Billion Dollar Boyfriend (Celebrity Love)

Chapter Twelve

"Did you shower just for this?" Shelby grinned at her laptop screen.

It was almost noon on Thursday for Shelby, and going on 8 p.m. for Aiden in London. While she had been awake for about three hours, it looked like his day was already starting to wind down.

"Did my wet hair give it away?" Aiden gave his head a shake, sending water droplets spraying out in an arc around him.

She pretended to inspect him over their video chat. "That, or your pink cheeks," she concluded. "Your bare chest might've clued me in, too."

"Should I put on a shirt?"

"Don't you dare," she warned him.

"Ever?"

"Never wear a shirt on my account."

Shelby meant what she said. If she had her way, his chest and abs would never be hidden by pesky clothing, obscured from her view.

Aiden appeared thoughtful for a moment. "Pants either?" he asked.

"Are you wearing any right now?"

"I'd tell you, but I think it's more fun for you to decide." He gave her his best smoldering look.

She attempted a sultry expression in response. "The man likes danger."

"Danger?" He leaned in closer to the screen. "Tell me more."

She wagged a finger at him. "Not until you're back."

"Torture."

"I'm just making sure you don't decide life in London is better and extend your trip."

"Never," he assured her. "I'm counting the seconds until I'm back there with you."

Shelby reached for a vase filled with red roses that was beside her on the desk. She slid it into her laptop camera's view. "I heard that somewhere else today. It might have been written on the card that came with this enormous bouquet. Thank you for these, by the way. The flowers are beautiful."

Aiden's gaze flickered from the roses back to Shelby's face. "They're nowhere near as beautiful as you."

"Trying to make me blush?"

"Nope." He sat back in his chair, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "But you are extraordinarily cute when you blush, just so you know."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Whatever, mister. How was your day?"

There was a pause before Aiden answered, just long enough to be noticeable. Shelby squinted at him, trying to read his face. It was hard to tell when she could only see him on a computer screen, but he seemed tired.

"My day was pretty long," he admitted. "This whole week has been. I can't wait to get back there."

"What made today a long day?"

"Nothing I didn't expect. I'm just kind of drained." He closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose, then looked at the screen again. "Enough about that. I don't want to bring the mood down. I'm just happy to be talking to you."

Aiden had been in London for a week and hadn't said much about his trip so far. Shelby agreed with him, though—she wanted to savor their face-to-face video conversation and keep it upbeat. With the time difference and Aiden being busy for most of the London daytime hours, they had only been able to have one other video chat since he'd arrived. All of their other conversations had been in text messages.

"What day are you coming home?" she asked.

"Things are still on track to wrap up in a couple of weeks. You're off work now, right?"