Insert Groom Here

by K. M. Jackson

  * * *

  Aidan was pissed. He was pissed and growly, and if that smooth, silky gigolo ran his hand up Eva’s thigh one more goddamned time, he was going to go over there, kick his ass, and hang him by the balls, using his own fucking silks. How could he ever have thought this type of date was a good idea? Thought it would be amusing, no less. Showed what he knew about fun family programs.

  He watched as indifferently as he could while the good-looking charmer took Eva through a series of sensual moves clearly better suited for the bedroom than for the mixed company at hand. Things started out well enough with the usual sun salutation and downward dog, which they did separately on their respective mats. But then the guy had the nerve to step out of his lane, come over, and lift Eva by her trim waist and smoothly place her in the makeshift scarf swing that hung above her, taking the fabric and easing it gently around her buttocks. That was when Aidan crossed his arms and locked them tight around his chest to hold them in place for the safety of all involved, and he hadn’t uncrossed them since.

  Aidan watched as Miguel told Eva to trust him as he put her into something called a “monkey pose” and asked her to lean back into him—way back, letting her head fall all the way to the ground so she ended up supported only by her crossed legs and the silks wrapped around them. Aidan’s jaw dropped at the sight of her heart-shaped behind on display in such a way. It only got worse when Miguel told Eva to trust him further and had her spread her legs wide, while he held her balanced and stood centered between them. With a gentle push to her outer calves, she swung forward and back toward his groin. Aidan couldn’t help it and groaned aloud at the sight as he finally unlocked his arms and ran a frustrated hand through his hair.

  Louisa shot him a look, and he gave her one right back. Fuck it. How in the world did this guy get into the mix? He was billed as a yoga instructor, not some new age holistic gigolo. To calm himself, Aidan considered all the heads he planned on rolling over this particular pick. Shit. Dammed if that didn’t reek of something his father would do. But he didn’t like seeing Eva pawed over in such a way, and even worse, he hated that he cared as much as he did about the whole situation.

  But care he did.

  After their talk, he had felt even more twisted than before. And worse, he was more attached than ever, doing what he told himself not to do. Never to do. When you got emotionally attached to a subject, your judgment was off, and here clearly his judgment was off. He closed his eyes briefly and then decided to look at the screen instead of at the scene in front of him. At least he could let the HD version take the place of watching up close and give him a bit of emotional space.

  Be objective, he told himself as he watched Miguel bring Eva back up. She smiled, and her soft brown cheeks took on a rosy glow. He smiled to himself. Despite it all, it was nice to see her looking happy. This was the first date on which he had witnessed her smile like that, the first on which she had that glow that he now knew came from deep within, and if the silky swirler did that for her, then he had to accept it and be happy for her. He knew her. The smile he saw now wasn’t her fake “we’re rolling” smile, and it wasn’t the smile she gave him either, the one that was genuine and real but hidden in the way back, behind the depths filled with that hidden sense of regret that she thought he didn’t detect. Seeing her now—smiling, laughing, and genuinely having fun while swinging with this dude—he felt happy for her, though it ripped at his core in a way he wasn’t prepared to deal with.

  Eva stepped out in front of the silks and was led by Miguel to go behind them and lean forward, front first, into a downward dog but with her feet in the air. Aidan’s mind instantly went to how he’d love to have her in that position himself. As if reading his thoughts, she looked his way for a moment right before her head went forward. He gave her a grin he knew she couldn’t see from where he was behind the monitor. But still her mouth quirked up at the corner anyway, as if they were in mental sync, and he couldn’t help but shake his head and make a silent promise to her to send her flying as she’d never flown later that night.

  Chapter 19

  “We’ve got a problem.”

  Aidan tore his gaze away from the monitor and his view of the couple frolicking in the water and instead aimed his gaze toward the sound of his friend Carter Bain’s voice. What the hell is he doing here?

