by Sam Mariano
"You're mad at me now. You really don't like the whole gentleman thing, do you?"
Shaking her head, she said, "I'm not mad."
But in direct contrast from what she said, she did attempt to move away from him in a subtle way.
"Look, it's just… It's not that I would not love to take you upstairs right now and do so many unspeakable things to you… it's just that I've been drinking all day, and I don't want it to seem like… that in any way influences…"
Understanding hit her then, and she offered a weak smile, feeling pretty relieved. "You don't want me to take advantage of you while you're drunk," she said lightly.
"Well, I do, but I don't think that's the best way to begin a relationship. And I also want to do this the right way, you know? I mean, it's a little unconventional, with us already living together and you being pregnant, but… I still think you deserve at least a first date."
"But I'm not a first date kind of girl," she said playfully.
"Damn. Then I guess I'll have to take you out on two dates."
Grinning up at him, she said, "Maybe. You're going to have to ask me out first, see if I even accept. I might be busy."
Eyebrows rising, he said, "Oh, now you're going to be difficult, aren't you?"
Shrugging, she turned toward the hall leading to the elevator, looping her arm through his just to make sure he followed her. "Hey, you're the one who insists on being a gentleman."
"So you're going to be a lady?"
"I'm always a lady, Aaron Turner. But I've never been courted before, and underneath all your bluster I have a hunch that you might be a little bit romantic."
"Hey now, watch it," he said, lightly grabbing her around the waist and tickling her. "You're getting a little carried away."
Pushing his hands away before he found her ticklish spot, she said, "It's okay. I'll be coy if you want me to. Should I also insist on separate beds?"
"If you want to sleep in the boat again," he stated.
"You can't make a pregnant woman sleep in a boat bed, Aaron Turner. That is extremely un-gallant of you."
"I'll show you un-gallant," he responded playfully, narrowing his eyes at her.
"Ah ah," she said, shaking her head. "You're going to have to wait now."
Shaking his head, he draped an arm over her shoulder and sighed. "I'm so glad this wedding is over."
Leaning her head against his shoulder, she reached out and pushed the elevator button and said, "Me too."
They waited in a companionable silence for the elevator to reach their floor, and then they stepped inside, Aaron pushing the button for their floor.
As the doors closed, Julie leaned a little closer to Aaron and yawned, eager to get back to their room and to the warmth of their bed—and more specifically, the warmth of Aaron's arms as he wrapped them around her.
On the other side of the doors, neither of them could see Shannon's pensive gaze as she contemplated what she had just overheard.
Chapter Twenty Two-
When Aaron and Julie returned to Chicago, Julie was extremely happy, because Aaron had given them both the whole day off since he claimed he wasn't sure how he would be feeling once he got home.
Luckily, he felt great, so with nothing to do for the first time since she had met him, Aaron handed the day over to her, saying they could do whatever she felt like doing. He did throw in the subtle hint, however, that he would love the opportunity to sit around and do nothing, an activity he was seldom able to do.
Even though Julie had spent most of the time since she moved in with Aaron doing just that, she had no problem doing it with him. She opted to order Chinese food and put in a movie.
"So, I'm definitely not complaining," Aaron began, sitting down when he finished discarding the remains of his meal, "but when I said you could pick the movie, I didn't think I would be watching an action movie."
"The Bourne Identity is the shit," Julie stated simply, raising a forkful of rice to her mouth. "And I thought about putting in Sabrina, but for fairly obvious reasons I opted not to."
Shrugging, he said, "I've never seen it, you'll have to clue me in."
Grimacing, she said, "It has brothers… and I also counted out Man in the Iron Mask because there are also brothers in that. I would just as soon avoid them altogether."
Chuckling, he said, "You don't have to avoid all brothers just because I don't like mine. We can watch Sabrina if you'd rather."
"No," she said, shaking her head. "Sabrina… the love triangle is… just, no. Brothers are unnecessary."
Nodding, he agreed, "True."
Sighing, Julie said, "Man, I am so full. Why did you let me eat so much rice?"
"I thought you were trying to make Poppy Seed grow."
"By eating ten pounds of rice? I'm pretty sure only I will grow," she said, touching her stomach to see if it was protruding.
"You're pregnant; you're bound to grow."
"Not yet," she said. "I don't want to get fat."
"You're not going to get fat," he said, rolling his eyes. "You're pregnant, that's not the same thing."
"We'll see if you still say that when I'm the size of your car and I could easily sit on you and kill you."
"Don't be so vain," he admonished. "Didn't they ever teach you in school that character counts, too?"
Shrugging as she lifted herself off the couch, she said, "I really have no idea, I was too busy being a teacher's pet to get a lecture about anything."
Aaron shook his head. "I should have known," he called after her as she went in the kitchen to put away her rice. "You're probably that girl in class that everyone suspects is having an affair with the professor."
Wiggling her eyebrows as she reentered the room, she pulled a Scarlet O'Hara-style eyelash flutter and said, "Why, Professor, what do you mean I got a B? Maybe I could come over later for a… private study session."
Shaking his head sardonically, he said, "I could see it."
