Aimie rubbed her stomach after dinner, leaning back in her chair. She loved the buffet at their hotel and considered getting up a fourth time to get some fruit when Hilary leaned forward.
“I’m beat. I’m not going to do anything tonight but catch some shows on TV and order room service for dessert,” she stated and Aimie arched a brow. Hilary had eaten dessert twice at least, but still Aimie didn’t doubt she’d go for some more.
“I’ll come and join you. There’s apple pie and chocolate pie on the menu,” Tessa announced and Aimie wasn’t surprised.
“There’s a karaoke night going on,” Evy announced, nearly bouncing in her seat.
“Yes, I saw that, too. Let’s go, guys. Come on,” Emma pleaded, but Aimie glanced at Ryan. He’d stayed silent so far and she had a feeling he’d be following her lead.
“I think I’ll just hit the bar and take my handsome husband. We kinda have to talk about some stuff, and if we’re doing a quiet night anyway…” She shrugged.
“You’re sleeping in your own bed, lady, and alone,” Tessa injected, making Ryan wince and the rest of the group laugh.
“Yes, Mom. We’ll just have sex before I return.” She had no intention whatsoever of making that come true, but she couldn’t help herself, wanting to rile up Tessa.
Sadly, her friend proved that she was prepared, throwing a condom at her over the table. “Better be safe than, daughter,” her friend announced. “I have extra small, too, in case you need it.” And bam, another condom came flying.
“I have a banana-flavored one,” Emma announced and that, too, landed in front of Aimie.
“Strawberry and cherry here, in case you don’t know what you want,” Hils told them and placed them next to the already small pile.
“I have one with special nubs for more pleasure, but I think I might keep that one. Seems you have enough for one night,” Evy teased while Aimie buried her face in her hands, the heat almost burning her skin.
Could they get any worse?
“Thanks, ladies, but I usually take care of my protection myself and I have a big pack upstairs,” Ryan replied, causing a round of hollering that surely had other patrons gazing at them.
Suddenly warm hands cupped her head and drew her in. “I’m joking and so are they. Relax,” Ryan whispered into her ear and she felt how his lips brushed the outer shell of her ear.
It calmed her and yet set her heart racing. He had married her but had no intention of sleeping with her? Or had he meant he was joking about taking care of his own protection? Or—
“Earth to Aimie, you can take down your hands again. You wanted us to act normal, so we’re acting normal. We wouldn’t be your best friends if we didn’t embarrass you on a regular basis,” Tessa laughed, but Aimie didn’t find that funny. She knew the color hadn’t left her face yet, and she didn’t dare look at Ryan.
God, thinking he didn’t want to sleep with her worried her almost as much as thinking he did want to sleep with her. They definitely needed that talk she had proposed.
She also made a mental note to never again joke about her and Ryan’s sex life, non-existent or not.
She carefully lowered her hands and glanced at her friends from under lowered lashes. They all tried hard not to grin too wide, and she skipped Ryan altogether.
God, all during the day she’d left that freaking shyness behind and now all of a sudden it was back with vengeance.
“Good, then the evening is decided. Crime shows for Tessa and me, karaoke for EmJay and Evy, and hot sex for the newlyweds,” Hilary announced and stood. Some heads turned and this time Aimie saw them without having to imagine it.
“I hate you all.”
“Don’t moan too loud,” Hils told her as she passed, waiting for Tessa. The brunette’s expression turned serious and soft at the same time, and Aimie sighed.
Something was going on, but she couldn’t figure out what it was.
“If you want to join us later, you know where we’ll be,” Evy told her, kissing her cheek before also leaving.
“Okay, so everyone’s gone, which leaves us. Do you want to go back to the buffet now or not?” Ryan asked, leaning in conspiratorially.
“I…”
He grinned. “I saw the way you were eying the buffet, and no one is here anymore to judge.” He laughed.
She sighed. “As much as I want to, I don’t think so. However, I should go and change.” She looked down at herself and thought of all the elegant women who’d lingered around the hotel bar.
“Aims, not on my behalf. Jeans is you, and we are already married. You don’t have to impress me,” Ryan winked, proving that he was too good to be true.
“Maybe I do want to impress you,” she replied honestly. She couldn’t decide if she wanted to or not.
“Don’t fall asleep on me whenever I talk too much and I’ll be impressed.” He stood, holding out his hand for her. “Mrs. Spencer?”
She got up as well, placing her fingers in his. “Mr. Spencer.”
He led her out of the dining room and over to the bar, letting her enter first and proving that he could be a total gentleman. Aimie almost pinched herself to keep herself from grinning stupidly.
