Chapter 10
Lynn stretched her arms over her head and sighed. It was early Monday morning, and she didn’t have anything to do other than get back to work. She hadn’t heard from Aiden all weekend apart from a couple of back and forth texts, but she figured it was high time she stop obsessing and get her ass into gear. There was no reason she had to put her life on hold anymore, they’d already gone as far as any couple could go.
Don’t dwell on the fact that you let him milk your cow.
She cringed at the crude analogy her brain had handed over like a present as she started her coffee pot and waited for the steaming nectar to finish filling her cup.
Her apartment was filled with sunlight today, and thankfully it was clean. She didn’t have many chores to get done besides doing a load of dishes, and that wouldn’t take much of her time up anyways.
Her phone dinged as she lifted it from the counter.
Aiden: Hey, I know you’re probably busy, but I would love to see your crazy ass again. Let me know when you’re free, I’ll be around.
Lynn choked on her coffee, unsure if she should be offended or not. That was either the rudest or the most romantic summoning she’d ever received.
“Okay then,” She said as she swiped her fingers over the screen.
Lynn: I’m free whenever you are, just let me know.
Aiden didn’t text her back right away, and that was fine, because she needed to brush her hair and put her makeup on so she could feel at least semi-human again.
Looking in the mirror, she decided to push her hair back in a headband and call it a day.
Ding!
She read the response she’d gotten from Aiden.
Aiden: I’m not really up for going out to the bar, but if you want me to meet you some place I will. Or, we could just hang out here.
Here being his place, where she’d already been…naked.
She couldn’t tell if it was a booty call he wanted, or to actually get to know her, but she supposed it wouldn’t hurt to find out. She didn’t have plans for the evening, so why not?
Lynn: I’ll meet you at your place, what time?
Aiden: After 6:30 work?
Lynn: See ya then
Simple, sweet, and to the point.
After thinking about it all weekend, Lynn decided to find her backbone again. Either it would work out or it wouldn’t, and either way she’d be fine. Disappointed as hell, but fine, because if she could survive what she’d already been through, she could survive anything.
She finished applying her makeup, and once she was satisfied, she picked up her laptop and got to typing. She had no point to her newest book, only her most recent trauma to fuel the fire beneath her fingertips.
It was hard, sure, to use such personal pieces of herself to tell a story. But, it was almost therapeutic, because she could put it all out there sprinkled amongst the pages, and she didn’t have to discuss it any further.
If anyone wanted to know the truth, all they had to do was look for it.
Read between the lines.
It wasn’t that hard for her to get to work as she immersed herself in her own fictional world where loved always reigned supreme and happiness always won out.
∞∞∞
Lynn adjusted her cardigan as she pulled her boots on. She wasn’t running late, yet, but if she dallied anymore then she would be.
Aiden was already waiting for her at his place across town, and she hadn’t even started driving yet.
She briefly wondered what he had planned for them.
Okay, she knew damn well he more than likely had noting planned, because he wasn’t that kind of guy, but she liked him anyways.
She typed his address into her GPS because her sober brain wouldn’t be able to find his house with a map and a pair of binoculars. She still had no idea how they’d gotten to his place from where they started, but it didn’t matter now.
The roads were packed, and she realized it was rush hour traffic she was fighting through. She should have known she’d hit rush hour before she left, but oh well. She still had time, and neither her nor Aiden were in a rush.
Although, she was starting to get nervous. It got worse with every mile forward, too, and there was nothing she could do stop it. She hadn’t liked anyone since Jake, and that meant a lot.
She wasn’t looking for someone to fill a void or occupy her boredom. She was done with playing guessing games, and all she was looking for was something concrete that she could hold on to.
Aiden had told her he was looking for the same thing, so…
When she pulled up to the first of his house, she hurried to turn down the radio and make sure it was the right one…
And, saw him sitting outside watching her.
She squealed to herself as she hurriedly rolled up her windows and tried to look busy. His gaze didn’t leave her as she stepped out of her car and rounded the other side, choosing to walk right across the grass instead of using the driveway.
The house looked noticeably different when Lynn was sober, something that had her giggling.
“What’s so funny?,’ He asked.
She gestured towards his house.
“I never would have remembered this was the house without the GPS telling me I’d arrived at my destination.”
He smiled knowingly, his feet propped up on the patio swing he was occupying.
