Page 29 of Settling the Score (The Karma Club #4)

‘I just think we should call a spade a spade,’ Astrid said softly, as the flames raged and the dancing continued, close to the shore. ‘He can’t stop looking at you.’

Sienna glanced across at Aiden who was, in fact, not looking at her. He was standing on his own, eating a hot dog, and just the sight of that – this big guy on the fringes of the group, for all his success, fame, money, looking kind of… lost – made her whole body ache in the strangest way.

‘I haven’t noticed.’ Sienna shrugged. It was true. She’d spent the whole night locked in a silent battle of wills, determined not to look anywhere even remotely in his direction. She was partly worried that if she looked, she wouldn’t be able to look away.

Something had shifted inside of her, or maybe between them, last night. Something had made her feel differently towards him. Less angry, more sad. Less hurt, more disappointed – not in him, but in the future that should have been theirs, and how they’d somehow failed that future.

‘Oh, come on,’ Paige said with a wagging finger. ‘You’re kidding, right? When you were dancing with Chuck, he looked like he wanted to explode. Surely you felt two hot spots on your body thanks to his laser vision.’

Bella giggled. ‘He’s not a superhero.’

‘You know what I mean. He’s like literally staring at you as if he can see through you.’

Sienna stood, brushing the sand from her butt with one spare hand, champagne flute – now empty – in the other. ‘You guys are imagining it.’

The three other women shared a look that only frustrated Sienna more.

They weren’t imagining it, necessarily, but she had no idea what to say, nor how much she could confess.

To herself, let alone them. It wasn’t like anything physical had really happened with her and Aiden, but last night, they’d shared moments that somehow seemed more intimate than anything they could have done in bed.

She felt torn between her loyalty to her Just Desserts buddies, and what she knew to be their good wishes for her, and a loyalty to whatever she and Aiden had once shared.

She felt torn, period.

‘I’m going to get a drink. Anyone else?’

Paige held up a still half-full bottle but Sienna shook her head. ‘I think I’m done with bubbles.’ She smiled brightly and blew a kiss. ‘I’ll be back,’ she promised, and she meant it. Once conversation shifted away from Aiden and his supposed burning eyes.

At the bar, she looked over the list and selected a diet soda, watching as the waiter opened a small bottle and decanted it into a glass with ice.

When she turned around, to survey the bonfire and the party that was still raging despite the fact it was getting close to midnight, she came face to face with Aiden.

Aiden ‘Can’t Stop Staring at You’ Carter.

The first – and only – love of her life.

Top three buttons undone, revealing his tanned chest and a sprinkling of hair, reminding her of the tattoos he wore on his skin. Shorts. Bare feet. Dark hair brushed back from his brow. Eyes, indeed, boring into her.

‘Hey.’ Voice, deep, gruff, pouring over her frazzled nerves like treacle.

Conscious that her friends would undoubtedly be watching and speculating at a fever pitch, she gave him a curt smile. ‘Hello.’

His brow furrowed. ‘Having fun?’

‘Sure. It’s a great party.’

‘Right.’ He nodded once, his head bobbing mechanically. ‘It’s kind of loud, though.’

Her insides felt all squishy. It was kind of loud, down near the water, but where they were standing was okay. Which meant either he had supersonic hearing to go with his laser vision, or he was trying out a pick-up line? Surely not.

‘Are you about to suggest we go somewhere quieter and talk?’ she asked with a hint of a smile – a smile that slipped as dark colour ran over his cheekbones, embarrassment clearly written on his features.

‘Oh, come on, Aiden. Surely you’ve got better lines than that?’

His Adam’s apple jerked visibly as he swallowed, and she had a sudden urge to save face, because his flirtation, no matter how practised, had made her heart thump hard and fast.

‘I mean, you’ve dated half of New York. Or are you just famous enough to be able to get away with lame lines regardless?’

‘Hey,’ he said, shaking his head a little, frowning in a way she hated to admit she found adorable. ‘I didn’t mean it like that. I just wanted to… talk, I guess.’

‘We talked last night,’ she reminded him, a self-preservation instinct making her want to maintain some space from Aiden. ‘And this morning. Is there anything more you want to say?’

His dark brows knitted together. ‘I think there might be.’

Where did she go next?

‘Well, this is my best friend’s wedding.’ She shrugged, hating how confused she felt. ‘That’s my focus.’

‘It’s not their wedding tonight.’

Sienna’s laugh was ever so slightly brittle. ‘The whole week is their wedding.’

