by Donna Fasano
He was a total stranger, yet the other night on the balcony she’d opened up more with him about her true feelings than she did with most people. Something about Aiden made her feel at home but at the same time disturbed her in delicious ways. There was no denying he had a raw sexual energy that attracted her.
He wheeled his Chevy Volt across the Fork with the know-how of a native East Ender, taking Middle Road to Ackerly Pond Lane before cutting over to Main Bayview. The Custer Institute sat in a peaceful residential neighborhood and could easily be missed as just another house or business along the way. It was a plain, nondescript red brick building with a silver-domed observatory and two smaller observatories in the back yard nestled amid the trees and brush.
The place was a fixture on the North Fork, having been there since the 1920s, and Jenna knew the Saturday night open houses usually drew astronomy buffs from around Long Island. A tiny part of her was disappointed to be going here. She’d at first pictured Aiden setting up his telescope on a bluff where the two of them would be alone.
Maybe he only wanted to be friends.
Jenna caught herself. Had her curiosity turned into something more? What about Sean?
“Here we are,” Aiden said. They strolled into the yard where some people were setting up there own telescopes. “I brought my heavy-duty binoculars, but it’s the Newtonian Obsession we want to use.”
Jenna grinned. “That’s a telescope? Sounds more like a perfume.”
Between the easy camaraderie of the other people there and the spectacular views of the night sky, she soon found herself lost in the marvel and magic of it all. It surprised her to realize that this pursuit of something for its sheer beauty and wonder was similar to what drew her to dance. Aside from the strenuous athletic discipline, which fed her compulsive perfectionistic streak, it was that same desire for the experience of beauty and wonder that pulled Jenna into ballet.
While standing close to Aiden in the burnished red light inside the top floor of the observatory, the huge telescope pointing at the starry sky through a rectangular window that opened in the domed roof, a wave of sadness and confusion came over her.
True to form, Aiden sensed it. “What’s wrong?”
When she tried to blink back her tears and failed, instead sending a couple streaming down her cheeks, he didn’t wait for her answer but put his arm around her shoulders and led her out of the observatory.
His touch felt so good she couldn’t help leaning into him. He walked her to his car, but they didn’t get in. He stopped and turned her to face him, his arm still holding her. “Do you want to talk?”
“I’m sorry. I’m going though some weird stuff lately, realizing that I don’t know who I am or what I really want.” She let out a short laugh. “I guess that must sound indulgent coming from me. I mean, how many people ever get a chance to play a role on a hit TV show or dance for a company like ABT? Believe me, I know how lucky I am. But I’m numb. Like I’m on autopilot. Like I’m missing something really important. And for some reason, when I was looking into those galaxies so far away…” Her lip quivered and she stopped talking, afraid she would sob and embarrass herself even further.
“The stars can do that to you,” he said, his voice almost a whisper.
His hand reached out to pull up the collar of her coat against the cold, and his thumb brushed her cheek. The accidental touch made him pause. Their eyes met, and Jenna could swear he wanted to kiss her.
And then he did. Gently at first, bending forward and brushing his lips across hers. But when Jenna reached her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss, Aiden responded with a hunger that left her breathless.
Chapter 9
Aiden stood outside his porch door on the second floor deck of his room at Richardson’s Bed and Breakfast. His mobile read 7:40 p.m. The sky had that wet inky darkness of late January. He nipped a taste of brandy from his glass as he spoke to his rep, Michael Nubell, from the Golan-Mazar Literary Agency. Michael called to break the news about the sudden passing of one of the longtime associates on their team.
“Keeled over. Flat on his back,” a somber Michael said. “While he was speaking at a pro-literacy conference out in Tucson.”
“I am so sorry,” said Aiden. “I knew Jim had a bad heart.”
“Hey, we all knew that. I used to beg him to lose weight. Even Jennifer in publicity offered to buy him a membership to a health club for his birthday. But he just laughed it off.”
