“You’ve made your choice, Aaron. You didn’t choose me. There’s nothing more to say.”
She was breaking his heart. “Lauren,” he called after her as she walked away.
She didn’t stop and he feared the pain in his chest wouldn’t, either.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
SOMETHING WAS OFF. Bonnie couldn’t put her finger on it, but something had changed the night Mitch came back. For some reason, Aaron became more distant. The next day, he asked if they could postpone their date, claiming there was way too much to do on the house and he needed to work late and get there at the break of dawn on Saturday. When she stopped by the house to check on the progress, he had little to say to her and almost seemed to be avoiding her.
How could they go from kissing on the couch to not even speaking in less than twenty-four hours? She tried to brush it off. Could she be overthinking it? For sure. Days became weeks, and still this wedge existed between them. She wanted to ask him what had happened, but feared what his answer might be.
TODAY, SHE WAS working at the realty office, hating every minute she had to sit behind that desk. To her surprise, Mitch strode in. “Hey, I need to hire a Realtor,” he said.
Bonnie didn’t know what to say. “I’ll let Gordon know you’re here.”
He stopped her from picking up the phone. “I don’t want to hire Gordon. I want to hire you.”
“Mitch, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
He held his hands up. “No, I get it. I don’t want it to look bad. It’s just that you’re the only one who can help me find a new house. You are the one who can help me pick something that Lauren would absolutely hate.”
It was one thing to need a new place to live—it was another to need a place Lauren would not want to live. “Why is that?”
He pulled one of the waiting room chairs closer to her desk. “Everywhere I look at home, I see Lauren. She’s the one who made me buy that condo. She picked out all the furniture, every little knickknack, every photo, every book on my bookshelf. I need a fresh start. I need a new place that hasn’t been touched by Lauren. I want a place Lauren wouldn’t want to touch. Can you please help me?”
Mitch really had gotten out of that relationship in the nick of time. Lauren would have told him what to do the rest of his life had he not called the wedding off. There was a weird sensation in her chest. Was she actually feeling sorry for Mitch? She needed to suffocate that emotion immediately. She didn’t want him to misconstrue her sympathy for anything else.
“I will happily guide Gordon to all the right properties. I, however, won’t go with you to look at any of them.”
“Come on, Bonnie. Aaron told me you’ve been missing getting out there and selling houses. He thought this was a great idea.”
Bonnie imagined her chin hitting the floor. “Aaron told you to hire me?”
“More or less. We’ve been trying to think of ways to make things better for you. Please let me try to make things better for you.”
There was no way it was better for her to be seen around town with Mitch. She could only imagine the gossip if they were house hunting. People would assume they were looking at houses to move into together.
It was unbelievable that Aaron would encourage Mitch to do that. He knew how she felt about being around him. He knew how Lauren would feel about the two of them being seen out in public together.
“I appreciate you wanting to get me out of the office, but I think it’s better that we not give anyone the impression that there’s something going on between us.”
Gordon came out of his office. His glasses were resting on top of his head. He must have been in there reading something. That was the only time he took them off. “Everything all—” He put his glasses back on his face, and what he saw stopped him cold. “Mitchell Bennett, back from your trip abroad, I see.”
“I am. It was good to get away. Clear my head. Decide my new path in life. My first big decision is finding a new place.”
“I would be happy to help you find something. Bonnie isn’t doing any of the hands-on stuff right now. She’s taking a break behind the scenes.”
“She helped Aaron Cole find a house, didn’t she?”
“Well, yes, but—”
“Then she can help me, too. We’re both in so much hot water in this town, how much worse could it get?”
Bonnie had no desire to find out.
“We’ll see what we can do,” Gordon said, much to Bonnie’s dismay. “Why don’t you come on back to my office and let me know what kind of place you’re looking for?”
Mitch got to his feet. “No need, Gordon. Bonnie knows exactly what I need,” he said.
As soon as he was out the door, she turned to Gordon. “Why would you tell him we’ll work something out? I am not going to look at any houses with him. That would be social suicide.”
“I figured it was the quickest way to get him out of here.”
He was probably right about that. She couldn’t believe Aaron would set her up