* * *
The light had been dimmed hours ago and Aimie originally had loved the idea, enjoying the intimacy it had created between Ryan and her, but somehow, with the low lights came the women with low morals. So far three long-legged blondes had walked up, hitting on Ryan even while Aimie was sitting there.
Yes, she didn’t wear an elegant dress and she wasn’t all in his face with her breasts, but she was there with him and it was obvious from the way they were talking, so why couldn’t the women just leave them alone?
In fact, that moment a redhead crossed over to them and Aimie bit her lip, interrupting herself mid-sentence.
“What…?” Ryan started when the redhead leaned over, her boobs almost spilling out of her dress right into his face.
“Hey there, handsome,” the woman greeted him, her voice sultry and Aimie gritted her teeth so hard, she was sure they’d crack any minute. “How about you leave your sister here and come play with a real woman?”
“He’s not into whores, sorry,” Aimie stated before Ryan could get out a word. She was pissed at him for simply being as hot as he was, even in jeans and a shirt, and just sitting there when he had nowhere else to go but into the woman’s breasts.
God, jealousy sucked big time and Aimie still felt it in every fiber of her body as the redhead barely glanced at her over her shoulder.
“I’ll promise it’ll be good,” she said toward Ryan instead, leaning in as if she was going to lick his lips.
“Get off me before my wife tears you off me,” Ryan replied, his tone cold and dismissive.
“Wife?” the woman echoed.
“Yes, wife, short for ‘woman I’d follow everywhere’,” Ryan stated and then pushed her away with his hands on her shoulder, making room so he could get up. He gave Aimie a wink and then leaned in; his face was so close his lips touched hers as he whispered, “careful, you look jealous, beautiful.”
He excused himself to use the bathroom while Aimie leaned back, smug. The redhead eyed her up and down. “He must have low standards,” she said.
Aimie grinned. “Well, since he has some he wouldn’t go for you, and married me instead. Sorry.”
The other woman shook her head and then sauntered back to the bar while Aimie reached for her wine glass, surprised by the intensity of the hatred she felt for all the women approaching him.
She wasn’t exactly plain Jane, but compared to the women around, she felt like a rock in a world of diamonds. Maybe she should’ve changed before coming here, but it hadn’t bothered her until everyone and their mothers had started staring at Ryan.
“You’re still not smiling, Aimie,” he pointed out when he returned, his expression serious as she crouched down next to her chair.
“I…sister. Did you hear that? Everyone thinks I’m your sister. They don’t consider me special enough to even be just a friend. No, sister.”
She bit her lip as she realized what had come out of her mouth instead of the easy lie she’d meant to say.
“Well, I don’t consider you my sister. Never have. I never considered you my friend, either, because you kept me at arm’s length. Maybe you should move onto my lap so there’s no doubt about our relationship anymore,” he teased, winking at her.
It was obvious he was trying to make a joke to get her to smile, but it didn’t work.
“It’ll always be like that,” she whispered. “People will always assume…” She interrupted herself, not wanting to elaborate because no matter what she was going to say now, it would sound as if she really was his wife, in love with him and all, and they hadn’t put down the ground rules yet. She had no idea what he’d expect of her, what he’d be ready to give her.
No matter how many times she tried to formulate her own conditions in her head, she couldn’t help but think she wanted to sleep with him, wanted to have him hold and kiss her—just as much as she wanted to get to know him, see who he really was.
Not even her heart was sure which direction she wanted to go, although at that moment, with him right there, next to her chair and his head lowered, she wanted to reach out and press a kiss to the top of his head.
“Aimie.” He sighed. “I cannot do right by you if you don’t give me anything to go on. Can I touch you? Should I touch you? Should I stay away? Did I give you the feeling I was interested in anyone else in this room? Why are you upset with me?”
She almost wanted to say she wasn’t, but that wasn’t really true. However, she smiled. “You’re too damn handsome and I feel inadequate as it is and you—”
She didn’t get further when he suddenly leaned in, his hand on the nape of her neck, his thumb brushing over her cheek while he kissed her as if his life depended on it, his tongue teasing hers until she moaned into his mouth, unable to stop herself.
He knew what he was doing, and damn if that didn’t call the jealousy back. Although right on the heels of that thought she realized she had the right to demand that he never again kiss anyone else.
When he pulled back, licking his lips, she gasped, trying to catch her breath.
“The wine tastes good,” he decided and settled back down in his seat while she couldn’t do anything but gape at him.
“Ground rules,” she whispered, because whole sentences were impossible.
“It’s us two and no one else. No flirting, no kissing, and certainly not more. You’re my wife and those are the rules,” he instantly fired back, his expression hard.