Aiden’s concentration was briefly disrupted when he heard the sound of a nearby window sliding open. It had to be Jenna. The idea of her being just on the other side of his bedroom wall excited him. He took another sip of brandy, then shifted his attention back to the call. “Yeah, I’ll really miss him. When Jim and I worked together I always knew he had my back. Now he’s gone. At least he died while doing what he believed in.” Aiden sighed. “He was one helluva dedicated agent.”
~*~
Jenna had given a less than stellar performance on the set today. Now back in her room at her mom’s B&B, she began reading over her lines for the next shoot but couldn’t concentrate. So she practiced pirouettes. The challenge of maintaining perfect balance and form while turning never failed to resurrect her confidence when under pressure.
After working up a sweat, she went to open her window, and as she did, she heard a voice coming from Aiden’s side of the deck. Sounded like he was talking on his phone.
Naturally she listened in.
“Yeah, I’ll really miss him. When Jim and I worked together I always knew he had my back. Now he’s gone. At least he died while doing what he believed in.” She could hear the emotion in his voice. “He was one helluva dedicated agent.”
Ohmigod. Another agent? A colleague no doubt. Killed in the line of duty?
Jenna held still and paid attention, hoping to hear more. Unfortunately, it sounded like he was signing off.
Knowing smart and sexy Aiden slept right on the other side of her bedroom wall already sent tingles through Jenna. But to think he was a secret CIA or FBI agent, a man who lived a life of danger…
When she was certain the call had ended, she stepped out on the deck, first flicking on an outside light to warn him in case he was doing something top secret. Too late she realized he might want to be alone to mourn his fellow agent.
“Jenna.” Was it her imagination, or was he looking at her differently tonight?
She took mental stock of her appearance. Not her favorite sweatshirt. Her jeans were okay, but her long straight hair was falling out of the ponytail she’d put it in a few hours ago, and her makeup had washed off in the shower she’d taken after returning from her day on the Sunrise Lane set.
“Hello, Aiden. I missed you out here for the past three nights.” Geez. She couldn’t believe that came out of her mouth. How embarrassing. Had she forgotten the coy and careful way she measured her words around Sean? Except Aiden gave her a smile that made her heart race, and she liked that it might’ve been her words that did that.
“Good to see you,” he said. “Things going all right with the show?”
“Really well, actually.” She almost said that she was sorry about his friend but stopped her idiot mouth just in time.
He caught her reaction. “You okay? Feeling panicky again?”
She twisted her fingers together, trying to think. But she’d always been better at dancing than talking. “I know who you are.” Her hand flew to her mouth.
Aiden’s brows knit. “How’d you find out?”
What could she say? She could never fess up about her snooping into his computer. Unless of course she was in the mood to face a firing squad. “I just guessed. But I promise you, my lips are sealed.”
“Glad to hear that.”
“I can’t tell you how much I respect what you do. Just tell me one thing. Is my mother safe? I mean, are there people who might come here looking for you?”
“Trust me, no one knows I’m here. And I doubt anyone is looking
right now. They have bigger fish to fry than me.”
“That’s a relief,” she said.
“Now can I ask you a favor?”
“Sure. What?”
“We don’t ever bring up this subject again.”
“Deal.” She bit down on her lip and paused. “One last question?”
“Go on.”
“Do you ever get scared?”
“All the time.”
“The pressure must be intense.”
“That, plus working with some characters can be a real problem.”
“I’ll bet. How do you handle it?”
“I told you already. Peanut butter brownies.”
Jenna laughed. What did she expect him to say? He wasn’t going to start talking to her about carrying a gun or anything. Did he carry a gun?
Aiden walked closer. She could hardly believe the way her body reacted to him. Although he was tall, he wasn’t a brawny man. But he had a runner’s grace and a lean muscularity that had her fantasizing about getting naked with him. Then there was his Prince Aragorn face and…
“On that final note,” he said with a polite but distinctly no-nonsense resolve, “we’re done talking about it.”
