Chapter One

FREYA 

Was it just me or was popping the question in a club full of drunk middle-aged men and dancing teenagers actually not romantic at all? I mean, I wouldn’t know. While most of the population had put a pause to whatever they were at and gathered to witness “The” moment between two complete strangers, I was seated in my place nursing my drink. 

     “YES! YES! I’ll marry you!” The girl screeched, making me inwardly groan. I downed the rest of the drink which burned the way down my throat. It was my second glass of the evening. All the cheer and noise was giving me a headache. The bartender was off to make my drink, a repeat.

     Suddenly, I felt a looming presence right behind me which immediately had my alarms go off. I felt him slide onto the seat beside me.

     “Such a beautiful couple!” A deep masculine voice infiltrated my ears, razoring through the slight haze of alcohol. I was compelled to look up and my breath hitched.

     Holy crap!

     With that chestnut brown hair, warm brown pools for eyes and a razor-sharp jawline, the man looked straight out of a GQ magazine. God definitely had his favorites. The black fitted shirt offered a delicious outline of his lean muscular body. Fuck. Was I drooling?

     Amusement flickered in his eyes and that’s when I realized he had said something. The couple. I spared a quick glance at them who were now slow dancing.

     “Yeah.” I quietly muttered. Universe always had a way of sprinkling salt on your wounds, this was proof. My eyes found the ring settled on my finger and once again My thoughts drifted to the afternoon.

     I had been to Dylan’s studio. I had decided to pay an impromptu visit and bring him some cookies after they had turned out to be really good. This was my first time trying out the raspberry ones.

     However, I ended up being the one to be surprised. My fiance, well ex-fiance was getting his dick sucked by Annie. I would recognize that electric blue hair anywhere. I felt the familiar tightening of my throat, remembering the sight.

     “Well, that’s new.” The handsome stranger’s voice brought me back to the present.

     My brows gently dipped. “What’s new?” 

     “Ladies getting lost in their thoughts in my company.” He spoke before ordering his whiskey.

     “Wow. You’re a humble man!” I let out an amused chuckle and saw the corner of his lips tug up in a playful half-smirk. Fuck. Why was that so hot? 

     “Speaking from experience, Love.” I believed him. A man that beautiful would never be short of eager women, waiting for his split second of attention. And what was that endearment he used? 

     “You have something going on there.” He said pointing to my head.

     “Why should I discuss my private matters with a stranger?”

     The sound of his deep chuckle knocked the breath out of me. “Aiden. If you wanted my name, you just had to ask, Gorgeous.” That ‘Gorgeous’ reverberated low in my belly. God! Why did I have such an unhealthy reaction to this man I met mere minutes ago? I blamed it on the musk in his cologne that I couldn't think straight.

     We fell silent. I wondered if he was already getting bored and about to leave me alone in my pity party. Weirdly, I didn’t want him to walk away. I wasn’t sure if it was the alcohol or the need to hold him here that had compelled me to spill. 

     “My fiance cheated on me.” I glanced at him before adding a hurried “Ex-fiance.” 

     He slowly looked up from his drink and let those assessing eyes fall on me. “And something tells me you didn’t confront him and now you plan to drown your heartbreak in alcohol.” 

     I blinked. How the fuck did he know that?

     “You have me all figured out, huh?” I was fighting to not shrink under his gaze as a thoughtful expression came upon his face.

     “That ring. You still have it on your fingers which means it didn’t come to the point where you throw that in his face and tell him to fuck off. You’re trying to escape reality. You’re scared that the moment you take that off, the situation is going to feel all the more real.” 

     He finished off with a faintly there smile which unsettled the hell out of me. Why did his words feel so true? What else would justify the ring still being there.

     “Is this your thing? Reading people’s minds?” I kept my face relaxed or tried to even though I felt like he could read deep into me by the way his eyes stared into mine. A slow smile worked its way across his face and into his eyes. 

     “A pretty one like yours? Be my guest.” 

     I swallowed, trying not to blush as I slightly leaned towards him. “For some absurd reason I find you hot.”

     “Should I be offended?” Aiden’s eyes dropped to my mouth before he bit down on his lip. I wetted mine and suddenly all my senses were awake. He leaned forward till his whiskey breath hit me. His lips hovered over mine but didn’t touch and quite honestly the anticipation was killing me.

