Touched (The Untouched Trilogy #2)(24)
“That remains to be seen,” he replied.
He was right; although I was joking there was some truth to my statement. I no longer wanted to be that safe, careful girl. I wanted to live in the moment … enjoy my life. Make real memories.
He stepped on the treadmill and after a few strides, he was jogging. I studied him from head to toe. He was a very appealing man and under different circumstances, he and I would have already been going at it and although I still welcomed the daydream, Aiden’s naked body appeared and blocked out everything else. Would I ever be able to have anything sexual with another man or was I destined to an eternity of one B.O.B. after another? That reminded me … I needed to get a couple of new friends. Guess I’ll be scrolling on my favorite sex toy site tonight. I sighed and started to move on the elliptical. Damn you Aiden!
*****
Kellan left for New York shortly before 6’oclock with the promise of seeing me when we all met up in Barbados. I wasn’t sold on the idea yet. April texted earlier saying she thought it was a great idea, which was surprising considering she and Blaine had called it quits.
The remainder of my weekend was spent enjoying several talks with Mom, Lia and Bianca. It wasn’t without its awkwardness and I did sometimes pull back, but we were starting to feel more at ease with each passing day. I was hoping to get some type of idea as to what I could make for them for Christmas. Like Mom, if I wanted to allow time for error, I needed to get started on it as soon as possible.
*****
A last minute schedule adjustment left Aiden in town for the next three days meeting with different teams … meetings in which I had to be included. I wasn’t as nervous about it as I would have been before my realities set in. Reality number one: I still had feelings for him. I’d accepted the depth of my feelings but I hadn’t planned to do anything beyond letting time do its thing. I had employed the methods that worked previously ... minimal eye contact and absolutely no personal conversation. That worked to a point but he was consistently inconsistent ... and that worked against me.
Reality number two: I wanted to f*ck him … a lot. He was always Mr. Fuck Me … that goes without saying, but there were different versions. He was mesmerizing, humorous and playful at times. Then there were those times when he was in total billionaire CEO mode and that’s the person I was starting to see more often, the person that made it easier to stand my ground, but not today. The display of power and confidence was pulling me to him. It was an aphrodisiac I hadn’t accounted for.
It was day two; Aiden’s last meeting was with me. I waited until we’d reviewed every item on our agenda before I proposed my idea to him. We would conduct a contest similar to the TV show, The Voice. It would be ninety-five percent virtual in our case, hosting a contest for a different genre each quarter. The contestants would be required to submit specific pieces that are forwarded to all editors of that genre. The editor bids on a contestant and the contestant would be paired with an editor of their choosing who would mentor them and provide content and developmental critiques. At the end of the quarter, one author is chosen for a book deal. After the conclusion of the first year we would have a new author’s book released every quarter possibly more.
“I like this idea. It’s actually brilliant. Of course, we would have to get the appropriate checks in place … R&D, legal and marketing,” Aiden said.
“That’s already been taken care of. I’ve been meeting with the teams for a while now,” I said.
“So I’m the only holdup?” he asked.
“It would appear so.”
“If you would have come to me with this sooner we could have already had this in place. Was there a reason for the delay?”
“I was still on the fence with my decision to stay here.”
“And why is that?” he asked.
Was he f*cking kidding me?
“The first few weeks upon my assuming this position, I was forcefully immersed into the storm that was Chicago Brown every f*cking day and then as soon as he left, you were back in town. That type of oversight doesn’t exactly instill the confidence that I thought you had in me when you strong-armed me into his position. If you felt I needed to be watched every day, why do I have this position?”
“Aria I don’t feel that way at all. I think you misinterpreted the situation.”
“Whatever Aiden. I eventually decided that if I couldn’t lead this company in the manner that I saw fit, I should leave this company, regardless of your ability to restrict me from working elsewhere.”
“So you’re still pouting over that?” he asked.
“Pouting? Is that what you think I’m doing? Do you really expect no reaction from people when you bulldog them? Obviously you’re accustomed to having everything your way.”
“Not with you it would seem.” He walked over to the bar and poured a drink. “Would you like one?”
“No, thank you,” I said.
“I’d like nothing more than to have my way with you. Right here in your office. But since you’re obviously opposed to that …” He walked back over and took a seat.
And how I would love to let him. It was mind-boggling how we diverted conversations to terribly inappropriate topics and bounced right back into business.