200 Harley Street: Her Perfect Stranger

Chapter 8

Aiden Danaher.

Hopefully there were two Aidens at their table, Helen hoped desperately. But no, he made his way over and sat down right next to her.

'No date?' Edward said to Aiden as he took his seat.

'Destiny already had plans for tonight,' Aiden said and Edward frowned, confused by why Aiden was smiling at his response.

Helen understood though.

She wanted to turn to him and smile and roll her eyes at the impossible situation that they had found themselves in. Helen could actually feel him next to her. She was sitting next to the sexiest man in the room, only it wasn't his ring that she was wearing.

When Edward turned to speak with his registrar Aiden made reference to the train.

'Side-to-side for once,' Aiden said.

'Well, face-to-face gets boring after a while, it's nice to spice it up...' Immediately Helen regretted her response, not just the words but the provocative, teasing note to her lips. It had happened so naturally, yet with Edward she did everything she could to avoid teasing or provoking him.

This was different. This was flirting, and it had come from her base but Aiden looked less than impressed.

'I'm sorry, I...' She didn't get to finish. Aiden just turned and spoke with the woman on his left.

It was excruciating.

So much so that when Helen dropped her knife, she had to eat her starter with only a fork because she was too terrified to retrieve it from under Aiden's chair.

'If you ask the waitress she'll bring you another,' Aiden said but Helen just reached for her wine.

'Careful darling,' Edward said and Helen frowned.

Was that Edward's game, she thought, taking a sip of her drink. Would he tell everyone he dumped her because she had a drinking problem? She was tempted to stab him in the leg with her fork but instead she breathed her way through the rest of the meal, although she could feel the heat from Aiden's thigh next to her as if there was a plug-in radiator beneath the table, calling her hands to warm.

Aiden wasn't faring much better.

He had never been more attracted to anyone.

Physically attracted.

The fact she was engaged, and especially to that creep, should be enough to put him off. The fact there had been more than a few shared glances and smiles on the train, so much so that he had been working his way up to asking her out, should serve a warning to his aching, tumescent cock that wanted to play footsies beneath the table, to feel her skin against his and stirred every time her head turned and he caught her scent.

Just the speeches to get through now, Aiden thought, and then he was out of here.

It didn't help that Edward was the first to speak.

Aiden pointedly signaled for his glass to be refilled as Helen fiddled with the stem of hers but now that Edward was gone she nodded for champagne.

'Careful darling,' Aiden smirked.

She looked over to where Edward was speaking and tried to pay attention as a good fiancée should, but it was terribly hard to pay attention when her nipples could emit signals to mars, there was a warm throb between her legs and cool champagne on her tongue.

'Maybe I don't want to be careful.' She meant Edward, her parents, the many, many opportunities she had wasted by always doing the right thing.

He took it as sex.

Maybe she meant that, too.

'That's some diamond,' Aiden said.

'Thank you.'

'It wasn't a compliment.'

Helen turned and met his eyes properly for the first time that night. So this is what he looked like clean-shaven, she thought, her eyes roaming his face and then flicking back to meet his cool gaze.

'Look,' Helen licked her lips. 'I don't know what your issue with me is but I'm—'

'You don't know?'

'No.'

'For the first time I actually feel a bit sorry for your fiancé.'

'Why?'

His response was as brutal as it was direct.

'I can't abide cheats.'