“Hmmm, the one that got away.” Nadine winked at me. I laughed. My brother was two years older than me. Nadine had met my brother once. Jeremy was short, stocky and solid. He was also happily married to his childhood sweetheart, but according to Nadine, my brother had “alpha” vibes and “a man’s hands.” Nadine had fallen into instalust with him. Jeremy had been terrified. His wife, Rachel, had been delighted when he had told her, and Nadine got a peach cobbler baked for her. I had found the whole thing hilarious and still did, especially when Jeremy had asked me if he had to come to the office to get me, or was it okay to just pick me up at the apartment, in case he had to see “that nympho co-worker.” Thirty-one and hiding from a slip of a girl. Yeah—he was an alpha male alright.
“You know he’s scared of you, don’t you?” I asked her.
“But I only bite if they beg.” Nadine batted her lashes at me as she sashayed back to her desk. I was giggling as she stopped at her desk without sitting.
“Would you beg, I wonder?” Nadine asked softly.
“Depends on the options.” Came the husky reply.
My heartbeat picked up a gear as I looked up swiftly to see Aiden. He was looking back at me. He was dressed normally. Jeans, sweater, hoodie and a leather jacket. His hair was combed back and styled, like the book cover, I noted distractedly. He looked amazing.
“Aiden,” I greeted.
“Jemma.”
“Are you looking for Richard? He’s with a client.” I rubbed my hands on my pants. Was it hot in here?
“No, I was looking for Ben. Thought he might be here.”
“Haven’t seen him,” I answered. Aiden looked at me for a moment longer and then turned away. “You’ve been gone?” I blurted. I bit my lip.
He turned back. “Other jobs to do.” His tone was cool.
“Oh, I see.” My eyes ran over him again, hungrily. Good grief, I never knew someone in a hoodie could look so damn hot.
Nadine was looking between the two of us, watching.
“If you see Ben, tell him I’m on ten,” Aiden told Nadine.
“With no safety gear on?” Seriously, will you stop? Please?
“I have work clothes up there.” His smirk was back, his eyes lit up with…humour? “I can be suited and booted without violating code before you’re even off the phone to dad.”
My eyes narrowed as he turned and left. I fumed internally as he disappeared up the back stairs.
“What the hell was that?” Nadine whispered to me.
“What?” I was still watching the back stairs.
“What do you mean—what? You two practically had eye sex.”
My attention snapped to her. “I don’t even know what that is.” I glared at the stairs again. Don’t do it, Jemma. “I’ll be two minutes,” I said as I headed to the elevator, and when it arrived, I headed inside and hit ten.
The elevator doors opened, and I stepped out into—amazingly enough—a construction site. I yanked a high vis vest off the rack beside the elevator and grabbed a discarded hard hat. I moved swiftly through the floor, as there was no one here. I knew he would be here somewhere or making his way here, that’s what he said…wasn’t it? On instinct, I headed to the large room he had taken us to the day of the roof meeting. Sure enough, he was there, looking at plans, no safety clothing on. Okay, so they hadn’t started working in this room, but that was beside the point. He looked up as I entered.
“What’s your problem?” I snapped.
“Jesus, really?” Aiden turned his back to me. “Nice safety gear, I assume it’s my guys’?” He glanced back at me. “What? No boots?”
I took the hard hat off since I didn’t actually need it in here and placed it on the table. “I found it next to the elevator.”
“Theft? You have so many talents.”
“Stop being so horrible. Why are you being this way? And what was the dig at my dad?”
Aiden turned and gave me his full attention. I almost wished he hadn’t. “I now know why your boss was so keen for you to look over everything.”
“Because I’m good at my job?” I countered.
“Because your dad works for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.”
“That has nothing to do with me being good at my job,” I snapped. “My dad and brother have worked construction for years. So dad works for OSHA, so what?”
“I don’t have time for this. What do you want?” He surveyed me coolly.
