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A look of understanding crossed his face as he laced his fingers with hers. “I get it.”
“But next time I talk to Mom, I’m going to tell her. And next Friday night, my uncle is hosting a private fundraiser at his house in Weston for my uncle Warren. I’d like you to come with me. We can either stay at my parents’ house, they live two streets over from my uncle, or at a hotel in Boston. Whatever you’re more comfortable with.”
She took it as a bad sign when Aaron didn’t immediately respond. “I can handle a fundraiser,” he answered, eventually squeezing her hand. “But I’m not sure about staying with your parents. I might just get myself a room in the city. I have an early morning meeting at the office next Friday anyway. Maybe I’ll drive down Thursday afternoon and check into a hotel, and then I won’t need to deal with traffic on Friday.”
“I have the closing on Friday, so I can’t drive down with you. But if you want, I’ll stay with you at the hotel after the fundraiser. It might be nice to spend the weekend in Boston and come back on Sunday night.”
Aaron brought her hand to his mouth and kissed her palm. “Sounds like a plan.”
Chapter 16
When Juliette had packed for her New Hampshire getaway, she’d included jeans and T-shirts, not cocktail dresses. Unfortunately, even though the fundraiser tonight was at her uncle’s home, she couldn’t show up in her favorite jeans. However, she had an entire wardrobe at her parents’ house, since she visited so often, and it contained everything from bathing suits and sweaters to dresses perfect for a political fundraiser. That’s why she’d planned to head to Weston after leaving Caryn’s office. Plans were only good when executed, though.
The moment she had the keys to the dance school in her hand, she couldn’t resist stopping by the building. Even as she’d unlocked the door, she’d promised herself she’d take a quick peek inside and then get on the highway. Once inside, she got carried away. Instead of taking a stroll through each room and locking the place back up, she started envisioning where she should place this piece of furniture she’d ordered or where to hang that picture she’d purchased. An hour after walking in the building, she finally dragged herself out.
Traffic made the two-and-half-hour drive from Avon to Weston into an almost three-and-a-half one instead. When she finally arrived at her parents’ house, she hadn’t lingered over which outfit to wear. She grabbed the first suitable dress her eyes landed on before heading into Boston. When they spoke yesterday, Aaron had offered to swing by and pick her up before the fundraiser. She suggested meeting him at the hotel instead, because if he picked her up here, on Sunday when it was time to leave the city, he’d have to bring her back to her parents’ house to get her car. But if she went to the city now, she could leave her car in the hotel parking garage and then on Sunday when they checked out, both their vehicles would already be in Boston.
Perhaps the same karma that sent her to Avon was at work because she pulled into the parking garage at the Sherbrooke Copley Square, where Aaron had been since last night, less than twenty minutes after leaving her parents’ house—a rare event when it came to traveling to any part of Boston.
“You should’ve called when you got here. I would’ve come down and helped you with your bags,” Aaron said when he answered the door.
She’d thought he couldn’t look any sexier than he did in jeans. She’d been wrong. As Holly would say, the man was panty-melting hot in a suit and tie. Tonight he’d be getting the attention of women of all ages, which meant she’d have to glue herself to his side in case one of her uncle’s guests decided to do more than look.
“I don’t have much.” She draped her dress over the back of a chair and turned toward him so she could give him a proper greeting. She concentrated on that and nothing else for several minutes. But when his fingers went under her shirt and unclipped her bra, she brought their kiss to an end. “If we don’t stop now, I’m never going to want to leave.”
The hands still on her back sneaked around and covered her breasts. “And that’s a bad thing?”
“Yes and no. I don’t care much about the fundraiser, but I want you to meet my family.”
The previous weekend, he’d met Trent and Curt. At first, Aaron had seemed a little uncomfortable, but within no time, the three of them were getting along like old friends. While the guys discussed sports and some video game she’d never heard of, she’d shared her plans for the dance school with Addie, Taylor, and Candace, who had fit in perfectly with the group. Even Tiegan and Reese had hit it off immediately. In fact, they’d been inseparable the entire day.
As much as she enjoyed having Aaron’s hands on her bare skin, she reached under her top and pulled them away, since he didn’t look like he had any intentions of moving them. “We don’t have to stay until the end.” She reclipped her bra as she spoke. “I promise we’ll just hang around long enough for you to meet my family, and then we’ll come back here for the rest of the night.
Once we come back, we don’t have to leave the suite again if you don’t want to. We can get room service and stay in bed for the rest of the weekend.”
“Sounds like an excellent idea to me.” He glanced at his watch before shoving his hands in pockets. “Unless you want to be late, you probably should get changed. It’s already five, and traffic out of the city on Friday nights is ugly.”
Good idea or not, she dropped a kiss on his cheek before grabbing her dress.
“I’ll wait out here. If I come in there with you, we won’t be going anywhere tonight.”
An hour later, they were sitting in traffic on the Mass Turnpike. She’d never minded traffic all that much. After all, living in New York City, it was merely a part of life. But after being in Avon for over a month, where getting stuck behind the school bus was the worst of the traffic, she found it beyond irritating.
“The uncle that’s hosting the fundraiser is your mom’s brother?” Aaron asked.
“Right. My mom has three older brothers. We’re going to Uncle Jonathan’s house. He’s Curt’s father. You’ll also meet my uncle Mark, Trent’s dad, tonight.” She loved all of her uncles, but Uncle Mark had always been her favorite. Although exactly why, she couldn’t say.
She’d considered offering to drive, but when Aaron offered first, she’d happily handed over the keys to her car and climbed in the passenger seat. “You want to take the next exit.”
Aaron switched on the car’s directional light and waited for an opening in the other lane. “What about President Sherbrooke? Will he be there?”
Even after more than three years, she found it strange to hear people refer to her uncle as President Sherbrooke. Maybe it wouldn’t seem so odd in another three, assuming he won a second term in November, which it looked like he would. “No, Uncle Warren won’t be there tonight. But he’ll be at my cousin Allison’s wedding, so you’ll meet him and Aunt Elizabeth then.”
“I’m going to a wedding?” He moved into the other lane and then briefly glanced in her direction. “Where and when is this wedding I’m going to?”
She couldn’t tell if he sounded amused or annoyed. “You don’t have to go. But I’d like you to come with me.”
Reaching over, he took her hand, squeezed it, and then placed it on his thigh. “I’m giving you a hard time. If you want me there, I’ll come. Just tell me where and when.”
