“Do you know much about construction?” Violet asked.
He shrugged. “Not really, but I’ve done some jobs here and there. Dad’s bar flooded during Superstorm Sandy and I had to help with some of that. I’m going to be doing most of the renovation of my mother’s house when we get the money. It will help me stretch the dollars further. I know it takes time, though. Did the repairmen give you a timeline?”
“No, but I’ve basically given them a week to get it back to functional. If they do a good job I might pay them later to renovate the kitchen. I was thinking about doing that at some point anyway.”
“A week isn’t very long for all that work.”
“Well, with the amount of money I’m willing to pay to fix this, they can figure out how to get it done. I can’t stand to stay in a hotel for longer than a week at a time, and that was before Knox came along. As it is, it’s going to be a tight squeeze with Tara, the baby and me. Even a suite at the Plaza is going to feel claustrophobic after too long with all of Knox’s things.”
“The Plaza?” Aidan said with a strange expression twisting his face. “Are you serious?”
“Yes,” Violet said, not entirely sure why he thought it was an odd choice. It was just down the street and convenient. “I already made the reservations. We can’t stay in the apartment when it’s a construction zone. Tara is packing up her and Knox’s things right now.”
“You don’t have family you can stay with? What about your parents?”
Violet stifled a laugh, covering her mouth with her hand and softly shaking her head. While it did seem like a logical option, there was no way she was packing up and going home unless she had no other choice. Even with her parents out of the country, she’d suddenly be fourteen again and they’d be in her business, having the housekeeper spy on her and report back. And they’d be in Aidan’s business if he came around the apartment, as well.
“No, thank you. I’d rather stay in a hotel than do that. I’ve told you how they are.”
His blue eyes searched around the room for an answer, although she doubted he’d find it among the warped wood and soggy insulation tiles. “What about staying with me, then?”
Violet stopped and it was her turn to frown. “With you? Don’t be ridiculous.”
“It’s not ridiculous,” Aidan said. “You’ve been to my place before. It’s not the Plaza by any stretch, but I’ve got two roomy bedrooms and a full kitchen, which you won’t have at the Plaza. I’m at work most of the time, so you’d have the place to yourself. It’s just for a week and it would give me more time with Knox.”
Violet tried not to be offended that he wasn’t interested in more time with her, although his offer did leave her with a few important questions. “That’s a sweet offer, but two bedrooms,” she repeated, “for three adults and one baby.” Where did he think everyone would end up sleeping in this scenario of his?
“Tara and Knox can share the guest room. It has a double bed and his Pack ’n Play will fit in there just fine. You can sleep in my room. And I...” Aidan’s deep voice drifted off as his bright blue eyes met hers from beneath their heavy ginger brows.
Her belly tightened when he looked at her that way, the possibilities dangling in the air between them. Sharing an apartment, a bedroom, a bed... It didn’t matter if it was for a week, a day or an hour, Violet wasn’t sure she had the willpower to keep away from Aidan. Images of him standing shirtless in her bedroom still haunted her at night. It had taken everything she had not to run her fingers through the auburn curls on his chest and drag her nails across the hard muscles of his stomach.
“...I will sleep on the couch.”
Or maybe she wouldn’t have to use willpower.
Even then, she couldn’t accept his offer. Staying at the Plaza was hardly an imposition. They would have housekeeping and room service and they would survive. “No, really, Aidan. I’m not going to impose on your life. The hotel is fine. They’re sending over a shuttle van to pick us and our things up in an hour.”
Aidan grabbed her cell phone from the kitchen counter and handed it to her. “Call and cancel it.”
“What? Why?” Violet snatched the phone out of his hand but didn’t have any intention of calling anyone. Instead, she shoved it into the back pocket of her jeans.
“Because I’m not letting you and my son live in a hotel when I can do something about it.”
“Let me?” Violet couldn’t help the edge in her voice. She wasn’t the kind of person who asked permission from anyone. At one time, her parents had watched and critiqued her every step, even from halfway around the world. As she grew up, she decided that anyone else could mind their own business. She learned early on that there were plenty of people in the world—men especially—who would be happy to control her and her money. But she was not a prize to be won. Violet had to grow a backbone or she might as well give her fortune away.
“Who are you to let me do anything? I am a grown woman—a single mother at that—who makes her own decisions.”
Aidan’s eyes widened as he realized his mistake and held up his hands to buffer the blowback. “That’s not what I meant. I know you make your own decisions, probably better ones than I do. I just want to do something nice for you, okay? You’ve been great helping me with the foundation grant and working through the custody situation with Knox. There isn’t much I can do for you or Knox. I’m sure the Plaza will be great—far superior to anything I can offer you. But I’m asking you to consider staying with me instead. Let me do this for you.”
Violet sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. The pleading expression on Aidan’s face was hard for her to resist. She knew it was tough to be involved with her in any capacity. The few friends she’d kept around and the men she’d dated over the years had told her as much. Buying her presents seemed impossible. What do you buy the person who can quite literally buy almost anything they want? And helping her? With what? She could pay for all the help she might ever need.