“Yes, sir,” she said, almost wanting to salute. Then quickly added a jittery, “What I mean is, absolutely.”
His eyes instantly warmed. “So, what are you up to tonight?”
“Nothing.” She’d turned down Sean’s invitation to a party in Manhattan. The fact that he didn’t try to talk her into going disturbed her a little. But how could she fault Sean for that when she’d chosen to stay home in case Aiden came back?
“Want to go look at some stars?” he asked. “From a different location.”
“Sure.”
He pointed to her pink fuzzy slippers. “Get some shoes on, and we’ll head out.”
“Meet you on the stairs in ten.”
Back in her room, Jenna quickly slipped into her sneakers. Then she neatened her ponytail, swished on some eyeliner and lipstick, changed into a black sweater, and tossed on her pea coat. Aiden stood waiting outside her door, his tall frame leaning against the wall in a sultry pose, hands in the pockets of his leather jacket.
“Custer Observatory is open to the public tonight. Ever been there?” he asked.
Jenna nodded. “We went there on a class trip when I was in tenth grade. But to be honest, I wasn’t all that, um…”
“You were too busy flirting with Josh or Eric or whatever his name was.”
“How’d you know?” She giggled and gave him a poke on the arm.
“Ouch.”
Sitting next to Aiden in the confines of his car, Jenna could tell the tidbits of conversation he made about the North Fork being a great place for stargazing were a cover-up for his nervousness. Strange thing was that it relaxed her a bit knowing he was also feeling awkward, maybe also wondering if this was a date or not.
He was a total stranger, yet the other night on the balcony she’d opened up more with him about her true feelings than she did with most people. Something about Aiden made her feel at home but at the same time disturbed her in delicious ways. There was no denying he had a raw sexual energy that attracted her.
He wheeled his Chevy Volt across the Fork with the know-how of a native East Ender, taking Middle Road to Ackerly Pond Lane before cutting over to Main Bayview. The Custer Institute sat in a peaceful residential neighborhood and could easily be missed as just another house or business along the way. It was a plain, nondescript red brick building with a silver-domed observatory and two smaller observatories in the back yard nestled amid the trees and brush.
The place was a fixture on the North Fork, having been there since the 1920s, and Jenna knew the Saturday night open houses usually drew astronomy buffs from around Long Island. A tiny part of her was disappointed to be going here. She’d at first pictured Aiden setting up his telescope on a bluff where the two of them would be alone.
Maybe he only wanted to be friends.
Jenna caught herself. Had her curiosity turned into something more? What about Sean?
“Here we are,” Aiden said. They strolled into the yard where some people were setting up there own telescopes. “I brought my heavy-duty binoculars, but it’s the Newtonian Obsession we want to use.”
Jenna grinned. “That’s a telescope? Sounds more like a perfume.”
Between the easy camaraderie of the other people there and the spectacular views of the night sky, she soon found herself lost in the marvel and magic of it all. It surprised her to realize that this pursuit of something for its sheer beauty and wonder was similar to what drew her to dance. Aside from the strenuous athletic discipline, which fed her compulsive perfectionistic streak, it was that same desire for the experience of beauty and wonder that pulled Jenna into ballet.
While standing close to Aiden in the burnished red light inside the top floor of the observatory, the huge telescope pointing at the starry sky through a rectangular window that opened in the domed roof, a wave of sadness and confusion came over her.
True to form, Aiden sensed it. “What’s wrong?”
When she tried to blink back her tears and failed, instead sending a couple streaming down her cheeks, he didn’t wait for her answer but put his arm around her shoulders and led her out of the observatory.
His touch felt so good she couldn’t help leaning into him. He walked her to his car, but they didn’t get in. He stopped and turned her to face him, his arm still holding her. “Do you want to talk?”
