Billion Dollar Boyfriend (Celebrity Love)

Chapter Twenty-Six

Shelby plucked at the strings of Aiden's acoustic guitar, her fingers remembering a melody she'd been working on during her senior year of college. The chords and notes had been coming back to her in starts and stops over the last two days while she practiced, and now she could almost play the full piece to the point where she had left it before she had sold her guitar.

"I love how that sounds. Did you write it?" Aiden leaned against the doorframe, listening to the song and watching Shelby play.

She smiled, her fingers gliding over the strings to finish the song's chorus before she stopped playing.

"A long time ago," she answered. "I didn't finish it, though."

"You should." He stepped out onto the veranda.

Shelby set the guitar down and got up from the wicker patio chair. "I didn't hear you come home." She ran her fingers through his hair, which was flattened and mussed after being under a wig all day while he'd been at the courthouse. "How was it today?"

"I'm happy it's Friday and we recessed early." He bent his head down to kiss the tip of her nose, then leaned his forehead against hers, looking into her eyes. "It's getting there. The trial should wrap up by the middle of next week, and then it's up to the jury."

"So you won't be here that long after I go home on Tuesday?"

"I shouldn't be." He looped his arms around her waist. "Are you sure I can't convince you to stay a few extra days and go back with me?"

"You know I want to." She breathed in the faint scent of the aftershave he'd used this morning. Her hands wandered up near his neck and worked at loosening his tie. "I'm just afraid of the wrong person seeing us traveling together and recognizing me or you, and word getting back to Seraphine."

"I'll miss you while you aren't here." He brushed his mouth against her forehead.

"I'll miss you, too. We still have the weekend, though. And then the trial will wrap up, and you'll come home, and we won't have to dodge Seraphine."

"We do still have the weekend," he agreed. "We should do something fun. You've been cooped up in this house since Tuesday night because of me."

"I haven't felt cooped up." She finished loosening his tie and slid it out from around his shirt collar. "This place is like a resort with the pool and getting to hike in the hills. It's been more like a retreat."

"What if we retreated somewhere else for a couple of days?"

"That sounds mysterious." Her fingers moved to the collar of his white dress shirt. "Anywhere in mind?"

"I thought we could drive to Calais tonight, have a late dinner there, and stay the night. It's less than three hours from here if we drive and take the car train service on the Chunnel. We could go from Calais to Paris tomorrow and come back on Sunday. We won't have to worry about Seraphine there."

Shelby stopped unbuttoning his shirt collar. "You want to take me to Calais and Paris?" Her voice sounded close to giddy. "I've wanted to see Paris since I was a little girl."

"So that's a yes?" he guessed.

"That's a 'Why-aren't-we-driving-yet?' kind of yes. Let's go pack a bag." She pulled on Aiden's hand. He chuckled and let her lead him inside.

* * *

"You win at date night, just so you know." Shelby smoothed the linen napkin on her lap. She sat back in her chair with a satisfied sigh, taking in the sights and sounds of the bistro in Calais where Aiden had taken her for dinner.