Page 103 of Lovestruck at Sundown
“Yes, Miss Murphy.” Aaron pressed his lips into a tight smile.
“Yay!” I got off the stool and rounded the counter to tackle Aaron with a hug. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”
Aaron tapped my shoulder a few times in an almost robotic way. But I knew that was his way of showing affection. William couldn’t withhold a chuckle. Aaron and I had hugged before, but only in deeply vulnerable situations. He wasn’t great at happyhugs, or so it seemed.
“Oh, hi, Billie!”
Aaron winced at the sound of Naomi’s voice as she came down the stairs. He broke off the embrace, mumbling something in Hebrew.
“Be nice,” I whispered. Aaron grabbed his cup of coffee and fled to the living room before Naomi could reach us.
Naomi placed two manila folders and a notebook on the table and met me halfway for a hug.
“How are you doing?” I asked.
“Drowning in work.” She grimaced. “Thank you for letting me borrow Tobias’s room to make a few calls,” she said to William. “I was hoping I could use the bedroom again to get dressed before I leave for this New Year’s event.”
“Of course.” He smiled. “Whatever you need.”
“But you are staying over for dinner, right?” I asked. I liked Naomi and wanted to get to know her better. She was such a badass and I admired her.
Naomi’s gaze flicked toward Aaron for a beat before saying, “Yes! Yes, of course!”
“And speaking of dinner,” William said, walking behind the kitchen counter and pulling out a huge cutting board from the top drawer, “I should get started.”
“This early?” I glanced at my wristwatch. It wasn’t even noon yet.
William chuckled. “I’m afraid so.”
“Need any help?” I offered out of pure habit.
“Actually, yeah.”
“What do you need?” My eyes widened with equal parts panic and surprise. Williamneverlet me help in the kitchen. He was too much of a perfectionist to allow a vegetable to be diced in anything other than a flawless brunoise, julienne, or whatever cut the dish required. That’s why I always opted to dothe dishes instead. Scrub. Rinse. Repeat.
“Could you put on my cooking playlist and stop looking like you’ve been called to the principal’s office?” He laughed.
“ThatI can do.”
Naomi and I had been chatting for a while, waiting for Joel and Lily to come down and sign the contracts, but they hadn’t left their room. As much as Naomi tried to disguise it, I could see her growing impatient-slash-nervous since Lily and Joel were two big names she would be adding to her client list. But I assured her they were more than excited about working with her.
Naomi had done a terrific job handling the press since my relationship with William was formally announced, and the Sjöbergs were well aware of that heroic task. In the past, any woman William was seen dating in anything more than a casual setting would automatically receive a lot of hate from the fans and become heavily scrutinized by the press. She even brought a few magazine clips to show me we had nothing to worry about.
“We have a situation, though,” Naomi said, looking at Aaron as he stared out the window. It had just started to snow.
“What is it?” My brow furrowed with both concern and curiosity.
Naomi unlocked her phone, and after a few clicks, she showed me what “the situation” was all about.
“Oh. My. God.” I covered my mouth and glanced at Aaron, who was still looking out the window in an almost meditative, Zen-like state. And then I burst into laughter. “This is absolutely insane.”
Aaron had his own fan club.
An entire website dedicated to posting random photos ofAaron as he kept watch outside of Parsons, but mostly on our last Christmas outing, flooded the page. They had a Facebook group and Twitter account linked to the fan club.
“I created a fake account to request to join the Facebook group and follow the Twitter account to keep tabs on what they’re saying,” she said with a laugh. “And they really love him.” Her laugh turned into a faint scowl as her attention drifted toward Aaron.
“If only they’d met Caleb,” I said wistfully. Monuments would’ve been raised in his name.
