“O

uch. Shit.” I brought my fingertip to my mouth, trying to soothe the nail I’d just broken on the elevator button. Apparently, the contraption couldn’t handle the wrath I was flinging around.

I’d been moody all day since Aiden left my office. I watched as every one of my employees simultaneously pretended as though they hadn’t been watching us, and went back to work.

I just knew we’d been the talk of the office for the rest of the day and probably for the next few weeks to come. I didn’t need my office gossiping about me.

And damn Aiden, coming in all burly and sexy, towering over everyone, filling up a room even with his silence.

It had been hard to breathe around him, and I wasn’t sure if it was because I’d admitted to myself I was attracted to him, or because I’d convinced myself there was nothing to be done about it.

There was a poetic torture involved in wanting someone, but not knowing what it is exactly that you want, but still denying yourself anyway.

Clearly, I was a mess. And I was taking my aggression out on the elevator buttons. They fought back, though, breaking my nail.

Bastards.

I’d stayed at the office as long as it took to be the last one out. I didn’t want to give anyone the opportunity to talk about me while I wasn’t there, so I stayed and worked until there was nothing else to do, really. Not that I’d had any pressing reason to leave any earlier. The salad and Netflix would still be there waiting for me no matter what time I came home.

The elevator door opened on my floor and I exited, turning right and heading for my door. At the end of the hall, from around the corner, my imagination played a very dirty trick on me. Aiden turned the corner, giving me a wicked smile, eyes gleaming with mischief.

As he came closer to me, I suddenly realized I wasn’t hallucinating and he was, in fact, in my building. On my floor, no less.

Before I could even open my mouth to question him, he spoke first.

“You stalking me, Rose?”

“Excuse me?”

“Are you stalking me? Why else would you be in my building? Didn’t say everything you wanted to say in your office?”

“Your building? This is my building.”

“Oh, sweetheart,” he said as he rocked back on his heels and shoved his hands in his pockets. “This is gonna be fun.”

“What’s going to be fun?”

“Being neighbors.”

“We’re not neighbors,” I insisted. We couldn’t be neighbors.

“Well, if you live on this floor, and I live on this floor, that would make us neighbors.”

“Don’t you live in the boonies somewhere?”

“Boonies? You mean the peaceful surroundings of nature?”

“Right. BFE. Don’t you live out there somewhere?” I said, swinging an arm around wildly.

“The Belmont Estate was a big job, and it’s close in. So, I rented a unit here for the last few months. I do have a house in BFE,” he said, using his hands to make quotations, “but it’s an inconvenient drive when you’re spending sixty hours a week an hour away.”

“You’ve lived here for a few months?” How had I never seen him?

“We both work really long days. I don’t spend a lot of time here.”

“This is crazy,” I said on a breath, mainly to myself, but I was sure he’d heard me.

“This’ll make everything a little easier.”

“Make what easier?” I sassed, hand immediately coming to my hip.

“Planning my event. What did you think I was referring to?” The side of his mouth tipped up, smirking even harder, which I didn’t think was possible, and I swear a laugh escaped him.

I tried to ignore what the sound of a sexy chuckle coming from him did to my body.

I would not let him get to me.

“I only conduct business in my office.”

“Call it whatever you want, sweetheart.”

“Don’t call me that,” I choked, trying to both make the words believable and hide the way the endearment made me melt a little on the inside.

“What would you prefer I call you?” His head tipped to the side just slightly as he asked the question.

“This doesn’t change anything,” I quipped, not sure who I was trying to convince—him or me.

“Oh, it changes everything.” His voice was smooth and low, hitting every tingling part of me and making them light up.

“How?” I rasped, suddenly unable to contain my reaction to not only his words, but the way he said them. Reacting to the way he looked at me, how his gaze traveled slowly all the way down my body and then back up again, the way I could see appreciation in his expression, the way his eyes heated, and his tongue darted out to wet his bottom lip. It was all too much.

“Well, now I have instant access.”

