by Melissa Blue
"We shouldn’t be alone." Her words broke the silence.
"I know."
He cupped her hips in his hands and brought her closer. He wanted them skin to skin, but that wasn’t what she needed. Instead, he laid a kiss on her forehead and continued to sway her to the music blaring out of his truck. The sweet moment changed when her eyes met his.
He saw through the vulnerability she hid with sarcasm, and he saw the bitterness her mother spilled into her, making Megan who she was. He wasn’t sure if Megan recognized it as that, but he did. The yearn started as a burn in his chest. He knew in that moment he couldn’t stop it. Common sense with Megan had never been high on his to-do list, so why now would things change?
"I want you to make love to me."
The plea shot through him, and it physically hurt to say what he had to say. If she’d asked for anything else, he’d have given it to her tenfold. "I can’t." He held her tighter, knowing she’d push away from him. "I don’t have a condom. Not that I don’t want to." Every part of her was soft and warm against him. "Because I really want to."
"Oh." She shrugged and put her head back down on his shoulder. "I used to think you were a boy scout. Go ahead and shatter my illusions."
Aiden chuckled. "I’m here to serve." He placed another chaste kiss on her forehead and felt her shiver in his arms. "Cold?"
"The complete opposite. I think we should separate and sit on either side of the lake."
"We should."
He didn’t let her go.
She didn’t try to step back from him.
"Aiden, what are we doing?"
He ran his hands over her waist, her back, and then let them bury themselves in her hair.
"Tempting fate."
She leaned in, closed her eyes, and kissed him softly, then urgently. The temperature of the kiss rose and her mouth became demanding, needing more from him than he could give her. When she pulled back from him, her lids were heavy. "We are as dumb as our families keep telling us." Megan sighed.
He dipped his head down for another kiss, making this one last longer, until she moaned against his mouth.
"We are," he answered, when he came up for air and maybe for a clear head.
"Okay." She shook her head and let out a breath. "I’m going to step back now."
She leaned in again. Her lips felt swollen and soft this time. He sank his teeth into her bottom lip and was rewarded with another moan.
"I’ll step back, since you can’t seem to do it."
He nipped her lip again, and this time when she shivered he knew it wasn’t from the breeze coming off the lake. Finally she tore her mouth from his and stepped back. The only sound was their heavy breathing.
"I’m going to stand over here for a minute," Megan said.
She shook her head again, and Aiden realized it was to get her thoughts back. He understood. He felt the same way. It probably sounded sappy to admit, but this was the most attracted he’d ever been to a woman.
Megan asked, "Do you think it’s the fear of us getting caught?"
Aiden considered the question. "I never thought you were that kinky."
She laughed, and it only put a small chink in the tension. "I guess the key is, we just can’t touch."
"Easier said than done."
"True, but I have faith."
"Are you willing to chance it?" Megan’s eyes roved over him. She might as well have taken off his clothes.
"Who’s at your house?"
"Uncle Butch."
"Perfect. I always lose my libido when he’s around."
"I think he has that effect on any woman under the age of 35."
"So when I’m 36?"
Aiden opened the car door for her, making sure their bodies didn’t brush, because that was all the excuse he’d need. "Buy a chastity belt."
*****
As usual, it took Aiden less than five minutes to get to his house. Megan kept her arms crossed when he opened her door again. Lights shone through the front window, and at the moment James Brown’s funk was making that window shake. "Sounds like he’s turned your house into a gigolo lair."
"Where’s your Aunt Chandi?"
"At home," she answered, confused.
"Then it’ll be fine. He must have gotten into the liquor."
The nonchalant attitude surprised her. Megan imagined Aunt Chandi, maybe even Aunt Bette, coming to her house, getting into the liquor, and blasting The Supremes. She’d be pissed. Not relieved that they hadn’t jumped the nearest neighbor. More so than ever, Megan didn’t feel a part of the loop that made the people in this town hospitable. Maybe she was missing the I-don’t-care gene.