Grinning, she plopped down on the couch next to him. "No, I've never had an affair with one of my professors. I've only been with two people, and you already know who both of those were, so… no naughty professors in my background."
Lifting an eyebrow, he seemed to respond to what she said, but he didn't say anything.
"You know what I realized?" she said absently, turning her attention away from the chase on the TV screen.
"What's that?" he asked idly.
"I don't actually know how old you are. I mean, I know you're a year younger, but since I never actually knew specifically how old he was…"
"Oh. Twenty-nine."
"He's 29 or you're 29?" she asked.
"I am. He's 30."
"Oh, I see," she said with a nod.
"And you're what, 21 or 22, right?"
Grimacing, she said reluctantly, "Almost…"
Looking at her expectantly, he said, "Almost… which one?"
"Almost 21."
His eyes widened as he said, "You're twenty? You're not even old enough to drink?"
Rolling her eyes, she said, "I will be soon. It's just a few months off."
"How many is a few?"
After a brief pause, she said, "Only four."
"You're a baby," he stated.
Narrowing her eyes, she said, "I am not a baby, and you didn't even know I was that young until I told you."
"I feel like a cradle-robber."
Julie rolled her eyes again. "Please. When I was 18 I went out with a 26-year-old; you're not even the oldest guy I've liked. Like 3 seconds ago we were discussing my fictional affair with a professor, and all of those are at least 30 because they have to go to school for so long."
Raising one of his eyebrows, he said, "Have you ever gone out with someone who was nine years younger than you?"
"No, that would be very illegal," she stated.
"Exactly," he stated.
"But I'm legal, and men die before women anyway, so I think they need to pair up with younger women," she said
reasonably.
Shaking his head, he said nothing else about it, just turned his attention to the television.
After watching the movie for a few minutes, Julie thoughts were led away from their respective ages and she became anxiously aware of the physical distance between them.
They were both sitting on the same couch watching the movie, but while normally she would have liked to scoot closer to him and maybe cuddle, she didn't know if she was allowed to or not. They had agreed to try to date, but up to that point, Aaron wasn't really making an obvious effort to change their relationship at all. Since they already slept in the same bed and slept with their arms wrapped around each other each night when they weren't considering dating, very little had changed. If Julie made the first move, he would kiss her, but since they were at the hotel he hadn't initiated a kiss yet. Granted, it hadn't been too long, but Julie was used to guys who were instantly amorous.
She had certainly never dated anyone even remotely like Aaron before.
And then there was his whole gentleman complex; it made her feel like an awkward pre-teen, unsure of whether or not she should sit next to her crush at the movies. With a less gentlemanly guy, she would have no problem sitting down next to him—close to him—and before long they would be snuggled up or kissing or maybe even doing a little more than that, the movie all but forgotten.
Aaron was actually watching the movie.
His hand had not so much as brushed hers since she put the movie in.
She felt like making a move herself, but she wasn't sure whether he would welcome it or not. Would it follow the gentleman rule he was so fond of?
Why did he have to make her feel so uncertain?
Julie toyed with the idea of at least cuddling closer to him—he did look pretty good sitting there on the couch all warm and inviting—but in the end she chickened out, and she finished watching the action movie in her own little corner while he sat in his.
Perhaps that was why girls liked to watch chick flicks with their boyfriends. It was more cuddle-inducing than watching people die.
Not to mention, when you put in a movie the guy actually likes he isn't going to hold your hand and flirt with you and try to distract you from the movie.
It was the very end of the movie when Julie's cell phone went off.
That caught Aaron's attention, naturally. She could have stripped completely naked and danced in front of the television and she was certain he would have craned his head to look around her, but a text message was enough to distract him.
The man made no sense.
Eager to be possessive over what he refused to claim as his own.
Opening up her new text, she saw that it was from Matt. Of course it would be from Matt, at that most inconvenient time.
It said simply: "What are you doing?"
Debating very quickly whether or not to text back, she quickly typed out, "Movie with Aaron."
When she glanced up two seconds later, Aaron was watching her phone, a light scowl on his face. "Who was that?" he asked.
Rolling her eyes in a way that exaggerated her annoyance, she said, "Just Matt."
He glanced at the phone as if it had offended him.
The phone then chimed as if in response, and Julie opened up another text. "Does that mean this is a bad time?"
Making an "ugh" noise, she shut her phone and put it on the end table in disgust.
"What did he want?" Aaron asked.
"To be annoying, what else?" she retorted.
"I wish he wouldn't text you," Aaron muttered. "It's damn annoying."
Deciding to make light of it, she said, "No kidding. Here I am trying to cuddle on the couch with you and he chimes in just when I'm about to get up my nerve and make my move."
Aaron cracked a smile, which was exactly the reaction Julie had been hoping for. "You don't have to get up your nerve to cuddle on the couch with me. You spend every night in my arms; aren't we past being shy?"
Smiling, Julie said, "Does that mean I can come over there?"
"The movie's over now," he said, gesturing to the credits rolling.
Getting up on her knees, she playfully crawled across the couch and said, "Who said anything about a movie?"
