That makes sense," Aiden replied, not looking happy about it. He nodded at the buttons. "Good thinking."

She smiled mischievously at him, "And I didn't even need to go to Harvard to figure it out!"

This earned her a roll of the eyes. "Yes, yes. Can we save our gloating until we're out of here?"

The second floor was quiet. When the elevator chimed and the doors opened, Gwen had been half-expecting for Henry to anticipate this move, too, and have more news crews ready and waiting.

Aiden took her hand and led her down the hall, towards the door with the big red EXIT sign and arrow, which quickly led them to the stairs. The switchback staircase echoed as the door slammed shut behind them and they started down.

"We have to go quickly; they'll figure it out soon," Aiden said.

They reached the ground-floor landing quickly, and Aiden put his shoulder into the door. They found themselves in an alley. Just as the big steel fire door closed behind them, the door leading into the stairwell from the lobby banged open. Gwen could hear many people yelling. Probably all asking each other where Gwen and Aiden could have gotten off to.

Rather than going to the front of the building where the car had first dropped them off, Aiden guided them a couple streets over. Gwen managed a quick look near the front entrance to the building and saw it crowded with photographers and journalists. An overworked traffic cop got into an argument with a news van trying to double park as Aiden pulled her away. They blended in with the rest of the pedestrians.

"Do you think we've lost them?" Gwen asked, trying to peer over the heads of the crowd but not succeeding.

Aiden was nice and tall, however, and he glanced back the way they came. "I think so. Let's just keep going for a few blocks. I'll have the driver meet us and we can get back to my place." He offered his hand, which Gwen accepted gladly.

There were a lot of stores down the street. Fancy, expensive ones that Beatrice liked to window shop if they were in the area. Gwen also thought that Tiffany's was somewhere in the general vicinity, and that it might be nice to visit with Aiden. However, her paranoia overpowered her urge to shop. She kept looking over her shoulder, or glancing at the street every time the sun caught in the window of a passing cab like the flash of a camera.

They passed a Starbucks, and Gwen got a sudden rush of nostalgia, remembering seeing Aiden at the one near her apartment. If she somehow got the ability to go back in time and tell herself that in a few weeks she'd be running from the paparazzi after a romantic rendezvous at the Empire State Building, she knew Past Gwen would have laughed at her.

Funny how life can be, Gwen thought.

A few blocks later, Aiden pulled them to a stop in front of a deli while he dug his phone out to get in touch with the car. The mouth-watering smells wafting from the place every time the door opened reminded Gwen that she hadn't had anything to eat in a while but a few handfuls of popcorn back at the theater.

"He'll be here shortly," Aiden said, watching the lights at the intersection change.

"Good," Gwen replied. Her toes started wriggling in her shoes, and the restless muscles in her legs flexed. Standing still like this invited trouble. It made it easier to be found.

Every time a taxi honked, or a passing pedestrian coughed, Gwen jerked.

Noticing her unease, Aiden squeezed her hand. "Don't worry. We'll be on our way very soon."