Chapter Eighteen
I emerged from the bathroom after taking a shower and noted the sound of puppies barking outside and human voices in the living room. Voices, plural. Yawning and stretching, I sat up and listened to the two distinct voices, but I couldn't make out the words. Sounded like two men talking. Had Aidan invited someone into the house without asking me?
Hurrying down the hallway in my socked feet, I stopped at the edge of the living room. Aidan slouched into the sofa, his mouth twisted into a half frown, his gaze aimed at the empty space in the general direction of the windows overlooking the backyard. I spotted puppy-shaped blurs racing back and forth across the lawn, slaloming around the cedar trees.
"Don't be stubborn, Aidan," said a slightly tinny voice originating from nowhere, as far as I could tell. The stranger had the same sexy brogue as Aidan and their voices sounded somewhat alike, but I would never have confused the two. One of his brothers, maybe?
Aidan pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger, glancing down at his lap. "I do not want your money."
Tiptoeing forward, I crept up behind the sofa but halted six feet from Aidan's head when the other voice piped up again.
"You're skint," the other man said, "and we can help. There's no shame in letting your family lend a hand."
"It's not a hand," Aidan groused. "It's charity."
Skulking a teensy bit closer, I raised onto my toes and peeked over Aidan's shoulder. He sat with one ankle lodged on the opposite knee, his phone balanced on the tilted knee. The voice of the other man emerged from the phone's speaker.
"Erica worries about you," the other man said, "and she won't give up until I convince you to take the bloody money."
"Cannae say no to your wife, Lachie?" Aidan shook his head, a teasing lilt in his voice.
"I know what you're doing, Aidan. Calling me Lachie to fash me, hoping I'll give up. But you know how Erica is when she sets her mind to something."
"Aye, I know," Aidan sighed. "But I've got my pride. No money, Lachlan."
Some kind of noise in the background of the call made Lachlan MacTaggart grunt. "Erica says to tell you you're a pigheaded goof and when you're home she's going to — I'm not saying that, love."
The last bit had clearly been aimed at his wife.
"What are you not going to do, Lachie?" Aidan asked, sounding immensely amused.
Lachlan groaned out a sigh. "She says she'll whoop your stubborn erse until it shines bright red like Rudolph's reindeer nose."
"Och," Aidan said, chuckling, "I'm terrified. Never coming home now."
He turned his head the tiniest bit, arching one brow — at me.
Busted.
I moved forward, bending down to rest my forearms on the sofa's back at either side of Aidan's head. He slipped a hand over one of mine, caressing my palm with his fingertips.
"You have to help me," Lachlan said, "to keep my wife satisfied. At least let us arrange a better car and hotel for you, and just a wee bit of cash to — "
"No." Aidan slapped his free hand on his thigh, but the irritation left his face swiftly, replaced by a faint smirk. "It's not my fault if you can't satisfy your wife."
"Aidan." The elder MacTaggart adopted a stern tone that wasn't quite convincing.
"Do I need to spell the word for you? N-O."
The conversation was clearly spinning in circles, with neither brother willing to concede an iota. Lachlan sounded tense and frustrated, but Aidan looked it. His shoulders had hunched a little, his mouth flattened into a line, and the fingers of the hand on his thigh crooked, clawing at the denim of his jeans.
I experienced a powerful urge to ease his tension and I had idea of how to accomplish it.
Leaning in, I trailed my fingers down his throat and whispered in his ear. "Let's make out."
He fidgeted, casting me a sideways glance.
The other MacTaggart kept talking. "Say yes, Aidan, or I'll tell our mother to call you."
I took Aidan's earlobe in my mouth, flicking my tongue over it. He hissed in a breath. I laid my palms over his collarbone and slid them down his chest toward his waistband. "Want to kiss me?"
He swiveled his head toward me, our lips grazing each other. "Aye."
"Thank heavens," Lachlan said, with great relief in his voice. "I'll take care of everything right away."
"What?" Aidan's head snapped to the front again, his eyes went wide. He snatched the phone from his knee. "No-no-no, I wasnae talking to you, Lachlan."
"Who were you talking to?"
Aidan's gaze darted to me and he shook his head with mock chastisement. "I'm with a saucy wench who's trying to seduce me."
"Wench?" Lachlan said with amusement. "Have you become a pirate?"
"Go ravish your wife, Lachlan." Aidan disconnected the call and tossed his phone on the table. He twisted around to grab me by the waist and haul me onto his lap, where I landed sideways. Cupping my face in one hand, he drew me closer. "Now, about your offer to make out."
"Still open."
"Good." He moved his hand to my nape, tipping my head back. "You tricked me into taking my brother's handout, which means you owe me."
"I wasn't trying to trick you. Just wanted a kiss."
