Page 126 of Lust & Lies

“Of course, I can,” I told her, just as my phone dinged.

I gritted my teeth. It seemed Fate was determined to prove me wrong.

“Go ahead. Answer it,” she told me.

“It’s just a text,” I explained, staring down at the screen.

It was from Min-Gi. If it were important, he would’ve called. I focused on the road again, just as another text came through.Damn it.

“Let’s go home,” Noe stated.

“What?” I glanced her way briefly. “No way. We’re going to breakfast. This will be our first real date in a long time. I’m not letting work mess this up for us. Plus, we need to talk about... our past,” I reminded her.

“I know. And I’m happy you’re ready to talk about it just as much as I am. But when we talk, I want to have your undivided attention. Right now, work needs you.”

“You come before work,” I told her. “Work can wait. I can get my brothers to help with work.”

“Aiden,” she said, placing her hand on my lap. “Handle work things today. And we’ll try again in the morning.”

I shook my head. “Baby, I really want us to have this time together, away from the estate. I want...”

“I want it too,” she told me. “There’s so much I want to say to you. So many questions I need answers to. And I want to give you a chance to answer those questions openly and honestly. To do that, I need you to have a clear head. Can you honestly say you can do that this morning with the issues you’re having at work?”

Could I?My phone dinged again.

“Fuck!” I yelled.

“Let’s push our date to tomorrow.”

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“I’m sure.”

She was right. Work would continue to bother me over breakfast, interrupting our conversation.

I sighed. “What kind of man would that make me if I let you starve?”

“Trust me, I won’t starve. I saw some cereal in the cabinet. I’ll eat fruit and cereal for breakfast. And I’m sure I can make you a bowl of cereal without burning down the kitchen.”

I chuckled. “I don’t know. I’m nervous. How about I handle the cereal? That would be safer.”

“Whatever, Aiden!” she laughed, slapping my leg playfully before staring out the front window.

“It shouldn’t take me all day to handle things,” I told her.

“It’s okay if it does. Take care of business. I want your undivided attention when we talk.”

I tapped my finger against the wheel. Just like yesterday, this day wasn’t going the way I’d planned.

“I hate to leave you alone while I’m locked in my office, having meetings.”

“I can find something to do with my time,” she murmured, and that scared the hell out of me.

“Like what?” I asked cautiously.

“Like....” she tapped her chin. “I can explore our house. I mean, really explore it. That alone could take a full day. I can find a good book to read. There’s a box in the garden room of some books that I want to go through.”

There shouldn’t be anything in that box that could mess things up for me. Then again, if there was, that was fine too. It was time for us to put all the cards on the table. I’d thought her losing her memory was in my best interest. Now, I realized it wasn’t. It had only complicated matters more.