“I’m sorry. I’m going though some weird stuff lately, realizing that I don’t know who I am or what I really want.” She let out a short laugh. “I guess that must sound indulgent coming from me. I mean, how many people ever get a chance to play a role on a hit TV show or dance for a company like ABT? Believe me, I know how lucky I am. But I’m numb. Like I’m on autopilot. Like I’m missing something really important. And for some reason, when I was looking into those galaxies so far away…” Her lip quivered and she stopped talking, afraid she would sob and embarrass herself even further.
“The stars can do that to you,” he said, his voice almost a whisper.
His hand reached out to pull up the collar of her coat against the cold, and his thumb brushed her cheek. The accidental touch made him pause. Their eyes met, and Jenna could swear he wanted to kiss her.
And then he did. Gently at first, bending forward and brushing his lips across hers. But when Jenna reached her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss, Aiden responded with a hunger that left her breathless.
Chapter 10
The next afternoon, Jenna soared through the air, her legs splitting into a clean horizontal line a good four feet above the shiny hardwood studio floor. Flushed and smiling, she pushed herself to the max, eking out that extra bit of lift and polish. She love, love, loved grand jetés, and whenever she took the Ballet IV class at Casey’s studio she could be sure her sister would wrap things up with a challenging grand allegro variation.
Today’s class was a demo for one of Casey’s Family Days at the North Cove Performing Arts Academy. Jenna had only agreed to take part today as a favor to her sister, knowing her appearance would bring in a larger than usual group of observers to the school. (Especially since a couple more photos of her with Sean had circulated through celebrity gossip news.)
In the weeks since she’d left the ballet company, Jenna hadn’t taken dance class at all, hadn’t wanted to go back to the daily grind she’d run away from. But being here in the studio, working her body until sweat soaked through her leotards, she felt as if she’d come home.
She thought about what Aiden had said last night. Maybe he was right when he wondered if she would wither and wilt if she stopped dancing completely. She had no real love—or talent—for acting. Heck, for all she knew, Sunrise Lane’s producers would cancel her contract after the first episode aired and they realized how bad she was.
And after last night, a ballet class was exact
ly what she needed. She’d seen Rachel with bruises before, but Jenna had never witnessed the horrifying sight of Nick abusing her. Then when Nick pulled a knife on Aiden, she feared she was about to witness a murder. Aiden eliminated that concern in a hurry. Was it his upbringing in a rough neighborhood that made him so adept at disarming and subduing Nick? Or was it his self-defense training as a secret agent?
Thoughts of Aiden made her already-flushed skin even warmer. The kiss they’d shared was the only thing that had been able to penetrate the numb haze of confusion that had overtaken her lately.
A kiss he broke off and obviously regretted. Had he made some kind of vow to his dead wife?
She thought about the conversation she’d had with Rachel last night when they waited together in North Cove Hospital’s E.R.
Her friend said, “Your brownie-eating stargazer sure knows how to kick butt.”
“Yeah, he’s kind of amazing, isn’t he?”
“Are you dating him?”
Jenna thought about their dinner. And the kiss. “Um, kind of.”
“What if Sean finds out?”
“Sean and I just started dating. We’re nowhere near ready to talk about being exclusive.” She thought about the way women hung all over Sean and how he’d happily gone off last night without her. “I’m not naive enough to think he doesn’t play around.”
“Except men can be so territorial. Piss Sean off, and who knows? He could derail your acting career.”
Jenna doubted Sean would be that petty. She also considered the source of the dark forecast. With Rachel being married to a piece of work like Nick Stiebler, it was no wonder she predicted the worst. Jenna just hoped she would finally divorce him.
After the hospital, Rachel had insisted on going back to her own house rather than staying at the B&B. Jenna agreed to it only because the police assured her Nick would be locked up overnight. And Rachel said she’d move into her parents’ house today. When Jenna got back to the B&B, she puttered around her room with the light on for a long time hoping Aiden would step out on the balcony and talk to her. But he didn’t show and she finally went to sleep.