Aiden couldn’t believe Grams. The woman was insane. He watched her skitter out of the restaurant. Man, she was spry for her age. He turned his attention back to the table. Felicity looked like she’d just swallowed a pair of sweat socks. Aiden thought about leaving too but knew Grams would get on his case about it later. It looked like she was going to get her way after all. He decided to make light of it. “I think we’ve been set up.” He gave her what he hoped was a smile, and not a grimace.

“Yeah, looks like it.”

He let out a sigh and smoothed the napkin over his lap. He was stuck having dinner with Felicity, so they might as well make the best of it. “I’m sorry about Grams. She thinks we need to talk.”

“I can tell, with her not-so-subtle way of pushing us together.” Felicity glanced toward the door, probably wishing she could leave.

“I have an idea.” Aiden leaned closer. “Let’s outwit her.”

Felicity raised one eyebrow. “I’m listening.”

“She obviously wants us to spend time together.” He held his hands out to her in a surrender gesture. “So, let’s have dinner. If we agree not to talk about the past, then maybe it can even be a little enjoyable. She’ll get what she wants, and we’ll get a nice meal out of it. Then, maybe, she’ll leave us alone.”

Felicity slowly nodded. “I could do that.”

“Good.” Aiden relaxed. He could ignore the stabbing pain in his chest for one evening with Felicity. They could avoid any hot topics. And Grams would be happy.

He sat back in his chair and fiddled with the silverware. “So, how have you been?”

“Fine.” She said it fast, like she was throwing it at him in a game of word hot-potato.

“You’re taking pictures full-time now?”

She nodded and picked up her glass. “Yes, my photography business takes up all my time.”

“Nice.”

An awkward silence settled in while they took turns drinking their water and looking at their menus. When the waitress came to take their orders, he smiled with relief at the distraction. But, too soon, they were done ordering and the waitress took their menus. They were back to the awkward silence.

Aiden straightened, determined to get through this without too much pain. “You look nice.” That actually was an understatement. She could have walked off a runway. Her blonde curls cascaded over her shoulders. She had a softness about her, but she held a certain grace. Of course, Felicity always had been that way, stylish and classy. She would blush when he’d comment on how beautiful she was, but it was true. She was gorgeous.

“Thanks,” she said, glancing down at the table. “You look nice too.”

Grams had given him a hard time about the shirt he wanted to wear. He should have suspected something was up. “Yeah, Grams made me wear this.”

Laughter bubbled out of Felicity, and Aiden couldn’t help but join in. “Like, she laid out your clothes for you?”

“No. She just complained about my T-shirt until I agreed to dress up a little.”

“You should have suspected something.”

“I realize that now.”

It was clear Felicity was trying not to smile at him. “This is a bit crazy, isn’t it?”

“What do you mean?”

“Us, here. I mean, Grams went to a lot of work to arrange this.”

He tucked his chin. “I guess she thought we’d never talk to each other again if she didn’t do something drastic.” When Felicity was silent for a moment, he decided to change the subject. They were too close to talking about the past. “I saw the website Grams wants. I have to admit, it will be better than what we have now.”

Felicity nodded and put her hands in her lap. “Yes. I like the theme. I’m looking forward to taking some photos tomorrow morning when the sun is coming up.”

“Sunrises are gorgeous here. My favorite place to watch them is on the deck of my villa. Since my villa is built up a little higher, you can see out farther.”

Felicity seemed to stiffen, so he quickly inserted, “Not that I’m inviting you to stay at my villa tonight.” He wanted to smack himself in the head. What did he just say? Why did that come out of his mouth?

Felicity raised her eyebrows at him but didn’t say anything. She picked up her water and took a long drink. Luckily, their food arrived and they occupied themselves by eating instead of talking.

He tried to think of something to say that wouldn’t bring them back to the past, but nothing intelligent came to mind. In the end, he settled on, “Seen any good movies lately?”

“No.” Felicity gave him a lame smile. “Sorry. I don’t go to the movies much. It’s no fun...by myself.” She said the last two words quietly.

“Oh.” Aiden stuck his fork in his noodles. That was dumb. He really didn’t go to the movies anyway, so why he even asked that was beyond him. He shoved food around his plate for a minute. “How do you like living in Texas?” The second the words left his lips, he regretted asking.

Felicity’s gaze turned cold. “You’ve been checking up on me?”

“No,” he quickly said. “I just heard you were living...there...” He let his voice trail off. Why had he mentioned where she lived? Dumb. He would look like a creepy Internet stalker. He wasn’t that at all. He was simply curious what she’d been up to.

She softened. “I like Texas. The people are friendly.”

“Very different from Chicago.”

“So is this.”

She had him there. He supposed they both had run away to rid themselves of the memories they shared. “Right.”

They both went back to playing with their food. Felicity shifted in her chair. “When did you get a dog?”

“About five years ago. Grams got her for me after...” Crud. There they were again talking about the past. He finished with a lame, “You know.”

She stuck a forkful of fish in her mouth and looked at the sconce on the wall. Her way of shutting him out, apparently.

“This isn’t going well, is it?” He picked up his napkin and wiped his mouth.

“I’m sorry. Maybe we have too much baggage to try to do this.” She gave him a pity smile.

The words pricked at his chest. He set his napkin on the table. “Maybe you’re right.” He motioned to her plate. “Are you done?”

“Yes.”

They stood and awkwardly stared at each other before Felicity turned and started toward the door. He joined her. As they walked, he put his hand on the small of her back out of habit, and a flood of memories came rushing back to him, along with an attraction that almost knocked him down. It zinged up his arm and he pulled his hand quickly away.

When they got outside, Felicity turned to him. “I’m sorry...for everything.”

Aiden still reeled from the brief physical contact. He wanted to touch her again. Wanted to pull her close and breathe in the scent of her hair. But he couldn’t. “I know.” He swallowed and stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Me too.”

Neither of them spoke for a moment as the sounds of the night filled the air. A light breeze blew a strand of her hair into her face. Without thinking, he reached out and tucked it behind her ear. He should have kept his hand in his pocket. Even the briefest contact with her skin sent electricity through him. He should have moved his hand away, but instead, he allowed his thumb to brush over her cheek. The memory of the last time he’d kissed her surfaced. They had been standing in the moonlight. Like tonight. She stared up at him, her deep brown eyes silently pleading with him.

He removed his hand and swallowed back the emotions surging in him. He couldn’t touch her. He couldn’t let his heart fall back in love with Felicity. She broke it once. A second time and he wouldn’t live through it.

“Good night, Felicity,” he said, his voice hoarse.

“Bye,” she whispered.

He watched her walk down the path until the night swallowed her up.