Touched (The Untouched Trilogy #2)(14)

“Sorry about that, Mrs. Costanzo,” he corrected.

“Kellan, it’s nothing to apologize for; it’s a logical mistake,” Mom said.

“Goodnight you two. Enjoy your dinner,” she said.

“Thanks, Mom. Goodnight.”

The Skype call disconnected.

“Your mom seems nice,” he said.

“Yeah, she’s great,” I said, smiling at him.

“I’m glad I had a chance to meet her. Virtually anyway,” he said.

“So am I,” I replied.

“I’m starved,” Kellan said, reaching for my hand.

“Me too,” I replied, as we headed toward the kitchen.

“Why don’t you have a seat while I prepare our plates?”

“Do you need any help?” he asked.

“No. I think I have what it takes to take the food from the bags and scoop some into our plates,” I replied smiling.

“Are you sure? From what I hear, that can be kind of tricky.”

“I think I recall reading that someplace myself, but I’m up for the challenge.” I regretted those words as soon as they escaped my lips. Talks of being up for challenges … those were his words. It seemed that no matter what I did or who I was with, Aiden was there with me.

Kellan and I talked over dinner about his family and his job. He wanted to plan a trip with April and Blaine to Barbados. I wasn’t sure I was ready for that and told him I would have to look at my schedule.

The night ended much too quickly. We said our goodbyes. It was awkward when he placed his lips on mine. They weren’t Aiden’s lips. I pulled away but I hoped I did so in a way that didn’t offend him. I didn’t know what was happening with Kellan but something was happening, although it was more for him than it was for me.

He’d be in Boston next month at the time of the Raine Industries charity event for the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He had offered to escort me and I agreed before considering the possible problems. If Aiden attended the event and saw me on Kellan’s arm, I didn’t know how that would turn out. Not only that, how would I react to seeing Aiden enter with a woman on his arm?





CHAPTER FOUR

I was relieved to hear that Aiden would be heading to Los Angeles tomorrow afternoon and wasn’t scheduled to return to RPH any time in the foreseeable future. His absence would allow me to relax and maintain focus on my new proposal. I had back-to-back meetings all morning to fast-track research on the project. I checked my phone as I headed back to my office. I had felt the vibrations of either texts or calls but failed to check until now. I was much too busy to schedule a full lunch, so today and the next few days actually, would consist of working lunches. I checked my email and saw a message from Aiden. Although I was sure he wouldn’t send an email that was of a personal nature on RPH’s server, I hesitated to open it. I double-clicked and braced myself.



Aria,

I’ll be in Los Angeles for the next several days. I’ll be traveling to New York afterwards and from there to Chicago. Brooklyn is coordinating my schedule to accommodate my attendance to the Raine Industries sponsored event for the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In the off chance I’m unable to attend, I would like for you to serve as the keynote speaker. There are a few important mentions I would like for you to include in the speech; please see the attachment.

This would be an excellent opportunity for your first public appearance as the new Raine Publishing House CEO. Should you have any questions, please contact either myself or Brooklyn.



Regards,

Aiden W. Raine

Chief Executive Officer

Raine Industries

875 North Michigan Avenue

Chicago, IL 60611

Website: www.ri.com

Email: [email protected]

Email: [email protected]



Maybe I’d jumped to the wrong conclusion about the flowers and the note yesterday. Could they have been an apology for the kiss? I never did read his note. I reached for my purse and pulled it out. I attempted to remove the wrinkles before opening it, an obvious delay tactic. I looked at it for a moment longer, finally deciding that I didn’t want to read it now. Maybe I would read it after my workout this evening. The endorphins would enable me to swallow whatever it was much easier. I shoved it back into my purse as Raina entered with my lunch.

“Thank you Raina,” I said.

“You’re welcome. Do you need anything else?” she asked.

“No, this will about do it.”

She smiled and walked out of the office. I needed to do something special for her. I reached for my phone to enter a reminder and saw that Mom had texted about the quilts. I entered the reminder for Raina’s gift and quickly ate lunch so that I would have time to call Mom.

“Tell me more about Kellan,” she said.

“Not much to tell, he’s a great guy and we’re getting to know each other,” I said. It was weird talking to her about a guy. Talking about guys was undoubtedly common place for most moms and daughters but other than speaking with her about Aiden, this was a first for me.

“I like him. Very handsome but I don’t know if he’s the one.”

“Mom I’m not looking for the one. He’s just a good friend. Besides, how can you tell from just one meeting and a conversation that lasted all of five minutes?”