  It was the weekend, and Eva was on yet another date, this time a beach affair. Aidan couldn’t help but laugh when he saw his friend looking so out of place as he made his way across the sand of Rockaway Beach in his corporate getup. But he gave him props for trying to make it work by rolling his suit pants to his calves and carrying his loafers in one hand and his jacket in the other.

  “I guess we do have a problem for you to come all the way out here. What could possibly tear you away from your desk and out of your Guccis?”

  “Trust me, I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have to be.”

  Aidan shook his head. “You are so full of shit. Now that I think of it, you were probably dying to get your ass out of there and get your feet in some sand for a change.” He looked to the left and tilted his head. “Besides, knowing you, you’re probably looking to bum some food off Vin.”

  Looking for a change of location, the crew had ventured outside once again, though this time they had taken to the coast and gone out to Rockaway Beach so that the latest bachelor, CJ Pace, a competitive surfer with his own line of clothing and gear, could showcase his talents, not to mention promote his merchandise, in which one of the network execs had a small stake.

  It rubbed Aidan wrong, as nepotistic as it was, though it shocked him not at all. Not to mention the fact that he had to, once again, look at a scantily clad Eva get pawed all over by yet another fitness hunk. He should have specified they put at least four suits on this list and stay away from this lineup of wannabe Captain Americas. Today’s date looked okay enough on paper, but honestly Aidan should have looked further, checked the fact that the popular surfing champ had a fan base that was mostly women; there was a reason he was constantly tapped to model for lifestyle campaigns. As if anyone would believe that the perpetually tanned, ambiguously raced stunner with the piercing green eyes was really out here looking for a wife and that wife could possibly be Eva. Come the hell on. They could sell a lot, but there was no way they could sell that this dude would want to give up his playboy lifestyle.

  At least he got to see Vin today. It had been way too long since he’d hung with his old friend. Vin was doing good and looking great, frankly better than Aidan expected since the sudden loss of his mom. Vin had always been a bit of an outward brooder to the lay person, and his mother’s death had only brought out more of those traits. It had devastated Vin, and Aidan felt like an ass for not being around more for his friend during these past few years. But recently he and Carter had gone in with Vin, investing as silent partners in his restaurant idea, an offshoot from the original beachside shack he and his mom had founded years ago.

  Still, investment or not, it was a surprise to see Carter out on the beach today. He wouldn’t complain, though. It was good to have the three of them all in one spot. Hell, getting Carter out of his expensive loafers, well, that was almost worth the cost of seeing Eva cozying it up with another dude. Almost.

  “So what is this problem you’re talking about?” he asked, directing his question to Carter while still keeping an eye on Eva and the overgrown surfer boy. Really, how old was this dude? Aidan’s brows drew together, and he instinctively moved forward when Eva fell off her board and briefly went under the water, only to be pulled up and into the bronzed arms of smiling CJ. His white teeth practically reflected the sun, hence his toothpaste contract. “Pretty shithead.” Aidan mumbled under his breath.

  “That right there,” Carter said.

  Aidan looked around, then back at Carter. “What the hell are you talking about? Come on and spit it out. It’s not like I have time for your game playing. Some of us have real jobs to do. You know, the kinds tha
t call for actual work.”

  “Just cut it,” Carter said, shielding his eyes from the sun. “Take those headphones off, and come on, buy me a beer.”

  Aidan took another glance toward Eva and then signaled Lou before taking off his headphones and walking with Carter over to Vin’s food shack.

  “Don’t worry, it’s not like he’ll be able to swim off with her while the whole crew is watching.”

  Aidan raised a brow but wouldn’t give Carter the satisfaction of an answer to his comment.

  “What the hell? Am I being audited or something?” Vin said, turning his muscular body away from the grill and coming around to shake Carter’s hand and hug it out as they walked over.

  “Cut the audited bullshit. And make me a taco, you ass. Some of us like to dress like an adult. We can’t all live like you—the overgrown teenage bad boy in your cutoff jeans and tanks.”

