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He was glad when Tilly and Owen went to check one of the other exhibits downstairs. Finally, it was just the two of them, and that meant he was safe from more questions, more reminders, of his dad.

After scrutinising a Grecian urn, trying to memorise the curves and rim so he might throw something similar for their project,he joined her at a painting that depicted demons and monsters of Japanese myth. ‘Feeling inspired?’

She nodded without taking her eyes off the work. ‘Very. You?’

He nodded without taking his eyes off her. ‘Yeah, me too.’

He hadn’t felt the urge to reach for a paintbrush in months, but with her side profile bathed in gold from the lights above, he could imagine some of the strokes he might make in whites and yellows, dissolving into coppers and browns where wispy strands of hair fell out of its braid. None of them would have been enough to capture her the way he’d like, but he’d give it his best shot.

And then he realised that he wasn’t supposed to have those feelings for her. No wonder he’d had that burst of anxiety earlier. He was all over the place, letting himself care for a woman who clearly didn’t want to care about him.

Just sex.That’s what it was supposed to be.

And yet he didn’t think it was. Not for him.

‘I was thinking for our amphora, we could have Medusa and her snakes coiled around the base,’ she said. ‘I know she’s one of the more common mythological figures, but I sort of love her. And I think it would mean playing about with different textures for the scales and stone.’

‘Sounds like a great idea to me.’ It was only then, with his chest free of pressure, that he realised something. ‘You know, what I said the other day about wanting you all to myself? It was only partly true.’

She tipped her head: finally, he had interested her enough to get her attention. No mean feat in the middle of a gallery piled with things she loved.‘I do think that the more people are around you, the more guarded you are,’ he continued. ‘But I also think the same is true of me, and that’s the real reason I wanted it to be just us.’

At first, he wondered if she’d heard him at all. She barely moved, barely blinked. And then she groaned. ‘Aiden.’

‘What? What have I said wrong now?’ He lifted his hands in a combination of surrender and exasperation.

‘Everything.’ She crossed her arms defiantly. ‘You can’t say something like that to me.’

‘Why? It’s true.’ And she made him want to be truthful, even if it made him vulnerable. He wanted her to see that he wasn’t just the cockytwatfacehe’d been in school, or the arsehole who was only good for sex. If that meant he was breaking their rules, so be it. But if she was going to hate him, she would have to hate all of him, and that meant knowing all of him first.

‘Yeah, but you’re not supposed to make me want to like you.’

His wide grin made his cheeks ache. ‘So youarewarming to me. Interesting. Very interesting.’

‘I never said that.’ She shook her head, moving to the next display: a set of animal head brooches from the Viking age.

‘Sounded like that’s what you said.’ He rocked into her playfully, glad when he received a smile. A real one, unbridled and without any animosity.

‘Wishful thinking again. You’re just full of it, aren’t you?’

Before he could retort, he heard his name uttered behind him. When he turned, dread shrouded him from all sides. The woman approaching in a neat black shirt and pencil skirt was familiar,though he hadn’t thought of her for a long time.

‘Well, what a pleasant surprise to see you here!’ Sonya said with a bright, red-lipped smile. ‘Is this a friend of yours? Girlfriend?’

‘Just friend,’ Juniper blurted at the same time Aiden introduced her stiffly: ‘Juniper.’ He was so dazed that he hadn’t even thought to correct Sonya. Hadn’t thought anything of the word at all. ‘Good to see you, Sonya.’

‘Are you enjoying the exhibition?’ She huddled between the two of them as though just another visitor rather than one of the most talented curators in the museum.

Juniper clearly had no idea who she was, shuffling for some space with her lips pressed into a flat line.

‘It’s wonderful. Juniper is very passionate about mythology, so we couldn’t miss it.’ He didn’t know where he was plucking the words from, body and mind stuck on autopilot. He had to be the old Aiden now, the impressive one who had plenty to say.

‘That’s great!’ Sonya clasped her manicured hands in front of her. ‘And how is your father doing at the moment? Well, I hope.’

‘I believe so, yeah.’ Aiden tensed, suffocated again. Everyone spoke as though he only had a right to be here because of his father. Like, without him, he served no purpose.

Everyone except Juniper.

‘Good. We must admit, we were disappointed when you turned down the internship with us.’ Sonya rubbed his shoulder gently. ‘Will you be applying again this year? The deadline is soon!’