Late Call (Volume 1) Read Free Page A

elevator, and boy am I glad I passed right on over the backless dress in my closet. I’m not sure I could deal with such intimate skin-on-skin contact with this man without being swamped by the past. God knows I can barely breathe through this as it is.
    My back straightens a little more each minute his hand is resting there. I take a deep breath and remind myself to act as Mia would. I have to be Mia. I have to be unaffected yet believable.
    The elevator doors open and Aaron closes them again. I look up at him, frowning.
    “What are you doing?”
    “Dayton.” He pushes some hair back from my face, looking at me almost tenderly.
    I swipe his hand away. “Standing in an elevator isn’t going to change the fact I have a job to do, Aaron. Can we get on with this?”
    He sighs, following it with a small smile. “Fine. But what do I tell my parents when they inevitably recognize the girl who stole me for the duration of our vacation seven years ago?”
    Shit. I didn’t think of that. “You let me think of that.”
    The doors open again and we walk toward the ballroom.
    “Last chance,” he murmurs.
    “Shut up and open the damn door for me.”
    I hear his quiet laugh before he opens the door. Men in suits and women dressed in expensive dresses fill the buzzing room. A bar takes up one corner and tables line the walls, leaving the main floor free.
    As I am standing here in the doorway, surrounded by Seattle’s elite, it’s so very easy to see why this is the top hotel in Seattle. This room reeks of money and class.
    Aaron leads me inside, and almost immediately his parents appear in front of us. His mom looks the same as she did back then—perfect brown hair without a grey in sight and flawless skin any woman would be jealous of. Her blue eyes, the same as Aaron’s, survey me before widening slightly.
    “Well I never. Dayton Black?” She places a hand on her chest.
    I smile. “It’s lovely to see you again, Mr. and Mrs. Stone.”
    “I don’t believe this is the little teenager who had our son performing disappearing acts for weeks on end.” Mr. Stone beams at me.
    “I plead the Fifth. He acted of his own accord.” I return his smile and he laughs. He leans forward to kiss me on the cheek, Aaron’s mom doing the same.
    “And none of this Mr. and Mrs. stuff. Brandon and Carly,” he insists. “Can we get you a drink?”
    “A bottle of wine would be great, Dad,” Aaron answers.
    “Aaron, darling, why didn’t you tell us you were bringing Dayton?” Carly questions him as we walk toward the bar.
    “Yeah, about that,” he replies uncertainly. I try not to roll my eyes.
    “We ran into each other a few weeks ago,” I cut in. “Completely by chance. I think both of us were really shocked, right, Aaron?”
    He struggles to keep a straight face. “Right.”
    “We’ve been out for drinks a couple of times. Catching up, you know? Then this afternoon he calls me out of the blue and tells me he needs a date for tonight. And well, how could I say no to this face?” I raise my eyebrows and brush my thumb across his jaw, giving him a fond smile.
    “You didn’t say you’d seen her!” Carly taps his bicep.
    “I wasn’t aware I was supposed to, Mom.”
    “Well it would have been nice to know she was still in Seattle and you were back in contact.”
    “We’ve only seen each other a few times.”
    “Stop grilling him, Carly. He’s a grown man now. Let him have his secrets.” Brandon places a bottle of wine and four glasses in front of us then pours. “Well, it sure is a lovely surprise, Dayton. How are your parents?”
    Be Mia. Be Mia. Be Mia.
    “They, uh… They actually passed away five years ago.” I look down, feeling the same sting that always accompanies the mention of them. Aaron’s hand creeps across my back to my waist. He steps slightly closer to me and I take comfort in the gesture.
    “I’m so sorry.” His dad takes my hand briefly. “That must have been terrible so young.”
    I nod