She felt herself smirk. “Exactly the rules I would’ve put up. And beyond that?”
“Honesty, Aimie, at any given point, if this becomes too much for you, too intense, too fast, or too weird, I need to know. No, I don’t want to annul this marriage or divorce you any time soon, but if you feel as if you need to get out, I will not stand in your way. However, I want you to try,” he implored her and she leaned forward.
“Well, mister, as far as I remember I haven’t asked for a divorce yet, so what does that tell you?”
He lowered his lashes, a smirk playing over his lips. “That you want to sample the goods first,” he replied and she wasn’t sure if he was trying to tease her or if he was being serious.
“I…” She searched for words while he lifted his eyes, watching her.
“You?”
“I don’t know what I want,” she admitted, since honesty had been his order.
“Well, do you know what you want right now?” he asked and she licked her lips. She knew exactly what she wanted, but that didn’t change their situation.
“I don’t know if what I want now is what I want tomorrow, too, or the day after. I cannot tell you because…” Because she was constantly insecure about everything and worried he’d wake up one day and decide this wasn’t what he’d signed up for. Sure, she was leaving to go back home to Australia in three months, but until then, she had no idea what she wanted.
“So you do know what you want right now. That’s a good thing to start with. Let’s go from there and take it day by day. If you were to follow through with what you want, we’d be…?” he questioned and she hesitated a moment before inhaling deeply and then leaving her seat to sit down in his lap, her arms around his neck.
“Staying right here,” Ryan said on an exhale and she nodded, her eyes on his face.
God, if he made her leave, she’d die. Instead he wrapped his arms around her and she felt her lips pull into a grin without any conscious decision on her part.
* * *
This was better than anything he had dared to hope for. Gathering her closer, he reminded himself to still take it slow with her, to not become too intense because it would be too weird in the morning.
He wasn’t the least bit surprised she was confused about what she wanted, but he had to admit he’d hoped it would be something like that.
“So,” he started, gently rubbing the tip of his nose along her skin, “for tonight we’re all in…as in I can touch you and hold you and…kiss you?” He posed the last thing as a question because he didn’t want to push things on her she wasn’t ready for, but when she cupped his cheeks and lowered her lips to his, he had his answer.
God, he couldn’t believe he’d missed out on being with her when clearly she was into him as much as he was into her.
Three months she’d been around, denying him lunch dates and dinner invitations and now she was there, so close.
“You called me handsome,” he muttered while she kept brushing her fingertips across his skin.
“You are, and I’m pretty sure you know that, too. And even if you didn’t until tonight, all those women hitting on you were a pretty clear sign.”
He chuckled, loving the way her jealousy furrowed her brow each time she thought about that. Not that he was able to remember one woman who’d walked up. If you’d ask him pick them out, he’d fail. He’d been watching Aimie, and she’d been relaxed and fun until the first woman had crossed over.
He didn’t remember what she’d said or what he’d replied, but he’d noticed the change in Aimie then. Maybe he should’ve done something about it before, prove to her he wasn’t interested in anyone else. Then again, he hadn’t even looked around and she’d still doubted herself.
Funnily enough, he knew the pattern. Hell, the whole group of girls that was here with him had the same problem. It wasn’t that they didn’t believe in their guys. No; they didn’t trust themselves to be good enough when they all were the fucking best in the eyes of the guys in love with them.
Tessa and Jazz, Tank and Evy…it was obvious, and yet he saw insecurities in each corner. He guessed it was because he was technically one of the girls.
The thought made him grin.
“What are you smirking about?” Aimie asked, drawing his attention from his thoughts back to the woman in his lap.
“I’m one of the girls,” he replied. “I just realized. No wonder you friend-zoned me so hard.”
He’d meant it as a joke, but her smile faded.
“I’m from Australia and you are a hot-shot soldier boy from California. I mean…it couldn’t get any more ill-fated than that,” she whispered, staring at his lips instead of his eyes now.
“So you were into me, you just didn’t allow yourself to indulge in the pleasure.” And following that, she hadn’t allowed herself to get to know him better, either.
She bit her lip, shrugging. “I didn’t dare to hope.”
“That it could work out?”
“That you’d see me that way.”
Right, because she’d thought he was into Tessa. “Why do you think I asked you for coffee and lunches?”
When she took a deep breath, he wasn’t sure he wanted to know. He’d never get used to the way women thought…or rather these women here did.
“Lunch and coffee aren’t real dates. Dinners would be, and I thought you just wanted to talk about the wedding, and Vegas, and…”
“Tessa?” he helped out, squeezing her hip gently where his arm was wrapped around her.
“She’s beautiful; what can I say?”
