by Rena Manse
Ashley blushed but wouldn’t be under-minded. “Did you sleep with his fiancée?”
His eyes did a double-take back to her. “No.”
“No?”
“They weren’t engaged.”
“But they were involved?”
He stared at her then cut his eyes to glare over the packed room.
“How many women?”
Shaking his head, he scrubbed his thumb over an eyebrow and laughed dryly. “We just had this conversation.”
“How many will be laughing at me?” she questioned again. “And it’s not the same conversation. This time I need to know what I’m up against. You tried to make me one of them while I was still with Jonathan, remember? So who knows what you’ve been up to all this time.”
“Listen, and listen good.” His glare smoldered with the ash of his eyes. “I’ve never put myself on the line for anyone like I have for you. I asked you to marry me.”
“To close a deal. And you’re carrying on personal business-as-usual while you’re at it. Now who are they?”
His jaw flexed as he looked over her head.
Tough if he thought he wouldn’t come clean. She wasn’t about to step into a roomful of woman ready to throw javelins. Her spine tingled with whomever might be ready and waiting behind her right now. Even if she couldn’t prevent getting hit, she needed to know the directions they came from. “Better me now than before Valerie notices I’m not around to marry you.”
“Immature are we—you know what—forget this! I can’t help but think of other women since you all but cut yourself off to me.”
She mustered an indignant gasp.
“Oh, don’t give me that. Deal with it. It’s unorthodox, but like it or not, you and I are in a relationship. I’d appreciate you holding up your end of the bargain and giving me a little incentive to keep focused.”
“I’m not going to prostitute myself to you,” she sneered. “You and your one-track mind. Always thinking about—”
“Think about it. Never acted on it. Not since you. So quit accusing me of prior bad acts while I’m still trying to wrap my head around not staring at every nice body that walks by.”
She worked her jaw while his angry eyes perused the party. Thought about it. Never acted on it. Since you? Since she’d been there or since they’d been engaged? But she’d seen…
It didn’t matter because either way, he was trying. And she was being overprotective. Maybe. Ashley stared straight ahead at the subtle rise and fall of his chest. Not overprotective, just vigilant not to get her emotions wrapped up in someone incapable of sharing her beliefs again.
Hadn’t been with anyone this entire time? Toronto, nor at the party? She was moved by a man who could be so faithful. Ashley didn’t question his sincerity. He may be harsh in words, but he was honest. She sighed. She needed to give him a break.
Hands got fresh sliding up her ribcage and Ashley jumped, rethinking her decision.
“What did I just tell you?” he questioned with a raised eyebrow.
“What is with you?” He expected her to go from zero to sixty in half a beat flat? “You startled me.”
“Stop being startled and start acting natural.” He leaned close. “Where’s the sexy woman who let me kiss her neck a minute ago? You think too much when it comes down to it.”
How did this become a conversation where she was to blame? She knew she couldn’t flinch under his touch when she had a houseful of people to face. Fleetingly, she closed her eyes. “No pawing, no suffocating, no tongue this time. If I feel uncomfortable, I’m putting a stop to it.” She felt his body rumble with a chortle. The second she opened her eyes, his lips were on hers.
Ashley’s body became putty, pliable enough he had no resistance joining mouths, shoulders and hips. The breath she sucked from him, pure heat and heaven. A sweet-drink flavor lingered on his tongue and she savored his taste. He did paw, but not roam, and it was only enough to declare to the room that she was with him.
“Chocolate and strawberries.” Aaron pampered her lips by sliding his across them, and she remembered the mouthfuls of sweet treats she’d sneaked by her conscience.
She also remembered he’d disregarded the rules she’d just laid out. But he’d hired her to do a job first, and a contract trumped personal feelings. She’d do her job as formidably as her medical assignment with Val. She touched her lips, concerned their kiss felt like the first time they kissed, ever. A make-up truce after a tiff. Too personal.
“Don’t tighten up on me,” Aaron warned behind her ear. “I feel it in you. And your jerk boyfriend is watching.”
