Chapter Nine
The morning after my dinner with Aidan, I sat at my desk in the corner of the living room scouring job sites. I'd had no luck for the past three months, but I kept trying, kept hoping. Somewhere in the middle of scrolling through the listings, my mind had locked up and I'd begun to stare blankly at the screen, the words and images on it blurring.
Misty and Mandy played in front of the sofa, rolling around and barking, but their antics weren't the reason for my mental freeze-up. My thoughts kept wandering back to my second kiss with Aidan, after the wedding, and the way his deft tongue whipped me into a frenzy of need. His heated gaze. His sexy smile. The way he kept touching me in innocent ways that stoked my desire as if he'd cupped my naked breast in his rough palm.
I couldn't concentrate on anything while perpetually aroused.
Slumping back in my chair, I rubbed my hands over my face in an attempt to clear my thoughts. No such luck. Aidan's darkly sexy voice rumbled in my mind. If I can tempt you to break your first rule, the rest will follow. Oh, how the idea of surrendering to the lust appealed to me. I might've done it already, if not for his insistence I would fall for him.
Never. Ever. Happen.
But maybe… Uh-uh-uh. No sex either, dummy, remember? I sprang forward in my chair, slapping my fingers on the keyboard. If I didn't get back to work, back to hunting for work, I'd soon be penniless and crawling to my brother for help. My savings wouldn't last much longer.
On the screen, a message popped up from my email program, alerting me to a new message. I clicked to open the program, and the list of emails appeared. When I saw the sender's name, I double-clicked to open the email. Tanner Pierson, the process server I'd hired, had contacted me — but not with the news I'd hoped to hear.
"No dice," he said. "Try again later?"
I threw my hands in the air. "Dammit, Rade. You promised."
Why did I keep believing Rade every time he vowed to be present to accept the papers? I had no choice but to request a second summons and keep trying. If he still evaded Tanner, I'd have to request permission for an alternate delivery method. More delays. I wanted to be free, not hanging in limbo for who knew how long.
The puppies raced around the backside of the sofa, and Misty vaulted over its back to land inches from the coffee table. Little Mandy barked, then zoomed around the furniture to leap on her sister.
I watched them rolling around for a minute, wishing I could bottle up some puppy energy and guzzle it by the gallon. I had to make do with human resources, and mine were running low these days.
Except when I was with Aidan. Something about him reinvigorated me.
Turning back to my computer, I typed out a reply to Tanner. Afraid I can't afford you anymore. Thank you for all your help, but I'll have to find another way.
After I hit send, a new email popped up. A message from Rade.
I shouldn't have read the message. I didn't want to read it. Whatever he said would only irritate me further. My finger hovered over the mouse button, wavering side to side as my resolve to delete the email unread wavered too. Morbid curiosity won out and I clicked to open the message.
"Did I miss your server?" he wrote. "Something came up and I had to go out for a time."
Bullshit. The man didn't work, didn't need to, so he had no urgent need to leave the house.
I clacked my teeth in staccato beat as I read the rest of the email.
"Move in with me just for a time. I will sleep on the sofa like before, you have my word." He'd signed it, "Your husband, Rade."
He could keep delaying things because, of ourse, I had no signed agreement with him. People didn't have lawyers draw up contracts for illegal marriages of convenience. That meant I had nothing but his word and he'd reneged on it. But why? I didn't understand any of this. After five years of not giving a hoot, five years of living separate lives, he'd suddenly decided he wanted me in his life.
Rade had caught me at my weakest, during the worst time in my life, and talked me into doing him a "small favor" so he could stay in the country. I'd never believed he timed it that way on purpose, to take advantage of my grief over my parents' deaths. He'd kept to our agreement to live separate lives — until I wanted a divorce.
I deleted Rade's email without replying.
Switching back to the jobs website, I took a moment to do some deep breathing exercises and cleanse my mind of the confusion and angst. Rade's voice echoed in my mind, a repetitive loop of all he'd said to me in the past few days. Hell's bells. I had to think about something else, or I'd never make any progress on finding work. I needed something to distract me. Something that would wipe away all other thoughts.
A vision of Aidan materialized in my mind. His smile, rife with sensuality. His mouthwatering body, sculpted into firm lines and taut, bulging muscles. I closed my eyes and gave in to the memories, letting my body relive the excitement of almost succumbing to him. I could still taste his mouth, smell his masculine scent, feel his hands on my buttocks. A delicious tingle sparked to life between my thighs, swelling and spreading as I envisioned Aidan's naked chest — a pure fantasy, since I hadn't yet glimpsed it. My mind filled in all the blanks of his physique with exquisite detail, from his abs down to the erection I'd had pinned to my body last night.