Ryan figured telling her she was just as beautiful, if not more so in his eyes, wouldn’t get him far. Aimie wouldn’t believe a word he said about that anyway.
“Tessa is also so obviously in love, why would anyone try anything with her?” He knew they kept going over the same arguments, but so far Aimie hadn’t given him a decent answer.
“Guys are weird,” she muttered, her cheeks heating and he wondered if maybe he should let the topic go.
“Decent guys wouldn’t do that, and I’d like to consider myself decent. However, why don’t we talk about something different?”
Or maybe he should suggest they relocate. He wanted to have a little more privacy with her so she wouldn’t constantly glance around, as if checking that no other woman dared to come close again.
And that, in turn, made him wonder if maybe she’d just crawled into his lap to mark her territory and didn’t really want to cuddle with him.
“How about we go up to your room?” Aimie suggested then as if she’d read his thoughts.
He nodded toward her half empty wineglass. “Wanna grab a bottle of that to go?” he asked as she got up.
“Sure, we can share it.” She seemed self-conscious, as if she was worried what would happen up there, and yet, she reached for his hand when he reached the bar, ordering a bottle and two glasses to go, telling the guy which room to charge it to.
In the elevator she leaned into his side and he glanced down at her, a smug grin playing over her lips.
They were alone now and she still was close. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, careful not to hit her with the glasses, and she kissed his hand, causing him to grin just like she did.
“Back pocket is my key card,” he announced in front of his door and watched her as she winked, feeling his ass before reaching in to take the card out and unlock the door.
The rooms were all rather small, with blue velvet everywhere, from the walls to the floor and curtains, golden highlights making it look somewhat classy. The bed was covered with golden and beige pillows and sheets, wide enough for three people to sleep in it comfortably. Not that he needed the room.
He placed the bottle and the glasses on one of the dark wooden nightstands before turning on the small lamps, keeping the lighting low while Aimie glanced around as if her room looked any different.
“We have the same in an emerald color, and a little more room,” she muttered and he noticed she stayed turned away from him.
Kicking off his shoes and his socks in the process because he’d heard a rumor women preferred guys being barefoot, he placed his hands on her shoulder and kissed the back of her head.
“How about we turn on TV and check what’s on while we share the wine?” he asked, feeling her shoulders relax under his hands.
“Good plan.” She turned to him, her blue-green eyes wide as she licked her lips.
He leaned down, kissing her briefly to ease her tension more. As much as he wished he could kiss her as long and hard as he wanted to, he figured it wouldn’t do anything to lessen her worry about what he’d expect of her now.
And what was that, anyway?
As he went for the remote to the huge flat screen mounted to the wall above a cherry-wood dresser, he wondered what he wanted from this evening, the next days and even weeks.
He’d thought so much about what Aimie would want, he’d never once stopped to think about where this would go after he married her.
How exactly had he, a great doctor with a supposedly smart mind, planned everything up to the point of her saying ‘yes,’ and nothing beyond that?
* * *
Ryan couldn’t help himself and brushed a strand back that had fallen in Aimie’s forehead while her eyes were glued to the TV.
“I keep forgetting how funny this episode is,” she whispered, still chuckling. They’d found some Supernatural reruns and the part they were currently on seemed to be some sort of comedic one. Ryan had to admit he’d never watched the show, but he loved the way Aimie enjoyed it.
She was cuddled into his side and every so often glanced up at him, telling him to watch the show instead of her, but he mostly didn’t.
In fact, he couldn’t care less about the things happening on screen when her nose scrunched up whenever something bloody was shown, or the way she tried to not giggle during funny parts.
“You’re making me nervous,” she whispered eventually and he grabbed her chin, turning her face so he could kiss her.
She didn’t protest or stiffen and he let his lips linger as long as she allowed it before glancing back to the screen, moving closer and sadly making it impossible for him to watch her any longer.
He settled for running his fingertips across her arm, feeling her shiver briefly before she sighed in contentment.
He couldn’t say how long they sat together like that before he felt her breath evening out. Chuckling softly, he kissed the top of her head, considering just shifting her until she was lying down, but then remembered Tessa’s warning.
“Aimie, you’re falling asleep.” He nudged her.
“There’s enough room,” she muttered sleepily.
“Tessa will kill me if you sleep here,” he replied.
She just shrugged, although he barely felt it. “Grown up.” Or at least he thought that was what she’d muttered.
She turned a little, her lips so close to his neck, he felt it each time she exhaled, and it caused shivers to run up and down his spine while he pulled her closer.
“I should make you sign something saying you agreed to sleep here and defied one of your best friends,” he stated, surprised when she held out a hand half-heartedly, as if waiting for a pen to appear in it.