Megan thought back. Jocelyn’s door had seemed to be perpetually open for any of Aiden’s friends when they were younger. The kitchen had always smelled of something decadent and filling. The Thanksgivings and Christmases had always been celebrated in a full house with laughter and relatives. She’d never been invited, but in their defense she didn’t think it crossed their minds to invite someone who was always welcome.
Megan had outcast herself, so she’d never known what she was missing. Her mother had never wanted to go to another family member’s house for the holidays, and Megan wasn’t about to go visit with people she didn’t really know. How hard old habits die, Megan thought to herself as she stopped on the porch. "How do you do it?" she asked him.
Aiden cupped the keys in his hand. "Do what?"
"Family."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, you’re elated your uncle isn’t humping my aunt, but he did get into the liquor, no telling how much he’s had, and he’s in your house alone. With liquor."
A smile fought the corner of his lip. "You seem tense with the idea."
She was tense, and it wasn’t even her house. "I’m trying to understand why your family doesn’t drive you insane, especially with you having at least one member living with you for the next few weeks, and yet I can’t seem to sit in the same room with mine three nights in a row at the dinner table."
"This is really bothering you, isn’t it?" He put his hand under her chin and caressed her jawline. "They’re family. I can’t change who I’m related to. I can enjoy them, or at least not let myself get wound up over them. They’ll be gone soon. I’ll survive, and I won’t have to worry, much, about them until the holidays roll around."
Megan wasn’t convinced, and it must have shown on her face. "Here let me show you."
He turned the knob and led her into the house. Megan saw Uncle Butch first and turned her head. Seems he liked to drink whiskey in his boxers, with his white socks pulled up to his knees. The music stopped abruptly.
"Didn’t know you had company coming." Was it just her, or was there satisfaction in the old lecher’s voice?
Megan kept her gaze on the door. "That’s okay," Aiden said.
"I’ll just leave you two." The voice got closer. Megan concentrated on the peephole.
"No, I was wondering if you brought your playing cards."
"You want to play cards?"
Okay, if she kept her eyes on his, then she wouldn’t see anything traumatic. Megan lifted her chin and turned her head to meet Butch’s gaze. The disbelief was still etched on his face.
"Hi." She didn’t offer her hand. Doing that meant having to look anywhere below his neck line.
The disbelief was replaced by pleasure. "And you are Megan. Haven’t you grown up."
She was sure of it. Satisfaction clung to each word. Oh, she remembered him clearly, because she had one of him in her family. His name was Uncle Willie. Megan was also sure he was the family member who told dirty jokes to the boys when they were barely teens.
"Yes, I’m all grown up."
"Let me get decent, and I’ll be back."
Megan tried not to focus on his retreating back. "I think I’m going to need that chastity belt before 36."
Aiden grinned. "You just might."
Hours later Megan smiled around the cigar in her
mouth. "Hit me."
"We’re not playing 21." Butch said, but smiled back. Aiden slid two cards in her direction, taking the ones she placed face down on the kitchen table. "How do you feel about marriage?"
Her hands clutched the cards. "I have a slight phobia."
"About marriage?" Aiden asked.
Megan frowned. "Don’t most people get the sweats when you say ‘death do us part’?"
Butch pushed his whole pot into the center of the table. Megan raised her eyebrows. He had to be bluffing. Before this, he’d thrown in what was needed to stay in the game. "How do you feel about children?"
"Labor. Stretch marks. Lack of sleep. Preparation H and not for the bags under your eyes. End of thought." She lowered her cards and pushed all her potato chips into the middle of the table. "I call."
"I fold." Aiden placed his cards face down on the table and stuffed a chip into his mouth.
"You’re not supposed to eat the chips." His loud crunch was his only answer. Megan pulled the unlit cigar from her mouth. "So, what do you have, old man?"
"Well, I’ve got a full house here and, young lady, what can you beat that with?"
