Violet seemed flabbergasted by their whole discussion. “I don’t know why I thought you’d always worked at the bar. Advertising...” She shook her head. “I guess we have a lot to learn about each other.”
“We do. I guess it just hasn’t come up, but I thought you knew. That’s why I’ve got that nice apartment in Hell’s Kitchen. I used my advertising bonuses as a down payment or I couldn’t afford to live in it now.”
“You own your place? I didn’t realize that, either.” Violet frowned and Aidan understood why.
“We’ve done things a little backward, I have to admit.”
They turned and started walking back down the path through the park. The more Aidan thought about it, the more he wanted to do things right with Violet. Their relationship was all out of order. They’d had a baby first, then lived together, albeit temporarily. They knew very little about each other’s pasts. They might have an emotional connection, but they’d flunk out on The Newlywed Game. It was all backward and he wanted to go back to the beginning and have a relationship reset. “I think there’s something you and I need to do. Something important.”
“What’s that?” she asked with a curious expression on her face.
“A real, honest-to-goodness date with food and conversation and getting to know one another. Violet, would you be interested in going out on a date with me?”
* * *
This was not what Violet had in mind when Aidan said he wanted to go on a date. She was picturing a nice restaurant, candlelight, maybe a walk through Central Park. The usual. She should’ve known that with Aidan their date would be anything but the usual. Instead, it was three in the afternoon and she, along with literally fifty thousand other people, was walking into Yankee Stadium to watch a home game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
It wasn’t that she didn’t like baseball. She did. The foundation even had seats in the Delta SKY360 Suites that she made use of from time to time, especially when donors needed to be wooed. But it just wasn’t what she was expecting when she got asked out. She should’ve known something was up when Aidan said to be ready at two and to dress casual.
At the same time, the light of excitement in Aidan’s eyes made it all worth it. Baseball was important to him. She’d seen the trophy from the state championship he’d won in high school at his apartment. The first gift he gave to his son was a Yankees jersey and a baseball mitt no larger than an orange. She didn’t even know they made mitts that small. So coming to see a game was obviously an important experience for him to share with Violet.
She tried to keep that in mind as she stopped at Aidan’s side while he looked down at their tickets. Then she realized she could give him a new way to experience the game. “Would you like to go see if anyone is sitting in the foundation box?”
Aidan looked at the section where their tickets were and shrugged with indifference. “I forgot you had those. It’s up to you.”
Violet tried to hide her disappointment. She thought he would be more excited to get the chance to sit in their swanky private box. “It’s awfully hot right now. At the very least we can sit in the air-conditioning and have a private restroom. I thought you might like it.”
He nodded. “Our seats are in the direct sunlight. If you’re already hot, it might be a good idea to check it out and maybe we can move down closer to the field once the sun sets. Otherwise I will have wasted these thirty-dollar tickets,” he added with a smile.
Violet met his smile, hopeful he wasn’t offended by her suggestion. In truth, she’d never sat in the regular seats. Her father never let her. He was a big baseball fan. That was half the reason they had the box seats. The foundation was just a good excuse for him to get one. It was one thing he and Aidan would actually have in common if she ever introduced them.
Unfortunately it wouldn’t be enough to satisfy her ever-critical father.
So far, as best Violet could tell, nothing he’d acquired on this earth could satisfy her father. Aidan was doomed to failure in that regard, whether he was a crown prince or a Lower East Side bartender.
She didn’t want to worry about that today. Today, her parents were in Istanbul, and she just wanted to enjoy her afternoon with Aidan. She led him around the stadium to the stairs that would take them up to the executive boxes.
“Good afternoon, Eddie,” Violet said with a smile as she approached the security guard who policed the east entrance to the boxed seats. She brought more than her share of donors to games here and recognized the regular guard. “Is anyone using the Niarchos Foundation box today? I wasn’t sure if Daddy had let one of his friends use it or not and I forgot to check before I left.”
The large, muscular man with dark brown skin and kind eyes looked down at his tablet and shook his head. “Not today, Miss Niarchos. Will you and your guest be joining us for the game?”
“For a while, I think, until it cools down.”
“I’ll let the servers know.”
“Are there many VIPs up here today?” Violet asked. Sometimes there were actors, politicians or rock stars roaming around these halls and taking in a game.
“More important than you?” Eddie asked with a smile. “Of course not.”
Violet playfully smacked Eddie on the arm. “Flattery will get you everything.” She turned back to Aidan and took his hand. “Come on.”
It didn’t take long to reach the Niarchos Foundation box. Just slightly to the right of home plate, they had one of the best views of the park. They went inside, passing the private catering and lounge seating area and approaching the large wall of windows and rows of seats that held over twenty people for each game. When they did big events here, the room would be filled with people munching on platters of catered food and bottles of imported wine and beer. At the moment, the large space was silent and empty.
“It’s a shame we don’t use this more. Occasionally we auction off use of the box for charity events or bring donors as a perk, but more often than not, it’s empty like this. We should coordinate with children’s groups like the scouts or contact the Make-A-Wish Foundation to let them use it. It’s such a waste.”
