The Langfield Brothers: Box Set

36. Lennox

THIRTY-SIX

LENNOX

“First Melina Rodriguez, now a Jolie article? Should I be worried you’re going to get all the good projects now?”

I eye Rayna, a single mom I share coffee with every morning in the office, checking to see if her words hold any malice. The brunette merely smiles at me.

Odd. Every other place I’ve worked has had a competitive culture. A toxic one at that. Where men talk down to women and women cut one another with their words. But I haven’t experienced that here once.

“Beginner’s luck, I’m sure,” I reply, reaching for the whipped cream in the fridge. I hold it out to her, but she shakes her head, so I cover the top of my coffee with the sweet treat and then return it to the shelf.

“Don’t downplay how hard you’ve been working,” Serena says as she strolls into the break room, salad in one hand and a water bottle in the other. “There’s no luck about it.”

My face heats. I’ve never actually been good at anything. It’s one thing to have Aiden tell me he’s proud of me, but my boss too, and co-workers…

“Knock, knock.”

At the sound of that familiar voice, I spin toward the door, my lips lifting. Aiden wears one of his easy, happy-go-lucky smiles as he hovers outside the breakroom.

“And who do we have here?” Rayna teases, blatantly checking him out.

I do the same. How could I not? He’s wearing a pair of light blue shorts and a black T-shirt that molds to his body so perfectly it makes my mouth water. His hair is lightly gelled, making the natural highlights in his curls appear almost golden.

“Hey, Hockey Boy, what are you doing here?”

“Gavin mentioned wanting a waffle bar in the bridal suite, and I know the perfect place to order them from. Figured you could help me since you are the wedding planner.” He waggles his brows suggestively.

God. How is it possible for this man to be so damn adorable and irresistible at the same time? Two weeks ago, I told Sara that my life isn’t a movie and that I shouldn’t be kissing the groom. Yet I’ve done an awful lot of kissing this man these last few weeks. Thankfully he is no longer the groom .

“Oh, let me know what you think of the place, Lennox. The Kingstons were just asking for brunch ideas for their event,” my boss says. She gives Aiden a nod, then heads back into the office.

“Will do,” I reply happily. “Just give me a second to put this in a to-go cup,” I tell Aiden.

As I’m transferring my coffee, Rayna leans over and mumbles, “First, you’re a rockstar at work, and now I find out you’re dating that hot hockey player?” She wears a teasing smile as she adds, “Some girls have all the luck.”

“Hungry?” Aiden pulls a candy bar from his pocket and dangles it between us.

Laughing, I shake my head. “I thought we were going to the farmers’ market for waffles.”

Aiden opens the Hershey’s wrapper and takes a bite. “Just a snack to hold us over.”

“Do you always carry around snacks?”

Due to the uneven bricks of the cobblestone street, I’ve had to reach for Aiden’s arm more than once. Though I can’t say I mind. Naturally, the man came prepared. I’d only wobbled two or three times when he pulled a pair of flip-flops from his back pocket. With a flourish and a grin, he kneeled in front of me and traded them for my Louboutin heels. Now, I’m steadier on my feet, though it doesn’t stop me from linking my arm through his. With his other hand, he holds my heels, letting them dangle from his fingers.

“Did you know the microwave was created in Boston?”

I giggle. “Where did that come from?”

“It’s about my snacks. Just follow along.” He eyes me as he takes another bite of his candy bar. “So there was this guy?—”

“Ah, the beginning of all good stories.”

“Nah, he wasn’t a stalker, and we know that’s how all your good stories start.”

I don’t even try to fight my smile as butterflies flap wildly in my belly. I love flirting with this man, and I love our banter. Since we moved in together and started doing whatever it is we are doing, I love it all even more. “So there was this guy…” I prod.

Aiden smirks. “Yes. He worked for Raytheon, and he was in the lab running tests when he noticed that the candy bar in his pocket had melted.”

“So he had a sweet tooth like you?”

“Nah, he liked to feed the animals during his lunch break.”

“Ah, a Good Samaritan, then. Not a candy addict.”

Aiden chuckles, his eyes boring into mine as his smile stretches across his face. “Yeah, Princess. Anyway .” He stretches the word out, and I blink out of the daze his eye contact alone puts me in. “He ran a few tests the next day to see if it was just a coincidence. First, he used an egg, and it exploded. Then he tried popcorn kernels, and they popped. That’s when he realized that the device he was working on had food-heating capabilities, and they started to work on the microwave.”

“That’s pretty cool.”

Aiden nods. “So don’t make fun of my chocolate-carrying ways. You never know, maybe I’ll discover the next big thing.”

“Got it. Never doubt Aiden Langfield.”

Chuckling, he guides me across the street toward Boston Common.

“I love this spot,” I tell him.

“Did you know that this is America’s oldest public park?”

Warmth spreads through me as I assess him. “You’re just full of fun facts today. Got anything else?”

Aiden smirks. “Did you know the first subway system in the US was right here in Boston?”

