by Jill Sanders
“Um, that’s really nice, but I’m feeling much better now.” She bit her lip when she noticed how high up his place was. Just looking down made her knees turn a little weak.
“That’s good to hear. Oh well, I’m also bringing over a movie so we can eat soup and hang out a little.” She thought about the lack of furniture in her place and how uncomfortable her home was. She was still turned off every time Amy tried to drag her into a furniture store.
“Um, well, I’m not exactly at home right now.”
“Okay, I’ll pick you up. Where are you?”
She turned and looked at Aiden. “Um, downtown. How about you pick me up at work in . . .” She glanced down at her watch and almost did a double take. It was almost seven in the evening. “Half an hour?”
“Sounds good. I’ll meet you out front where I normally get you. I hate finding a parking spot.”
“Okay, see you then.” Amy hung up and Kristen wished more than anything that she could read Aiden’s expression. She was somewhat thankful for the interruption. After all, jumping into relationships hadn’t worked out so great for her in the past.
“Hot date?” he said, leaning back on the counter.
“Worried friend. She’s bringing homemade soup and a movie.”
He smiled. “Sounds like a good friend.”
“The best.” She walked over and picked up her coat. “Well, thanks again . . .” She almost squealed when he pulled her back into his arms and kissed her quickly.
“There, now it’s not so weird.” He held her close. “And you know where we stand.” She swallowed slowly. “Don’t thank me.” He frowned when she opened her mouth again. She shut her mouth quickly. “If you don’t feel up to working tomorrow, make sure to call in sick instead of running yourself down.”
“I don’t have any meetings tomorrow.”
“Good. How about dinner this weekend?”
She frowned. “Like a date?” His hands were on her hips, holding her close to him. For some reason, she was having a hard time thinking straight.
“I’d very much like to spend some more time with you.”
She tilted her head and thought about it. “I guess so.”
He shook his head and smiled at her. “Good, let’s say Friday.”
“Friday is happy hour. The first Friday of every month the employees go to Reds down the street for drinks after work.”
“Then Saturday?” he asked.
She shrugged. “We can always go out after Reds.”
“Then it’s a date for Friday and Saturday.” He kissed her one more time. “I’ll take you back to the office.”
He started to get up.
“You don’t have to.” She pulled on her coat.
“I know.” He grabbed his coat, which hung above her boots. “But I will, just the same.”
She walked over to put her boots on.
When they stepped outside, she was shocked to feel the warm air hit her.
“Colorado.” He chuckled. “If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes.”
“I know.” She laughed. “Watch, it will be in the low seventies tomorrow.”
“Fine with me. It would melt all this stuff away.” He kicked at some of the snow with his boot and then reached over and took her hand. “We can walk, if you’re up to it.”
She looked around and was surprised to recognize that they weren’t that far from the office. They walked in silence for a while, and she felt completely comfortable holding his hand walking down the crowded street.
“There’s Amy.” She waved toward Amy’s car, which was parked in a tow-away zone near the back of the building.
“Well, I’d say that I hope to see you tomorrow, but I really don’t since I think you should spend the day in bed.” He pulled her closer and brushed the hair from her face.
“Thanks again.” She could feel Amy’s eyes on them from across the street and just knew she’d have a million questions to answer when she got in the car.
He dipped his head down and placed a kiss on her lips, which warmed her straight to her toes. “Just to make sure there’s no lingering weirdness.”
“The only weirdness is what I’ll experience in the next few hours explaining that kiss to my friend.”
She could feel his eyes on her as she dashed across the street and got into her friend’s car.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The next few days, Aiden tried to stay busy. Not only did he have research to do on R&S, but he had a few of his own projects that were quickly approaching deadlines.
He was pleased when Kristen hadn’t shown up for work that following day, even though he desperately wished to see her again. When she did finally arrive at work two days later, she looked back to her normal self.
When he’d bumped into her in the hallway, she hadn’t tried to avoid him or make it weird. Though he didn’t like that she’d acted as if nothing had happened between them.
He, of course, tried not to remember how hard it had been to sleep in his bed after she’d been in it. When he’d gone to bed that evening, he could smell a subtle hint of her natural scent. He’d tossed and turned the entire night as he dreamed about holding her, kissing her, making love to her slowly.
He was really looking forward to the weekend so he could spend some time with her. He planned on having her over to his place again, which was totally out of the ordinary for him.
Actually, thinking about it, she was the first woman he’d had over to his place. The first one to actually sleep in his bed, for that matter. He laughed at the irony of it, since he hadn’t even been lying next to her at the time.
When Friday finally came, the day seemed to slow to a stop as he waited for five o’clock to roll around, anticipating the upcoming evening. He noticed that everyone worked harder and faster as they tried to make the day go by quickly. Even he tried to keep himself occupied.