Violet looked out the window where the two ball teams were still warming up on the field. The stadium seats were pretty full now, so it would be time to start soon. “Well, what do you think?” she asked. “Do you like it? We don’t have to stay up here if you don’t.”
When she got no response, she turned to see Aidan looking wide-eyed and overwhelmed behind her. “Aidan? What’s the matter?”
He pulled his gaze away from the stunning view of the ballfield and turned to her. “This is, uh, nice.”
Violet frowned. “You don’t like it.”
“No, no. I mean, it’s very swanky. I should be thrilled to get the chance to sit in a private box, knowing how much it costs to reserve one for a game, much less a season. But I don’t know...it feels like something is lost. Almost like we’re watching it on a television from home. It’s impersonal.”
A tap at the door was followed by the entrance of a server wearing the standard all-black uniform for the VIP suites. “Good afternoon. Can I bring you anything before the game starts?”
Violet looked to Aidan, hoping perhaps the perks might win him over. “Would you like to order something? They have a full bar, lots of food options...even a sushi chef.”
“Are you serious?”
With his Yankees cap pulled down over his eyes, it was hard to read Aidan, but Violet was pretty sure he wasn’t impressed with the sushi. “I think we’re okay right now, thank you,” she said, dismissing their in-suite server.
Once the door clicked shut, Aidan crossed his arms over his chest and chuckled. “Is this where you sit every time you come to a game?”
“Yes,” she said. “Although sometimes we go down to the sky bar.”
“Where you drink martinis and eat sushi while enjoying America�
�s game?”
He was making fun of her. Violet wasn’t used to that. Most people kissed her rear end because of her money. Others just ignored it. But Aidan, he was goading her because of it. “We have this box. Why wouldn’t I sit up here?”
Aidan just shook his head. He looked around the room one last time and held out his hand. “Come on. You’re coming with me and you’re going to have a real game experience.”
Violet hesitated. She wasn’t sure why.
“Come on, this is a date and I planned for us to sit in cheap seats, drink sodas and share nachos while we scream at the umpire. I don’t want to sit up here in the sterile, fancy place where the rich can avoid dealing with the rest of us.”
“That’s not why—” she started to argue, but Aidan cut her off.
“Come on, Violet. We’re going to start by buying you a Yankees shirt.”
Violet took his hand and before she knew it, she was in a section of the stadium she’d never seen before. She was wearing a brand-new Yankees T-shirt blinged out with rhinestones—her requirement—and sitting between Aidan and a family there with their young kids.
He was right. There was definitely a different feel watching the game down here. You could feel the energy of the crowd, smell the roasted peanuts and freshly mowed grass, and actually see the players as more than tiny white blurs. Aidan got them both cold lemonades they drank from plastic cups, then they had hot dogs and shared a huge container of nachos.
When one of the Yankees players hit a home run, she leaped from her seat in excitement with everyone else, loudly cheering for the team. And when the seventh-inning stretch rolled around, she sang “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” with the whole stadium.
By the top of the ninth, the sun had set and bright lights shone down on them. The game was a blowout and some people had already started to mill out, but she wasn’t ready to leave yet. She was full of greasy ballpark food and she couldn’t stop smiling at Aidan.
“So what do you think?” he asked her. “Shall we go back up to the VIP seats? Get some sushi?”
She winced at him and shook her head. “No. You were right. This was a lot more fun. I can’t believe I’ve never seen a game from down here. I don’t know why my father wouldn’t let me.”
Aidan’s auburn brow went up in surprise. “Let you? You about bit my head off when I even suggested that someone else dictate what you could or couldn’t do.”
Violet sighed. “My father is different. He’s old-school Greek. He didn’t really want me to do much of anything but get married to a nice Greek boy and have lots of Greek babies.”
“You’re just a rebel, then,” Aidan said with a grin. “Having Irish babies, eating nachos in the cheap seats...what’s next?”
He was right. She was being quite the rebel lately and Aidan was the cause. She liked it. And she liked him. He encouraged her to stretch her wings, broaden her narrow view of the world and live a little. He roused feelings in her she’d never experienced before and she wanted more. More of him, more of the sensations he could coax out of her trembling body. Violet looked up at the VIP boxes and grinned with the wicked idea that came to mind.
“On second thought, I think we do need to make a trip back up to the Niarchos box before we leave today.”
“Why? Did you leave something up there?”
She shook her head and leaned in to him to let her soft lips brush against his earlobe. She bit gently at it, feeling a shiver run through his whole body that had nothing to do with the cold. “Ever wanted to have sex in Yankee Stadium?” she whispered.
Aidan pulled away in surprise and looked at her with one deviously arched brow. He studied her face for a moment before a passionate fire lit in his eyes. “I hadn’t ever considered the possibility, but now that you mention it...” his arm wrapped around her waist and tugged her closer to him “...abso-frickin-lutely.”
