Kentucky on the Rocks

by Gwendolyn Grace

  “Oh God no. I’m not a romance kind of girl. Crime or mystery novels are more my speed. What about you? Have you lived in Louisville all your life?”

  “Actually, I don’t live in Louisville. I live in Shelbyville, which is only a few miles away.”

  “Oh,” I replied feeling a little silly. I assumed he lived here, and I wasn’t familiar with the area even after two years. Besides the necessary trips to run errands locally, most of my time was spent in my house working or going wherever Derek took me. “How long have you worked with the security company?”

  “About five years with Secure Point Systems. Before that, I kind of drifted between careers for a while.”

  “What sort of careers?”

  “Let’s see . . .” Aidan looked up as he gathered his thoughts. “I was convinced that I could start my own car-washing business, so my brother and I spent the summer after I graduated high school trying to make that happen. We only made enough money to buy beer and replace our car-washing supplies.” He chuckled and his face relaxed as he told the story. “After that I got a job selling cars, and I was determined to sell more cars than anyone on the lot. My first month I sold a few cars but nothing close to the other guys. I stuck with it for about a year and gave up. I joined the Marine Corps and served four years before I got out and went to school and earned my degree in computer science. So far it’s panning out and has been the longest job I’ve had.” He laughed and I liked that he wasn’t perfect. He admitted to struggling to find his way.

  With Derek, his life was planned out. After he finished school he went right to work with his uncle’s firm. I think that was why he never really showed concern for anything in his life. His future, complete with a six-figure salary, was set. I resisted the urge to smack myself for letting Derek consume so much of my thoughts. The comparisons in my head between he and Aiden needed to stop.

  “Alright, it’s my turn to ask something now. How old are you?” Aidan asked.

  “Twenty-five, and you?”

  “I’m twenty-eight. My turn now. Are you hungry?”

  “I could eat,” I replied, grinning.

  “Do you like Thai? I know a good place not too far from here?”

  Even though I wasn’t a fan of Thai food, I started to agree because that’s what I did. I was the cool girl, up for anything. Except this time, I didn’t want to be that girl.

  This was the moment I decided to just be me.

  “Not really.” I shook my head.

  “Oh, okay no problem,” Aidan replied not sounding the least bit put off as he tried to think of another suggestion.

  “Do you like barbecue?” I asked. “I know a really good place.”

  “Heck yeah, I love barbecue. What place?” he asked.

  “FNA’s.”

  “Yeah, I know that place real well. I’m down. Let’s go.”

  It was trivia night at FNA’s, and Aidan and I immediately teamed up. There was a twenty-dollar entry fee and ten teams playing. The winner took the entire two-hundred-dollar pot. It turned out that I was horrible at American history and Aidan couldn’t answer any pop culture questions to save his life. We came in third, so at least we weren’t last. Some married couple won the game. They were weekend tourists exuding sickly sweet love and optimism. I hated them instantly, but Aidan, on the other hand, seemed to be growing on me. He was easy to be around, and I found myself not trying hard to be anything with him but myself. It was a welcome change. Instead of the Jack and Coke Derek usually ordered for the both of us, because I let him think it was what I liked, Aidan and I drank beer on tap.

  At the end of the night, Aidan walked me back to my car in the parking lot, and we leaned against it staring at each other.

  “I had a nice time, Josette. Did you?”

  I nodded.

  “Do you want to do it again?”

  I nodded a second time.

  “Great, do you know what date number two is yet?”

  I actually did, because I’d spent all night thinking about it.

  “Yes, I was thinking about the aquarium?”

  “Aquarium, huh? That sounds pretty boring, but I think I can do something with it.” He winked and nudged me playfully.

  “It’s not boring,” I defended with mock offense. “The atmosphere is dark and mystical. I think it adds appeal to the date location.”

  “Hmm,” he answered as he turned his head sideways to study me. “When do you want to go to the aquarium?”

  “How about next Friday?”

  “A whole week from now?”

  “We only have four more dates so we need to stretch them out.”

  “Okay, next Friday it is, but can I call you? I know it’s probably not part of your article research, but I was never any good at how many days a guy is supposed to wait to call a girl and . . .” His voice trailed off as he looked away briefly and then back at me with sincerity. “I want to call you. Can I?”

  “Yes, you can call me,” I said, finding it impossible to say no.

  “Great.” He smiled. “I have one more question. Something I’ve wanted to ask you all night.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Can I kiss you?”

  My breath caught. Did I want to kiss him? My eyes went right to his perfect lips, the same ones I found myself wishing I could lick barbecue sauce off a few times tonight.

  “Yes,” I replied almost instantly because I absolutely did want to kiss him.