What is with this guy and all his Boston facts? It’s like he’s trying to sell me on the brilliance of the city. Internally, I roll my eyes. That’s so something I’ve read in a book. Big Boyfriend Energy right there. But that’s not what we are. We’re…God, who knows what we are.

Almost-fake-engaged exes who like to fuck and have fun together?

Now that’s a mouthful.

Either way, what we aren’t is a real couple, so Aiden has no reason to feel the need to woo me. And even if he were turning on the charm, spewing facts about Boston would be a silly way to do it. I love this city. Not because of the history— the place where the microwave was invented?— yeah, that’s definitely not romantic. Though the idea does make me giggle.

This is just Aiden being Aiden. Who wouldn’t smile at that?

“The waffle stand is on the other side of the park,” he says, interrupting my insane thoughts.

“Great, let’s go order some waffles.”

Despite being convinced that he’s not trying to get me to fall in love with Boston, we spend the next few hours doing very touristy things in my favorite city.

For lunch, he takes me to Sugar Factory, which seems like overkill. “Aiden, we couldn’t possibly need more sugar.”

With a simple shrug, he orders the sugar factory sliders, which come on mini buns in a variety of colors and with a toy.

“Finn is going to love this,” he says, snapping a picture of the yellow duck that sits beside our burgers. Seriously, what are the chances? This ducking family.

He also orders a Cookie Monster milkshake for himself and a Barbie one for me. When our server drops them off at our table, I can’t help but laugh. His is practically Bolts blue, and mine, of course, is pink.

With a grin, he says, “They match our closet.”

After lunch, I feel like I could use a nap, but according to Aiden, we have places to be, so he leads me toward the seaport and straight to a large bus-like vehicle.

I can’t help but chuckle at the sight. A Duck Tour? It’s such a Langfield activity. The tour bus is a military-grade vehicle created during World War II to operate on land and in the water. Here in Boston, the DUKW, which was used on the beaches in Normandy on D-Day, as well as many other locations during the war, is used to bring tourists through the city and then down the Charles River and yes, it quacks.

We sit up front, and about halfway through, Aiden steals the mic from our guide and serenades the lucky tourists. He lists fact after fact about Boston to the tune of Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire.”

By the time we hit the Charles River and he’s started on “The Downeaster ‘Alexa,’” the entire group is singing along.

It’s amazing how this man can make even strangers fall in love with him. How the hell do I stand a chance of walking away from this with my heart still intact?

It’s dusk by the time we make it to the park where we met up all those weeks ago. It’s only a few blocks from our apartment. Aiden is now carrying a bag full of several souvenirs he’s purchased throughout the day, including a Boston Duck from the Duck Tour company, which he says he’ll store next to Luigi, who guards the coffee milk in the fridge. I don’t understand that one at all, but I just smile and nod.

As we come upon the crowded carousel, Aiden points to the grassy area where I envisioned his wedding taking place. “Looks like they’re having an outdoor movie night.”

Silently, I take in the scene before me. There’s a large blank screen set up where I imagined the ceremony would take place. Families sit on blankets in the grass, and picnic baskets litter the ground.

I sigh. “God, I always wanted to go to one of these.”

Aiden grabs my hand and tugs me forward.

“Where are you going? We don’t have a blanket.”

Without a word, he guides me to a large blue Bolts blanket spread out on the ground beneath a willow tree. There are lanterns dangling from the branches above, creating a romantic scene.

“Aiden Langfield, what did you do?” I can’t hide the surprise in my voice, and I can’t pretend to be unaffected. Because this? This is just…I have no words.

He drops his bag of souvenirs to the ground and holds out his hand. “Dance with me.”

Butterflies flap wildly in my belly, and my heart pounds so loud I can barely hear the music playing from speakers nearby. Even so, I take his hand and let him pull me close.

“I honestly had no idea they did this. Is it, like, a weekly thing?” I rest my head on his chest as he spins us around our little spot.

“It is now,” Aiden murmurs.

I straighten and look up into his beautiful brown eyes. Maybe it’s the magic of the day, or the lighting from the movie screen, but they’re glowing with happiness. “What do you mean, it is now ?”

With a secretive smile, he presses a kiss to my lips. “I brought peanut M&M’s for you. But I’m keeping all the blue ones.”

A movie night on the lawn. Dancing under the stars. M&M’s.

“Aiden, why does it feel like we’re in The Wedding Planner ?”

He ducks his head, burying it in my shoulder.

“Aiden—”

His chest rumbles as he laughs. When he pulls back, his smooth smile steals my breath. “Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answer to.”

“Did you?—”

He silences me with a kiss, though I’m pretty sure I already know the answer.

Aiden Langfield spent the day trying to get me to fall in love with this city. And tonight, he recreated one of teenage Lennox’s favorite movies, a movie we’ve quite literally been living for the last month.

I can’t help but wonder, if what we’re doing is all still fake, why would he go to all this trouble?

And if it’s all still fake, why do I love every moment of it so much?