“No,” she huffed. “Now, please, remove your hand and get off my porch.”
To her consternation, he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the door jam.
“Why not, Carissa?”
Her eyes popped wide. “How do you know my name?”
Aden grinned sheepishly, his face glowing red in her porch light. “The internet,” he mumbled, scratching his right ear as he spoke.
She gaped at him. She hadn’t given him her name, so he searched for her online? What kind of man did that? It was both flattering and a little creepy. She moved her hand over the pocket holding her knife.
“Uh-huh. Well, then I really think it’s time to say goodnight.”
He straightened up and said, “Wait–” But she took advantage of his sudden movement and slammed the door – again – leaving him gawking in the moonlight, nearly nose-to-nose with the glass.
After she threw the lock, she didn’t run, but it was close. She walked swiftly down the hall and into her bedroom, where she slumped against the wall. Placing a hand against her racing heart, Carissa tried to catch her breath. She recalled the embarrassment on his face when he admitted to searching her name. That’s what made it flattering. She didn’t really think he would come after her, either, but there was something different about him. She didn’t have a clue what it was, and that’s what made things creepy.
The man was sexy as sin, with his mesmerizing blue eyes, long, dark blond hair, and mouth-watering muscle tone, but he apparently didn’t have any scruples, and that wouldn’t sit right with anyone with even the slightest bit of common sense. She didn’t like mysterious men. She actually preferred boring and safe. Just like Ryan. Oh, his job had sometimes been a little hairy, but he’d started out as an annoyingly honest and by-the-rules type of person.
Initially, there had been no secrets in their relationship, save the ones encompassed by his work, and those all came out eventually. Until those last few months, there had been an ample amount of openness between them. Carissa didn’t know how to cope with Aden. He was the complete opposite of the type of person she was attracted to. He was enigmatic, and secretive. Like Ryan was in the end.
She took a deep breath and stepped back into the hallway. Aden was no longer standing on her porch as far as she could tell. She dropped her purse on the entrance table and walked back to her bedroom again. After changing into pajamas, she consulted the calendar on the wall. Placing her hands on her hips, Carissa cursed her poor decision making skills. She’d forgotten tomorrow was her day off when she agreed to have her mom bring her another shipment - the second one this week. Well, it looked as if she’d be at the store in the morning. At least she could take the rest of the day off, so that counted for something.
Shrugging, Carissa switched off her light and crawled into bed. It looked like it was time to start asking people about her neighbor. His house had been empty a year before, so Aden was probably new to Jaune, meaning someone was bound to know who he was. In small towns - especially Jaune - everyone wanted to know who the newcomers were. The more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea. He was researching her, so why not? Reciprocity and all that. Besides, he was really cute, and if there was a chance he wasn’t crazy creepy…
Carissa smiled into her pillow. She might not be shopping for a serious relationship, but she sure didn’t mind looking at the wares.
Carissa returned home at noon the next day, leaving the store in the capable hands of Sadie, one of their assistant managers. She pulled into her driveway beside her nana’s shiny ’67 Chevy pickup, and hopped out, tapping on the glass to get Eleanor’s attention. With a smile, her nana joined her outside and gave her a hug.
Eleanor grinned, and held out her hand, dropping a set of keys into Carissa’s outstretched palm. “You left the keys on the office table.”
Carissa took them, and stuffed the work keys and her house keys into her pocket. She leaned against the side of the truck. “Thanks. I’d have realized eventually.”
Eleanor laughed. “I’m sure you would have, dear, but by that time you’d be calling me to let you in. I simply saved myself an extra trip.” She raised her eyebrows. “And speaking of extra trips; I thought you were off today, young lady?”
Carissa grinned. “I was, but I told mom last night that she could bring another shipment by the store. I couldn’t go back on that, could I?”
“Well, no, but you could have told me. I was going to be there, anyway, you know.” She gave Carissa another hug. “I need to go, now, child. You take a full two days off, now, you hear me?”
Carissa stepped away as Eleanor climbed back inside the truck. “Yes, ma’am.”