Wet and aching in all the right places, I let my mind wander through thoughts of all the things Aidan and I could do together. Mm, yes. My hand drifted down to the waistband of my sweats, my fingers delved beneath it. I wanted nothing more than to indulge in my every fantasy of Aidan and forget the rest of the world.
My hand slipped inside my sweats. Inside my panties.
Two quick knocks resounded through the front door.
I squeaked like a scared mouse and jumped out of my chair, sending it rolling backward across the wood floor.
The knocker rapped again, three times in rapid succession.
I laid a hand on my chest, my heart pounding beneath it. Gathering the remnants of my wits, and still burning down below from my erotic imaginings, I hurried to the door and squinted through the peephole. The fish-eye lens revealed the rugged, familiar features of Aidan MacTaggart. I rested my forehead on the wood, exhaling the breath I'd held.
"Calli?" Aidan called through the door. "Are you there?"
I took a cleansing breath and swung the door inward.
Aidan smiled. "Glad you're home. I tried to call first, but you didn't answer."
My phone hadn't rung this morning. I slapped my forehead. "Fudge. I forgot to recharge my phone last night. It's probably out of juice."
"Fudge?" he repeated with laughter in his voice. "Never heard anyone say that as a curse before."
"I admit it's not as colorful as the devil's penis, but it works for me." I waved for him to enter as I trotted to the kitchen bar to dig my phone out of my purse and plug it into the wall socket there.
"That's what I love about you," he said, shutting the door. "You're not like anyone else on earth."
"Yep, that's me. A weirdo."
Mandy and Misty erupted from the other side of the sofa, bounding over its back to crash-land on the floor. They rocketed toward Aidan, who knelt to embrace them and babble nonsense to the duo, who had instantly become his two biggest fans.
Second biggest fans. The top spot belonged to me.
I ambled over to the trio, smiling and shaking my head. Could there be anything more adorable than a full-grown man going gaga over silly puppies? Maybe I was enamored of the Scotsman, but that did not mean anything. It didn't.
Uh-huh. That's why I'd thought of myself as his biggest fan.
Which meant nothing. Zippo. Nada.
"Better watch it," I said, folding my arms over my chest. "They'll decide they want to go home with you."
Aidan straightened, but Misty leaped up to slam her big paws onto his stomach. He scratched behind her ears, then gently pushed her away. The puppies hopped back and forth in front of him, panting and wagging their tails. When Aidan turned to me, and they realized the love fest had ended, Misty and Mandy took off out the dog door again.
"Don't be jealous," Aidan said, moving closer, curving a hand over my elbow. "The puppies are sweet, but I came for you."
"When did you do that?" Maybe I'd spent too much of the morning fantasizing about him, but I couldn't stop myself from shamelessly flirting with him. Surprise jolted through me at how much fun this was.
"When did I come for you?" Aidan asked. He glided his hand up my arm, exposed by my short-sleeve T-shirt. "Last night. This morning. More often than I should probably admit to."
My hand floated up to my throat, like it had a mind of its own. Had he confessed to getting off to thoughts of me? Yes, he had. Rather than feeling embarrassed or shocked by his revelation, I grew wet and achy again. And my brazen mouth refused to shut up. "Was it good for you?"
His fingers sneaked higher up my arm and beneath my T-shirt's sleeve. "The best I've ever had."
"Guess you don't need the real me." My nipples had gone hard and pebbled, and the fine hairs on my arms shivered erect. "But for the sake of total honesty, I was thinking about you right before you knocked on the door."
"Thinking?" He moved his hands to my waist, tugging me closer. "Please tell me they were salacious thoughts."
"Very." I bent my head back and our gazes collided. He leaned in too, his pupils large and fathomless. I fanned my palms over his chest, swirling them in lazy circles. "If I hadn't been interrupted, I might've come for you."
His chest heaved with each breath, his teeth clamped together. Tugging my hips into him, he said in a husky voice, "Is iomadh rud a nì dithis dheònach."
"What does it mean?"
"Two willing people can do many things together." His hands slid down to my buttocks, his head dipped down until our lips nearly touched. "You fannadh for me, I fannadh for you. If we're both willing, why donnae ye let me show ye all the things I can do to ye? Ye'll stay a virgin, technically. But I have to touch ye, to feel your slick little brillean while I make ye come for me."
I clutched fistfuls of his shirt, all but panting with need. "I only understood half of what you said, but it sounds… good."
He ran his tongue over my bottom lip, his voice becoming more gravelly. "Fannadh means masturbate and brillean means clitoris. The rest I think you understand. Let me show you."