She took a seat in a swivel chair across the table from him, sure to keep some distance between them.
Better safe than sorry, right?
She had no idea what the evening held in store for either of them, but the way his eyes perused her body told her he had something on his mind.
So did she, if she were being honest.
“Yeah, you were pretty drunk the other night.”
She smacked her thigh and sat back in her chair.
“I most certainly was, but not drunk enough that I didn’t know what I was doing, so don’t worry about it.”
She smiled in his direction and he laughed.
“What have you been up to?”
She shrugged, taking a look around.
“Not much, what about you?”
He watched her intently for a second.
“You ever wonder about your past mistakes?”
His question caught her off guard.
“What do you mean?”
He shrugged, paused for a moment before he said anything.
She watched the way his hair fell into his face, the way he chewed on his bottom lip for a moment before he sucked in a deep breath and pierced her with his gorgeous peepers.
“After everything we’ve been through, you and I, do you ever wonder if one all the wrong choices you’ve made led you here? I’ve made the wrong choice plenty of times myself, so I can’t judge ya for it…yet, here we sit, like we haven’t learned our lessons.”
She nodded, a slow smile creeping onto her lips.
“I can only speak for myself, and I don’t know about you, but me sitting here with you is a huge sign that I’ve learned my lesson, Aiden.”
He seemed to like her answer because his eyes widened almost imperceptibly as he watched her.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. My ex was awful, and I found out too late, and I paid for it handsomely in the end. Your track record isn’t much better, and that’s okay, but I’ve slowly had to re-learn my self-worth and the fact that I’m sitting here across from you, tells me I’m on the right track.”
He leaned forward in his swing, his feet touching the cold ground.
“My ex wasn’t the greatest, either. For the longest time she had me convinced that if I just worked a little harder, that everything would work out, ya know? Like, it was all a mind game and I couldn’t keep up. I knew I wanted something different, I just didn’t think it would ever come around for me.”
When he looked up at her, she could feel the electricity between them sizzle and snap like a bolt of lightning.
“And, now?”
He ducked his head in that shy way he usually did.
“I really like you.”
To Lynn’s twenty-five year old heart, those four words meant more than they ever had before.
“I really like you, too.”
He didn’t break eye contact as he swallowed audibly.
“What we talked about the other night- the secrets you spilled- I want you to know that I wouldn’t ever do that to you. The last thing I ever want to do, is put you down.”
She stiffened at the mention of her drunken ramblings.
“I shouldn’t have said anything- “
“No, you should have. I’m glad you did. After everything the two of us have been through, the lying, the cheating, the heartache…the fact that we can open to each other so effortlessly tell me that this is different. That you are different.”
There it was.
A public declaration that he felt it too, that she was special in some way, that she wasn’t crazy for thinking that Aiden fucking Dawson was hers.
“I feel the same way,” She breathed.
He smiled softly, his bright eyes trained on her.
“I didn’t expect you.”
She laughed.
“I didn’t expect you, either. I was so afraid that meeting you wouldn’t live up to the hype, and it sounds so damn juvenile, but I just…had this gut feeling. I can’t explain it.”
“I looked you up, months ago. But, I saw that you were married, so I guess I thought it would be impossible.”
“Yeah, same,” She joked.
His eyes narrowed for a second.
“I meant it when I told you that I’m looking for something serious. I don’t want to play games anymore. I’ve spent a lot of time alone, and I know what I want.”
“I’ve been through hell in the last six months. It took me a long time to be okay with trusting someone again, and I know I won’t be the best at it, but I shared more with you the other night than I have with any other man, and that’s the truth.”
“I know it takes time. I know trust takes a while, and that taking your walls down won’t be easy, but I’m not in a rush. Time will prove that. I thought you were gorgeous, by the way.”
She felt herself blush and she shifted in her chair uncomfortably.
“I mean it, Lynn. The other day when you were at the garage and you jokingly called yourself a goddess? It’s true. You are.”
“Why are you being so nice to me?,” She asked skeptically.
“This is what you do when you like someone, when you enjoy them. I know you’re not used to it, and neither am I, but with you…it just comes naturally. I had a really hard time connecting with people for a long time because I truly believe that it should come naturally. With you, I don’t have to question anything. With you, it feels normal and maybe that’s only because it’s been a few days, or maybe…”
She was sitting on the edge of her seat by now, drawing herself nearer to Aiden.
