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Jack and I stayed at the bar for another hour, catching up and giving each other more shit. I didn’t bring up Layla again, but he did toward the end.
“I’m grateful to you, pal. I was worried that she’d end up going back to LA, but she’s happy at Cross Media.”
“Glad I could help.” I signaled for the check. If we were back on the subject of Layla, it was time to go. I wasn’t such a shitty friend that I could talk about her welfare with her father when, unbeknownst to him, she was waiting for me back at my apartment.
“It just never felt right having her across the country. When you have kids, you’ll see what I mean.”
I snorted. “If I have kids, you mean. Unless that’s another thing you see in your crystal ball for me.”
Jack shrugged mysteriously, then dropped the act with a grin. “If you have them,” he agreed. He handed his credit card to the bartender before I could.
“Iwas supposed to buyyoua beer.”
“I know, but you made sure my kid stayed on the right coast so I figure I owe you one.”
Guilt closed up my throat again. Two fucking beers in and I wanted to confess everything. But Layla was going to be pissed off with me already for what I’d told Jack about Blake. Deciding unilaterally to tell her dad we were sleeping together was probably the worst follow up move I could devise.
“There,” Jack said when he’d signed the credit card receipt. “Now we’re even.”
I snorted. “Good to know what your family is worth to you.”
Jack’s smile was quicksilver. “Everything.”
Mine faded. Yeah, I already knew that about Jack. Just like I knew he never thought Layla’s ex was good enough for her. He wanted a prince for his eldest. Not a divorced man seventeen damn years her senior.
I was in a weird mood when I got home. Layla was already there. Through the sliding glass door, I could see her sitting on the balcony. She had her feet propped up on the railing, reading a book with the last of the sunlight. I leaned against the wall in the hallway for a minute and just watched her. I already knew this from work, but her concentration was insane. I knew that down below, horns were honking and the band at the bar next door was cranking, but she didn’t look up once. She just kept flipping the pages, reaching over for her glass of wine once in a while, snagging it by the stem and moving it to her mouth without breaking her concentration.
She looked so peaceful, so relaxed.
I almost regretted the fight we were about to have.
CHAPTER21
LAYLA
Isensed Aiden’s mood even before I saw his face. It was the way he moved when he came out onto the balcony. A stiffness in the set of his shoulders that was echoed in his face when he turned around. He lowered himself into the chair beside mine without kissing me first.
I closed my book, keeping my finger between the pages to save my spot. I had a pretty good idea what this was about.
Aiden didn’t waste time getting to the point. “You went around me.”
“I went up the chain of command,” I countered. “I report to Maureen.”
“I don’t give a damn who you report to at work. You went aroundme.” He bit off the words. “Not as your boss, but as your–whatever the fuck we’re doing is called.”
“I think that about describes it,” I drawled, hoping to tempt him out of this fight. I dogeared the corner of my page and set it down beside my chair.
Aiden wasn’t tempted though. Or amused. If anything, his face grew stormier. “If that’s all it was, I wouldn’t bother.”
I stood up and slid into his lap anyway, settling against his unyielding chest where I could feel the anger trapped in his lungs. “I know it’s not all,” I said quietly.
“I don’t lie to my best friend for a fuck.”
“I don’t lie to my family for one either. I’m sorry you feel like I went around you. I don’t know what the protocol is for this.”
His eyes flickered to mine. “Yeah, you do. When it comes to Blake, you come to me.”
I blew out my own breath, frustrated. “It’s not that simple, Aiden. This isn’t just about Blake. It’s about my career. This is a good learning opportunity for me. Maureen thinks so, too.”
