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I wouldn’t put him in an uncomfortable position again. I missed him, and I hated that I missed him, and then I hated that I was being like this to begin with.
Tuesday night, a little after nine o’clock, there was a soft knock on my hotel room door. When neither voice of my parents followed, my pulse jumped alive, and it was embarrassing how quickly I jumped up from the settee. I peered through the peephole, hoping for a certain someone, finding another instead.
I fought the urge to groan, hauling open the door to showcase Aaron Astor standing in the carpeted hall. “Hi, darling,” he greeted, and the first thing he did, as he always did, was allow his eyes to rake over my figure. “Ah, no suit today?”
The black long-sleeve shirt and loose dark green pants were far more casual than I ever would’ve left my room wearing, more casual than I would’ve wanted anyone other than Sumner seeing me in. They weren’t pajamas, but I felt so self-conscious in about relaxed I looked that they might as well have been. “Would you put on a five-piece if you weren’t going to leave your room?” I returned, keeping the door close to me to prevent him from getting a clear glance inside. “How did you know my room number?”
“A little birdie,” he replied, and at the twist in my features, he quickly followed up with an amused, “Your mother. I asked her for your room number so I could call you.”
“So, you lied to her.”
He gave an awkward smile. “Ah, well, I decided why only hear your voice when I could see your face?”
“Where was that mindset when I wanted to videocall you weeks ago?”
His sheepishness only deepened as he slipped his hands into his pockets. “I did say that I preferred us to meet for the first time in person.”
“It’s getting late,” I told him, already backing up. “Let’s meet tomorrow.”
Aaron caught the door handle before I could close it. “It’s been two days since I’ve seen you. Are you really going to make me chase after your parents to make you meet me?”
Already, he knew of their hold over me. I wasn’t sure if he was perceptive or if their control was just so blatantly obvious. “You should’ve come earlier. It’s after nine, and I’ve already had my dinner.”
“Let’s get a drink, then. The hotel has a bar, doesn’t it? On the ground floor?”
I let out a little breath, knowing I didn’t have much of a choice. I glanced towards Sumner’s door, the one that always seemed to pull open when mine did, but it remained closed. I wondered if he was inside. “Fine. Give me a moment to change.”
Again, Aaron caught the door. “No, no, I like thislook on you. Almost as much as your dress. This is very…informal.”
I debated on whether fighting him on it, but ultimately conceded. My lack of backbone with him was concerning, but it seemed better to give into than to fight. I grabbed my hotel key and begrudgingly followed him out into the hallway.
The hotel lounge wasn’t one I frequented too often, mostly because I wasn’t incredibly drawn to middle-aged men traveling on business looking for a pretty, young thing to take up to their hotel room. It’d happened three times before I started to order my wine to my room.
“Oh, it’s quite lovely in here, isn’t it?” Aaron asked as we stepped into the space.
It was empty for a weeknight, when the businessmen usually were on the prowl. That meant there wouldn’t be as many distractions.
Aaron ordered a whisky neat while I requested a cola—plain cola. He frowned at my choice before he started off the conversation with pleasantries—asking me how I was, asking how Nancy was, which I humored him with. I knew he didn’t really care. If he’d cared, he would’ve come to see me that night.
Eventually, though, the main reason Aaron had come knocking surfaced. “So,” he began languidly, tilting his head at me. “Have you thought more about my offer?”
I peered at my glass, using the tips of my fingers to stir the straw around the ice. “About marrying you?”
“Unless there was another offer on the table,” he said, and I couldn’t quite tell if he was intending to be flirty. His alcohol alreadyseemed to be hitting. “I’ll be honest, Margot, I didn’t expect you to give me so much pushback.”
“You thought I’d fall to your feet at the idea of a proposal?”
“At the very least, I didn’t expect so much hesitation.”
“I live for nothing except knocking down egos,” I murmured, taking the straw between my lips. “I know you said I’d be hard to woo, but I didn’t expect you wouldn’t try at all. I at least thought you’d have a ring to offer me.”
Aaron began reaching for the pocket on the inside of his jacket.
“You have a ring?” I asked, startled.
“Of course.”
“On you?” He slipped his hand into the pocket, but I threw a hand toward him, catching his arm. “No, no, don’t pull it out.”