“Jonathan and I are just friends.”
“Who said anything about Jonathan?”
Matthew made her skin crawl. “I’m dedicated to the job you hired me to.”
He straightened, his eyes running over her face. “Partners,” he said. “Equal partnership, equal power.”
“Except for when you take the last word.” He smiled and kissed her cheek. Ashley told herself one of these days she’d get mad at him and stay mad.
“It’s not like you don’t enjoy it.” His teeth caught his teasing bottom lip as he smiled. “Get ready, partner. Essie’s coming.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
“Woo-hoo-hoo. No private moments while you’re standing in a crowd,” Essie’s voice sang as she jived her way over. Ashley couldn’t help but crack a smile at the woman’s antics. “Come on. Plenty of time to be by yourselves later. Everyone’s bursting with curiosity.”
Essie took Aaron’s hand and started pulling. His right hand shot out, and Ashley reached for him as she jogged to catch up. Arm muscles bunched when she collided into his side from her quick pace. He clamped down, and her “equal-opportunity” partner tugged her from guest to guest to show off his trophy. Hard of hearing, that lout. She worked her fingers free to tuck her arm around him, ending up under his suit jacket.
Warmth mixed in with Aaron’s scent to draw her closer. Bottle those pheromones and make Revealing the money it needs. She smiled at her dorky sentiment, then at the Lavenders, the Jenks, and the Hiltons. Aaron’s eyes flashed at her as he shared one of their bickering stories like they were recounting good times. Swordplay with Aaron, fun?
In her mind, Ashley rehashed their arguments. They did turn into fond memories. Laughing along with his easy-going banter, she responded to his handsome frequent smiles. Hmm, how much more his features would be with the glow of the Savior behind them. She looked away. This is why I can’t fall for him.
Raising her guard, only a sliver of a fantasy remained open: Aaron living for God. The precious image morphed into one of the sexiest concepts ever: Aaron living for God. Her hand ran the length of his back as she shone a gleeful smile. He may struggle whenever she brought it up, but a God-fearing Aaron, what a sight to see. She gave his side a few endearing pats. He’d be cuddly.
No, maybe God wouldn’t take too much of the jagged cut. She rather liked him with his serrated edge. Grinning wider, she squeezed his side for good measure.
Oh, someone did oblique crunches in his spare time. Explorative fingers canvassed the field of developed swells. She camouflaged wide-eyed surprise by enjoying Mr. Brennan’s anecdote while he laughed with the small group.
Her hand wandered farther and tapped Aaron’s abs. Nice. One. Two… His awkward shift had her retreating to his ribcage. Body heat lining her side rose ten degrees. Then steel fingers wove over hers and squeezed.
Aaron’s eyes delivered a flash of shock and stone cold something before he turned to tunnel through the room. He offered pleasant excuses to anyone trying to halt them, towed her in the process, slipping past the garden-entry French doors, down the patio steps, skirted the pool, and veered a sharp right to the nearest foliage-made gazebo.
“This is far enough.” She ripped her hand to her chest and started to back up. “Whatever you have to say, say it.”
“Say. That’s cute.” He matched her steps like a seasoned hunter. “W
here does this other side of you come from?”
“What?”
“Your little grab for my attention.” Hands reached out and caressed down her arms, crossing them behind her back and stopping her in her tracks. “The person you want to be around me. I’ve seen your wildfire, remember? Now show me the source.” His eyes glinted in the dark. “It’s just us here.”
Show him she loved him? She could barely control her natural tendencies around him. She needed to detach her heart, fast, if Aaron couldn’t love God, or her. And if he did? Love God? Man of his word—and present situation aside—Aaron already stated he planned on being a bachelor forever.
His fingers handcuffed her wrists. “Tell me what makes you do that to a man.”
Just you. “I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry.” She winced at how it must seem. “I can’t take it further.”
His nose nudged her cheek. “Yes, you can. Just for me. Let go,” he whispered. “Let go.”