‘Okay,’ he said, expelling a breath, reaching behind her to the champagne bowl of beers and plucking one out of the ice.

His arm brushed her side on the way back and she nearly jumped out of her skin.

She realised how hard she was fighting to hold herself together.

How tempted she was by him. How much she wanted to go somewhere quiet and talk, after all.

But she was conscious of the three pairs of eyes watching her, and of how she could explain all of this to them. So she shook her head a little.

‘I have to go back over there,’ she said, nodding towards the others. ‘I’ll catch you later, okay?’

* * *

Though the party was still in full flight, by twelve thirty, Sienna was ready for a cup of tea and bed. Or maybe she was ready for something else. Space? Or a lack of space… either way, she was ready to get back to her own room.

‘You’re sure you won’t stay for another dance?’ Astrid called, arms looped around Blake’s neck, goofy, happy, loved-up smile locked in place.

Sienna waved a hand. ‘Have fun, kids.’

The path was illuminated by the full, silvery moon, and low-set lights that glowed with a golden warmth, so she made it to the mansion easily, stepping inside and avoiding making eye contact with the few groups of revellers who’d strayed inside and were set up in small groups in the foyer, drinking, chatting, having a more subdued kind of party.

She took the steps to her own room, her walk slowing down briefly as she approached Aiden’s, until she stopped walking altogether and held her breath, her skin prickling in goosebumps.

It was madness to even think of knocking.

To think of seeing him again. To think of… yet, of its own volition, her hand lifted and her fist pumped on the door a couple of times. She took a rushed step back, as if she couldn’t quite believe what she’d done.

Thank God he didn’t answer.

Thank God she was spared at least that mortification. She closed her eyes and began to walk much, much faster, to the sanctity of her own room, pushing open the door just as she could have sworn she heard the clicking of another door, a little way down the corridor.

Heart in her throat, she closed her door and pressed her back against it, breath coming in rushed fits and spurts, like she’d just sprinted the last mile of a marathon.

Holy crapola. What had she been thinking?

‘Sienna?’

Her heart slammed out of its nook in her chest cavity and rammed into her throat. She could feel it there, a hard thumping hammer. Aiden’s voice was so deep and growly, gruff and familiar, even when it wasn’t. Just like him. Familiar and not, all at once.

Her Aiden, but not her Aiden.

She squeezed her eyes shut, as though that might somehow magically transport her out of this situation.

It didn’t.

‘Sienna?’

She jumped forward, off the door, then whirled around to stare at it accusingly.

‘Did you need something?’

She was being a baby.

Slowly, she reached out and opened the door, drawing it inwards to reveal Aiden’s big – really big – frame, and a face that showed hints of concern.

‘You okay?’

‘I’m fine,’ she said, one hand behind her back, fingers fidgeting.

‘Did you knock on my door?’

She squeezed her eyes again before remembering that she wasn’t three and that wasn’t how you hid from someone.

The door clicked and she opened her eyes to see Aiden had stepped into her room and shut it.

And he was close to her.

So close that all she could really focus on was the wall of pectorals she knew to be behind his grey T-shirt.

‘I…’

Great. Great start , she thought, with an inward eye roll. How poetic.

‘I don’t know.’

Much better.

‘Sienna.’ Another growl. Deep and husky, giving her name – from his mouth – the power to snake out and wrap around her, like a silk rope. She shivered at the imagery of that. The idea of him tying her up.

‘You’re the one who wanted to talk,’ she said, defensively.

He frowned. ‘That’s why you knocked on my door?’

She shrugged one shoulder.

He expelled a breath. ‘Because you didn’t seem interested in talking down there. At least, not to me. You seemed fine talking to anyone else,’ he muttered.

‘It’s a party, that’s kind of the point.’

He crossed his arms over his chest, so she couldn’t help but stare hungrily at the way his shirt strained over his muscles. Her mouth felt all dry and dusty.

‘But you want to talk now?’ There was the slightest hint of a challenge in those words.

A question he hadn’t put into words lingered between them.

She felt it. Heat flickered through her, challenging her, daring her to do something reckless and stupid, for once in her life.

To put herself, and her needs and wants first.

To take a little something, just for herself.

How long had it been since she’d made a decision purely because she wanted to?

‘Nope,’ she answered, and as if to underscore her meaning, she took a step towards him, effectively closing the remaining distance between them.

‘Sienna.’ Now her name was both a growl and a plea. And a promise?