  Vin cocked his shaved head to the side and narrowed his eyes on the slimmer Carter. “Aww, honey, you’ve missed me. Well, I’m right here where you left me just waiting for you to come home.” He then gave Carter a wink, after which Carter gave him the finger, and Aidan inwardly noted that though the years had gone on, nothing had changed in the relationship he had with his old friends.

  Aidan shook his head and laughed. At least he could say that this bit of good came out of his forced grounding.

  It had been too long. Vin pulled two beers out of his fridge and served them up. Then he went to the grill to work some magic, coming back with a few of his famous shrimp tacos. His little beach shack was only a front for the much larger restaurant behind it. Vin had done well for himself since the old days of bumming with them. Aidan knew his mother would be proud. And one taste of his food and he knew his investment was secure. As part of the sad but profitable neighborhood gentrification, Vin had done his part by securing a space from an older, established restaurant that was closing, and he just expanded on cuisine his mom had taught him to rustle up for hungry beachgoers. He was quickly getting a rep with the hipsters who were moving in, but doing it on his terms.

  Aidan bit into his taco and looked at Carter. “So, you going to spill what brought you all the way out here? Besides our friend’s excellent cooking, of course?”

  Carter took a long pull of his beer, then leveled Aidan with a hard look. “I came to ask if you’re actively trying to sabotage this project.”

  Aidan’s brows pulled together. “Why would I do that?”

  “I don’t know. Why would you?”

  Aidan let out a breath. “What the hell are you talking about? Like I said, I don’t have time for this. If you’re going to keep talking in riddles, I’m going back to work.”

  “You mean you’re going back to gawking at your girlfriend.”

  “She’s not my girlfriend.” Aidan picked up his beer and took his own pull.

  Carter shrugged. “Okay, I’ll give you that; maybe she’d not your girlfriend. Are you trying to sabotage this project by making a fuck buddy of the talent?”

  Aidan’s beer slammed down hard and fast but gave Carter just enough time to jump out of the way of his oncoming fist. Vin let out a bark of laughter, and Aidan turned on him, eyes blazing. “What the hell are you finding so funny?”

  “Damn, man, way to show and tell. You used to be better than that. Carter pulled that out of you in one move. I saw him playing you from a mile away. I mean she’s fine and all, but I had you called from the moment you all walked up. Honey’s got you whipped.”

  “And you just admitted it. Like I knew you would,” Carter said. “Not that you needed to. Your little early-morning dog walk did that for you.” Carter pulled a piece of paper out of his breast pocket and slammed it on the counter. It was a clipping with a picture of Aidan and Eva walking Jester. She was looking up at him and smiling. They definitely looked like a couple.

  He gave Carter a sharp look and saw he was now smoothing his hair and reaching for his beer again, no longer afraid of getting knocked out since it was clear he had played Aidan just to get a reaction. “We were having a business meeting.”

  Both Carter and Vin laughed in unison.

  Aidan shot them both hard looks. “Either way, you had no business talking about her like that.”

  “I know,” Carter said. “And it won’t ever happen again. I just wanted to get straight to the point of what was going on with you. Now, I’m sure she’s perfectly lovely, but like Vin said: You’re whipped.”

  “When have I ever been whipped?”

  Vin and Carter looked at each other, then turned to him in unison. “Now!”

  He threw up his hands and shook his head. “You’re both wrong.”

  Carter chimed in again. “If you say so, then I really hope so. You know I have a lot riding on this. We all do. She needs to walk down that aisle in a few weeks, and it needs to be with one of these guys. I can’t have you metaphorically, or literally, screwing this up for me. Some of us aren’t grandfathered or fathered into the board. I can’t have two of my segments bomb, especially not twice in a row.”

  “Don’t worry. She will walk down the aisle,” Aidan said through gritted teeth as he watched Eva try to balance on her board while holding CJ’s hand.

  Carter frowned. “Now, why is it that I don’t feel too convinced?”

  He turned and raised a brow to Carter. “You don’t want to keep pushing me on this.”

