Chapter Four
Sophie
Of course he has a girlfriend. He's handsome. Smart. Funny. Dresses well. He's easy to talk to.
And here I thought he was flirting with me. He was just being nice.
"Why didn't you bring her along?" I ask. "This is the perfect place for a romantic weekend."
"She's a city girl. This place would drive her insane. She can't take all the quiet and the lack of shops. I wanted to take her up to Maine to show her where I used to spend the summers but ten minutes outside the city she made me turn around. She panicked at the thought of spending a weekend just relaxing on the beach."
"Sounds like heaven to me," I say, imagining it.
"To be fair, the beaches there aren't great. The shore is rocky and the water's cold but it's still really beautiful. It's a good place to just relax and get away."
"You said you spent your summers there?"
"When we were kids my brother and I would go there and stay with our grandparents. They owned an inn off the coast of Maine, just south of Bar Harbor. It was a small town where everyone knew each other. I could take off for the day and run around without my grandparents having to worry. I'd go down to the docks, talk to the fishermen. If they weren't too busy they'd let me help and send me home with whatever I caught." Aiden smiles, a faraway look in his eyes. "Sometimes I wish I could go back to those simpler times."
"You could."
He breaks from the memory, his eyes going to mine. "What do you mean?"
"You don't have to do what you're doing. You could move to a place like this, live a simpler life."
He chuckles. "And do what? I'm guessing jobs in property investment are pretty scarce up here in Vermont."
"You could do something else. What did you go to school for?"
"Business. I was a finance major. I worked as a stockbroker for a few years but then this opportunity came up for the place I'm working at now and I took it, thinking it'd be fewer hours and less stress."
"And was it?"
"Not really. But I like what I'm doing. I feel like I'm making a difference in this job."
"What does your girlfriend do?"
"She's still figuring that out. She went to design school but didn't finish. She wants to go back, but in the meantime she's doing some charity work and working for her dad's company."
"How long have you two dated?"
"Just over a year."
"Do you live together?"
"No." He chuckles. "Why all the questions about my relationship?"
I shake my head. "Sorry. You're right. I'm being nosy."
"It's fine. And hey, I wasn't kidding about what I said earlier. If you're interested I know some guys in New York I could set you up with, although now that I've gotten to know you, they might not be good enough for you."
I smile, feeling my cheeks warm. "Thanks. That's nice of you to say."
"Give me your number and I'll text you next time I get together with the guys. You can meet them and decide for yourself if you're interested."
It's nice of him to offer. The only problem is I'm interested in him, not his friends.
"Thanks, but I really don't have time to date."
"Doesn't mean you can't hang out with us. I'd like to see you again. I don't want this weekend to be it." He looks at me as he says it and I swear I feel something between us, but I'm sure I'm just imagining it. He has a girlfriend.
I'm definitely feeling something for him. I felt it when I first saw him. It was a rush, a flutter in my stomach, a pitter patter of my heart. I thought it was a reaction caused by my anger at him for the trouble he caused but now I think it might've been something else.
"It's almost five," Aiden says. "Should we get a table?" He looks back at the empty dining room. "We better hurry before they run out."
I laugh. "Maybe we should just eat here. Save the tables for the other guests."
He stands up. "C'mon. Let's grab the one by the window." He takes his credit card from his wallet and sets it on the bar. "We're ready to settle up," he says to Charlie.
"Sure thing." Charlie takes the card and swipes it in the machine, then brings it back, along with the receipt.
Aiden adds a twenty dollar tip before signing the slip. The bill was twenty-five.
"Thanks!" Charlie says, his eyes widening when he sees the tip.
"Shall we go?" Aiden says, offering me his arm to help get down from the barstool.
I get up by myself and glance around the empty restaurant. "I think I'll just take mine to go. I could use some time to catch up on work."
He gives me a confused look. "I thought we agreed to have dinner."
"I changed my mind. I started thinking how much I needed to get done and realized I really don't have time to sit down and eat."
"Then you're in the wrong job." He smiles. "C'mon. We don't have to be here all night. We'll have a nice dinner and then you can go back to your room."
He's very persuasive. Knowing he has a girlfriend, I was determined to go back to my room but that smile of his and those gorgeous blue eyes are making me change my mind.
What's the harm? It's just dinner. And after tomorrow, I'll probably never see him again.
"You said the table by the window?" I ask, smiling back at him.
Aiden’s eyes pause on me a moment and I swear I get that feeling again. The feeling there's something between us.
I look away from him and walk quickly to the table, that flutter in my stomach returning. Maybe it's hunger. I did skip lunch.
"Do you think we'll get service?" I ask as we sit down.
"I'm not sure," Aiden says, looking around for a waiter. "They might just show up with