     “Kiss me already!”

     Aiden let out a short chuckle before capturing my mouth with his and I forgot all about Dylan for the moment. All bitter thoughts, the hurt from his betrayal along with every bit of my rationalism had flown out of the window. The only thing crowding my senses was how good Aiden’s lips felt against mine, warm and yet so overly addictive. My hand weaved its way into his hair as I continued to get lost in the feel of him. Before it could get inappropriate for a public place like this, we broke the kiss. 

     “Let’s take this somewhere a little private, yes?” He tucked a curl behind my ear and I wondered if I wanted this? He was practically and theoretically a stranger but who was I kidding? I was definitely not strong enough to resist the look he was giving me. He stared at me with so much heat in his eyes, I was almost a puddle at his feet.

     He seemed pleased when I nodded. “Good. Your place or mine?”

     “Yours.” I said after a split second of contemplation. Oddly, keeping my address from him gave me some level of comfort which no made absolutely no sense considering I was leaving with someone who I knew nothing about except his name which could be fake as well. But I was feeling brave tonight. Maybe that’s how people end up in ditches or tied up in someone’s basement. If by some miracle this man doesn’t turn out to be a serial killer or a demented surgeon and I wake up to see another day, I could hide away in my apartment and wallow in self-pity.

     Aiden stood up and offered me his hand. I took it, letting him pull me to my feet. The next second he was guiding me out of the club.

     “Wait! We didn’t pay for our drinks.” I said as we walked past the bouncer who didn’t even bat an eye. 

     “He will put it on my tab.” I let that sink in. Should I argue to pay for my drinks? Won’t that ruin the mood? I could always—A soft click cut off my thoughts. 

     “After you.” Aiden had held open the door to his black Aston Martin. Not a shocker. I guessed he was loaded. Everything about him screamed wealthy. Sending a quick prayer above I got in. 

     Here goes nothing.

Chapter Two

AIDEN

I hadn’t walked in with the intention of bringing back someone home. Not tonight. I was here on Cillian’s insistence. He wanted to get drunk and have ‘some fun’ but I was his brother. I should’ve known better. Ten minutes in and some red head with a huge ass caught his eye. 

     Well, for once I wasn’t complaining. I was sitting alone and almost about to leave when my eyes fell on this gorgeous woman. In an oversized sweater and a pair of denim shorts, she wasn’t dressed for the club. Yet she was the most beautiful woman there. 

     Like a moth, I was drawn to her. One taste of her almost fucked with all my senses. I hadn’t taken someone back to my place like ever and I had absolutely zero idea what was different about this time, what compelled me to bring her here. I was leading her to my bedroom as I reflected upon my actions.

     “Am I stupid for believing that you’re a random hot guy I chose to have sex with and not some psycho who keeps women tied up in his basement?” Her voice rang out as soon as I closed the door behind us. My lips curved up in pure amusement. I turned around to look at her. There she stood, looking entirely too innocent as she peered up at me with those forest green orbs.

     “You’re giving me ideas, Love.” I roughly spoke and enjoyed every second of nervous anticipation in her eyes. Would she like that, tied up to my bed as I ravished her? Fuck. I was painfully hard just thinking about it.

     I was crowding her space when I gripped her chin and forced her eyes on me. “Do you think I’m capable of that?”

     She gulped.

     “Well, you do have that predatory gleam in your eyes as we speak.”

     Took me just another millisecond to crash my mouth against hers. I pulled her flush against me. She responded just as eagerly, wrapping her arms around my neck. When had a hookup ever been like that for me? The moment the doors closed, I would be straight down to it. Kissing had always felt unnecessary. Then what was it about this woman that I couldn’t get enough of kissing her? 

     “Get on the bed.”

     My order got her to swallow before she walked up to the bed with timid steps and laid down on her back. Her eyes nervously followed me as I came and stood in front of her. I gripped the hem of her shorts, keeping my eyes on her.

     “Shall I?” 

     She gave me a small but firm nod. I pulled it down along with her panties, baring her for my eyes.

     She was a beautiful woman and I’d never been more tempted. I got on my knees and hooking an arm around her thighs, dragged her down to the edge of the bed. She pulled herself up on her elbows and peered down at me as I brought my mouth down on her.

