Chapter 9

I stayed over at my parents' but I left late morning to head back to London as I'd promised I'd spend the day with Liv and her boyfriend. Aiden had got us tickets to a concert in Hyde Park. He was a film professor and he'd heard that an orchestra were playing songs from movie soundtracks. It sounded like a fun day out so we'd agreed to come with him.

It was a sunny but crisp day so I wore jeans, a striped cardigan and sneakers with a cross-body bag and I added a black headband to keep my hair off my face.

‘I'm so relieved it's not raining.' Liv greeted me with a hug. As usual, she looked stunning in a knit dress, boots and a beret and Aiden was in trousers and a shirt. They did make a gorgeous couple. ‘I haven't eaten breakfast so I can try all the food vans.'

‘And the coffee ones,' I agreed.

‘We better get started then,' Aiden said with a grin.

We walked through the gates, showing our tickets and getting wrists bands. The park was packed with people, lined with food and drink vans and a stage had been set up with deckchairs dotted around.

‘Ooh look,' I said, pointing to a pink van. ‘Isn't that the company Dan saw on TikTok?' I asked. Liv's brother was a social media influencer and always found good things to try in the city.

‘Yes!' Liv cried, taking Aiden's hand and pulling him that way. ‘Apparently the coffee is chef's kiss.'

‘And they do cupcakes,' I added, spotting the menu.

‘This van couldn't be more you two,' Aiden laughed as he trailed after us.

We joined the queue behind a tall, dark-haired man wearing jeans and a t-shirt.

‘I didn't tell Aiden anything about your new job as I thought we would have a big debrief today,' Liv said, turning to me.

‘I have even more to tell you,' I replied, thinking about having to work with Noah on the Deborah Day campaign.

‘Sounds like we better buy a box of cakes,' Aiden said.

Liv leaned against him. ‘I knew I was with you for a reason.'

Laughing, I turned to look at the menu and the man in front looked over his shoulder at us. Our eyes locked and I stopped laughing.

‘Oh,' I said, when I realised who it was.

Noah turned around to face us fully. ‘I knew I recognised that laugh,' he said, smiling enough to flash his dimple.

‘What are you doing here?' I blurted out in shock, wishing my eyes hadn't just shot to that dimple. Why was it still so adorable?

His smile wavered a little bit. ‘Well, I love classical music, you might not remember, so when I heard about this, I thought it sounded fun. And I don't really know anyone after being away for so long so I thought it would get me out of my flat.'

I was stumped as to what to say. Of course I remembered he loved classical music, but I couldn't let myself admit how much I did remember. Or how I had compared every man I met to him.

‘Where have you moved from?' Aiden asked as Liv gave me a subtle nudge in the side. ‘I'm Aiden, by the way,' he said, glancing at me, no doubt wondering why my mouth was hanging open.

I shook myself. ‘Sorry. This is Noah, my new manager at Turn the Pages. This is Liv, and her boyfriend Aiden. We all worked at the university together. Well, until I… uh, left,' I said, coughing at the end to cover my discomfort.

‘A pleasure,' Noah said, shaking hands with Aiden then Liv. ‘I moved recently from New York. I'd been there for five years but my company asked me to run their new acquisition so I came back.'

It was Liv's turn to stare at him, stunned now she realised who he was. I nudged her this time.

‘Well, how… lovely,' she said, looking at me with wide eyes.

‘If you're here alone, why don't you join us?' Aiden asked.

I spluttered. ‘Oh, I'm sure Noah doesn't want us disturbing his peace,' I said quickly, trying to ignore Liv giving Aiden an annoyed look.

Noah kept his eyes on Aiden. ‘Actually, I'd love to, thank you. Why don't I get the drinks and cakes and you guys find us deckchairs? What do you want?'

‘Oh, we couldn't,' Liv said, letting go of Aiden's arm to clutch mine. I was glad of the support.