“I have to go,” I mumbled quickly, walking the rest of the way to my door. As I moved past him he slid to the side just enough so our arms brushed against each other, the contact stopping me in my tracks.

“See you later, sweetheart.”

My breath halted in my chest, but I managed to take the last few steps to my condo, completely aware of the fact that he watched me unlock my door and disappear inside.

I shut the door and then leaned back against it, wondering how in the hell I was going to hang on to my sanity now that I knew he lived in my building.

What in the world were the odds of that?

I took in a deep breath and pushed it out slowly, trying to calm my racing heart.

I jumped when there was a knock at the door.

Turning, I opened it, surprised but also not to find Aiden standing on the other side.

“Have you had dinner yet?”

“No,” I croaked, causing him to smile again.

“Come have dinner with me.”

“I have a salad in the fridge.”

“As appealing as that sounds, I need more than rabbit food for a meal.”

“I wasn’t inviting you,” I said, exasperated.

“But I’m inviting you. There’s a great pizza place open we can walk to. They have salads too. My treat. Come on. I promise I won’t bite.”

I narrowed my eyes at him.

“This isn’t a date,” I said as I stepped back into the hallway, questioning my own decision-making skills. It was clear I had no regard for my own emotional well-being.

Neither one of us spoke as we rode the elevator down to the ground floor again. I couldn’t decide if it was better we were quiet, or if we needed to talk more to make the tension seem less palpable.

Because it was thick.

Walking next to him was almost like walking through New York City in the middle of summer when it was muggy and humid. Everything was hot.

It definitely wasn’t because of the mid-fifties temperatures we were currently having in Portland, but I was thankful for the cool air that washed over my face as we exited the building.

“Have you ever been to Bambino’s?” Aiden asked after we’d been walking for a few blocks.

“No, I’ve never heard of it.”

“When I went to the University of Portland I worked there on the weekends. It’s a family owned pizzeria right in the middle of the city. Been there forty years now. But it looks like a hole in the wall.”

Portland was a big city, but not so big that you couldn’t walk a few blocks and go from new corporate office buildings to old historical landmarks. So, when he stopped in front of a building I’d never given more than a passing glance to, I wasn’t necessarily surprised I’d never noticed it. The establishment definitely blended in with the atmosphere and looked, indeed, like a hole in the wall.

Aiden held the door open for me and I wondered if I had any hand sanitizer in my purse. But when I walked in I was greeted by the sounds of happy people laughing and talking and the most wonderful smell I’d ever encountered.

“What you’re smelling right now is their famous pizza recipe. There’s a brick oven back there. They hand-toss all the dough and make the sauce from scratch.”

I’d already consumed all my carbs for the day, but the aroma in the restaurant was undeniably delicious.

His hand touched the small of my back and I hated how wonderful it felt there. Something about Aiden was different than any other man I’d ever spent time with. Never had my body reacted like that to just a touch on the back, or a brush of a shoulder. I had a tendency to tense up, not melt into someone like I did with him.

“Aiden, ciao!” A decidedly Italian man who looked to be in his late-thirties approached us, giving Aiden the patented man-hug/back slap that was universal man language for “Hey man, good to see you.”

“Marco,” Aiden said with enthusiasm. “How’ve you been? It’s been a while since I’ve seen you in here. The last time I was in I didn’t recognize anyone.”

“Been good. Gia had a new baby a few weeks back, so I was gone for a while. That could have explained my absence. God knows I’m here most of the time.”

“Congrats, man. How’s the baby doing? And Gia? What’s that? Number four?”

“Four girls, man. I’m totally outnumbered, but we’re gonna keep going until we get that boy.”

“You’re a brave man.” Aiden looked down at me and smiled. “Marco, this is Rose. I told her I knew the best pizza place in town. Rose, this is Marco. He and I worked together when I was in college. He’d just taken over for his old man.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” I said with a smile, holding my hand out to him.