As Eleanor pulled out of the driveway, Carissa retrieved her purse from her SUV, and headed toward the porch. She pulled her keys from her pocket, accidentally dropping the key to Baby Steps somewhere around the walkway leading to the porch. Carissa dropped to her knees to look for it, but saw nothing shiny. She decided she’d try again in a bit. She had plenty of time to find it later.
Chapter Eight
The moon rose into a flawless starry sky. Aden cut off the shower and wrapped his waist in a towel. After placing his dinner in the microwave, he returned to his bedroom to dry off and get dressed. The timer dinged just as he pulled up his jeans. Shirtless, he returned to the kitchen, and downed the drink at the counter. He’d just rinsed the glass when he heard a knock at his door. Thinking it was Daniel coming over early, he opened the door without looking through the peephole.
“I wasn’t ex—” He stopped and stared.
Carissa shifted from foot to foot, studiously looking anywhere but at Aden.
“I’m sorry for coming by so late, but I thought I should apologize for how I acted the last time I saw you.” Carissa said quietly, staring at her feet.
Amused, Aden nearly smiled. “Last time?”
She shuffled her feet. “Both times,” she mumbled.
Aden belted out a laugh. “It’s okay, really. I understand.” He smiled at her. “I would ask you in, but you might think I’m creepy.”
Carissa returned his smile hesitantly. “We wouldn’t want that, would we?”
“No, we wouldn’t.” He stepped onto the porch and leaned against his door when he closed it. “Was that all you wanted?”
“Kind of, but not really. I know I haven’t been back in my house long, but I thought I knew everyone on my street, and then you popped up out of nowhere. It freaked me out.”
Aden smiled, hoping he looked kind rather than awkward or frightening. “I actually used to live over on Azure, but that house burned down. Rather than rebuild, I bought this place.”
Aden kept his voice mild, although his heart was pounding out of control. He wanted to get to know Carissa, to have these innocent conversations with her...and more...but he could tell by the wariness in her eyes that she still thought he was strange. It didn’t help that he always seemed to go about things the wrong way. Practically stalking a woman wasn’t the best idea, even if that wasn’t his intention. If he could just explain to her that being social never came easy to him, maybe they could work around what he’d done. However, what she said next squashed that idea into dust.
She took a deep breath and said, “Ah, okay.” She lifted her eyes to his, and frowned. “Look, I’m not interested in dating anyone—especially a man who only comes by after dark, and uses the internet to find out who I am instead of just asking me.”
Aden reached up and tugged on his ear, scuffing his toe against the wood of his porch. He sighed. “I’m sorry about that. It’s just that, well, I’m not very good at this sort of thing.”
Carissa tilted her head to the side, giving him a clear view of her lovely slender neck, and the vein pulsing madly beneath the skin. He gulped, tearing his eyes away to look at her face. She was still frowning, but her eyes were narrowed, and her gaze seemed more considerate than before.
“What sort of thing?” she asked quietly.
He waved his hand between them. “This. This talking, getting to know someone thing. That’s why I looked you up. It was easier than being nosy when you clearly had no desire to talk to me.”
Carissa snorted, her lips twitching. “Well, you did come knocking on my door after nine p.m. the first time. Sensible people don’t foist themselves on their neighbors that late at night.”
Aden smiled, feeling a little more relaxed. At least she was talking to him. He nodded. “That may be true, but I feel I should point out that it’s nearly nine, now, and you’re knocking on my door.”
Carissa crossed her arms over her chest. “Well, I just got home.”
“And the nights I came over?”
“That’s different.”
Aden’s smile widened. “Is it, now?”
Her eyes darkened. “Yes. I was home alone. We live in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere, and I don’t know you at all.”
“And your husband won’t protect you from your friendly neighbor?”
Aden immediately wished he could chew off his tongue. Her body stiffened, and her pretty eyes popped wide.
“Ryan’s dead,” she whispered.
