Chapter 6
Lynn and Aiden stepped outside, Jessica in the lead. Jessica’s car was parked in the first of two parking lots behind the bar, and Aiden was parked in the farthest one from them. She could see his truck in the distance.
He held out a twenty dollar bill in her direction, a grin on his handsome face. They’d been fighting over it for five minutes already.
Thinking she was being considerate, she’d paid for Aiden’s drinks because she knew that he didn’t have to come out and spend time with her and Jessica. She knew full well he’d enjoyed himself, his expression said as much, and that made her happy. She hoped it was worth his while, it was certainly worth hers.
“I’ll get the car started!,” Jessica called over her shoulder.
Lynn giggled and snatched the twenty dollars out of Aiden’s hand, and idea forming in her head.
If I can get that twenty dollars into his truck, then he can’t slip it into my pocket again.
To her, the idea was genius. Probably unnecessary, sure, but she was positive she wasn’t leaving with his money.
“I’m not taking your money Aiden, but you are!”
She laughed as he followed closely behind her, doing his best to beat her to his truck.
He didn’t try to stop her, and she had no clue why he wouldn’t, but he followed her sassy strut all the way to his Chevy.
He was laughing as she tried to pry the passenger side door open, his keys dangling in his hand.
“Gonna have a hard time sliding that into my truck with the doors locked.”
“Open them then! Jessica is waiting for me,” She said with a laugh.
She tipped her head back and looked up into his teal eyes as she said this.
He leaned in and opened her door for her, his gaze never leaving hers.
“Get in then, I’ll drive you to her.”
She blinked in surprise, wondering what his ulterior motives could be, and decided that since the parking lot was dark and deserted, he was probably playing it safe.
At least he has more consideration for me than I do right now.
In her drunken state, she obviously wasn’t paying close enough attention. She slid into her seat and he closed the door behind her.
As he rounded the truck she stuffed the twenty in the glove compartment and sat back, waiting for him to join her. He slid into his seat easily and she watched him for a moment before he started the engine and glanced at her.
“Ready?”
She nodded.
He swerved out of the parking lot slowly, looking for Jessica’s car as they pulled out onto the main road. When she looked around and didn’t see it, she pulled out of her phone and called her.
“Jessica! Where are you?,” She asked as she looked into the darkness.
“I’m already home, babe! Where are you?”
Lynn could hear the smirk in her voice as she looked at Aiden and laughed.
“You’re lying! How did you get there so damn fast?”
“I took the shortcut. I’m going to bed soon though, you better hurry up and get back here.”
Lynn sighed as she hung up and looked at Aiden, who was already driving in the direction of Jessica’s house.
“I take it she’s home?”
“Yeah! She just left me! I’m not sure if I should be offended,” She joked.
He laughed.
“Left you all alone with her strange brother, huh?”
“Guess she knew we’d get along, then.”
He chuckled under his breath and turned a corner, taking them directly towards the freeway.
She leaned down, “I hope you don’t mind, but it’s time for me to take my shoes off.”
In her head she knew that it wasn’t wise, but her drunken brain cells convinced her that it was okay.
“Takin’ your shoes off already?”
“You should feel lucky, at least I’m not taking my pants off yet,” She said over her shoulder.
He didn’t say anything, but when she looked up at him he was smiling.
“Where’d you hide the money?”
She widened her eyes in surprise.
“I didn’t hide it anywhere.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Then where did it go?”
She shrugged, looking everywhere but at him. He hummed under his breath, changed lanes, looked at her again. She tried her hardest not to blush, but she could always blame that on the booze. She wasn’t plastered, but she was definitely drunk, and he smelled way too good to be leaning in close to her the way he was.
“I’m gonna find it,” He said as he placed one hand on her thigh.
Her skin tingled immediately, and she smiled.
“No, you won’t.”
“I guarantee you I will,” He said.
She opened her mouth to argue, but he leaned over her and reached for the glove compartment. She squeaked and immediately put her feet against it to keep the small door closed. He started to laugh.