True kindness though... That wasn’t something you could put a price on. She could tell Aidan wanted to do this for her. Not to impress her or keep an eye on her, but because he wanted to be nice. From what she remembered of his place, it was a nice apartment in Hell’s Kitchen. It wasn’t all the way downtown or worse, far off in Jersey or something. She remembered him telling her that the place was the only thing left from his old life, although she couldn’t remember what he was referring to now.
“It would be nice to have a full kitchen for Knox,” she admitted. The Plaza only offered a mini bar and she doubted they had baby food and warmed formula on the room service menu. “Okay. We can try it. But if it’s too tight of quarters or it’s just not working out for some reason, the three of us will head to the Plaza.”
“Absolutely. And I’ll gladly help you move there if I’m wrong.” The wide grin on Aidan’s face was the best thank-you she could’ve gotten. “But I think it’s going to be great.”
Violet wasn’t so sure, but she knew it would be a better alternative than living in the disaster area of her apartment for the next few days. There was no way Knox could nap or Violet could think with all the work going on. “Thank you, Aidan. This is a very kind offer. I hope we don’t make you regret it. Knox is cutting his bottom teeth with a vengeance.”
“No worries. I’ve missed so much that I’ll happily endure teething to spend time with him. And you,” he added with a pointed look into her eyes before he quickly shifted attention to his watch. “Uh, listen, I’m going to run home and clean up so everything is ready when you get there.” He scribbled the address onto a slip of paper in his pocket and handed it to her with a brass key. “I’ve got to head to Murphy’s about two, so if you’re not there before I leave, you’ll need this.”
Violet accepted the address and the key, holding the cool metal tightly in her hand. “Thank you, Aidan.”
He nodded and sl
ipped back out the door, stepping wide over the fan drying the floors. Once he was gone, Violet looked down at the key in her hand. The ache in her stomach made her think she’d made the wrong decision staying with him. The ache in her core when he’d looked at her that way made her certain of it. If she didn’t want a relationship with Aidan, she needed to tread very carefully. But what was done was done.
It was only a week, right?
With a sigh of resignation, she went up the stairs to the nursery and let Tara know about their sudden change of plans.
* * *
Aidan quietly unlocked the front door of his apartment and slipped inside, not sure of what he might find when he got there. He’d had to leave for work in the midst of their settling in. He’d called home to check in a few times throughout the evening and Violet insisted everything was fine, but he wasn’t so sure. There was an edge of anxiety in her voice. Then again, she’d had a long and frustrating day that started with wet ankles and ended in another man’s apartment.
The apartment was dark and quiet. It looked almost as though nothing had changed today aside from little touches—bottles in the drain tray by the sink, the stroller sitting in the foyer and Violet curled up on his couch with a book.
The only light in the room was shining down on her, highlighting her form like she was an angel sitting there. Her long, dark hair was twisted up into a messy knot on top of her head and she was wearing a pair of navy silk pajamas as she read. He wasn’t sure if she’d ever looked as beautiful as she did then, fresh faced and relaxed.
When she finally looked up at him and smiled with a divinely serene look on her face, Aidan had to brace his hand on the back of a chair to steady himself. “Hi,” he said, as ineloquently as he could manage.
“Hi.” Violet put a bookmark between the pages and closed her book.
It was then that he noticed it was a historical romance novel—the kind where the man on the cover was wearing nothing more than a kilt and a broadsword while he gripped a woman in his arms. The golden script on the front said something about The Highlander’s Bride. Prize? The Highlander’s Pride? He wasn’t sure. Either way it was not what he would’ve thought would be in Violet’s “to be read” pile. She’d always struck him as the book club type. Interesting.
“I didn’t expect you to still be up.” He hadn’t closed tonight, but when he did, it was after four in the morning when he got home.
“I’ve got a lot on my mind,” she said in a low voice as she stood up from the couch and walked over to him. “How was work?”
“Same as any night,” he said. He didn’t want to bore Violet with the realities of drunks he dealt with every evening. “Did you guys get settled in here okay? Does everything suit you so far?”
“Everything has been great. It’s a single man’s apartment for sure, but we’re doing fine. We spent the afternoon doing a little childproofing, but nothing too major. Knox isn’t on the move yet.”
For that, Aidan was thankful. He wasn’t that great with childproof locks. Grown-man-proof locks was more like it.
“I also did some work from home,” Violet continued. “When I checked my email this morning, I got a message from the foundation chairman. They met this morning and you’ll be happy to know that the board approved your grant proposal for the full amount you requested.”
Aidan’s heart nearly stopped in his chest. The full amount? Approved? He almost didn’t believe it. “Are you serious?”
Violet nodded and grinned. Before he could stop himself, he reached out and scooped her into his arms. She squealed with surprise as he lifted her off the ground and spun her around the living room.
“We got the money!” he shouted, growing dizzy with excitement and the circles they were spinning around his blue shag area rug.
“Aidan!” she scolded in a harsh whisper, but he hardly heard her. It wasn’t until the words “wake up the baby” made it to his ears that he realized it was three in the morning and not the best time for celebrations.