Aiden looked at us, confused at why we were acting so strangely. ‘Are you sure, mate?'

‘I insist. It's been a tough couple of days at work and I couldn't have got through it without Stevie. What will you have?'

Aiden looked at us but Liv and I had been rendered speechless. He realised then this was serious so he replied to Noah. ‘Iced lattes for Stevie and Liv, I'd love a mocha and how about a cupcake selection so we can try them all? Come on, let's get a good spot.' Aiden moved in between the two of us and deftly steered us away from the van as Noah reached the front.

‘Okay, what is going on?' Aiden asked as we moved away.

‘That's Stevie's ex-boyfriend!' Liv cried.

‘Wait? What? I thought you said he was your new manager?'

‘He's her new boss and her ex! He broke her heart five years ago,' Liv hissed. ‘And now he's back.'

‘Olivia, why didn't you tell me?'

‘The one time I wait to tell you gossip!' Liv shook her head. ‘I thought we'd discuss it today.'

‘Oh, shit, Stevie, I feel terrible,' Aiden said, looking at me in horror.

Now I was away from Noah, I could breathe again.

‘It's okay,' I reassured him as we reached the deckchair area. ‘You didn't know. And I can't believe he agreed to it.' I sighed. ‘I have to get used to being around him, I guess. Now he's my bloody boss.'

‘Quick, tell me everything I need to know,' Aiden insisted as he looked at Noah waiting for our order. ‘I don't want to put my foot in it again.'

‘I can't believe you asked him to join us.' Liv tutted as I told Aiden briefly the story of how Noah had dumped me and how I was now having to work for him.

Aiden whistled when I finished. ‘I admire you, Stevie. I couldn't work under Olivia if we spilt up.'

‘Well, you better not mess this up then,' she told him with a mischievous grin. These two loved to banter.

I rolled my eyes. ‘Just help me, you two; don't leave me alone with him.'

‘Pinkie swear,' Liv said, holding out her little finger to me. Aiden did the same.

‘You two are nuts but I'm glad you're here,' I said, giving their little fingers a shake. ‘Anyway, shall we sit here?' I said, seeing Noah was coming over. We found a group of four chairs to the side of the stage and claimed them.

‘Okay,' Noah said. ‘Here are the coffees and I got two selection boxes – the pink cupcake selection and the brownie selection.' He handed around the coffees and then sat down on the spare deckchair beside me. He passed me the cakes. ‘I haven't eaten cake in about a year.'

I raised an eyebrow. ‘That sounds like a tragedy. Here.' I passed him a cupcake. ‘No one can feel sad eating this.' I took one out and gave the boxes to Aiden and Liv. ‘Picture?' I asked as Liv selected her cupcake.

‘Of course.' Liv pulled out her phone and I took out mine. ‘Get closer,' she instructed.

I held out my cupcake and she held hers next to mine. ‘Ooh, let's tap them together like a cheers.'

‘A cupcake cheers, that's going to be my caption,' Liv agreed excitedly. We filmed us on our phones tapping the cupcakes together. ‘Right, taste test.'

I took a bite at the same time as her then I noticed Noah staring at me.

Aiden leaned forward around us to talk to him. ‘Yes, they are always like this.'

‘Oh God, that's better than sex,' I moaned at the deliciousness of the cupcake, ignoring Aiden.

‘Don't you dare agree,' Aiden joked to Liv.

‘Just wait till you've tried some. I think you might agree,' Liv replied as she began to feed him some.

I turned to look at Noah. ‘Well?'

He bit into his and met my gaze. ‘Better than I remember,' he replied once he'd swallowed.

Well, fuck.

I looked away, heat rising at the back of my neck. There was no way that wasn't a double entendre. My mind had already strayed into dangerous territory remembering my sex life with Noah and now it was right back there again. I was half-pleased he remembered how good it had been and half-annoyed because, like watching someone eating a cupcake when you were on a diet, I now craved something that was definitely bad for me.