Page 25 of Not As Advertised

At the moment, time was going to win over nerves. A glance at the clock told me I didn’t have time to change.

Shit. I’d just have to be brave. Ew.

Ensuring my room door was locked, I made my way to the elevator with shaky limbs. My body was a soda can that had been shaken too hard, all sorts of feelings bashing against each other, trying to escape.

My mind reminded me again that dressing up was a bad idea. Just because Aiden hadn’t seemed put off by hissister’s enthusiasm didn’t mean he wouldn’t think I was being unprofessional by trying to “be his friend” or something.

I felt the cool whoosh of the air-conditioning and pressed my palm to the exposed skin of my stomach once more. I concentrated on pushing aside my inner critic as I watched the floor numbers decrease on the digital screen.

The elevator dinged to signal when I had reached the main level. When the doors opened, I caught sight of Aiden waiting by the front door of the lobby, in the same suit from our breakfast meeting with a climate change nonprofit.

Clutching my tote bag a little tighter, I felt the squish of the item I had inside. These next few moments were either going to be a disaster or highly amusing. I was hoping the Aiden that I’d seen interacting with his sister was the one waiting for me just now.

“Aiden,” I called his name when I’d closed the distance between us.

He was so engrossed in whatever message or email he was writing on his phone that he hadn’t heard me approach.

His gaze lifted from the screen to my face, eyes widening with surprise. His mouth was kind of hanging open like he was about to say something, but the shock had made him forget.

“Hi,” I tried again.

He recovered right away. He was good at that. No matter what situation was thrown at him, he was a hard person to rattle.

“Abbie. Fuck… Shit! I mean, sorry… It’s just your hair.” He pointed at his own head. “It totally threw me for a second there. I hardly recognized you.”

Aiden Sullivan was flustered. For anyone else, I would be embarrassed on his behalf. But something about the combination of my overthinking this whole thing and hearing him speak in a way I knew he never allowed himself to at work made a laugh bubble up inside me.

He waited for my response, but all that came out was a cackle. Once the dam broke, there was no stopping my giggling.

“Your… your face just now. And you saidfuck… Oh my god, I can’t breathe…”

My laughter had me doubling over, the tote bag pressed against my stomach to avoid dropping it.

“I’m glad you find me so hilarious. Shall we go?”

Looking up at the amused smile on his face from my hunched over position sent me off on another round of giggles. I tried to brush away the tears that escaped my eyes while not messing up my eyeliner.

Aiden, recognizing he was fighting a losing battle, applied featherlight pressure to one of my shoulders to move me out of the doorway.

Even the lightest touch of his hand on my shoulder had a buzzing sensation competing with the laughter I’d been trying to tamp down. The heat of his hand transferred through my thin T-shirt, lighting me up from the inside. God, what would that hand feel like if my skin was bare?

No. No. Not going there. Get yourself under control.

He watched me try to compose myself. It took several deep breaths and some awkward hiccup-choking noises before I was able to fully calm down.

My dignity had obviously left the building without me, but the laughter had released the vise grip of tension and insecurity that had consumed me minutes earlier. A definite upside to a bit of embarrassment.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. That was super unprofessional. I don’t know what came over me.”

He gave me a wry grin, and I felt my shoulders drop that he wasn’t going to hold my meltdown against me.

“Well, what a start to the afternoon. I wish Claire was here to see the impressive work on your costume. Even having noidea what you are dressed as, you are certainly a convincing character.”

My insides melted under his praise. Aiden wasn’t one for fake platitudes.

“I’m a character fromPokémon. And speaking ofPokémon, this is for you.”

I pulled the medium-sized stuffed cat plushie out of my bag and held it out toward him. He stared at it for a second before taking it from my hand.

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