Finally, it was just a few minutes until he could clock out and join the rest of the crew at the popular bar down the street. As he was shutting down the workstation, he wondered how he could get Kristen alone for the rest of the evening.
“Are you going with us to Reds?” Carla walked into his office.
He glanced up at the blonde woman and his chin almost dropped when he noticed her outfit. Normally, she wore business-casual attire, but today her skirt was tighter and her shirt dipped dangerously low, showing off a very impressive chest.
He nodded in answer and then quickly turned back to his computer.
“Good.” He heard her voice getting closer and tried not to think of how ironic it was that Carla was more his type than Kristen. But he’d never felt the pull toward her like he felt for Kristen. “It just wouldn’t be the same if everyone weren’t going,” she said in a low voice. “Besides, I was looking forward to getting to know you better.” She leaned on his desk right beside him. Her short skirt hiked up, and he tried to avoid glancing downward.
“I promised Kristen I’d go.” He watched Carla pout.
Then she ran her well-manicured fingernail up his arm. “It’s such a shame that she’ll probably be stuck working late.” She tensed.
“Late?” He leaned away, putting a little space between them.
“Oh yeah. The site on Market Street ran into some issues with the inspector. She’s having to put in a bunch of hours this weekend to get everything ready for Monday.”
He sighed. “I’d better go see if she needs any help.” He started to get up but stopped when he noticed Carla hadn’t moved aside. He’d have to climb over the top of her just to stand up.
“You’re still going to Reds, aren’t you?” He watched her bottom lip push out. She must have put on fresh lip gloss to make her lips shine so much.
“Not if there’s work that needs to be done.” He stood, pushing his chair all the way back to make enough ro
om in the closed-in space.
“Oh well.” She blinked a few times and he could tell she was desperately trying to think of another way to convince him to go.
Had he really been dating this kind of woman for the last few years? Why? He felt that his eyes were open for the first time, and there was no way he’d ever fall for tricks like the ones Carla was pulling. Maybe he’d just allowed himself to be played? Or maybe he’d just played along to get what he’d wanted?
“I’d better go.” He nodded toward her legs, which were blocking his path.
Her smile grew as she stood up and ran a finger over his chin. “I’ll save you a spot at the bar.” She practically purred it.
When he finally made it out of his office, he took a deep breath of fresh air. Not only had the woman been taking his space, but she’d filled his whole office with the scent of her overbearing perfume.
When he walked into Kristen’s cubicle, he could see she was deep into making changes. She didn’t even know he was there, and he watched her work for a few moments. He glanced over her shoulder, and when he sat on the edge of her desk, she didn’t even budge.
Finally, a few minutes later, she saved the design and leaned back. Her arms went over her head as she stretched her neck one way, then the other. Instantly, he felt the pull of attraction. Her soft scent was drifting his way and it took all his willpower not to move forward and bury his face in her hair.
“Well?” she said without turning around. “Thoughts?”
He scanned her work. “Nice.” He wondered how long she’d known he was there.
She turned and looked at him. “Didn’t you want to go with the rest of the gang to Reds?”
He glanced around and realized the place had emptied out. Shaking his head, he motioned to her screen. “Is that it or do you need to make changes to the back room as well?”
She frowned and looked back at her monitor. “Yeah, I was going to come in tomorrow and get that done.”
“Working during the weekend sucks,” he muttered, remembering all the long weekends he’d spent alone at the office. More importantly, how many relationships his long hours had broken up.
“Not always. I like being here alone. Fewer distractions. Plus, I can play my music as loud as I want and no one is here to complain.”
“We can still make it to Reds if you want,” he said, glancing at his watch. Not that he wanted to join the others, but he figured he needed to see if she wanted to go.
She bit her bottom lip, then said, “I’m sure Carla has saved you a spot.”
“I wondered if the whole office had heard her invitation.”
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t get too flattered. She invites every new male employee.”
“And here I was thinking I was special.” He really wanted to spend more time with Kristen.
“I guess working here should come with a warning label.”
He reached over and brushed a finger down her face slowly. “It does have its perks.”
What was she doing? More importantly, how had she allowed Aiden to talk her into forgoing happy hour and having a private dinner with him? A very romantic private dinner.
She’d never eaten at the restaurant before, nor had she known it existed. They were on one of the top floors of some very large hotel in what appeared to be a semiprivate dining room. There was a large swimming pool, covered for the winter season, just outside of the glass walls.
The dining room only held a half-dozen tables. There was a small bar area near the front doors and every seat was taken by well-dressed people.
“How did you find this place?” she asked, looking around after they were seated and their drinks had been delivered.
“A friend owns it.” He smiled at her over his menu. “Actually, she’s close friends with my mother.”
“Oh?” She tried to hide her curiosity.