“Oh yeah? That where you hid it?”
“NO!,” She lied as she laughed along with him.
He fought against her hold for a second before he had to return his hands to the wheel so they didn’t veer into another lane.
She took that opportunity to slide the money from the glove compartment and tuck it under her seat.
“What? That’s cheating!,” He laughed.
She shook her head and stuck her tongue out as she pushed his hand back.
“Don’t bother arguing, you won’t win! I’m not taking it,” She laughed.
They pulled onto Jessica’s street and she looked towards her house, noticing the lights were slowly flicking off.
“She’s going to bed,” She said softly as she checked the messages on her phone.
She figured she could go inside, stay with Jessica, but she’d left her contact case at her mom’s house by accident earlier that day.
Never should have taken it out of my purse!
“What do you want me to do? Leave you here or take you to your moms?”
“I can try to sober up here and then drive-,” He stopped her with a shake of his head.
“I’ll leave you here or drive you to your moms, but I ain’t lettin’ you drive anywhere tonight.”
She blinked.
Bossy, but smart.
“I know my mom’s house is on your way home, can you just take me there, please?”
He nodded and they started their journey back to her mothers. It wasn’t long before he reached behind her and palmed the twenty dollar bill again, laughing at her.
“Hey! No fair, give it back,” She said as she giggled and held out her palm.
He eyed her.
“You gonna keep it?”
She smirked, “You bet I am.”
He slowly handed it to her and she snatched it, tucking it into her opposite hand.
“You’re not gonna keep that, are you?”
She winked.
“You’re smarter than you look!”
“Why won’t you keep it?,” He asked, his hand sliding against her thigh again.
Her heart kicked into overdrive as he glanced at her again, this time out of the corner of his eye. She tried to steady her breathing as they neared her mom’s neighborhood. She knew her mother would definitely not appreciate her showing up so late, drunk of all things, but she would rather be safe than sorry.
“I don’t want or need your money, Aiden. You keep it.”
She slid it back into the glove compartment and looked up in time to see that they’d just passed her mother’s street.
“Wait! You can get there by turning down this street here,” She said pointing.
Aiden slid into the left hand turn lane and glanced at her.
He reached across her lap before she could stop him and took the stupid twenty out, holding it between his fingers.
“You didn’t have to pay for my drinks, Lynn.”
She opened her mouth to argue, but realized he’d driven too far down the block and that he would have to turn around, but before she could say something, he interrupted her.
“I’ll give this back to you if you promise to keep it.”
She nodded, fully intending on taking it back right then and there so she could slip it back under the passenger seat when she got out.
When she reached for it, he held it out of her reach, laughing.
“Give it back! I promise to keep it!”
“No you don’t, you’ll just slip it somewhere else when I’m not lookin’,” He said.
He held the money as far away from her as he could, but now, she just wanted to win the argument.
“You can put that money down your pants darlin’, and I’ll still get my hands on it. Now it’s about the principle of the matter, not the context, and I never lose an argument,” She joked.
His truck slid to a slow stop as he eyed her.
“Is that so?”
She nodded, “Yeah, that’s right.”
As the truck came to a complete stop, he tucked the twenty between his teeth and reached for her wrists, which were still perched on the center console between them.
“Come and get it then,” He said.
Oh my God, he wants me to get it with my mouth?
Lynn only paused for a second before she leaned in, surprised when at the last second he let the twenty slip from its place between his lips and kissed her. Her eyes fluttered closed as she leaned in to it.
That flutter in her chest felt like a full-fledged flock of birds beating against her ribcage as his grip on her wrists lessened and he buried one hand in her hair, drawing her in closer. She sighed against his lips as she drew back to make sure this was what he wanted.
His gaze roamed over her face for a second before he tugged her in closer, his tongue sliding against hers. She had one hand on his thigh and the other wrapped around the back of his neck, her fingers lost in his short hair. His grip on her tightened as she kissed him back, her tongue seeking his, his teeth tugging on her bottom lip.