Carissa whipped around, nearly smacking him in the face with her hair, and all but ran back home. Aden watched her go, guilt weighing like a lead ball in his belly. Her reaction explained a lot, and now he felt like a cod. Upsetting her was never his intention. To be honest, he still wasn’t sure exactly what his intentions were, but he knew if there was ever a chance for her to trust him, he’d have to make up for his careless words.
Somehow.
Carissa closed her door and leaned weakly against the wall inside. She shouldn’t have run, but she hadn’t expected him to ask about Ryan. Of course, it was his own fault for being so nosy. She snorted. No, it was her fault for being so damn rude every time they spoke. The man was clearly a socially awkward mess, and her attitude wasn’t doing anyone any good. Sure, he’d watched her a few times from across the street, but she couldn’t fault him for actually using his living room window, could she? She’d done the same thing the first night she’d seen him standing on his porch, when she ogled his magnificent body from a distance.
She was such a freaking hypocrite.
Carissa eyed the locks on her front door. She didn’t want to be a hypocrite. She needed to pull up her big girl panties and stop being an ass. The first step would be to apologize again—with sincerity. She stepped out onto her porch, cursing under her breath when she looked across the street and noticed that Aden’s lights were off. Great. He must have gone to bed while she was acting like an idiot.
Carissa turned to head back inside, but stopped when she heard footsteps coming up her driveway. She looked over, and there was the man in question. Aden held one hand behind his back, and Carissa noticed he’d added a light blue t-shirt and a scuffed pair of work boots. He kept walking until he reached her bottom step, allowing her to gaze down at him. He looked even more sheepish than earlier, his dark blue eyes wary and glowing in the porch light.
“I wanted to apologize,” he said, “and I brought you these.” He pulled his arm from behind his back, clutching a pretty array of fragrant wildflowers in his large hand.
She reached for them, and as she wrapped her hand around the stems, their fingers touched. It was brief, but an actual spark flashed at the contact. Carissa’s mouth dropped open. She looked up at Aden whose eyes were as wide and shocked as hers.
He let go of the flowers. “What was that?”
Carissa shook her head. “I have no idea. That’s never happened to me before. Must be some latent static electricity.”
“Of course.” Aden smiled slowly. “That was unexpected.”
She returned his smile. “You’ve got that right.” She studied the flowers for a moment before looking back at him. “I was actually about to walk over and apologize to you.”
“Me? Why?”
“Because it’s my fault you had to look me up online. If I’d just been more polite, that wouldn’t have been necessary.”
“In that case, you should probably be flogged,” Aden teased.
Carissa's answering grin was quick and full of humor. “But I’m still not looking to date,” she reminded him.
“Then I suppose it’s a good thing I haven’t asked you,” he said, lifting her free hand to place a kiss on the back of it, letting his lips linger until he heard her breath catch. “Yet.”
As he started to walk back toward his house, Carissa realized she wanted to get to know him after all. Her hand tingling where his lips touched, she stepped down a step and called out, “Hey, Aden!”
He turned around. “Yes?”
“You’re actually not too bad at this stuff.” She took a deep breath and smiled. “I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
The next evening, Carissa stood outside and beat her flashlight against the palm of her hand. Really? Why did the batteries have to die now? She cursed under her breath and fished her phone out of her back pocket, second-guessing her aversion to smartphones. Her little flip phone didn’t have a flashlight, and the camera flash didn’t last long enough to get anything done. Frustrated, she straightened up and turned to Aden. He’d shown up a few minutes earlier, wondering what she was doing, and even offered to help. He said he could see everything as clear as day.
She looked back at her malfunctioning flashlight, and then back to the man on the sidewalk. She huffed out a breath.
“Okay, Mr. I-Can-See-Perfectly-In-The-Dark, come over here and find the darn thing for me,” Carissa said, rolling her eyes.
His grin wolfish, Aden sprinted up her walkway. “You have to admit it, first.”
Carissa snorted. “Admit what? That you’re a creeper who only comes out at night and likes to spy on me whenever you get the chance?”