He stood suddenly and offered her his hand. Violet accepted, and they made their way back to the VIP box. The desire for him built inside of her with every step they took. Once they were inside the private suite, she locked the door and pressed her back against it.
“Time to score.”
Eight
Aidan paused on the sidewalk outside of Violet’s building with one piece of luggage slung over his shoulder and another on wheels behind him. Tara and Knox had already gone upstairs, and Violet was taking a bag from the cab driver as he pulled it out of the back of the van.
“Are you sure everything is done right?” he asked again. The contractor had called to tell them this morning that her apartment was done and she could move back in. A day early. Apparently the damage hadn’t been as extensive structurally as they thought, so they’d only needed to do cosmetic repairs. He supposed he should be happy for Violet and Knox’s sake, but he wasn’t. He’d thought he had another day living with them as a family and with one phone call, he was helping her pack.
“Yes, Aidan,” Violet said with a sigh that told him she was tired of him asking. He may have pestered her a few times since she said they could go back to the apartment.
Who could blame him?
He wasn’t ready for things to go back to the way they were before the flood. It had been like a jump start to their relationship. Suddenly they were together all the time in a way that would’ve taken weeks or months to happen otherwise. He liked waking up to Knox’s giggles in the living room and going to bed with Violet in his arms. Sharing meals, taking a grocery shopping trip together. It was the simple things that he enjoyed the most.
It was almost like they were...a family. A real family, not that coparenting thing they’d agreed to with her attorney.
Violet set down the bag on the sidewalk and turned to him. “We’re not leaving the country, Aidan. We’re just moving back across town. You know where to find us.” She planted a kiss on his lips and patted his cheek reassuringly.
“I know that.” And practically, he did. He just didn’t like the idea of it. He wanted to keep his family together, but he was afraid he’d scare her away if he said something like that aloud. It was too soon. And yet he felt certain about it. More certain than he had ever felt with Iris.
Just then, Aidan turned and noticed a man coming down the sidewalk waving at them. Or presumably to Violet since Aidan had never seen the man before.
“Violet? I think that guy wants to talk to you.”
She took a step back from him and turned, her happy expression crumbling when she saw the man coming closer. “Damn it,” she swore. “I’ve been back here for five minutes and he’s shown up already.”
“Violet!” the man shouted as he approached before Aidan could ask who it was.
He had a pretty good guess. The man was wearing a fancy suit and a smile that came across to Aidan as extremely insincere. Like a car salesman. The kind who sold Jaguars, perhaps, but still a car salesman. Especially when he brushed past Aidan without a second glance and placed a hand on Violet’s upper arm.
“There you are, dear. I’ve been looking for you for days, but no one answered when I knocked.”
Violet pulled away from his touch. “I haven’t been home this week, Beau. My apartment flooded and they’ve been doing renovations for the past few days.”
“What? Flooded? Why didn’t you call me to deal with all of this?”
Violet looked irritated, frowning as she planted her hands on her hips. Aidan couldn’t fathom how a man who had been engaged to her at one point would be so clueless about how she responded to him.
“Why would I call you? We’re not together anymore. We haven’t been a couple for six months. And besides that, I can handle this on my own. I don’t need you to come and deal with things for me.”
“Of course you could, my pet, but where have you been all week?” Beau asked, ignoring that it wasn’t his business and Violet didn’t seem interested in talking to him.
<
br /> “She’s been staying with me,” Aidan interjected. Beau had already touched Violet without her permission, used pet names, questioned her competence and completely ignored Aidan’s presence. It was time for all of that to change.
Beau finally turned toward him as though he’d just noticed Aidan standing there. “Oh. I thought he was your cab driver.”
Aidan started to tense for a fight, but a cautioning hand from Violet stopped him. “Quit being so rude, Beau. You knew full well that he was here with me. I’m not going to just stand here while you show up unannounced, question everything I do and then be disrespectful to my guest. Why don’t you tell me what it is you want so you can go and I can finish moving back upstairs?”
Beau turned to Aidan with a disgusted look, as though he were somehow responsible for Violet’s new backbone. “I just wanted to say hi and see how you were. You haven’t been returning my calls.”
“Hi. I’m fine, thank you. And I haven’t returned your calls because we’re not dating any longer.”
“I know we’re not but—”
“No buts, Beau. I made it very clear when the paternity test came back, but you and my parents don’t seem to want to listen. So here’s what you need to know—I’m seeing someone else now. End of story.”
“Him?” Beau said with a thumb jerked in Aidan’s direction.
“Yes,” she answered matter-of-factly.
“And just who is he, huh?”
“Knox’s father.” Violet said the words proudly, startling Aidan.
So far, she’d seemed fairly hesitant for people to know about their relationship, especially where Knox was concerned. He understood that things were new between them, and that she wanted to feel more comfortable before the world poked its nose into their business. Apparently she was feeling more comfortable. Or at least angry enough with Beau overstepping in her business to want to throw that factoid in his face.
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