She put the cigar back in her mouth. "Oh, I don’t know. A royal flush would have done pretty good." Megan paused, laying her cards on the table, showing her hand. "But only a royal flush can put your mouth on the floor. Be careful not to lose your teeth, old man."
Butch threw his head back with a quick laugh. "I can’t believe you beat me." He turned to Aiden. "She beat me."
To Megan’s surprise, Butch took her hand and danced her around the kitchen. She’d barely gotten her breath back when he twirled her around one last time. Exhausted already, she plopped down into her seat.
"No woman has ever beaten me at poker."
She placed her hands on her head to keep the room from spinning. "Probably because they never noticed you cheating."
"I didn’t cheat, the last few hands."
"Because I made you take off your coat and keep your hands on top of the table. After that, the game was so much more fun." He grumbled something, and Megan didn’t ask for him to repeat it. "Now, doesn’t it feel good to be honest?"
"Baby girl, I’ll be as honest as a lie." He leaned down and placed a kiss on her forehead. "You two have a good night. I’m going to get my beauty sleep."
He paused under the arch between the kitchen and the living room. "No dipping, boy." He nodded one last time at Aiden and left.
Megan waited until she heard a door close. "No dipping?"
"Don’t ask." He shuffled the cards.
"Another game?"
"Did you have fun?"
Megan stretched out the ache in her arms. "I actually did."
"It didn’t feel suffocating?"
"No," she said slowly, trying to see where he was going with the questions. "Your uncle is another breed of the opposite sex. At times I did feel like the man was trying to use x-ray vision to see beneath my clothes, but once I got past the feeling of being violated, things went fine." Megan paused. "Your family isn’t so bad."
Aiden put the cards back in the silver case his uncle kept them in. "Neither is yours. Give them a chance and you might bypass the violated feeling and get to ‘fine’ with them, too. You just might be surprised."
Megan was unsure of his observation. Women tended to pry. They wanted to know more about Aiden and her relationship with him. They wanted to know if she was going to stay and keep the house up. They would notice how she and the evil stepmother who birthed her rarely talked. Uncle Butch only wanted to know her exact bra size. She made a noncommittal noise and stuffed a chip in her mouth.
"You can’t keep avoiding them. Sooner or later they will corner you and make you spend time with them. That’s family."
"I didn’t come here for family."
Her voice sounded cold to her, and that’s not what she wanted to be when she was with Aiden. She wanted to be warm, and free, like when they kissed. She wanted to feel like she didn’t have a care in the world. Megan wanted him to touch her with the same abandon she felt when she was with him. She let out a breath. Megan wanted a lot, and most of it she couldn’t have without consequences. It wasn’t in her nature to ignore consequences—they always came back to bite you whenever you did.
"You’re here for the house." His eyes darkened. "Fine and good, but you’ll have to deal with these people whenever you come back. Are you planning to come back?"
"Of course I am." He raised his eyebrow. Okay, it irritated, and she recognized the feeling as such, but still. "It’s my father’s house. What am I supposed to do? Let my mother sell it? It’s the only thing I have left of him." Her hand went to the locket under her shirt.
"I didn’t say anything."
"You didn’t have to." And the words sounded just like her mother. Megan clamped her lips shut. From his smile she guessed he’d heard her mother say the same thing.
"Almost forgot." Aiden stood up and opened his refrigerator. He pulled out a bouquet of crimson roses with baby’s breath. How he’d remembered the exact combination of flowers she bought—no correct that, he bought—a week ago, she didn’t know. She softened, and the tension she felt from the conversation left. "I figured by now all you had was an empty vase."
Try with withered flowers but not able to toss them just yet and he would be close. She took the bouquet and buried her face in it, taking in the strong, almost overpowering smell of roses.
"Thanks," was all she could get past the lump of emotion in her throat. When was the last time someone had been this kind and considerate? Megan couldn’t recall. She took in one last breath of the roses. "I’m ready to go."
He frowned. "What’s wrong?"