     She. Tasted. Fucking. Sweet. 

     “Oh My–” She threw her head back, cutting herself off. I ate her out till she was shaking as she came. I lapped up her sweet release before letting go of my hold on her. She panted, coming down from her high while I walked to the drawer to get a condom.

     “That-that’s big.” I would’ve laughed at the expression her face held if I wasn’t so fucking hard.  

     “And you’re wet enough. Now take that top off.” 

     Her brows dipped. “You’re bossy.” 

     Even as she remarked her eyes clearly gave away how much that turned her on. I responded with a smirk before slapping her legs away. Her pussy was glistening with all her arousal and the orgasm, swollen from the recent manipulations. I lined my cock against her entrance before thrusting all the way in. Fuck. 

     Her string of moans drowned my grunts as I struggled to stay still inside her, giving her time to adjust. Even though she was dripping with arousal, she was fucking tight and I was worried it was gonna end sooner than I imagined. The moment she pushed back against me, I withdrew all the way and slammed back in. 

     She gasped at the sudden invasion. I didn’t stop, didn’t slow down either. Every loose shred of control inside me had snapped and I was thrusting like there was no tomorrow. She gripped the bedsheet with one hand while the other hand covered her mouth depriving me of all the sweet moans. I pulled her hands away and pinned them above her head.

     “Oh—please I—!” Her face was a sweaty mess, tears dampening those cheeks as she begged. I brought my other hand down and circled her clit. Her back arched off the bed.

     “You want to come?” I grunted, speeding up my thrust. 

     She writhed against me, choking out a hoarse “Yes! Fuck—yes!”.

     “Come.” My thumb pressed down on that sensitive bundle of nerves and that was the straw. She sobbed as her orgasm crashed. Her pussy clenched around me drawing out my own release and I didn’t remember coming so hard ever before. We were both catching our breaths, our minds still reeling from the intensity of the orgasm. 

     “Give me a moment. I will be up.” She spoke in between pants as if I was counting seconds till she would leave. So damn far from reality.

     I stroked my thumb against her lips. “We aren’t done, Love.”

     We sure as fuck weren’t. 

FREYA

My pillow was warm. 

     It was my first thought when I woke up. Well that and the fact that I needed to pee. As I turned or tried to turn on my back, something squeezed my arm. I peeled open one eye to get a look at whatever it was and…fuck. 

     I hadn’t ever been faster awake.

     It was a hand. My head whipped to find out who that belonged to and everything that happened last night came rushing back.

     Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I slept with a random man right after I found out Dylan was cheating on me and at the moment I was literally sleeping on his chest.

     With my head pounding, my brain processed nothing except that my bladder might burst any moment. Very cautiously I shrugged his hand off and got up. There laid my clothes on the floor. I picked them up and walked into the bathroom. 

     He wasn’t a serial killer after all. Or maybe he was and couldn’t just pass on the sex? In all honesty, that was much more than ordinary sex. That was pure fucking. My insides tingled just thinking about it. Most appropriate thoughts to have while sitting on a stranger’s toilet seat. 

     I got dressed and tiptoed back into the room. He was still asleep. That made me sigh in relief. No matter what I couldn’t just bring myself to regret last night. I mean that was hands down the best sex of my life. But that didn’t mean I wanted to face him right now before my walk of shame. 

     He probably wouldn’t prefer waking up to the face of the woman he picked up from the club last night and I would rather not stay back to find out. Besides I couldn’t afford to look for something more when I had a lot of matters pressing.

     My heartbeat was steadily picking speed as I looked for my phone. There it was. On the bedside table. I stealthily walked up to it, almost holding my breath in the process. The moment it was in my hands, I put it on silent. My eyes fell on Aiden. The partiality God did while creating this man! How could someone look this good sleeping? 

     Rich, handsome and fucks like he’s got a degree in it. 

     This was the closest I would ever come to my romance fiction fantasies.

     I allowed myself to admire his face for another short second before hauling my ass out of this place.

Chapter Three

FREYA

"That'll be 8$.” The girl spoke without looking up from the monitor. I paid for our frozen treats and moved out of the line, giving way to other customers. This has always been a popular spot for ice-creams. We have been coming here since the day Gia decided that she loved ice-cream.