There’d be no turning back. Where would her hang-by-a-thread testimony be if she gave in to a man who didn’t share her core passion? She closed her eyes, took a slow, silent breath. Aaron released her arms, giving her the agonizing choice. But she couldn’t make love happen for him. She couldn’t extend the love she wanted to if he didn’t have the Love she needed.
Walking away, indistinct mumbles trailed behind her. She didn’t turn around.
If a house fell on him it would make more sense. Aaron had dared to dream that Ashley harbored actual feelings behind her actions. Not for public view, she’d held him in a way only he knew about. But it boiled down to their already established physical attraction, nothing more. She didn’t love him, didn’t need him, didn’t want to be around him. She didn’t even like him.
Quashing an inner command, his feet moved and darted after her.
He held her arm as light as gauze and the action turned her around. He watched her eyes start with question for several seconds. Aaron bent and kissed her. Chocolate and strawberries. They’d never be viewed as just another decadent treat again.
She answered his coaxing lips. And when he straightened to stand taller she stayed with him. But her kiss felt reserved. He finally raised his head to search her face. Why didn’t she step out of the cage with the door wide open? Show me something. Let me know you acknowledge me as a human being.
He moved his hand to her waist and pulled her closer, trying to read her eyes. I need signs of life. “You’ve got to give me something, Ash.”
Chatter, laughter, and tinkling glasses mocked his desperate situation from inside the house as Ashley’s body stiffened. Her face flinched. Not once did she look him in the eye. Perhaps she’d gone as far as her emotional leash would allow. Couldn’t give, not when he offered her enough to take. But that bordered on selfishness, greed—satisfy her aroused curiosity, without investing her emotions. He didn’t know her to be like that, so someone else held her attention.
She hadn’t protested his comment about Matt being a boyfriend. Probably thinking about him now, or whatever the idiot said to make her smile the way she had earlier. Maybe Matt succeeded in his seduction.
Aaron leaned in to kiss her once more. To claim back what he knew lived behind the reticent behavior. But she jerked, slapped his hand from her chin, and cut her eyes at him. Aaron seized her wrist and held it between them. He didn’t remember her having a problem letting Jonathan or Matt get close. Neither did he think he’d have to compete with every man in the room for her genuine affections.
Aaron secured the back of her head and made no mistake about kissing her again. Their lips clashed under a hard grind between their teeth. What are you—! He snatched himself back, gazed at the one-foot of space between their feet. Blood rushed his ears at the horrible fact that he’d attacked her. One second, but still. “I don’t know—”
“Whatever you want from me, I can’t give it to you. You don’t understand where I’m coming from.” Ashley expelled a shaky breath. “I can’t make love without love. That’s the bottom line. And nothing you do can change that.”
He didn’t look up. Her footsteps echoed to the patio doors, away from the party. Aiming for the opposite corner, Aaron checked his pocket and stormed to the garages.
Tires squealed and each gear cleared its throat satisfyingly as the car tore up the highway. It would take him to people who didn’t remind him of her. “God, she’s your mess, you deal with her.” ‘Cause he’d had it!
He must be mad—falling for a woman who kept herself so locked up in her self-imposed safe-room she didn’t know how to break free.
He refused to worry about it. “She’s not my responsibility, and she’s not my wife.” Ashley was a pain and a nuisance, and he wouldn’t spend one more minute thinking about holier-than-thou Ashley can’t-make-up-my-mind McKenny.
The bar at Mirro’s wasn’t where he’d planned to end up. Didn’t matter. It was a place he could get a little something to eat, avoid crowds, and most importantly—when found out—not worry about people talking about why he ditched his own engagement party.
He slipped to a table off to the side, forgoing the untouched appetizer platter he’d ordered. He’d barely sat when a deeply tanned hand trailed from his shoulder, along his arm, and played across his knuckles. A tall, perfectly proportioned body sank into the seat across from him, Melina’s smile sultry as always.
“You’re at the wrong party,” she said hijacking his drink for a sip.