  Aidan wasted no time reaching up to cup the side of my jaw and pull me close to him. He stared into my eyes for a brief moment as he licked his lips, his green gaze growing dark just before his mouth touched mine. His touch was soft as he lightly brushed my lips with his, and I parted my mouth as he slipped his tongue inside. The second we made contact, I had to stifle a moan as my body relaxed into him. He wrapped his free arm around my waist tightly, and I flattened my palms against his hard chest. He turned his head to get a better angle and deepen our kiss, and I sighed.

  Everything in that moment was forgotten. All I could concentrate on was the way his tongue glided deliciously against mine, his familiar scent, how tightly he held me against his body, and how good he tasted. I finally had to pull back in order to breathe. Damn, he was a good kisser.

  “How did you do that?” I asked, feeling breathless as I stared up at him.

  “Do what?” He looked down at me with confusion, his eyes cloudy as he worked hard to clear his head and focus on me. I loved that I wasn’t the only person affected by the kiss.

  “Nothing,” I answered, suddenly feeling idiotic for asking the question. “I’ll text you the details for the next date.”

  “Okay.” His hands remained on my waist while cradling my jaw. He leaned forward and quickly brushed my nose with his before he stepped away. “Good night, Josette.”

  “Good night, Aidan.” He watched me get into my car and pull away before he got behind the wheel of a large, dark blue four-door truck.

  What was it I said about Nat’s mythical kissing sparks?

  I really hated it when I was wrong.

  Chapter Five

  I thought it was sweet the way Aidan called me about an hour after our date to remind me to set the alarm system and then walked me through how to do it. He really didn’t need to, because like he said when he sold the system to me, it was easy to use, but I played along anyway. It was nice to feel like someone was concerned about me. No, it was nice that Aidan was concerned about me. I knew it was a bad idea to get involved with him, but I couldn’t help myself. I still planned to sell the house because there was no way I was going to stay in Louisville any longer than I had to. The probability of me running into Derek was a lot higher here than it would be in California. I wanted to purge myself completely of all things Derek Vaughan, or at least that’s what I kept telling myself.

  I’d talked to Aidan only twice more on the phone during the week, and our conversations weren’t very long, mostly he wanted to confirm the details fo
r our Friday date.

  “Aidan, you know that all of this isn’t necessary,” I found myself saying. “I’d still go out with you anyway, even if it had nothing to do with the article.”

  “Nah, this gives me an excuse to not have to be creative. I was never any good at it anyway.” I could picture his smiling face on the other end of the phone, and my insides did a flip.

  “Okay, well, I’d better go. I’ve got potential buyers coming in the morning, so I’ve got to get up early in time to tidy the place up and get out of here.”

  “Right,” he replied, and then there was a short silence. “Good night, Josette.”

  “Good night, Aidan.” We both lingered on the phone, waiting for the other to hang up. Finally, I heard him chuckle softly, and then the call ended.

  He also sent me a good night text every night after that, and I found myself looking forward to them.

  ****

  I’d only made it halfway through the week when I might have, accidentally on purpose, jiggled something in the security panel box to cause the alarm to go offline. I called Secure Point Systems immediately and requested that my original technician, Aidan Ross, return to fix the issue. I was told that he would be out to my house before five p.m. This meant that I had to endure the torturous wait that lasted hours.

  Every time a car drove by I would run to the window to see if it was him. I constantly checked my hair and makeup as I aimed for a perfect cross between “oh, I had no idea you were stopping by” mixed with “damn right, this look was staged.”

  I was sitting in my office with my headphones on, bobbing my head to the beat as I typed away at my article when I felt a hand on my shoulder.

  “Ah!” I screamed and twisted around in my seat quickly. I let out a long sigh of relief to see Aidan’s green eyes staring down at me. “You scared me.”

  “I knocked for a good five minutes before I discovered that the front door wasn’t bolted.” He crossed his arms and glared down at me, clearly not pleased with that discovery. “Josette, why was it unlocked?”

  “Well, the alarm thingy is broken.” I removed my headphones and stood up. “That’s why I called . . . to . . . um . . . have it repaired.”

  “Yeah, but the alarm doesn’t stop the dead bolt from working when turned manually,” he said through slightly clenched teeth.

  “Oh.” I shrugged and looked down at my bare feet, which were sporting a new coat of Sassy Siren red polish. I could feel Aidan still staring at me so I returned my eyes to his. “What?” I asked as innocently as I could manage, while I tried to suppress feelings of foolishness over staging this fiasco.

  Before I knew what was happening, Aidan had closed the distance between us and I was eye level with the company logo on his shirt. Having him suddenly in my personal space quickened my pulse, and my breath grew shallow. God, I really needed to find out why he smelled so good.

  “Josette.” He said my name softly and I looked up slowly. My eyes traveled from his solid chest to his throat, where I watched in fascination as his Adam’s apple moved, up to the dark stubble of his jaw, then finally rested on his full lips that were curved slightly in a smile.