     "Here you go. One salted caramel and one cotton candy. Enjoy!”

     “Thank you."

     I handed Gia her cone and received a splitting grin in response. That right there was my weak point. I had worked my ass off to keep that smile on her face intact.

     It hadn’t been easy.

     Six years back that night, it was supposed to be just one night of mind-blowing sex to forget the heartbreak. I had left his apartment with a lot more than I had bargained for.  

      I absolutely loved my daughter and couldn’t be more grateful to have her in my life but at that time it wasn’t easy for me. Dylan’s betrayal was hard on me and to top it off was my parent’s lack of faith in me. 

     They loved Dylan and he cashed on it. He spun the whole thing on me. Supposedly, it was me who had been cheating on him for a while and he couldn’t speak about this to either of our parents because he was picking up the pieces of his heart that I broke. To his story’s utmost convenience, I had ended up pregnant with that man’s child.

     Forget about his mom and dad, but my parents? It didn’t take them even a second thought to cut all ties with me. It was almost laughable how my parents trusted that lying piece of shit over their own daughter. 

     I was a mess, my life was a complete mess at that point. I could hardly provide the financial support a child would need. The profits from the bakery weren't enough at that time, considering how costly apartments were in NY. I had no sort of emotional support, absolutely no one to fall back upon. Wasn’t a practical decision but I couldn’t just get the abortion done. The baby was the only family I had.

     Rey came in like a blessing amidst all of it. I could never be grateful enough for the kind of support she had provided. She shared her apartment with me and didn’t let me share the rent. She did more than anyone ever did for me. I still remembered how excited she was to meet Gia. Post delivery she had returned with a bottle of champagne. The old cranky nurse wasn’t impressed at all! 

     When Gia was around two years old, I wanted to move out. The profits from the bakery were coming in. God, it was difficult convincing Rey! She had stopped talking to me for two complete days. 

     A small finger poked my side, effectively bringing me back from my thoughts.

     “Look at that dog!” My eyes followed her finger that was pointing at a golden retriever, playing with a little boy. 

     “Mommy, can we please get a dog?” She peered up at me with those puppy eyes. I absolutely didn’t have the heart to refuse her but I didn’t have an option. 

     “Gia, I told you this before, sweetie. Noah doesn't like dogs.”

     Noah was my boyfriend. We first met at my bakery two years back. He was there to get a cake for his friend’s birthday. He was the first guy that had my attention after that cheating scumbag, minus that one stranger from that one night.

     This time I was responsible for more than just me. I had Gia and couldn’t afford to make mistakes. I was a little apprehensive to give in to it after my last experience. But Noah was persistent. He became a regular at my cafe and it was two months before our first date. Six months into it and he wanted me to move in with him. Rey was dead against it. I wasn’t too convinced either. Took me a year to actually take the step, hoping it wasn’t a wrong one.     

     Gia pulled a face and slumped back. “But how can someone not like dogs?” 

     I sighed. Gia had been asking me for a dog for some time now but I couldn’t help it. Noah didn’t like dogs at all and I felt like she should learn to respect other people’s choices. 

     I gently caressed her head. “I'm sorry, sweetheart!” She kept aggressively licking at the ice-cream while watching the retriever smother the boy with kisses.

AIDEN

The door to my cabin opened without as much as a knock. Couldn’t be anyone other than Cillian. I was taking the liberty of assuming that no employee of mine would have that much courage.

     “Don’t tell me you're thinking about her.” Cillian sounded like he had given up on me and my sanity. 

     Well he wasn’t wrong. I was in fact thinking about her. I always did. For five years I had been obsessively thinking about her. Those serene green eyes haunted my dreams every other night.

     The biggest fucking irony of it was that I didn’t even have her name. I had no damn clue of who she was, knew nothing about her except for how she tasted. She had destroyed me for anyone else. Sex hadn’t been that fucking good ever since. 

     I had woken up to an empty bed, her side cold. She was gone and had left no trace of her, almost as if she was just a fragment of my imagination and not an actual person I had spent my entire night with. I had looked for a note, anything that would help me get in touch. Nothing. How did I not get her name!? 

     A chuckle rang out. 

     “That good a pussy, huh?” I gritted at the amusement in his voice.

