33

CARLY

 

Yeah, Kieran definitely hates me. Kieran is also hot. And he’s an alpha male… an eyeroll-worthy combination at this stage of my life.  More alpha males are definitely not what I need right now.

Though, Aiden? I can’t wrap my head around it, but he’s kind of…alpha without the hole right now.  I’m sure the hole part will be back…I won’t get comfortable with this.

We got up and breakfast was made less awkward by the presence of Jada, Aiden’s very cute petite blonde haired and blue-eyed housekeeper who is about my age and has a raging crush on him.  She’s shy and a little timid while being naturally pretty, though her clothes are sort of a-sexual and aren’t doing much for her. She seems efficient.

We ate bagels and fruit while she asked me what I want for dinner. I told her I was all about the exact type of food that was here last night.

She smiled. I can tell she wants to hate me. And I think she’s looking for reasons to do so, yet struggling.  Probably because she’s not a bitch-faced cunt, just a little jealous that her boss has a woman in his apartment that’s not her.

She’s wondering if I’m into him. She’s looked for a ring on my finger. She’s also made it a point to go into the room I slept in, likely to see if the bed had been slept in. I’d already made the bed, but my stuff is all in there and it’s obvious I’ve used that bathroom too, with my stuff out on the vanity.

Aiden is distracted today so far. He’s texting a lot and then at eight o’clock we head down to Joshua’s black car. Kieran is already there in the back seat, eyeing me judgmentally. He’s got an Irish accent and he’s pompous AF, giving me total attitude. He thinks I’m insignificant. He wants to be the significant one, so he’s trying to exude that air about himself, so I feel insignificant. I’m just gonna be me.

I’m excited about the conference and last night with Aiden was not as bad as it could have been, even if he did look at me funny this morning, asking me how I slept.

I waved it off. “I’m fine.”

“How’s your noggin?” I asked.

He knocked on it with his fist and said, “Probably hollow.”

And then he made me a coffee and passed it to me.

I only remember bits and pieces of my dream, but I remember the most horrifying part. Someone was in our apartment in San Diego and they were chasing me. Aiden jumped in to save me and they stabbed him.

 

***

 

On the ride, Aiden starts getting alpha with Kieran, leaving me to suspect Aiden doesn’t like the way Kieran is being with me, so Kieran goes quiet and sulky like a moody goth teenager.  I guess Aiden is the only one allowed to be alpha with me. An eyeroll-worthy thought.

We get to the convention center and Aiden says he’s got an issue he has to deal with and so he is dropping us off. He says he’ll be in touch and meet up with us soon.

Kieran and I are there at the entrance.

“Do you have any idea the panels and the booths you want to check out, or…”

“How ‘bout you go your way, I’ll go mine. We’ll compare notes later?” he suggests, barely looking at me.

“Okay, uh… do you wanna exchange cell numbers?”

He rolls his eyes and begrudgingly pulls out his phone.

Alrighty then.

***

 

I’m actually happy to explore this on my own. It’s really cool to see some of the big brand names. There are some awesome exhibits. By noon, I’ve got a tote bag filled with pamphlets and swag and I’ve sat through several great demos and presentations.

And then I feel a tug on my waistband.

I jolt.

Aiden is beside me and he’s got my belt loop of my black dress pants.

Yep, that seems to be one of his signature moves.

“Oh, hi,” I say excitedly. ”Everything okay?”

“Yeah. Quick meeting at the CC New York office. A bit of family shit. Touched base with Jude, too. It was the security asshole. Caught him goin’ in your room with the surveillance this morning. The cops are gonna be executing a search warrant of the guy’s apartment any time. How’s everything so far?”

My mouth drops open.  I hope they find Grams’ tiara and I get it back. “What about your phone cloning thing?”

“Jude’s still on that case.”

“I hope he figures it out.”

“He will,” he tells me, with a smile. “He’ll do his best to find your jewelry, too. Now, I’m all yours. What are we doing next?”

I then excitedly babble about my morning and start to show him stuff as we walk through the convention center, and then I narrowly avoiding bumping into two different people, I’m so excitable, telling him about panels I want to attend that afternoon. I’m giggling when he saves me from the second collision by grabbing two of my beltloops and steering me over to a group of tables near a coffee booth.

“You’re a hazard,” he says, with humor.

I giggle. “I’m a marketing nerd. I get excited.”

He’s smiling, shaking his head. “Been to so many of these. Not a big deal to me anymore.”

“This is my cherry poppin’ so it’s a huge deal to me,” I say.

He blinks and then shakes off what I’m guessing was the temptation to make a joke at what I just said. “Coffee, cold drink?” he asks.

“Yes, coffee please,” I nod enthusiastically and put all my convention booty on the table and reach into my bag to check my phone.

Two missed calls from my mother and a text from her.

“Call my cell ASAP. Urgent.”