Their kisses grew hotter by the second as her hand rose higher on his thigh, closer to the seat of jeans. The denim was rough under the soft palm of her hand as she squeezed his thigh.
He grunted, yanked her in closer, tilted his head to the side so he could kiss her deeper. Her fingers rose higher, grazing his hard cock through the thick denim between them.
Headlights illuminated the dark cab of his truck and she glanced over the back of his seat to see more than one car coming to a stop behind them.
“Park, find somewhere to park,” she urged.
The truck started to move forward as he kissed her again, one hand returning to the wheel.
She had no idea how he managed to do it, but they were turning through a stop sign already, their lips still pressed together. He smiled into their kiss and didn’t say a word as he kept driving, leaning over to keep kissing her as often as he could.
She didn’t mind it one bit, had no idea where the hell they were going, but as long as he kept kissing her, she didn’t care.
She’d have followed him anywhere at that moment.
They weren’t driving fast, but when she looked up, she didn’t recognize the neighborhood they were in. She had absolutely no idea where she was, but Jessica wouldn’t have let her leave with Aiden if she thought he would hurt her.
As he pulled into an unfamiliar driveway she realized he’d taken her back to his house, and her eyes widened.
“Where are we?,” She asked.
There was no reason for her to ask, but she figured she should at least pretend to care.
“An abandoned house,” He quipped as he stopped the truck and got out.
She was reaching down to put her shoes back on when her door opened and he reached in to unbuckle her.
Confused, she opened her mouth to tell him she was just sliding her shoes back on, but before she could get a word out, he lifted her into his arms bridal style. Lynn noticed he was still wearing his hat when she wrapped her arms around his neck.
He closed the door behind her and pressed his mouth against hers, kissing her the entire way to his front porch.
He only stopped to unlock the door around her, before his lips were seeking hers again.
She wasn’t complaining, not in the least, when he carried her over the threshold and set her onto her feet, his lips still caressing hers.
Once, twice, his mouth slanted over hers again and again until she was so confused she didn’t know what way was up. Or down.
He closed the front door, his eyes on hers, as he kicked off his shoes. She stood in the darkness, watching, absolutely clueless as to how the evening had turned in the direction it was obviously going…right to Aiden’s room…
And you thought he wouldn’t show!
Remember to thank Jessica tomorrow!
Her coat landed on the couch as she looked up in time to see him leaning down, his eyes still on her.
This time she stood on her tiptoes to wrap her arms around his neck, her grip on him tight. She met him halfway this time.
His hands found her waist as he leaned in to kiss her again, her head swimming. His mouth felt just as soft as she’d imagined, but better, and he tasted like expensive beer and mint.
Her entire body was hot, scalding, as his fingers traced the lines of her curves.
She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so turned on, or, well, wooed by a man. As far as foreplay went, he was doing far better than she could have imagined.
His hands dropped to her ass, lifted her against him. Her hands ran through his hair, tossing his hat to the floor behind him. Besides their labored breathing, the sound of it hitting the floor was the only sound in his living room.
His grip on her thighs tightened for a moment before he lifted her into his arms again, this time to wrap her legs around his waist.
She tugged on the ends of his hair as she clasped her ankles behind his back and held on tight, her mouth open over his.
He started walking, presumably to his bedroom, and just as he laid her back against his bed, she felt it. That moment of panic. That insecurity that assuredly more than one woman felt before they got naked with someone they weren’t familiar with.
He pulled her closer by a quick tug on her ankles, letting her know he was absolutely sure he wanted to keep going. She wasn’t drunk anymore, just buzzed, and she was positive she wanted to keep going, too.
He lifted her up to tug her shirt up over her head, his mouth fused against hers, his calloused hands sliding against her skin.
They felt just as good as she could have hoped and then some, the rough texture a tantalizing feeling against her soft skin. Her insecurities lessened when she reminded herself that she knew the difference.
She knew a good man from a bad one. And, when he lifted her chin to kiss her again, softly, tenderly, she was sure.
He won’t hurt me.