     “Stop talking.”

     That earned me another laugh before he decided to let go of that topic. “You remember we have the annual day coming up, right?”

     “Fuck.” I swore under my breath, having completely forgotten about it. 

     “Yeah.” He drawled, amused.

     “Erica looks after that. I’ll remind her.” I said, leaning back in my chair and let a faint smirk touch my lips. “Or would you like to do the honors?”

     It was my turn to be amused at the way his eyes narrowed for a split second before his expression turned indifferent.

     “I’ll pass.” 

I decided it was best to leave it there.

Chapter Four

AIDEN

 “Daddy dearest summoned us to a family dinner this weekend.” I said to Cillian without looking up from the finance reports in my hand. Even speaking about that man left behind a bitter aftertaste.

     “Hmm–you coming?” I rolled my eyes at that. I could re-paint my walls and spend the day watching it dry and still that would hold my interest more than this family dinner would.

     “For Mom.” 

     I stared at my brother, tightly holding on to my straight face. He really thought mentioning Mom changed anything. I had no sentiments for either of my parents whatsoever. That part of me had shut off long back. But Cillian didn’t know, not all of it at least. And I wanted to be the bloody last person on Earth to ruin that for him.  

     My thoughts got interrupted by a knock at the door.

     “Come in.”

     A second later a brunette, a little over 5’ 5’’ walked in.  

     “Erica. That’s convenient. I was thinking of you.” 

     She raised a brow. “Does that mean you finally decided to marry me? Should I get my nails done? I’m expecting a proper sunset proposal.”

     I chuckled. Erica and I had kind of stuck together since highschool. More like it was her who chose to stay. I was never that sociable anyway. Erica felt that I would die of isolation if not for her.

     “You have an awful sense of humor.” Cillian’s words directed at Erica came out brusque, showing his obvious displeasure.

     She lifted her shoulders in a dismissive shrug. “Perspectives.” 

     “Erica, the annual day.” No matter how entertaining it was to see my brother get worked up over a girl, this was a bit more important at the moment.

     She dismissively waved a hand at me, a smug look on her face. “All arrangements made. I even sent the invites out. You won’t get another employee like me.”

     I couldn’t fucking disagree. Even though Erica was a pain in the ass, she was hands down the best personal assistant I could ever get.  

     “Thank you.”

     “You're welcome. And in return for my excellent services, I’m asking to be let off early today. I have a date.” She grinned with that last sentence. I was sometimes confused whether she was truly oblivious to whatever she and my brother had or it was her way of getting a rise out of him.

     Before I got a chance to reply, Cillian’s low voice reverberated.  

     “A date?” 

     Erica’s head whipped towards him. “You short of hearing or something?”

     I let myself get comfortable in my seat as I watched them interact. It was a fucking entertainment. Cillian was giving her the hard icy stare and she met that with one of hers, laced with defiance. 

     Minutes later they broke the intense eye-lock and Erica looked back at me. “So…” 

     “Yeah. Enjoy your date.” Even as I spoke, I could feel Cillian’s eyes burning a hole into my side.

     “And you think about the marriage proposal.” She spoke over her shoulder while walking out of my cabin. It took everything in me to fight back the smile threatening to fall on my lips.

     “Calm down brother. Whole building can smell your jealousy.”

     He stared blankly at me. “Fuck you.”     

FREYA

I went surfing through Netflix hoping to find something good. Gia was off to bed early, hence the perfect opportunity to have a movie night with Noah. I was thinking we could order something to eat. Pizza sounded good in my head. 

     Just then the doorbell rang. I went up to get it.

     “Hey!” Noah offered me a tired smile. The year ending was putting quite the stress on him. 

     “Hi!” I stood up on my toes and kissed him on the lips. “I was about to order us food. What do you want?”

     “I don’t feel like eating outside. Make me something hot?”

     “Oh. uhm—yeah! Okay.”

     “Thank you, babe.” He placed a short kiss against my mouth. “I’ll go change.”

     I sighed as he walked away into the bedroom.

     I was so not in the mood to cook today! But I didn’t have the heart to refuse either. He was probably too tired and just wanted a hot home-made meal. 

I had plated the spaghetti and I was pouring us two glasses of wine when Noah came out. 

