‘Yes. Yes, I do, thank you,’ I replied, downing the remainder of my drink.
Aidan laughed, holding my chin between his thumb and forefinger, tipping my head so that he could swoop down and kiss me. I wrapped my free hand around his waist. It always felt so good to hold him, or to be held by him. I felt safe when I was with him, which didn’t make sense when we’d only known each other four weeks.
I took a deep breath, determined to tell him how I felt, too. Because I didn’t want to hold back anymore. It was a risk, but it felt like one that I wanted to take with him.
‘I think I like every single thing about you,’ I said, stroking my fingertips up and down his back. ‘Even your questionable cooking skills and your terrible taste in films.’
He was like a big kid, all into Marvel andStar Wars. I joked that he needed to grow up and watch some bleak, edgy foreign films and that then there would be no going back.
‘There is absolutely nothing wrong with a grown man having anIron Manobsession,’ he said, tickling me under the ribs, where he knew I couldn’t bear it the most.
I laughed, squirming out of his reach.
‘Seriously, though,’ I said, ‘I think I’m falling in love with you, too.’
He nodded, pressing his forehead against mine. ‘Good. That’s good.’
We stood there for what felt like ages with these big grins on our faces and London shimmering beneath our feet.
Chapter Seventeen
When Daisy and I got back to the hotel, the family were all sitting in the hotel bar, chortling about something so loudly that other guests, who mostly looked like they were after a quiet, pre-dinner drink, were looking over with varying degrees of irritation. It was like the Leveson-Gowers didn’t care what anyone else thought. I realised that that was what really annoyed me about them. They had this overinflated sense of themselves, as though the oh-so-fabulous life they were living was one we should all aspire to. They probably thought we were all seething with envy, which I certainly wasn’t, because I’d always believed that people who constantly judged other people were probably doing it to make themselves feel better.
I looked at Daisy as we went across to join them at their table.
‘You OK?’ I whispered.
She nodded. It was still obvious she’d been crying, but Daisy reckoned it was likely her mum would be too self-absorbed to ask. Except that Sophia was staring at the two of us walking in together and I couldn’t quite work out what the look on her face meant, but she didn’t exactly seem pleased. What had I done now? Which major faux pas had I unsuspectingly committed?
‘Daisy? Come over here, please,’ said Sophia, patting the empty chair next to hers.
Daisy gave me ahelp melook and I smiled encouragingly at her, wishing I knew how to make things easier for her. I stood there awkwardly for a moment or two, wondering whether anyone would notice if I just skulked up to my room, but then Nick waved me over.
‘I’ll make space for you here, Maddie. Come on.’
Dutifully, I went to sit next to him.
‘We were just reminiscing about our last family ski trip to Verbier,’ said Rosamund. ‘Nick went off on a black run and didn’t come back for hours. I was on the phone to search and rescue when he waltzed back through the door of the chalet looking worse for wear.’
‘You’d had a fall?’ I asked innocently.
‘No, I’d been indulging in rather too much apres-ski!’ Nick chortled.
Everyone found this hilarious.
‘Do you ski, Maddie?’ asked Peter.
‘Afraid not.’
I tuned in to Daisy and Sophia’s conversation, which didn’t seem to be going well.
‘Iinsistthat you tell me what the matter is,’ Sophia was saying. ‘Right now. We don’t keep secrets from each other, Daisy.’
‘I don’t want to think about it anymore,’ replied Daisy, sulkily. ‘Anyway, I’ve already talked it through with Maddie and now I feel much better.’
‘You’ve talked it through with … Maddie?!’ said Sophia, clearly not believing what she was hearing.
I winced. She threw me one of her ‘if looks could kill’ sideways glances and I swiped a menu off the table and pretended to read it.