He slowly lowered her back to the ground, torturing himself by letting each inch of her body rub along his own until she was back on her bare feet. His pulse started pounding furiously in his throat, making it hard for him to draw in a much-needed breath of cool air. He also had a hard time letting go of Violet now that he had her in his arms again.
Aidan hadn’t intended to touch her, hadn’t let himself do more than shake hands with Violet since they’d reunited, and for good reason. Sweeping her into his arms had been a reflex and now, a part of him regretted it. Now that he’d done it, it would be ten times more painful to let her go. If he could let her go. The part of him that didn’t regret touching her wanted to continue. He forced himself to disentangle from around her, but his hands stayed firmly in place at her waist. He willed himself to release her, but he couldn’t do it.
What he did notice was that Violet wasn’t pulling away, either.
They stood close together, both of them struggling to catch their breaths from the sudden rush of excitement surging through them. He was relieved to know he wasn’t the only one affected by this. Violet was physically flustered with a rosy pink highlighting her cheeks.
“I’m sorry,” Aidan whispered as he dropped his forehead to rest against hers. “I just was in desperate need of some good news and you gave it to me.”
Violet’s gaze shifted toward the guest room as she held silent and still for a moment listening. “I don’t think we woke him up,” she said at last with a heavy sigh of relief. Her eyes met his with a mischievous twinkle lighting their dark brown depths. “Not for your lack of trying.” She smacked him playfully on the chest.
Aidan feigned pain, but all he felt was the pleasurable surge that went through his body as she touched him again. What he noticed was that she didn’t move her hand away after she hit him. They both stood there in his living room—his hands encircling her narrow waist, her palm caressing his chest. He wished he could whip his shirt over his head so she could run her fingers though his chest hair. He loved it when she did that. Aidan could still remember the feel of her fingernails grazing across his skin. Just the thought of it combined with their bodies so close was enough to build the pulsating arousal in him.
Aidan tried to wish it away. This whole physical interaction between them tonight was a fluke. He hadn’t even kissed Violet since that day all those months ago. Them sharing his apartment for the week wouldn’t change anything between them.
Or would it?
“Aidan?” Violet’s soft voice called to him, both a question and a plea.
He knew how to answer it. Aidan leaned in to her and brought his lips to hers. The moment they touched, it was like a wormhole opened up and sucked them in. Suddenly they were together again, fifteen months ago, with none of the complications or repercussions in their way. It was just Aidan and Violet giving in to the pleasure of one another’s embrace.
Violet didn’t flinch or pull away. In fact, her mouth was soft and welcoming, opening to him and letting her tongue gently caress his. She melted against him, the soft curves of her body molding to his hard edges.
Aidan groaned softly against her lips, hoping he wasn’t too loud. He wasn’t about to let this moment be interrupted by babies or nannies or anything else. He’d fantasized about and waited for the opportunity to hold her again. For fifteen months, he’d wondered if she would remain a memory and nothing more.
And now, her hands were roaming across his chest, and his tongue was grazing her teeth.
“Aidan?” she whispered against his lips a second time.
This time he paused, still cupping her flesh by the handful through her blue silk pajamas. “Yes?” he asked as he silently prayed for her not to put the brakes on this encounter. He wasn’t ready to give up this moment quite yet, even if it was a bad idea. He would deal with that in the morning.
“Take me to your room,” she
said instead.
His heart leaped with joy in his chest and he didn’t hesitate for a moment. Instead, he took her by the hand and led her through the dark apartment to his bedroom. Thankfully, his room and the guest room were separated by the kitchen, giving them a little privacy.
He tugged her inside and swung the door closed. With that barrier up between them and the outside world, it was as if a dam had broken. Whatever willpower Aidan had was washed away in an instant and all he could do, all he could think about, was getting a naked Violet beneath him.
She seemed to feel the same way. They both tugged at each other’s clothes, her silk and his cotton being tossed unceremoniously onto the floor. The moment new skin was exposed, they’d stop to caress and taste the newfound territory before moving on.
The next thing he knew they were both completely naked and falling back onto his bed. The queen-size mattress had a good bit of give, breaking their fall and sending them bouncing several inches back into the air. Between laughter and kisses, they settled into the bed, pushing aside pillows and blankets until they were fully aligned and unfettered.
This first time, Aidan knew, would be about letting the pressure off. Months of denial, days of wanting and not touching, had built up between them. Romance, foreplay...it was all out the window in the quest to satiate the need inside them both.
“Condom,” Violet whispered between panting breaths as Aidan knelt between her thighs and sucked hard at her breast. He teased at her opening, pressing into her moist flesh. She was right. He knew if he didn’t stop now to get it, he would do something they both regretted.
Not that doing the right thing last time had made a bit of difference. They’d used plenty of condoms without fail, and yet they had a son together anyway. This time, as he reached for the bedside drawer, he was comforted to see he’d purchased a different brand than before. Just to be safe.
One Unforgettable Weekend (Millionaires 0f Manhattan Book 6) Page 6