Aaron looked over his shoulder to three women sharing a table. He’d noticed a foursome enter earlier, hadn’t paid attention to who might be among them. Turning back, he caught the odd look on Melina’s face after tasting the beverage. He looked around again. “My engagement party not exciting enough for you?”
“You didn’t think so. And let me tell you, you won’t drown your sorrows with plain iced tea.” She lifted the tall glass and set it down in front of him, far enough over the edge to spill off if he wasn’t careful.
“What’re you doing here?” He slipped his hand from her delicate touch. “I’d prefer to be alone right now.”
“Trouble in paradise.” She tsked. “Your fiancée seems like a nice woman. I hope you work it out.”
Melina had always been a nice woman as well. Always had her head on her shoulders. Aaron calmed down and nodded and, like his emotions for Ashley, pushed his drink back from the edge. “Thank you.”
The runway model-turned-businesswoman glanced sideways to the bar and wiggled her finger at the bartender. “Well, you can buy me a real drink and tell me all about her.”
Aaron pulled up in front of the large, darkened house. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt like this structure. Empty.
He’d been out for a couple of hours, but talking about Ashley hadn’t eased his frustration. If anything, it heightened it. It highlighted how awkward he felt, and how cold she behaved regarding their situation.
Can’t make love without love. What did that mean? That she couldn’t love someone like him?
Who did she think she was? Of course they couldn’t survive on attraction alone, but—come on—they’d had friendly rapport over the past few weeks. And at least he met all of her so-called ‘parameters’.
He’d seen how she’d let Matthew get close. Allowed him to brush chests while he whispered seductions. Her expression revealed shock, not disgust. She’d teased, and fallen for Parsons while at it as far as Aaron could tell. Felt nothing and accused him of everything. Hypocrite.
That all suited him fine. If she believed the worst, and didn’t have any affectionate inclination toward him whatsoever—
“I know it’s not a date, but can you walk me to my door?”
Aaron glanced across the console at Melina. It’d been rude of him to ignore her while he drove the few minutes to her home. His eyes strayed passed her to the front walk before he apologized and switched off the engine.
He slipped out of the car and slowly rounded the hood. Actions played out in a dream-like state a
s he pulled open the door. Then, only the sound of shoes on sidewalk announced their arrival to the iron and glass Spanish entrance, where on autopilot he took her house key to let her in. Snick-clack.
“Come inside.”
His gut held him back as her hand guided him forward. Did he crave just any attention? Melina wasn’t just any woman though. She was someone familiar, comfortable in her own skin, unpretentious, self confident. Not locked up and insecure.
Darkness shrouded them in the late night hour. The second the exterior security light switched off, he heard a shuffle at the table beside him, felt Melina’s not so subtle attempt to reclaim her keys. She guided his arm around her waist, and he took the opportunity to mold her slender frame to his body.
She didn’t feel like Ashley. His unsure hands sculpted Melina’s back. …didn’t smell like her either. The air hung with something expensive and pungent, not orchids. Melina’s sure hands pressed his abs, crept up his chest, then sprawled under his suit jacket. She’d probably give no thought to the scars under his shirt.
Her body moved well with his when he turned to angle her against the hall table. Her nails grazed the back of his shoulders, easing his head forward and his lapels back. Avoiding her mouth, he caressed her cheek with his own. No zipper at her back, maybe the side. His jacket was halfway down his arms when she wrapped her calf around his, letting her mouth slide across his chin. He felt the first brush of her lips when he realized what he was doing.
Retreating several steps, he bounced off of another table. He’d let her touch his lip. Shrugging his jacket up his shoulders, he swiped at his bottom lip with the back of his hand and then dropped sweaty palms to the surface behind him. He needed a minute to clear his head.
“Sorry,” he whispered. Aaron rubbed his face. He shouldn’t be here. She wouldn’t taste like Ashley because she wasn’t.
“I get the feeling you’re not.”
Hearing her coming closer, he didn’t move away. A warm hand smoothed the side of his face. Her light touches danced over his skin in caring caresses.