"Mm." He brushed his mouth over mine and his lips vibrated my flesh when he spoke again. "You're wanting more than a kiss, aren't you?"
"Yes." Before I could close my mouth, he possessed it with his own, thrusting his tongue inside for a deep, wet, ravenous kiss. "Thought you were talking to Lachlan about your sister."
"We talked about her." He dragged his tongue up my throat while his hand closed around my breast, my shirt no protection from his touch. "Are you sure you want my sister staying here?"
"If the alternative is you going back to Chicago, yes." I worked a hand down between our bodies to rub his hardening penis through his jeans. "I want you here. Both in the sense of you staying in this house and in the sense of you taking me right here, right now."
"Let's wait a bit for that. I'll feel better when I'm sure you're not too sore."
"If that's what you really want." I clambered off his lap to sit beside him. "Sorry I inadvertently helped your brother get his way."
"Doesn't matter." Aidan let his head fall back on the sofa, his hands loose at his sides. "Lachlan would've gotten his way eventually."
"I can relate. Gavin is always positive he knows best when it comes to my life."
"Lachlan's the same." Aidan laid an arm across my shoulders and I cuddled into him. "My family thinks I'm incapable of taking care of myself."
"Your brother said you're skint. Are you unemployed?"
"I like to say I'm between opportunities." He almost smiled, but it faded away. "Told you I had a construction company, but the business dried up and now it's gone. I'm bankrupt. My bank accounts are almost empty."
Twisting my head around to look at him, I said, "Aidan, I'm so sorry."
"Doesnae matter."
I rested a hand on his chest, over his heart. "Um, I hope you won't take this wrong way…"
"Just say it." He let his hand fall over my shoulder. "Ahmno sensitive."
"Yes, I've noticed that." I hesitated, but then plowed ahead. "I'm wondering why you're on the hunt for a wife, with the intention of starting a family, when you're bankrupt and unemployed. If you're looking for a rich woman who'll support you, I have to tell you I'm as poor as you are."
He stiffened but kept his hand on my shoulder. "I am not looking for a rich woman. And I didnae plan anything. Acted on impulse is what I did." He clenched his jaw, averting his eyes. "Begged Lachlan for a loan to finance my trip to America but I wouldnae take more than I needed and I insisted on staying in Erica's house in Chicago instead of a posh hotel. Had to give in a little, since Lachlan refused to help me at all unless I flew here in his jet. But I will pay him back for every penny I owe him."
I cringed inwardly. "And I made sure you owe him even more, thanks to you accidentally agreeing to let him do more for you."
Aidan pulled me in closer, sheltered under his arm. "I told you, Lachlan usually gets his way in the end. Being the oldest, he thinks it's his right and duty to stick his nose in the lives of every one of his brothers and sisters. And he's right, more often than not."
"He's not one of those greedy people who won't help out their relatives."
"Definitely not. He loves spending money on us. You should've seen how much he spent getting Erica cleared of embezzling charges after her former lover set her up. Lachlan is the most generous person you'll ever meet — except for Rory. They're tied for the title."
I rested my chin on his shoulder. "You love your brothers, don't you?"
"Of course I do. Love all my brothers and sisters." He kissed my forehead and tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. "I hope one day you'll tell me what's going on with you, why you're hiding in the woods."
"It's a very long, very tedious story."
"Doubt that." He whisked his hand up and down my arm in a comforting gesture, and I laid my head on his chest. He murmured, "Nothing about you is tedious."
"You either. But you have to take my word for it that you probably wouldn't like it if you knew everything about me."
He rested his head against mine, his breaths ruffling my hair. "No judgment from me. Made plenty of mistakes, some worse than others."
Wouldn't ask for details, though my curiosity prodded me to do exactly that. As long as I refused to confide in him, my curiosity would have to shut up. Changing the subject seemed the most prudent action.
An idea occurred to me and I said, "Should we take a drive today? I can show you my favorite parts of the scenery."
"I'll go anywhere with you. Anywhere at all." He placed his palm atop my hand, on my lap, and threaded his fingers through mine. "I'm easy to please."
Right. All he wanted was me — body, heart, and soul.
My first rule was shattered. Maintaining the other two suddenly became of the utmost importance, as if the safety of my very soul depended on it. I'd given away a sliver of myself when I agreed to marry Rade and participate in a fraud, violating the law out of guilt over everything he'd done for me. Had he planned it that way? Taking advantage of my grief and desperation to trick me into helping him.
I couldn't believe that. If I did, then everything I'd thought I knew about the man I married was wrong. And if I could be wrong about a man I'd known for seven years, two of those years before we married, then I couldn't trust my instincts about anyone.
As I sat there, enveloped by Aidan, I remembered how I'd told him I trusted him. And I began to wonder if I should.