“Sorry,” I say quickly, moving the offending foot. “Sorry. But hang on. Can you justthinkabout it at least?—”
“No.”
“But you’re going to be there already, aren’t—” I break off again, but not because Aiden has interrupted me with his naysaying this time; it’s because the doorbell has just rung.
I look at him with a little frown; he looks at me with the exact same expression. “Are you expecting anyone?” he says. “We need to add that to the rules. You need to inform your roommate if you’re expecting company?—”
“I’m not expecting company,” I say, rolling my eyes. “Are you?”
“No,” he says, and his frown deepens. “I’m?—”
But both of us fall silent when the front door swings open and a tall woman steps in. “Honey, I’m home!” she calls in a sing-song voice.
“Caroline, for the love,” Aiden mutters under his breath, squeezing his eyes shut. He rubs his temples. “No way. I’m not doing this with you right now.”
I can’t tell if he’s talking to me or to the woman, Caroline.
“Oh!” I say, and it clicks. I turn back to the woman. “You’re Caroline. The landlady? Aiden’s sister?”
“That’s me!” she says, beaming. Her shoulder-length hair is a bit lighter than Aiden’s, but she has similar features—the same brown eyes, definitely, and a stronger chin than you usually see on a woman. It’s hard to say if she and Aiden have the same smile, since he rarely smiles, but hers is nice. I know this because she’s beaming at me, practically glowing, like I’m the best thing she’s seen all day.
“Oh, you’re completely darling!” she says as she approaches.
More muttering from Aiden at this, and more temple rubbing. “Caroline?—”
“Are you getting settled in okay?” she says, ignoring her brother completely. “I wanted to come and check on you. Make sure everything was to your liking.”
Wow. That’s really nice of her. Are landladies usually that thoughtful?
“Uh, yeah,” I say, because this is such an unexpectedquestion that I don’t have an answer ready. “It’s great. It’s a nice place, my room is great, the price is fair.”
“Wonderful,” Caroline says, looking pleased. Then she jerks her thumb at Aiden. “And how’s the roommate?”
“A bit on the negative side,” I say immediately. Aiden glares at me; I smile sweetly back.
She nods sympathetically. “I know,” she says. Then, lowering her voice to a conspicuous whisper, she says, “He’s always been like that. It’s why no one will date him.”
I think she’s probably exaggerating there; I’m sure there are plenty of women who would put up with all the frowning for a chance to see this man on a regular basis. But I just nod, because I don’t think his sister needs to hear my opinion on that particular matter.
Except…
“He doesn’t even have a date to the dance tonight?” I say. I’m not a superb actress; my voice is a little too innocent to be believable, and the way Aiden’s eyes narrow tells me he sees what I’m up to.
“Of course he doesn’t,” Caroline says with a snort. She waves one airy hand, a little charm bracelet jingling as she says, “I don’t remember the last time he took a date to a school event.”
“That’s too bad,” I say with an over-the-top sigh. “Because I was just asking him ifIcould be his date?—”
“Don’t you dare—” Aiden begins, looking mutinous, but Caroline jumps in.
“Oh, yes, you should!” she says, clapping her hands. “Absolutely!”
“I thought it was a good idea, but he said no.” I do my best to pull a sad face.
And look—if Aiden himself were my real interest, I wouldn’t do this. I’m not going tomanipulate my way into a date with a guy I like, especially if I know he isn’t interested. That feels icky to me, too much like forcing my presence on him when he doesn’t want it. But if I can justgetto the dance with Aiden, I can make myself scarce. He won’t have to put up with me until the very end, when we swing by the potato statue together.
“Aiden,” Caroline says, rounding on him and looking exasperated. “If a beautiful woman asks you to be her date?—”
“She doesn’t want to be my date!” Aiden says, throwing his hands up in the air. “She just wants to go meet some weirdo by the Solomon statue.”
