Felicity closed the app and pocketed her phone. It really was paradise here. No wonder Aiden liked it. She closed her eyes. Why couldn’t she get him out of her head?
Maybe a good night’s sleep would do it. Felicity walked back to her villa and locked the patio door. Tomorrow would be a fresh day.
She rinsed the sand off her feet and dressed in her pajamas. They were blue with little elephants on them. Her father had given them to her last Christmas, and even though they looked kind of juvenile, she loved them.
As she climbed into bed, she let out a moan. It was even more comfortable than it looked...like laying on a puffy cloud. She snuggled under the covers and closed her eyes. Sleep quickly claimed her.
AIDEN WALKED ALONG the beach in the dark. A figure approached him and, as he neared, he saw it was Felicity. She wore her hair up and smiled at him. He shook his head and wondered if he were dreaming. He reached out and caressed her cheek. She closed her eyes and leaned into him.
Yep, a dream. But it was a nice one. He pulled her close, breathing in the familiar smell of her. He could feel the warmth of her skin through the fabric of her dress. She looked up at him. “I’ve missed this.”
“Me too.”
She reached up and put her arms around his neck. “Kiss me,” she said, a smile in her voice.
He leaned down and—
“Aiden! Get up.”
Felicity vanished and Aiden woke up in his bed. He rolled over and put his pillow on his head. No, not now. He was just getting to the good part. Wait, what was Grams doing in his room? Man, that woman didn’t know the meaning of privacy.
Grams shook his shoulder. “Come on. We have a problem.”
“Is the villa on fire?” he mumbled.
“No.”
“Then let Derrick handle it.”
She whacked him. “Get out of bed. The riverboat excursion guide is sick, and you need to fill in.”
Crud. Aiden was the only other person who knew that tour. No one else could fill in. He moaned but stood up. “What time is it?”
“Seven-thirty. You’d better hurry. All the excursion guests will be expecting the boat to leave in an hour.” Grams wrung her hands.
Aiden stretched his back. “I know when it starts. I’m the one who formed the tour, remember?”
“Right.” Grams walked toward his bedroom door. “I’m sure you’ll take care of it. I’ll go start breakfast so you’re not late.”
“Thanks, Grams.” The restaurant had a breakfast buffet, but Grams knew he wasn’t fond of their eggs from a box. He liked them fresh, and he paid a local kid to bring him farm eggs every week. He loved supporting the locals.
Aiden closed his door and got ready to take a shower. He’d been unable to fall asleep last night, with all kinds of pent-up energy inside him. He’d gone out to the deck and listened to the ocean for a while. He’d thought he’d seen Felicity walking along the beach. Maybe that’s where his dream came from.
He got in the shower and turned on the hot water. It cascaded down his back, relaxing his muscles. He shouldn’t be dreaming about Felicity anyway; he had to put her out of his mind. She would never forgive him for not showing up to the courthouse, and she wouldn’t listen to his explanation, so there really was nothing else he could do. If she were willing to walk away from a five-year relationship for one misunderstanding, then she wasn’t the woman he’d thought she was in the first place.
After his shower, he went downstairs. Good smells came from the kitchen. “You made bacon and eggs? And toast? It looks like you’re trying to butter me up for some reason. Is this your way of apologizing for last night?”
“Eat up.” Grams gave him a smile which didn’t hide her guilty look.
“Well, you should be apologizing. That was a dirty trick last night.”
She took in a breath and let it out slowly. “You have some anger issues to work through.”
“Wouldn’t you?” He picked up a piece of toast and bit into it.
“Yes. But it’s not healthy to hold it in like you’ve been doing. Promise me today, you’ll try to let some of that go.”
Grams patted his hand and looked at him with such pleading in her eyes, he nodded. “All right. Today will be a good day for pondering. The riverboat tour is long and I only have to talk through the first half.”
Grams kissed his cheek. “Good. Let it all go. Repeat that in your head and you’ll be fine.”
He’d be fine? What did Grams mean by that? He turned to ask her, but she’d disappeared. Whatever. He finished eating, grabbed one last piece of bacon and headed out of the villa. The river was an hour drive from the resort. The tour met at a gazebo where they would all load a bus and he would drive them, while talking about Belize and the people there. The meeting place was only a ten-minute walk, but he was running late, so he ended up jogging half the way.
When he got to the gazebo, he saw Felicity sitting on the bench, her camera around her neck. She was staring off in the distance, looking a bit forlorn. Oh, no. Grams. What had she done? Where were the other people for the tour? He tried to temper his anger.
He slowed as he approached her. Her gaze darted around. “Is this where I’m supposed to be for the riverboat tour?”
“Yep.” It came out sharp, and he instantly felt bad. This wasn’t Felicity’s fault. He shouldn’t snap at her.
“I’m confused.”
Aiden scrubbed a hand over his face. “Grams told me the tour guide was sick. I think we’ve been set up again.”
Felicity didn’t look like that news made her happy. Her gaze fell. “Oh.”
She looked crestfallen, and guilt surged in Aiden. “Look, I’m sorry. Seems she’s determined to throw us together. If you don’t want to go on the riverboat tour, I understand.”