He lifted an eyebrow, a slow smile spreading across his face as she approached. "Miss Kingsley, are you trying to seduce me?"
Chuckling, Julie answered, "Would that be a problem?"
Since she was about an inch from his face when she asked that, he replied, "I'm assuming that's a rhetorical question."
With a playful smile, she said, "You assume right."
Then, finished with words for the moment, she closed the distance between them and kissed him.
That was when the house phone began ringing.
Sighing a little and resting her forehead against his, Julie closed her eyes. "Seriously?"
Cracking a smile, Aaron stated, "Fate is against our union."
"It's not fate," she muttered. "It's stupid damn technology. Why do people even need phones? They're not that important."
He carefully moved her off of him and stood up, walking over to grab the phone.
Pouting, Julie rolled over on her back on the couch, stealing Aaron's spot and watching him answer the phone, hoping it wasn't Matt. He would ruin the mood for sure.
When Aaron referred to the person as Mom, she wondered if that boded any better for her sex life.
He was scowling, and Julie watched him pace around the living room with the phone on his ear. "What? Why would she…?" An unnamed expression flitted across his face, then annoyance.
Nope, her sex life wasn't going to get much better in the next 15 minutes, she easily concluded.
He sighed impatiently. "It's really none of her business, actually."
He was annoyed. Dammit, why did people have to call and annoy him on his day off?
"I'm not avoiding—yes, it's true. She is." There was a pause and he continued to look annoyed, then he went on. "It happens…Nope… Well, she was wrong. I know it's shocking, but… Yes, I'm sure… Well, I suppose Shannon is probably overly paranoid about it. Not every woman who comes into contact with me gets knocked up by my brother."
On that note Julie's eyes bugged out of her head and she immediately threw her feet over the edge of the couch, sitting up and paying attention as Aaron paced around the living room.
"I don't know, sometimes it happens, Mom," he muttered, glancing over at Julie. "Because we weren't going to tell anyone yet, we wanted to wait until after that 'danger period' or whatever they call it. Look, Mom, as much as I'd love to talk to you right now, Julie and I are actually on our way out the door, so I'm going to have to call you back… Yes, I really will…. All right, bye."
Aaron hung the phone up and let out a long sigh, then he turned around to face Julie.
"That sounded… interesting," she remarked.
"I think I just did something I definitely didn’t mean to do," he stated.
She knew what it sounded like, but it couldn't be. There was no way he would take that much responsibility onto his own shoulders. They hadn't even slept together yet!
"What might that be?" she asked him tentatively.
With a slight grimace he said, "I might have just told my mom that you and I were having a baby. Together. As in… I’m the one who got you pregnant instead of my brother."
She could only stare at him in disbelief. "Really?"
Sighing, he massaged his temples. "I didn't mean to, she caught me off guard. Shannon apparently overheard us talking at the reception, but she must not have heard enough because she knew you were pregnant but she didn't know if I was the father or not. The question was left to me and… I didn’t want to admit...” Instead of completing his thought, he sighed, shaking his head. “It just came out, I'm sorry."
Fidgeting with the hem of her shirt, she said, "You don’t have to apologize. It’s not like the truth would have been any better. I didn’t expect you to take responsibility though.”
"It wasn't my place. You and I just started this… thing, and… it's your baby, I shouldn't have claimed it, especially to my mother. It's bound to eventually reach Matt, and…"
"I don’t care about that," Julie said flippantly. "I don't care what he thinks. What do you think?”
“I mean… it isn’t my baby, and we haven’t discussed…this situation. That was really presumptuous of me, but I didn’t think, it just came out.”
Julie shook her head. “It’s fine. Eventually we would have had to tell them something anyway—that story sounds better than the truth. It doesn’t bother me, I just don’t want you to regret something you blurted out in the heat of the moment.”
“It’s not that I regret it… I mean, regardless of our relationship, I’d like to have a role in the baby’s life. You said you regretted that he wouldn’t have a…sort of father-figure, and it doesn’t have to be like that.”
“I didn’t know if you would want to, given the circumstances.”
"I mean, I can't even have kids, and if Matt isn't going to be in your kid's life I guess it might actually make sense… if you don't mind anyway."
"I definitely don't mind. Are you kidding me? That’s one of the things I felt so guilty for cheating Poppy Seed out of. If that’s a role you’re willing to fill… I'm definitely not objecting."
Nodding slowly, he said, "Well… if we really want to do this we have to establish some basic rules that aren't going to change in case something happens."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean… if I'm going to take an actual parental role, I'm going to need a guarantee that if something happens between us I don't just… get pushed out of the picture." There was a brief pause and then he went on. "I mean, if you're serious, if we're really going to do this… taking on a kid is not something you do with a grain of salt. Biologically I am not the father, so I'm not going to have a leg to stand on if we break up, but if that's three years from now and I'm already attached…"
Nodding, Julie said, "No, I see what you mean. We're going to have to figure this out in a pen and paper kind of way, not a romantic bubble kind of way."
"Yes," he said, seeming relieved that she caught on easily enough.
"Well… you're the one in the bargaining position, tell me what it is exactly that you want."