     “Babe, dinner’s ready.” 

     “Smells delicious!” He flashed me a smile which I returned. 

     “Pick a movie. I can’t decide.” 

     “Not today. There’s a football game I wanna watch.” My smile faded fast off my face. He had to be joking. I cooked for him as he asked, hoping we could spend some time together and he couldn’t be just thinking about watching a game.

     “Seriously?” I chuckled, unbelieving.

     “Just for today, babe.” I had heard that particular statement a little too many times now. He kissed the side of my head before carrying his plate to the couch while I stood at the other side of the kitchen counter. It was difficult expressing how I felt. I downed some of that wine. My appetite was lost. Properly covering the food I placed it into the fridge before making my way to the bedroom. 

     I was just about to hop into the bed when the door opened and Noah walked in.

     “You didn’t eat.” He stated the obvious.

     “I’m not hungry.” 

     “You were some minutes ago.” He folded his arms against his chest.

     I sighed. “Now I’m not.”

     He was silent for a few seconds before speaking again. “It’s about me watching the game, isn’t it? Why do you always have to do this?”

     My eyes narrowed as I asked. “What do you mean by "I have to do this”?”

     “This. You won’t eat because I wanted to watch something in peace.” His accusation left me baffled. He was gonna deflect it on me?

     “You seriously have the audacity to blame me for something that’s entirely on you!”

     His eyes widened in surprise as if accused of murder. “On me? How am I the one responsible?”

     I could’ve let it go but some things needed to be said. Ignorance isn't bliss, not always at least. People have to own up to their actions. 

     “Okay. Then let’s talk. I absolutely didn’t want to cook today and yet I did because you asked me to. All you could’ve done is to show the basic courtesy by enjoying it together. Instead you chose to watch a game.” 

     “You want me to show courtesy? What kind of formal relationship is this?” 

     “Keep your voice down. Gia’s sleeping.” I whisper-yelled.

     “Why should I? Did you think before creating a scene?”

     If it wasn’t for my daughter, I could’ve argued till I proved my point. Me five years back would be shell-shocked if I had so easily backed down from an argument but I could not just sacrifice Gia’s sleep that too for reasons like this. 

“Well, I’m sorry that I wanted us to spend some quality time together! Can you leave now?” He still stood there, breathing out angrily.

     “Better yet, I'll go.” 

     I proceeded to head to my daughter’s room. I sighed out of relief that he hadn’t followed me there. My eyes fell on Gia. Her mouth was wide open as she softly snored. I pulled the cover up on her before sitting down at the edge of her bed.

     This scared me. The feeling that I was soon going to realize that I had made yet another mistake. I looked back at my daughter’s sleeping face. 

     I cannot afford to make mistakes with her.

Chapter Five

FREYA

I woke up to the smell of bacon. Why do I always dream of food? My eyes peeled open and found Gia’s face. A smile naturally made its way to my face. She was still sleeping. I checked the clock. 

     “Get up sweetie. Time for school.” It took calling more than once for her to wake up. She yawned before sleepily murmuring.

     “It smells so good!”

     That’s when I realized bacon wasn’t a dream. 

     “Go brush your teeth.” I went downstairs to check on the smell. I wasn’t surprised by the scene in front of me. Noah was in the kitchen, cooking. Hearing my footsteps he turned around.

     “Babe. Come on. I made us breakfast.” Classic Noah! He would do something wrong and the next day I would find him in the kitchen. That was his way of apologizing. 

     He pulled a chair for me. I sat down and he brought in a plate for me. Toast, eggs and bacon. It did smell nice though.

     “Here you go.”

     “Thank you.” I offered a tight-lipped smile. He sighed and pulled another chair to sit beside me.

     “Hey, listen, I'm sorry for last night, okay. It won’t happen again.” 

     I kept my eyes trained on the food. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Noah.”

     “Why are you still upset? I apologized to you. I made this breakfast to make it up to you.” I blinked in slight distress. I’ll admit he was a bit low on emotional intelligence. 

     “Noah, I need time. I appreciate this gesture you made. But you can’t expect me to tap into another mood and start smiling the second you apologize.” That was probably the best way in which I could frame those words. It’s not just a on and off switch. He was still staring at my face with a thoughtful expression when Gia came running here.

