Billion Dollar Boyfriend (Celebrity Love)

Chapter Twenty-Four

The first flickers of dawn were barely on the horizon when Shelby's eyelids fluttered open the next morning. She laid still for a moment, her eyes adjusting to the darkness of the room. Aiden's deep and even breathing beside her told her he was still sleeping. She watched the rise and fall of his chest, tempted to lay her head there but not wanting to wake him.

She wasn't falling back asleep, though. Between the nap she'd had during the drive to Woldingham yesterday and the time zone she hadn't yet adjusted to, her mind and body were alert. She slipped out of bed as quietly as she could, shivering in the morning air. After finding her bathrobe in her suitcase, she headed for the ensuite bathroom to brush her teeth, then tiptoed out to the hallway and crept down the stairs to the main floor.

Her phone was on the kitchen counter where she had left it the evening before, intending to charge it. It had been long forgotten when she and Aiden had come inside from the veranda last night.

The morning after, she thought, a smile flitting across her lips. Memories of the night before danced through her mind. Waking up next to Aiden in a house in the English countryside hadn't seemed possible a little less than twenty-four hours ago, and now here they were.

Shelby made her way over to a cushioned window seat at the kitchen's bay window, feeling as though she was floating on air. She sat down and gazed out at the lightening sky, taking in the surrounding landscape of hills and the start of the new day until she heard footsteps descending the stairs.

Aiden sat down next to her. "Good morning." He wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled her neck. "You're up early."

Shelby leaned into his embrace, drinking in the familiar scents of his soap and mint toothpaste, and the fabric softener from his T-shirt. "Did I wake you? My internal clock is completely messed up."

"Nope. I'm still having trouble with the time difference, too. Want some coffee?"

"Mmm, coffee. You're trying to seduce me again, and I won't stop you." She grinned and shifted her position on the window seat so she could face him.

He gave her his most serious look. "Say the word, and I will gladly seduce you anytime you'd like."

"That often? We'll probably never leave the house."

"I can't see a downside to this."

He kissed the tip of her nose, then moved down to her mouth. Her lips parted under his, inviting a lingering kiss.

"Coffee?" he asked again, once they broke apart. "I can make us breakfast, too."

"I would love both of those things, but shouldn't you try to go back to sleep for a bit? I can nap later, but you'll be in a courtroom all day."

He ruffled her hair, then got up from the window seat. "I'm taking today off."

She watched him set up the coffee maker. "Are you sure? The trial is important to you."

"You're important to me. And I'm sure. I need a day away."

Shelby studied Aiden's face. A frown tugged at the corners of his mouth.

"Is everything okay with the trial?" she asked. "Do you think you and your family will get the verdict you want?"

"All the evidence is there. It just gets really heavy sometimes, listening to testimony about the crime scene and what happened."

He paused while he opened a cupboard and took out two mugs. After setting them on the counter, he continued.

"I didn't expect to feel this way, since I don't remember my biological parents or the house. It makes me think about 'what if,' too. What if it had been a different night and I'd been there instead of with my grandparents? What if it had never happened and I'd lived an entirely different life?"