I wasn’t prepared for his coldness. I don’t know what I had been expecting, but it hadn’t been this. “I don’t want anything, Aiden. I didn’t like the tone you used downstairs or the dig, so I came up. I’ve addressed it, and you’ve made it clear you don’t care.” I forced a smile—I grabbed the hard hat off the table. “I’ll not make a comment that you walked up four floors with no gear on, or phone my dad.” The sarcasm was dripping; if I could have flipped him off without being childish, I would have.
I turned and started to make my way out. His strong hand grabbed my elbow, and he pulled my back into his hard body. His head dipped to my ear as his arm held me tight. My hands grabbed onto his arm, but he had me secured like a vise.
“You were so timid in the coffee shop that morning.” His other hand pulled my ponytail away from the side of my neck. “I could see that you were out of your comfort zone when you spoke to me. You were more surprised than I was when you spoke to me about that book.” I felt his breath tickle my neck. “Then you gave me a little bit of sass and caught my interest.” A feather soft caress.
My God, did he just kiss me?
“Then the next day, a little bolder, a little feistier. I liked it. I knew then that you weren’t timid,” he carried on, another soft caress, and I stood there as his right hand crept up and swept up over my chest, his hand gently circling my throat, tilting my head back into him. I gasped. He held me tight, his left arm a solid band around my middle, his right hand at my throat, his lips on my neck. “Then you told me you wanted Ben.” A nip at my neck. “You don’t want Ben though, do you?” Another soft kiss. “No, you wouldn’t come up here, fire in your eyes, if you wanted Ben.” I felt the smile against my skin.
“Aiden…” My voice was soft but strong, a miracle since I was struggling to think clearly.
“I really need to go—I have a meeting.” His hand tightened slightly at my throat. “But we’re not done here.”
“Aiden.” I was so proud of my clear voice. “I really think it would be best if you let me go.”
He pulled me in tighter. His teeth nipped harder at my neck. I flinched, but his tongue flicked out and soothed the bite. The moan that escaped my mouth was low—and completely unintentional.
“Fuck, Jemma, don’t moan like that,” Aiden warned.
His hand left my throat and grabbed my ponytail, pulling my head back more as his lips explored my neck further. His left hand dipped to my waistband and flicked open the button. He pulled my shirt out, and then his hand was on my skin, travelling up over my stomach to my chest. It was the soft touch of his hair, which registered in my brain that my own hands had moved. I had one arm curled around his neck, holding his head in place as he kissed into my neck and along my jawline. My other hand was curled around his thigh, pulling him in tighter to me. I could feel every inch of him behind me.
The cool air on my skin made me realise that my shirt was now unbuttoned. His thumb traced the curve of my breast as I felt him pull away from me, and his hands slipped to my waist. I turned my head to look at him over my shoulder, and my breath caught at his raw look of desire. His focus was on my lips, and I tilted my head, ready for his kiss, when the elevator doors opened.
“Aiden! You up here?” Ben shouted.
“Shit!” I jumped away from Aiden and hurriedly buttoned my shirt, turning away from the doorway. My God, anyone could have come in from the back stairs and seen me half naked in Aiden’s arms, on full display.
“I didn’t think you swore,” Aiden murmured in amusement.
I looked up at him as I hastily tucked myself in and threw on the high vis vest. He didn’t even look affected. How was that possible?
“Oh, hi, Jemma,” Ben greeted me in surprise as he came in.
“Ben,” I mumbled, mortified, although I realised that I just looked guilty for no reason.
He frowned at me. “You ok?” Ben asked.
“She’s fine,” Aiden snapped. “You’re late, I expected you ten minutes ago.”
I gaped at him. Ten minutes ago? Thank God he hadn’t been early!
“The bank manager is a dick.” Ben grimaced as he looked at me. “Sorry, Jemma.”
“No problem.” I couldn’t look at Aiden. “I better be heading off.” Getting no response, I made to leave the room, scooping the hard hat off the table as I went.
“Oh, Ben, Jemma came up to tell me she would rather liaise with me for the project.”
I stopped and turned back. Aiden was smiling.
“Oh, sure, makes sense.” Ben smiled at me, still looking uncertain.