     “I want to eat. It smells so good.” She said looking between both of us.

     “It does, huh? Come here.” Noah picked her up and placed her on a chair. Gia loved her food. The way she was eyeing it was worth watching. No matter what mood I was in, she could always lift it with the simplest of her actions.

     “Freya, I forgot to tell you something.” Noah said towards the end of the breakfast.

     “What is it?”

     He put the fork down. “Tomorrow we have the company's annual day. Will you come with me to the party?”

     He couldn’t be faster about the information, could he?

     “First I need to ask Rey if she’s free to babysit Gia.” I said that even though I was aware that Rey wouldn’t leave a single chance to spend time with Gia. She absolutely adored her, something I couldn't be more grateful about.

     “Yeah, of course.” He nodded.

     “I’ll let you know.” 

“We’re getting late, babe.” Noah's voice reached me as I set an unruly hair strand in place. I grabbed the purse and came out of the room.

     He looked at me before exhaling. “Finally.”

     “So, how do I look?” 

     His eyes did a glance over. “Yeah, you look beautiful.”

     My smile faltered a bit at how fast he looked away and at his watch. Lately I had been feeling like Noah didn’t see me anymore. It’s like we had fallen in a routine, I would expect an arranged couple to follow some ten years into their marriage. I had been shrugging it off, using his work pressure to excuse his actions but that’s all they were, excuses.

     He waved a hand in front of my face to draw my attention. “Let’s go.” 

This was a bad idea. I shouldn’t have agreed to the party. I was bored out of my mind while Noah went socializing. Some of the wives of his office-colleagues are way too horrible to even hold a decent conversation with. So I sat here at the assigned table scrolling through my instagram feed. I could’ve done that at home, not to mention more comfortably than I ever would be in these goddamn heels.

     Noah appeared on my side moments later. “Hey!” 

     “This is fucking boring.”

     He chuckled at my words before sitting down beside me. He was about to say something but was stopped by an announcement. 

     “Warm greetings to all the ladies and gentlemen as well as distinguished guests present over here! I would like to welcome all of you to our event and I hope you will enjoy being a part of it.”

     “I would now like to request Mr. Aiden Knight, the CEO of Archite Associates to kindly come up here and share a few thoughts with us.”

     My heart skipped a beat. I immediately tried to shrug that thought off. Surely there were more than just one Aiden in New York. Besides, what were the chances that the man I from that night would be my boyfriend’s boss?

     One moment I was reassuring myself and the next moment the air was knocked out of my lungs. He came up on stage. Aiden. That same fucking Aiden! What were the bloody chances?

     Calm down! Everything was alright. He probably wouldn’t even recognize me. He may have been my only one-night stand but I doubt I was his.

     “Tonight we are celebrating our company’s 22nd anniversary and I value you all who are sharing this special day with me.”

     He had the attention of every single person present there. The authority in a deep baritone voice like his demanded that kind of regard. Now that my heart was no longer in my throat, I let myself get a proper look at him. He was a sight for sore eyes, I’d give him that. His frame perfectly filled out that suit which as far as my guess goes, was custom-made. 

     I had zoned out from most of his speech, unintentionally focussing solely on the way he spoke. The air of confidence around him, in his posture, his words, it was there for everyone to notice.

     But what I had failed to notice was his eyes. They were currently fixed on me, recognition shining bright in them. Fuck.

     Even though I wanted to look away and force my eyes to look for an exit, they were stuck on him. There was something too addictive in his eyes that seemed to hold mine hostage. The silence stretched awkwardly long as we kept staring.

     “Is he looking at you?” Noah's voice drew in my senses and I pulled my gaze away. 

     “I don’t know.” I muttered under my breath. What the fuck even was that? 

     I needed a drink. Excusing myself from him, I made my way towards the bar.     

     “Today, when we have completed one more successful year, let’s celebrate for being able to make a significant space for ourselves in the market and hope to keep achieving new milestones and beat our own records. Enjoy the party, everyone.” 

     A round of applause drowned every other sound as Aiden's speech came to an end.

This one drink and after that I was gonna convince Noah to get back home. This was going to be the last time I crossed paths with him.

     A deep voice spoke from beside me. “Scotch, on the rocks.” 

     FUCK.