He winced. “I haven’t been spying on you. I live across the street. Do you expect me to never look out my windows?”
Carissa laughed, wrinkling her nose at him. His sentiment was oddly close to hers. “Okay, I’ll give you that, but you’re still a creeper.”
Aden stepped closer, closing the distance until she had to look up to see his eyes. She sucked in a breath. He didn’t look socially awkward tonight. “That’s not what you really think. Admit it. You have a crush on me.”
“Pfft. That’s what you think. I’ve said no such thing,” Carissa said, pushing on his chest. “I barely know your stubborn ass.”
Aden didn’t budge. His mouth turned up. “For now.” He looked down at the ground. “How badly do you need that key?”
Carissa slapped her hands on her hips. “Very. I can’t get into work without it.”
Aden reached out and gently tugged on her ponytail. “So, just admit the truth, and I’ll get it for you.”
Carissa rolled her eyes, her mouth twitching. “I’ll just wait until morning.”
Aden chuckled. “Ah, yes, the enviable day. And just how many of those have you had since you lost it?”
Carissa narrowed her eyes. “Two,” she muttered.
He raised an eyebrow at her. Damn the man. He knew she couldn’t find it without his help. “Fine!” she grumbled, “You’re not the most unattractive man I’ve ever seen.”
He stared at her for a moment, blinking, then his deep laugh flooded out, wrapping her in the resonating warmth of his amusement. Aden touched his finger gently to her chin. “You are the most contrary woman I’ve ever met.”
Carissa crossed her arms over her chest and tried not to think about the spark that ignited at his lightest touch. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Aden chuckled again, and turned away, bending down to look on the ground underneath the vibrant orange flowers in her flowerbed. He stood up almost immediately, the tiny metal key in the palm of his hand.
“It looks like it was in your garden the whole time.”
She tilted her head to the side. He was hiding something. “You knew it was there, didn’t you?”
Aden dusted his
fingers off and stuffed his hands in his pockets. He flashed her a wicked grin. “If I did, are you going to punish me?”
Carissa smacked his arm, eying his large muscles. “I doubt I would succeed if I tried. No, I think I might be better off running.”
His grin widened, showing a hint of teeth. “I could tackle you before you ever reached the driveway.”
Carissa gulped. The driveway was a fair distance away from where they stood. How could he be that fast? She shook her head, more confused over the fact that she wasn’t scared. Aden was mysterious, and as she noticed the first night she saw him, magnificent. And he also looked a little sheepish. Maybe he wasn’t as cocky as he was trying to seem. Carissa pulled the sunglasses off the top of her head – they’d been there since she started looking...during the day – and hooked them into the front of her shirt to give her hands something to do, something to keep from touching him again.
She wasn’t used to all this attraction bombarding her senses. He was obviously flirting, and she didn’t know how to handle it. He reached out and gently rubbed his thumb over her cheek.
“I’m not going to hurt you, Carissa. I couldn’t,” he said softly.
Her breath hitched, the mental plug in her heart shifting. Her eyes met his, the deep blue of his gaze more shocking than the zap she’d received from the cable box a few hours prior. His thumb left her cheek, slowly tracing the outline of her mouth. Her knees went weak, and she instinctively grabbed his biceps to keep from falling. His other arm encircled her waist, pulling her firmly against his hard chest. His fingers trailed her spine, ending with the lightest of touches to the back of her neck. She gulped again.
His face lowered toward her, his lips moving ever closer to her own. Her heartbeat sounded like jungle drums in her ears, buzzing with the fire of her intense attraction. He stopped, eyes on hers, a breath away from her mouth. His eyes grew brighter the longer she looked. Her tongue darted out to moisten her lips, and his eyes flashed, the light actually illuminating his face.
Carissa jumped back with a squeak, stumbling backward up her stairs while Aden stared, mouth wide in shock. She shook her head. “I-I’m sorry, Aden. I have to, uh, do laundry.” She turned and ran inside, locking the door behind her with a snap.
Crimson Bayou (Things that go Bump in the Bayou Book 1) Page 5