“That wasn’t what I said exactly, Aiden,” I said carefully.
“I know, you were very guarded with your words. It’s all the time spent with the lawyers.” His smirk was mocking. “However, I understand what you’re saying, and I fully agree.”
“You do?”
“Absolutely. We’ll talk more later, but I really do have a meeting.”
I was back at my desk five minutes later, and I wasn’t entirely sure what had just happened. Thankfully, Nadine had gone for lunch, because I don’t think I would have survived the interrogation. Richard came out of his office and left some files on my desk. He looked at me and then sat on the edge of the desk.
“Are you okay?” he asked me.
“Yes, why?” I could feel my face flushing.
“Because your shirt is buttoned wrong and you look like you have a hickey?”
“What?” I croaked. Like a goddamn frog.
“Your buttons are crooked, and you have what appears to be a love bite on your neck.” Richard’s eyes were dancing with laughter.
“Tell me that isn’t true.”
“I’m not even going to ask; I thought I saw Ben earlier.” He walked away chuckling.
Oh my God, I’m going to die of embarrassment. I didn’t even bother correcting him; the situation was bad enough. I looked at my shirt—I had completely buttoned it wrongly. Aiden had unbuttoned it deftly, without even my awareness that it had happened, and I couldn’t even put the right buttons through the right holes? At twenty-nine? When he hadn’t even kissed me? I had lost my goddamn mind over a neck kiss? He had given me a hickey!
I jumped out of my seat and half ran to the restroom. He had bitten me? It was faint, but I knew it for what it was. Richard had seen the shirt, seen the mark and, being an educated man, had made the connection.
He bit me.
I stared at the mark. He marked me. Like an animal. Claiming me. Marking me as his?
God damn it, Aiden.
Despite my resolution to have it out with Aiden, I didn’t see him again. I had found a cardigan at the bottom of my bag and a loose scarf and put both on, complaining to Nadine that I thought it had turned cooler when she returned from lunch. Aiden didn’t come back that day or that week. If he did, I didn’t see him. To be fair, I didn’t go looking for him. I wanted to, but I restrained myself. Barely.
I went into the weekend without seeing him and not entirely sure how I felt about that. He had me completely in a muddle, which was bizarre as I knew nothing about him and had so few interactions with him—it was so out of character for me to act the way I did with him. I had been on four dates with Tim before I had even let him kiss me. I spoke to Aiden, what, three times and I was half undressed in a semi-public place, panting for him? My face flushed as I thought about it.
I sat down on my couch in my apartment with my meal for one and a glass of wine. After two very disinterested bites of microwave pasta, I decided wine was the answer. I flicked Netflix on as I set dinner aside, needing something to watch to stop thinking about Aiden. It wasn’t healthy; he had consumed my thoughts since Wednesday, and now on a Friday night, I was sitting thinking about him—again.
Someone knocked on my front door. I sat still for a minute. That was strange. Maybe it was the neighbours. The knocking came again, this time louder. That was definitely my door. A feeling of dread crept over me. Please don’t be Tim.
“Jemma, open the door. I know you’re in there.”
I sighed; it was Tim. “What do you want?” I opened the door a fraction with the chain still attached. It felt stupid, considering I had once been going to marry this man, but Richard had told me not to let him in. Tim was thin and lanky but could still shove me aside if he wanted, and he wanted in this apartment. Something I hadn’t allowed since he left me.
“Can I come in?” He stood there with his fake patient face on. I called it that because that is what it was.
“No.” I smiled. My genuine, I don’t like you smile. I took in his short dirty blond hair, his angular face—pleasantly attractive if you liked weasels with small beady eyes and long pointed noses. Jemma! I scolded myself, but I was chuckling internally.
“I would like to talk to you, but I would like to do so without our neighbours listening,” Tim gritted out between clenched teeth.
Oh goody, now I had fake patient voice to match fake patient face. “My neighbours.”
“What?”
“They’re my neighbours. You don’t live here anymore,” I reminded him, smiling at him again.
