Page 69 of Her Big Fat Dreamy Billionaire Ex

When he spoke again, his voice was gravelly. “I didn’t mean to lie. It’s just hard to talk about when you’re a kid, and all the other kids just assumed she was dead when Grams was the one that showed up to the school functions. I didn’t correct them. Then, as I grew older, the lie was already established. It was easier just to go with it than explain.”

Felicity turned on her side and peered into the darkness, the pitch black not revealing any of his features. “She’s alive?”

He drew in a breath and let it out slowly. “Yeah.”

The information made her head spin, and she wanted to pelt him with questions. Why had Grams raised him? Where was his mother now? Had she ever had contact with him? But Felicity didn’t want to pry the information from him. She laid back and waited for him to continue.

“My mother was a drug addict. She’d gotten into the wrong crowd in high school. Grams tried everything to get her the help she needed, but rehab never worked for long.”

Felicity tried to imagine what it must have been like for Grams. It was too terrible to think about.

Aiden shifted on the sleeping bag. “When she got pregnant, Grams talked her into another try at rehab. She stayed there until she had me, but she couldn’t stay straight. The drugs were too alluring. She gave me up to Grams and took off.” Aiden sighed. “No one knows who my father is. My mother was too strung out to know.”

Felicity’s heart hurt for him. What an awful way to grow up, not even knowing who your father is. “I don’t know what to say.”

“I’ve come to terms with it.” The emotion in his voice betrayed him and she scooted over, joining him on top of his sleeping bag. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close, and she laid her head on his chest.

“Where is she?”

“Last I heard, she was living somewhere up in Michigan.”

“What does Grams think about it?”

He tensed. “Grams said she lost her daughter a long time ago. Of course, if she straightened out, Grams would take her back into her arms, but my mother hasn’t been healthy in a long time. Grandmother didn’t want me around that, and I understand. Grams is my mother. She was the one that cared for me and was always there for me.”

“You were lucky to have Phoebe.”

“I don’t believe in luck. Grams did what she did because of love.”

His voice broke and she placed a hand on his cheek. Felicity’s throat tightened and she blinked back her emotions. “Yes. She loves you greatly. She’s an amazing woman.”

He flexed his jaw then cleared his throat. “I suppose I’m the only one in the room who lied about his mother being dead.”

Felicity smiled. “Yeah. My mom really did die when I was a kid.”

Aiden hooked a finger under her chin. “I’m sorry I lied.”

In the dim light, she could see the way he was looking at her. The way he’d let down the wall between them. He was vulnerable, and she wanted to reassure him that she wasn’t going to use that against him.

Before she could process what she was doing, her lips were pressed to his and he responded immediately. He pulled her closer, his hands traveling up into her hair, his kiss warm and passionate. She pushed aside all the hurt, all the pain that had happened between them, and she let herself get lost in the tingles that zinged over her skin at his touch.

He broke the kiss and whispered her name. It was a plea. A caress. Her hand traveled up his chest to the nape of his neck as his lips pressed kisses along her jaw.

Having Aiden’s arms around her again felt good. Right. Like they belonged together.

She loved him.

The thought made her jerk away, and she scrambled back to her own sleeping bag. No. She couldn’t be in love with Aiden again. This is what she’d been telling herself couldn’t happen.

“Felicity?” he asked, his breath shallow. “What’s wrong?”

Her heart raced as her mind tried to form words. “We can’t keep doing this to ourselves.”

He sat up and put his hand on her shoulder. “Doing what? Kissing? Because it seems to me it’s not a bad thing.”

She turned from him, pulling her legs to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. “We can’t get back together.”

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