“Yes, they went to college together in Colorado Springs.”
She wanted to ask more questions about his family but couldn’t bring herself to do so yet. Who was she kidding? She couldn’t hold back the questions.
“What does your mother do?” she finally asked as she set down her menu.
“She’s in real estate. What about your parents?”
“Mom works in loan approvals at the Veterans Affairs. My dad is a family physician in Golden.” She glanced at him. “What about your father?”
“My real father is somewhat of a recluse.” He shook his head.
“Oh?” She leaned back after taking a sip of the wine he’d ordered for them. For some reason, she felt like melting.
“He divorced my mother when I was four, moved into the mountains, and married a woman half his age.”
“That must have been hard on you.”
His eyebrows rose. “Not really. My mother took it hard for a while, but then she met my stepfather, Eric, and they’ve been happy ever since. Eric and I get along great. Actually, better than I do with my real father.”
“Do you visit him often? Your real father, I mean.”
“No, last time I was up there, Dad almost shot me for trespassing. I think he’s fallen a little off his rocker.”
“I’m sorry. My great-uncle raised snakes.” He looked at her. “He had over a thousand of them in his house. He separated them out—poisonous and nonpoisonous. They filled his entire house.” She cringed remembering the smell. “Next to his bed was a huge cage that held a ten-foot boa constrictor named Dolly.”
“Okay, so I’m not the only one with crazy in my blood.”
“Amy’s aunt thinks she’s the long-lost daughter of Hemingway.”
“Really?” He leaned his elbows on the table.
“I’ve met her.” She made a circle motion next to her forehead. “She’s really off her rocker.”
He chuckled just as the waiter walked up. After ordering, they continued to compare notes on crazy family members. She enjoyed finding out a little more about him. He had two younger half sisters named Amber and Ashley. Since he was so much older than them, he had basically been their babysitter until he’d finally moved out and gone to school. He sometimes called his stepfather his father, which reinforced that he did really like the man.
“Your family sounds wonderful.” She pushed her almost-empty plate away. The wine and the food were causing her to relax.
“Yeah, I guess I lucked out in that area.” He poured her more wine.
“You are very difficult to figure out,” she said after taking another sip of her wine. She knew it would most likely be her last since she was starting to feel tipsy and light-headed. “I mean . . .” She shook her head.
He chuckled. “Not really. I’m pretty cut and dry.”
“No, you’re not. I mean, most men, I think that I have a good handle on them—”
He laughed before interrupting her. “After hearing your track record, I’d say you’re usually pretty far off.”
She groaned, “I guess that’s true, but still . . .” She leaned back again and crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t usually find myself attracted to someone like you. I guess maybe I was due for a change, but I have such a hard time reading you that I’m unsure.”
He frowned, then reached over and took her hand in his. “Let’s get out of here.”
She sighed and just looked at him.
“No, I mean, this is a conversation for someplace a little more private. Don’t you think?”
She glanced around and realized the place was packed. There were people standing at the bar and she could see a line out the door for people waiting to sit down for dinner.
Nodding, she grabbed up her stuff and followed him out to the elevators. “Where to?” she asked when they walked out onto the street. He took her hand in his and started walking down the outside mall.
“I know this may be a little forward, b
ut how about my place?” He glanced at her sideways.
She stopped walking, and when he turned toward her, she looked at his eyes. She could tell he had been sincere, but something in his face told her he was feeling the same thing she was. Desire.
“That is pretty forward.” She couldn’t stop herself from teasing him.
His smile was quick. “We can just talk. Honest.” He held up his hand, palm toward her.
“No Scout’s oath?” she teased further.
He shook his head. “I was too busy watching my sisters to join the Scouts.”
“What did you say your parents did all the time that left you alone with your sisters?”
“They each headed up a few major charity events for the country club, not to mention they were always traveling for work.”
She thought about it, about him, about being with him, and something inside her kicked. “All right, but I can’t stay long. I do have to put in a couple hours tomorrow.”
He took her hand and started walking again. “You know, if you need any help tomorrow . . .”
“No, most of the changes the inspector required were in the front. The HVAC system in those old buildings can be a real pain to work around.”
“I worked on this project once where it took us four different inspections to finally get everything right. We had to tear out three walls.”
“But saving historic buildings can totally be worth it,” she added.
He nodded as they walked toward the doors to his building.
She stopped and looked up. “I didn’t get to appreciate this the last time I was here. They don’t make them like this anymore.”
“For a good reason. The cost alone would drive the rent sky-high.”
“I suppose. What floor are you on again?” she asked as they walked in.
“Twenty-fifth. I got a great deal on the place.” He held open the elevator door for her. “Now everyone wants to live in the newer loft buildings that are popping up all over.”
“Isn’t this one of the oldest high-rises in Denver?” she asked.