“Jemma, you’re being childish.”
Ah, Tim the Superior, haven’t missed him at all. “Okay. We done?” I made to close the door.
He lurched forward and put his hand on the door to stop it from closing. “Can we please talk?”
Tim the Almost Genuine? Interesting. “Come by the office on Monday.” I closed the door. I returned to my seat and my wine. I looked at the TV, I looked at my wine. I shut the TV off and, picking up my wine, I went to bed with a book. I was done with this week.
The rest of the weekend was better. I did some last-minute Christmas shopping and packed my bags for my trip home to Boulder. Christmas was my absolute favourite time of year, and I loved it. The shops were brimming with festive fun, and by Sunday evening, I had all my presents wrapped and had danced around my apartment to Christmas music.
Jeremy was to pick me up after work on Tuesday and would have me back before New Year. I had promised Richard and Karen I wouldn’t be miserable and would attend some charity New Year’s Eve gala with them. Karen had assured me it would be fun. It was a free bar and it was New Year’s, and she refused to let me sit in Boulder with my mom and dad, moping.
I was a huge lover of Christmas, but I really didn’t bother too much with New Year, as I quite liked burrowing away and avoiding it all. Tim had been the same—well, I thought he had been the same. However, as I sat across from him on Monday morning in Richard’s office my mouth was hanging open. I was aware Richard was looking at me.
“Jemma,” Tim prompted.
“What?” I think I had said it at least three times now. Was he flushing? He looked flushed. He should look flushed.
“Do you need me to say it again?” Tim looked at Richard.
“No.” I laughed. It sounded odd. I might need air. “No, I think I heard you.”
“Jemma, look, I know this may seem a lot—” Tim began.
“I think you should stop talking,” I cut him off. I needed to stand. Yes, standing, that’s what I needed. I stood up. Knees. My knees were shaking. That was adrenaline. They say that, don’t they? That when you get a shock, you get an adrenaline rush? I think I was in shock. Twice in almost three months, Tim had rendered me speechless, which is amazing, because he never ever once managed that in all the time we were together. Five years and he had never made my knees weak.
Aiden made my knees weak. Wow, that’s not appropriate right now, is it?
Richard’s soft voice calmed me. I looked at my boss—my friend—and smiled. His warm eyes and gentle voice grounded me. “Yes.” I nodded and turned to Tim. “So”—I took a deep breath—“you’re getting married, and you want my engagement ring to propose on New Year’s Eve?”
Tim nodded.
If I assault him in my lawyer’s office, does my lawyer have a conflict of interest if he witnesses the assault? I wondered.
“Get out,” I said, my voice dangerously soft.
“Jemma…”
“Get out before I do something that Richard can’t defend me for.” I smiled, there were a lot of teeth in my smile. “Get out quicker.” Tim leapt to his feet and dashed out of the office. I stood for a minute before I turned to Richard. “Sorry.”
“You know I’m not that kind of lawyer?”
“I know.”
“You know you could have hit him, and I wouldn’t have seen anything?”
“Every day.”
“As long as you know.” He enveloped me in a hug, and I sank into it.
“Will you give it to him? I don’t want to look at him again,” I asked against his coat. “I don’t want his stupid ring.”
“I’m not giving it to him either,” he muttered as he squeezed me. “Cheap bastard can buy a new one.”
I started to laugh, then we were both laughing until I was crying, and he hugged me through it all.
“So…where’s the ring?” Jeremy asked me as he stood in my bedroom. I pointed to my closet. I had just told him the whole story as he had loaded his truck with all my stuff. He had grumbled at all the presents, saying I had gone overboard as usual, but I had ignored him. We did this same dance every year.
Jeremy marched over to the closet and hesitated. “If I open this, I’m not going to find…feminine things, am I?”
I gaped at my brother. “Like, women’s clothes?” I watched him turn bright red.
“You know, like personal things.”
“Jer…are you asking me if I have a vibrator in my closet?”
“Oh God, please just tell me if I can open the closet.” He shuffled his feet.
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