Felicity swallowed and tugged at the strap on her camera. “I need to take some pictures of the tour for the website.”
He rubbed his hands together, resolving to make the best of the situation. “Okay, then. Let’s just go.”
Felicity stood, one hand cradling her camera, the other hoisting a backpack over her shoulder. She wore jeans and a button-up blouse. Dang, she looked good. She motioned toward the bus. “Is that what we’re taking?”
Aiden shrugged. “If it’s just the two of us, we can take my car.”
“Makes more sense.”
“It’s in my garage.”
“Okay.” Felicity snapped a few photos of the bus and then fell into step beside him.
He tried to think of something to say. “Did you get some good pictures this morning?”
“I missed the sunrise. Slept in too long, and then I had to rush to get ready for the tour.” She pulled out a ticket and handed it to him.
“Grams give you this?”
“Yes. Well, not in person. She slid it under my door with a note saying she’d like some pictures of the excursion.”
It figured. She’d probably done that while they were at dinner. He wondered what she’d told the other guests who had bought excursion tickets but decided he didn’t want to know.
Felicity stopped suddenly. “Just a second.” She crouched down and took a few photographs of the villas along the path. Aiden stepped out of her way. A couple of children were playing, and Felicity snapped some candid shots of them.
She stood. “Sorry, it was a good angle.”
“It’s what you’re here for.” The minute he said the words he knew they weren’t true. She was there because Grams thought she could get them back together.
Felicity gave him a weak smile and nodded. She knew the truth as well.
When they got to his villa, he opened the garage. Felicity whistled. “Wow, an Aston Martin?”
He held in a grin. He knew he had a nice car, and a small part of him was happy Felicity was impressed. “Yeah.”
She gave him a funny look but didn’t say anything. He opened the door and she slid in. Then she sucked in a breath. “Aiden. Someone broke your driver’s side window.�
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Aiden ran around the car, a panic rising in his chest. Sure enough, the window was gone and there were broken shards of glass on his seat and on the floor of the garage. But something about it didn’t look right. He bent down and picked one shard up.
“This is plastic, not glass.”
Felicity scrunched up her nose at him. “What?”
He opened his door and pressed the button. His window rolled up, intact. Aiden let out a laugh. “Derrick.”
Felicity gave him a weird look.
He and Derrick had a long-standing practical joke marathon going on. And he’d been waiting for it. He shook his head and began cleaning up the mess. “He likes to play practical jokes on me.”
Understanding entered her eyes. “I see. And I assume you join in and play some on him.”
He chuckled. “Last week I taped a ‘For Sale’ sign on his car, which, by the way, was hilarious. He got several phone calls about it before he figured it out.” He walked to the cupboard and pulled out a small broom to get the last of it off his seat.
Felicity shook her head. “Your joking around is going to bite you in the backside one of these days.”
“It’s just harmless fun.” After he finished, he climbed into the driver’s seat. He backed the car out of the garage and clicked to close the door. “How much do you know about Belize?”
“Not much.”
“All right. We can be more informal with the tour. I’ll start by telling you what I normally go over, and if you have questions, feel free to ask.”
“Sounds good.”
Aiden talked about the history of Belize, the Mayan people who had lived there for centuries, and the Spanish conquerors. Felicity asked a few questions, and he was happy he knew the answers. The tension from the previous day lightened. She smiled at him. “You look like you love it here.”
“I really do. The Mayan culture is fascinating. Before I moved here, I didn’t realize the Mayan people still lived here. I guess I thought their people all died, but that’s not the case. Many of their traditions have remained with the people.”
Felicity unzipped her backpack. “Interesting.”
“There are many Mayan temples and structures here in Belize, and they believe only a small portion of them have been discovered. The Mayan people were industrious, and they built all of these things without metal tools.”
He told her a few more things about Belize as she put a new lens on her camera. She pointed to the side of the road. “Do you mind pulling over?” she asked.
“Not at all. Since it’s just you and me, we have a little more freedom.” He pulled off the highway, and Felicity took some photographs of a traditional Mayan home made from wooden poles with a thatch roof. Two small children played in the yard while a woman hung laundry on a line to dry.
After they got back in the car, she turned to him. “Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?”
He hadn’t been expecting that. He wasn’t sure what she wanted to ask, but curiosity got the best of him. “All right.”
“I keep looking around at the resort, and you, and your car, and I’m thinking you must have sold that piece of technology you were working on for so long. How did that go?”
Aiden leaned back in his seat, unable to speak. So, it was true. Felicity hadn’t found out what he’d been doing the day he missed their wedding. She’d never stopped to ask what held him up. He took in a measured breath. “It went well.”
He’d wanted to leave it at that, but Felicity kept looking at him, expectantly. He finally succumbed to the silence. “I sold it for a billion dollars.”
Felicity sucked in air and then coughed. “You what?”
Her reaction might have been comical if he hadn’t spent the last five years regretting his decision to keep the sale a secret. He’d wanted to surprise her. That hadn’t turned out well. His throat closed as the memory of that day surfaced, and how he’d thought she’d be happy. Instead, she left him, not even knowing what he’d done for her.