“I was joking.”
She finally sat up, obviously tired, and sighed. “Fine, I’m leaving because you’re afraid of Tess,” she muttered, sluggishly moving to the side of the bed, but he reached for her and pulled her back against him.
“Not if you wanna stay.”
Ryan’s heart picked up as she placed a hand against his chest. “I like cuddling,” she whispered and then sat up again, this time to take off her jeans and then crawled under the blanket, her green eyes focused on him.
“Reconsidering?” Aimie asked, but Ryan couldn’t think.
Hesitating for a moment, he then got off the bed, took off his jeans and turned off the TV before crawling into bed with her, hitting the switch to bathe the room in darkness. He drew her closer, realizing he had a problem when her bare legs touched his, causing need to course through him and hit his groin.
She only stopped wriggling once her head rested on his chest, her arm across his stomach.
“Good night,” she told him and kissed his shoulder before settling back.
He stared up at the dark ceiling, his arm wrapped around her, feeling her chest lift each time she took a breath, and couldn’t believe when she almost immediately fell back asleep. He knew it was a good sign because it meant she felt comfortable, but he was feeling as if he had landed in hell.
How in the world was he going to sleep next to her all night while feeling so much of her bare skin, and yet not acting on all the things he suddenly wanted?
“Killing me here, smalls,” he muttered, sure she wouldn’t react anymore.
“Can’t handle a woman close without proper preparation?” she asked and he heard the smirk in her voice.
“I thought you were asleep,” he admitted.
She giggled. “Just utterly relaxed, to be honest. And yes, I’m sleepy, but I’m trying to ignore the nagging thoughts my brain fires at me…like how I’m in bed with an almost-stranger, and then right after that, how you are my husband. Currently, I feel comfortable because…husband.”
She began tracing lazy circles across his chest and he stilled her hand as his heart went into overdrive another time.
“God, Aims, what are we doing?” he asked quietly, meaning it.
“Flying by the seats of our pants?” She paused for a moment before sighing. “You wanted to do what felt right that moment, and staying feels right…or did a few moments ago.” Hesitation entered her voice and he got mad at himself for making her doubt her decision.
“I’m sorry, that wasn’t what I meant, but…”
“What did you mean then?”
He swallowed, feeling her shift before her chin softly pressed against his chest. She was watching him in the utter darkness and he wondered what she thought she saw. With surprising sureness she reached out and brushed her fingertips across his brow.
“You know, uneasiness can go both ways. If this isn’t what you want, or if it feels somehow wrong for you, I can leave,” she assured him after he seemingly stayed silent for too long. “It’s not just about making me feel good. Marriage is a two-person adventure.”
He softly felt his way until he’d cupped the back of her neck and then lifted his head enough to press a gentle kiss to her lips, proud when he found them on the first try.
“That’s not it. God, Aimie, how was I supposed to prepare myself mentally for any of this when I didn’t know which way we would go that night?”
Suddenly she was gone from his sight and a second later the nightstand lamp flickered to life. She sat on the side of the bed, squinting until her eyes were used to the brightness again, then she gave him a smile.
He absolutely didn’t like it.
“You’re right, and I’m sorry. I’m just gonna go and—”
She’d gotten up from the bed and he moved, wrapping his arms around her hips until she was back on the mattress. He drew her back against his front and kissed her neck. “No, stay. Please. I think I still want to cuddle with you, even if it’s…”
“Something we both need to get used to again?” she suggested and he nodded.
“Exactly. So…are you staying?”
She twisted a little in his arm until he saw her grin. “I didn’t really plan on leaving.” She winked and he laughed, glad she’d eased the mood again.
“Good. And now get back under the blankets and turn that light off. The morning is gonna come early enough and I need a few hours to plan what I’ll tell Tessa and Hilary once they realize you didn’t make it back to Tessa’s tonight.” He grinned while she giggled.
“Say something that’ll make them shut up right away, something like…” She thought for a moment while they settled back in. “‘She tied me to the bed so she could watch TV all night and when she fell asleep I couldn’t wake her.’”
“Grand suggestion,” he growled before kissing her forehead.
“Well, you have a few hours to think of a better one. I’m going to just enjoy sleeping…and pushing my feet closer to you should I start freezing,” she decided and he chuckled.
“Go right ahead, sweetheart. It’s what you have a husband for, right?”
She nodded. “That, and to show him off.”
Her words already got slower again and although he wanted to ask so many questions about that last comment, letting her sleep seemed like the better option.
After all, if things worked out the way he’d planned it, they’d still have a lifetime to talk and answer questions, and damn if that thought didn’t make him fall asleep with a smile on his lips.