“Nah, Rose, we don’t shake hands here,” he warned me just before he pulled me into a hug. “If you’re here with Aiden, you’re family already,” he said as he squeezed me against him.

I was frozen at first, surprised by the gesture, but after a short moment I brought my hands up and gave him the obligatory pat.

“You guys want a table or a booth?” Marco asked after he’d released me.

“Booth,” Aiden replied immediately.

“Right this way.”

Marco led us to a booth in the far corner of the restaurant. My eyes wandered over the décor as we made our way and it looked as though Italy had exploded all over the walls. They were obviously very proud of their heritage and took every opportunity to promote their culture.

I slid into the booth when we arrived and then scrambled over farther when Aiden sat his giant self down next to me.

“Allison will be with you guys shortly. Enjoy your meal. I’ll be back in a bit to check on you.” Marco left our menus and walked away, giving me the perfect opportunity to glare at Aiden.

“What are you doing?” I asked, irritated with his proximity.

“Sitting down.”

“There’s a whole other side of the table,” I said, motioning toward the empty bench across from us. “There are two sides. One for you and one for me. For someone who worked in a restaurant, you sure don’t understand how table etiquette works.”

“But this is better,” he said, draping his big arm on the top of the booth behind my head and turning his body toward me, caging me in. “We can have a conversation.”

Huffing, I crossed my arms over my chest. “What do you want to talk about? And why do we have to be sitting in each other’s laps to talk about it?”

He laughed, his fingers playing with a lock of my hair. I wanted to be irritated by it, but I wasn’t. The idea of his fingers trailing through my tresses did stupid things to my belly, making it flip and flutter.

“I want to talk about why you’re so intent on fighting your attraction to me.”

Well, at least the man wasn’t going to beat around the bush.

If he was going to be direct, I was going to return the favor.

“I’m not fighting my attraction. I’m simply not interested.”

“Oh, sweetheart, we both know that’s a lie. You’re attracted to me and you don’t know what to do about it.”

“Only because I don’t want to do anything about it.”

His head tilted to the side and he studied me.

“You’re serious.”

“Of course I’m serious.”

“Why don’t you want to do anything about it?”

I shrugged. “Does it matter?”

“I mean, not really. I guess I’m just curious why you’d just pass up on the chemistry we obviously have.”

“We have chemistry?” I’d never had chemistry with anyone before. Not a man, anyway.

He smiled the sexy hidden smile under his beard and my belly did the stupid flippy thing again.

“Well, yeah. What did you think was going on here?”

“I thought you were being annoying and your handsomeness just made it complicated.”

He barked out a laugh and I couldn’t help but smile.

“So, why won’t you give me a shot, then? If you’ve admitted you’re attracted to me? I know you feel the electricity between us. What’s stopping you? Ex-boyfriend baggage?”

My mind zoomed at a million miles a minute, sitting there looking into his stupid gorgeous brown eyes with lashes so thick, dark, and long that any photographer would want to take his photo.

“Dating hasn’t been a priority for me.”

“I’m not asking to be a priority, Rose. I get it. You’re a busy woman. You run your own company and you’re more put together than almost any woman I’ve ever met. That’s part of why I’m attracted to you.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“It doesn’t have to be complicated.”

“I’m a virgin,” I blurted, immediately regretting it. My cheeks began to heat, even though I wasn’t embarrassed about my sexual status. I never had been. But something about Aiden knowing made me self-conscious.

He blinked, his mouth falling open, but just as he looked like he was going to say something, a waitress appeared to take our order. Neither of us had even looked at the menu.

“What can I get for you tonight?”

She looked to be around seventeen and probably related to the owner. Long dark hair came to her chin and she smiled sweetly.

“She’ll have the chicken Caesar salad, and I’ll take the calzone. The works. I’ll have whatever wheat beer is on tap.” He looked at me. “You want a drink?”

“White wine, please,” I told the girl.

“Sure thing. Marco will have to bring it over since I’m a minor, but I’ll get the food out as soon as it’s ready.”