Chapter 5
Felicity couldn’t believe it. A billion dollars? Was Aiden kidding? Aiden sat there, his jaw clenching and unclenching. Why wasn’t he answering her? “Did you really sell that thing for a billion dollars?”
“It wasn’t the gadget as much as the technology behind it. The guidance system I created integrates with existing technology in such a way that...” He gave her a sideways glance. “Well, let’s just say it was very valuable to Hathaway Tech Systems.”
Felicity sat there, her head reeling. Aiden had always said what he was working on could set them up for life. She’d never fully understood what that meant. Now, it was beginning to sink in. He was a billionaire. Holy cow.
She studied the look on his face. He was upset she’d brought it up. Why? Surely, he was happy it sold for so much. “You deserve it,” she said.
“What does that mean?”
Why was he getting defensive? “It means, I’m happy for you. You worked long hours on that thing. You deserve the success it brought you.”
“Yeah,” he said. There was a bitter edge to his voice.
“What’s wrong? I’ve made you mad, and I don’t even know what I said.”
He glanced at her, and his gaze softened. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I shouldn’t be upset. It wasn’t your fault.”
“What wasn’t my fault?” She was totally confused now.
“I should’ve told you.” He looked like he wanted to say more, so she waited for him to explain. Aiden ran a hand through his hair. “I was negotiating the sale the day you left.”
Felicity stared at him, the news sinking in. He was supposed to meet her at the courthouse. They were going to elope...but he’d never shown up. “That’s why you didn’t come?” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
“Yes.”
The pain behind his eyes suddenly made sense. He’d done it for her. And she had left him. A lump swelled in her throat. “I didn’t know.”
“You mean, you wouldn’t let me tell you.” The bitterness that tinged his voice made her defensive.
“It wasn’t like that was the first time you’d stood me up.”
“I was working for our—”
“Future. I know.” Felicity rubbed the space between her eyebrows, closing her eyes. “Let’s not talk about this.”
“Right. Because that’s worked so well.”
Felicity narrowed her eyes at him, and he had the decency to look guilty. “Sorry,” he said. “Guess I haven’t worked through all that completely.”
Her own guilt wormed its way into her chest. He wasn’t the only one to blame. She’d been the one to leave and break off all contact. “I’m sorry too.”
He stared straight ahead, his hand clenching the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles were white. “I should have told you about the negotiations. I didn’t realize it would take as long as it did.”
Felicity nodded as more guilt flooded over her. “And I shouldn’t have ignored your phone calls.” She wasn’t willing to admit that leaving had been a bad idea. Aiden spent the entire five years with her breaking dates and making excuses for being late. Him being late for their courthouse elopement had just been the last straw. It wasn’t the real reason she’d left. She’d left because Aiden hadn’t made her a priority in his life.
Aiden took in a deep breath and let it out. “You know, maybe Grams was right.”
“About what?”
“Maybe we did need to talk. I do feel better.”
Felicity felt like garbage, but she pasted on a smile anyway. “Good.”
Aiden slowed his car and turned onto a dirt path. He followed the road until he came to a gravel parking lot situated next to a river. He stopped the car and they got out. A ferry sat in the water by a wooden dock. Aiden walked out on the deck then held his hand out to help her step onto the boat.
She grabbed his hand and immediately regretted it. The same electricity from last night zinged up her arm. The feel of his hand
in hers brought back more memories she’d buried, and she quickly let go after stepping down. He seemed flustered as he worked to undo the ropes securing the boat. He’d felt it too. She chastised herself for grabbing onto his hand so quickly.
She snapped a few pictures of the river before Aiden finished preparing the boat. The ferry was clean and looked new. It looked like it held around twenty people; a nice size but not so large to feel impersonal. It had a canopy top to cover them if it rained. There were clouds gathering in the sky, so rain wasn’t out of the question.
Aiden climbed behind the controls. “You’ll get better pictures from up here,” he said, looking back at her.
Felicity stood and slung her backpack over one shoulder. She moved closer to where Aiden would be. “Is this better?” she asked, sitting down.
“Yes.”
She tried to ignore how she could see the muscles in his arms flexing as he worked the controls and steered the boat away from the dock. The last thing she needed to do was start ogling him.
Aiden began telling her about Monkey River, and she relaxed against the seat. There was something about his slight Midwestern accent, the way his voice reminded her of the good times, that was comforting. She allowed herself to enjoy listening to him as she snapped pictures.
The river twisted through the lush jungle. Aiden took the boat at a lazy speed, so she could enjoy the scenery. After a minute, he shut off the engines and pointed. “Look.”
She peered up to where he had indicated. A monkey sat in the tree, silently staring back at her. She raised her camera and snapped a few pictures. A second monkey ran along the tree branch, joining the first. It began picking something out of its neighbor’s hair. Felicity smiled and zoomed in.
“If we keep our eyes peeled, we’ll get to see a lot of different animals today.”
Felicity held back a giggle. “Remember when you took me to the Lincoln Park Zoo?”
Her Big Fat Dreamy Billionaire Ex Page 3