“Maybe what?,” She whispered.
He leaned in closer too, his nose nearly brushing hers.
“Maybe you are different,” He said.
His breath landed on her bottom lip, and suddenly her brain was filled with images of his mouth pressed against hers. Her mouth flooded with the taste of him, and she sighed.
“I want to kiss you,” She said softly.
“I’m trying really hard to be good, here. I didn’t ask you to come over so we could sleep together again,” He reassured her.
“What if I want to?,” She asked.
His gaze dropped to her mouth, and then lower, and then traveled the length of her until their eyes met again.
“I don’t want you to think that’s all that I want.”
Aiden didn’t look like he was doing a very good job of fighting it, because every breath shared between them brought him a little bit closer.
“I don’t know what to think other than this, whatever it is,” She stopped to gesture at the air between them, “Feels magnetic.”
He sucked in a sharp breath between his teeth before he wrapped a hand around the back of her neck and pressed his mouth to hers. He sipped her lips, caressed her tongue gently with his, until they were both gasping for air.
“We’re gonna give the neighbors a show,” He said against her mouth.
“Maybe,” She said distractedly as she gripped his shoulders.
Without missing a beat he stood, lifted her into his arms, and carried her towards the porch; they never stopped kissing.
“What if this doesn’t work?,” She blurted.
He stopped mid-kiss to shake his head.
“That’s not an option.”
Her hands gripped the back of his neck as she stared down into his eyes.
“Why not?”
Tell me something I’ve never heard before, I want to believe you.
“I’ve been waiting for you for a very long time, Lynn.”
Her mouth sought his with a flourish, her grip on him tightening. His hands slid past her waist, gripped her thighs like he was afraid to let go.
Just in case.
Just in case what?
I disappear?
No one had ever cared about that before and it was like a drug to her. He carried her to his bedroom, a place she did remember, where he laid her out flat across his black sheets. She didn’t remain still for very long, instead opting to crawl to her knees and meet him halfway.
His shirt fell to the floor in a slow drift as she ran her hands along the lines of his chest. Seeking, learning, memorizing.
His breath was hot on her neck as she rocked against him, her hands going up above her head as he tugged her deep blue shirt over her head and tossed it towards his.
They were a tangle of limbs and truth and Lynn was mesmerized by the way he looked at her when their gazes met in the darkness.
It didn’t feel so imposing, the darkness that is, when he was holding her. It’d always been her worst fear apart from being abandoned, but she she’d already survived both too many times, she reasoned.
She didn’t need to be afraid with Aiden, and that was almost a tangible thing between them that she could feel with her skin and with her heart.
Their palms met, held briefly, as he kissed her.
She sank into the kiss at the same moment she sank into his arms, choosing to let him lead. He pushed her back against the soft sheets and gripped the waistband of her jeans. Popping the button, he slid them down her thighs, only pausing to press a kiss right below her navel.
She shivered at the sensation, watched him through wide eyes, as he tugged her pants from around her ankles and dropped them on top the of pile he’d already started.
He paused to remove his own jeans, and she listened to the rustle of the fabric as they too were disposed of.
He reached for her, wrapped her up in his arms, pushed her hair out of her eyes so he could see her better. When he smiled, she returned it. No words needed to be said when their naked skin met.
Lynn was filled with a roiling ball of emotions, none of which she was prepared for.
It felt…overwhelming, but in the best way.
His calloused palms lifted her hips and she felt the tip of his cock seeking entrance to her pussy again, and for a brief moment, it felt like she’d known him her whole life.
Is this what is means, to find ‘the one’?
His tongue made love to her mouth as his hips shifted, filling her completely. The sensation had her eyes rolling into the back of her head as they closed, her lips caressing his. She wrapped her legs around his hips and held on tight, so wrapped up in the emotions inside of her chest that she it felt like time was once again slowing down.
She didn’t want it to end. She wanted it to keep going. She didn’t want him to stop touching her, worshipping her body.
Her back arched under his hand as his skilled fingers circled her clit and his teeth nipped at her neck. His name fell from her lips like a siren call, and his shaking inhale told her he was just as affected by her as she was him.
This was the magic she thought she’d imagined, if only for a second. This wasn’t what she’d planned on happening, but it was, and she wouldn’t change it.
“Don’t stop,” She pleaded.
His chin lifted and he kissed her softly, “Never.”