"Nothing." Everything. Megan’s heart thumped in her chest. She was in love. No. No, that sounded too final. Falling in love with him softened the hell out of the reality. Falling meant she could somehow stop it if she put her hands out and found her balance. Falling meant she could leave again when she had to. And because Megan had to lie to herself, everything was wrong.
Chapter 15
"What did you do?" Shep’s accusation hit Aiden while he was still opening his front door, one eye squinted against the morning sunlight.
"Uh, nothing lately." Aiden answered and stepped back as Shep stomped inside. Aiden plopped on the couch, trying to get his sleep-fogged brain around what Shep had just asked him. "What happened?"
"She’s gone." Shep started to pace in front of the couch. "Nicole went to get her up for breakfast and the bed was made, and Megan didn’t leave a note. So what did you do?"
Aiden wiped the sleep from his eyes, trying not to panic like Shep was doing. He knew how important the house was to Megan. Hell, it was the only thing keeping her here. "She didn’t leave a note?" He opened his other eye and looked at the clock above his entertainment center. "It’s only eight o’clock. She’ll probably call."
Shep kept his hand on his gun belt. If he weren’t related, Aiden might have worried that Shep would shoot him. "Where did you take her yesterday? What did you say to her?"
"I took her out to Dead Man’s Lake, and then here." Shep’s eyes narrowed. "We didn’t do anything. Calm down. Have a seat. She’ll be back."
"How can you be so sure?"
Aiden would have been insulted if it wasn’t so early in the morning. He decided to ignore Shep’s question. "Here’s a better question you should ask: What did Nicole say to her?"
Shep’s hand relaxed over his gun belt. Apparently, the urge for Shep to shoot someone had lessened.
"They got into an argument about the house."
"But it’s me that did something?" Aiden sighed and stretched his legs out in front of him. "Think about this, Unc. Nicole and Megan have never seen eye to eye on anything. Now they’ve been thrown together on Nicole’s territory. I’m sure by now there are a million of Megan’s relatives living in the house. Where would you go?"
"Home. No one bothers me there."
"I’d l
ike to point out, for the record, that no one is staying with you." When he saw the tension leave Shep’s stance, Aiden laid his head back on the couch and closed his eyes. "She’ll be back."
"Why are you so sure?"
Aiden shrugged, keeping his eyes closed. "She loves that house." And not me. The unspoken words left a mark, because for a moment last night he’d seen just how beautiful a woman she was now. Megan would never be his. He wasn’t what made her light up. She’d relaxed after a while, playing poker with him and Butch, but he knew that once Megan reminded herself she wasn’t supposed to be having fun, the glow would dim. Reality would set in, and she’d go back to being guarded.
"I want you to go get her."
Aiden’s shoulders tightened. "What happened to ‘if she wants to leave, let her go’? Because I could have sworn it was you who said that." Silence greeted his comment. Aiden reluctantly opened his eyes. Shep had sunk into the loveseat across from him. "Shep, what’s really going on?"
"Nicole thought it was going to be enough to offer Megan the house."
For the first time Aiden saw Nicole’s motives. Foolhardy, but in the right place. "You can’t force someone to love you, especially if you refuse to apologize for your actions first."
Confusion clouded Shep’s face. "What are you saying?"
Aiden sighed, hating to get in the middle. "Has she told you why Megan left twelve years ago?"
Nothing from Shep. Apparently Nicole hadn’t. Megan was right about Nicole wanting to keep the embarrassment between them.
"You go ahead and talk to your fiancée today." Aiden sighed, knowing what he himself was going to do. Megan was a grown woman. She could clear her head if she needed to, but now she had to think about what her actions did to the ones she loved. He wasn’t her caretaker or her conscience, but she needed to understand she was agreeing to more than just getting a house. "I’ll go get Megan."
"Where do you think she went?"
"Only one place she could have gone."
*****
"Oh, my god. Hottie. One o’clock. No, don’t stare; you might scare him away," Lynne added quickly. "He’s mine."