“Thanks,” Aiden said, giving her a tight smile. As soon as she turned away, his gaze swept back to me.

“You ordered my food for me,” I stated. I was petrified to let him speak first, terrified of what he would say about my previous statement.

“You said you were going to eat a salad. The chicken Caesar is the best salad they have.”

“I can make my own choices.”

“Clearly.”

“I don’t need a man to come along and fix everything for me. I don’t need someone to show up on their white horse and rescue me. I’m perfectly happy ordering my own salad and not having sex. I don’t need sex to be a complete woman.” I was irrationally angry. Or perhaps it wasn’t irrational. Who the hell did he think he was, ordering my food? Making me want sex for the first time ever? Making my body crave things I’d never sought from another person, ever. I’d been perfectly happy on my own for thirty years. I didn’t need his particular brand of bossy and sexy.

“Listen, you can order whatever salad you want. I wasn’t trying to force your hand. I just know the menu really well and know what their best choices are. I’ve HAD the chicken salad, I know it’s amazing, and I just wanted you to experience it.”

“Are we talking about dinner still?” I breathed, my chest moving up and down with every breath.

“I’m not sure,” he replied, breathing just as heavily. “How the fuck are you a virgin?”

“How the fuck indeed,” I mumbled, finding humor in his choice of words.

“Seriously, Rose. You’re the most inherently sexy woman I’ve ever been around. Everything about you makes me think about sex with you. How have you managed to avoid it for so long?”

“You think about having sex with me?” Had I asked anyone else in the world that question, it would have been in disgust. But with Aiden, it was full of longing and curiosity. I both wanted him to tell me what he thought about—in great detail—and wanted to run out the door and never see him again. The latter emotion was close to winning out.

“Shit, Rose. I’ve thought of little else since I first met you.”

“Well, then I guess it’s good we had this discussion. Now we can just move on.”

He laughed, loud and short.

“You think I’m just going to forget how much I want you? I get you’re inexperienced, but you can’t be that dense.”

“It may take a while for your attraction to wane, I guess, but once you realize you can’t have what you want you’ll get bored and move on.”

“Is this a religious thing? Are you celibate for life? Are you waiting for marriage? Is this something we can talk about? Because I gotta say, I have a lot of questions.”

“Like what?”

“Like, why?”

I shrugged. “The opportunity never presented itself.”

“Bull. Shit.”

“Okay, a suitable situation never presented itself.”

“Is that the best you can do?” He raised one eyebrow at me.

I huffed out a breath, then leaned closer to him, hating that the conversation was happening in the middle of a restaurant where anyone could overhear us.

“I’ve been with men before,” I said, emphasizing the been. “It’s just never gotten to that point. I’m not completely unexperienced.”

“You’ve just never been to the main event.” His statement was more of a question.

“Here are your drinks,” Marco said, making me jump.

I hadn’t even heard him coming, and Aiden’s big body blocked my view of him. In fact, I could see little but Aiden.

“Thanks, man,” Aiden said to Marco with what looked like a forced smile.

“You guys need anything else?” he asked as he placed our drinks on the table.

“No, thanks, we’re good.”

“Your food should be out soon.” Marco clapped his hand on Aiden’s shoulder and then walked back toward the kitchen.

“This is a lot to take in,” he said, picking up his beer. Then his eyes widened, and he quickly added, “No pun intended.”

My eyebrows scrunched in confusion and it took a moment longer than I would have liked to pick up on his meaning.

“Har, har, har.”

“That was unintentional, but it was still pretty funny.”

“I’m glad you’re able to laugh at my situation.”

“Hey, it’s either laugh or cry.”

“No crying. It would totally ruin the tough guy image I have of you.”

“That’s what you think of me? I’m just some tough guy?”

“Have you looked in the mirror?”

“There’s more to me than flannel and muscles, Rose. Lots more,” he said, waggling his eyebrows, making me smile.

“I’m sure.”