  Carter raised the hand that held his beer and tipped it to him. “Fine. Just get it done. I’m trusting you. I’m sure the right man for her will come along soon. Like you fought so hard to convince me when you insisted on taking over this shoot, we owe her the happily-ever-after she came to us for.”

  Aidan turned away to walk back to his crew. As he did, he saw Eva fall right into CJ’s arms and heard Vin, behind his back, mumble some crap about having it bad. Fucking friends. What did they know?

  * * *

  Eva lay on her side, counting the seconds until the display on the digital clock turned over. 1:45, 1:46, 1:47.

  Aidan was uncharacteristically silent after their lovemaking—well, actually he was even beforehand. When he had come by her apartment around midnight, she knew right away that something was off with him.

  Opening the door, tired from the day on the beach with bachelor CJ, Eva instantly perked up after taking one glance at Aidan, looking sexy and perfectly delicious in his jeans and body-accentuating tee. All she wanted to do was get her hands under that tee, run up against his warm body, and feel that sexy scruff of his as it scraped along her neck and made its way down to in between her thighs. Really, she should be ashamed of the outrageous woman she was becoming, but she couldn’t muster up the self-righteousness to do it. She’d spent enough years being perfect for everyone else and then making that outward perfection her profession. She was good and well going to enjoy these nights of letting go while she had them.

  Aidan stepped in silently and kicked the door closed behind him. Leaning down to give her a long kiss, he captured her mouth and cut off the funny greeting she was about to give him. The words became lost to her memory as his tongue entwined with hers in a slow and sensual coupling that had her feeling slowly drugged and slightly breathless, and then he finally pulled back and her eyes blinked open.

  Her gaze went from his chocolate eyes to his full sexy lips, and then finally to the takeout bags in his hands. She broke out in a wide grin as she snatched the bags and headed for the kitchen counter. “Oh good, I’m starving. I barely ate on the beach today, with the wind kicking up like it was. I don’t know whose idea it was for us to eat out there anyway,” she said, raising a brow his way. “I mean, really, who likes eating on the beach? And what a shame. That food, at least the one taco I got down, was delicious.”

  “I’m glad you thought so. Vin, the chef, is my boy; we go way back.”

  Eva paused mid-unpacking. “Oh, really, how so?” Aidan shrugged. “It’s not anything worth talking about,” he said, dismissing her question as he walked into
the living room and sat on the couch. Her mind instantly went into overdrive. What the hell? Why even bring up the guy is your boy and then say it doesn’t matter? It wasn’t like she brought it up.

  Eva watched as he took a look at the leftover equipment in the corner of the room, and she couldn’t help but notice his stern expression and the tension in the way he held his shoulders, straight and high up by his ears. Eva dropped the tin containing an order of what was, probably at this hour, a wilted salad on the counter with a thud.

  She let out a short huff as she stared at the back of Aidan’s head. So he wasn’t in a chatty mood tonight. Duly noted. She paused and thought over his earlier, on-set persona. Now that she thought about it, he really hadn’t been himself after Carter Bain had stepped onto the set that afternoon. Sure, he was never the most congenial guy on a date day, and she’d gotten used to his brooding, but with Carter there he was markedly tenser, and she noticed how he’d made odd requests to add more shots of her and CJ in the water frolicking together. Walking along the beach, he even had Lou suggest they walk down to the arcade and do a silly bumper-car ride. It was totally ridiculous. Normally, he was content with letting Lou, for the most part, run the show and only giving the occasional comment, and he almost never pushed her into more intimacy with the dates. This totally went against his character. She took out another container, this one with what looked to be overcooked pasta, and grimaced, continuing to unpack. Suddenly she paused. Could it be he was setting her up for their inevitable end? Now that they were weeks into the project and past the halfway mark, was he already halfway out the door and her bed?

  “Why would it not be worth talking about?” Eva asked as nonchalantly as she could, trying her best to ignore the gnawing thread of dread churning in her belly.