  “Yes?” I replied, finally letting my eyes travel up to meet his.

  “If you wanted to see me, all you had to do was say so.” I was instantly captivated by the way Aidan’s eyes darkened as he spoke, and I couldn’t form a response. He moved me backward with his body until I was against the wall, staring up at him. He braced himself against the wall by placing his hands on either side of my head as he leaned down, close enough to let his mouth hover over my ear.

  “Did you want to see me, Josette?” I instantly nodded my head. “Good. You should always say what you want.” I felt him lower his head and skim the curve of my neck with his nose.

  “Aidan.” I breathed his name as I let my head fall to the side.

  “What do you want right now, Josette?” he whispered against my throat, right at the place where my pulse beat rapidly.

  “For you to kiss me,” I said, my voice barely audible.

  “I want to kiss you, too.” He nipped my neck lightly. “In so many places.” Then he pressed a trail of kisses up my neck and along my jawline until he reached my mouth. Our lips hovered only a breath apart, and I could feel the pull, like a magnet. No longer able to resist, I pushed my face forward until my mouth was on his.

  The contact was instant, and like the last time we’d kissed, my mind lost all ability to focus on anything besides Aidan. He tasted of cool peppermint mixed with a deliciousness that was completely his alone, and I couldn’t get enough. I’d really wanted to see if the kiss we shared the other night was an alcohol-induced fluke and the sparks I’d felt were only imagined, similar to the way people convince themselves that something is true even when it’s not.

  Like the existence of multiple orgasms.

  I was wrong. It was everything I remembered. A toe-curling, goose-bump-raising, forget-to-breathe kind of kiss.

  He groaned into my mouth as he deepened our connection while placing a hand around the back of my neck, drawing me closer. I grabbed handfuls of his shirt in order to anchor myself to him, desperate to feel him against me. This wasn’t an out-of-control and ravaging kiss, but it was full of passion. Every stroke of his tongue against mine was strong and deliberate. When we finally pulled away from each other, our chests were heaving as we tried to steady our breathing.

  “One thing you should know about me . . .” Aidan began speaking as he looked down at me through half-lidded eyes. “I don’t play games. If I want something, I’ll say it. I want you to do the same. Do you think you can do that for me?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good.” The satisfied grin he gave me transformed his classically handsome face into devastatingly gorgeous. “I repaired your alarm, and by repaired I mean that I plugged the wire you pulled out back in.” With that, he pecked a kiss on my nose and backed away. I watched as he grabbed his toolbox from the foyer and admired the way his biceps shifted under the short sleeves of his shirt with every movement. Yeah, I definitely had a thing for arms.

  “I’ll see you Friday?” I called out to him.

  “Definitely,” he answered with a wink and strode to the front door. I waited until I heard his truck engine fade away before I sank down to the floor.

  Kentucky had no business producing men who could kiss like that.

  Chapter Six

  Fantasy Date Rendezvous #2: Go Where the Wild Things Are.

  Congratulations! You made it to the second date, so let’s kick it up a notch and do something fun together. The language of music is universal. Find a local venue that plays the type of music that you and your date can agree on. You can tell a lot about a person by their choice in music. But don’t go big; the smaller and more intimate the setting, the better. Don’t be afraid to dance. Instead of talking with your mouths, use your dance moves as a form of communication . . .

  When Friday finally arrived, Aidan rang my doorbell on time. When I swung the door open he greeted me with a kiss that left me feeling boneless.

  “Hey,” I said, smiling up at him when our lips finally separated.

  “Hey,” he replied, returning my smile. “You look beautiful. Are you ready to go?” I nodded and he pulled me along with him after he made sure I’d set the alarm properly. We held hands as we walked to his truck, and he opened the passenger side for me. After helping into the seat, he ran around to the driver’s side. He clicked his seat belt into place and took a second to look me over. My skirt slid to just above midthigh, and I saw the way his eyes lingered there.

  “Beautiful,” he said again with a grin and put the truck into motion.

  True to his word Aidan was creative with our next date. Aidan chose to take me to a new place called Fish Tank Freddie’s. It wasn’t a sea life aquarium; instead it was a small concert venue with standing room on the first floor and booths along the second-floor balcony. After lo
oking at our tickets, Aidan, still holding my hand, led me to the balcony, which I was grateful for.

  The crowd on the first floor was pretty big as the first act began to play and grew even larger once the featured band came on. I’d never heard of either group before, but I liked their sound. We went down to the first floor for a while and got lost together in the crowd. The energy in the room was contagious. The band played a fusion of music, some of it soulful, some of it alternative. Their sound was unique and definitely something to groove to.

  I noticed the way a few girls stared at Aidan appreciatively and tried to get his attention, but his eyes were on me. Several times other men tried to grab on to my waist only to have Aidan tug me away and shoot warning glares at any guy who dared get close to me. When the crowd became too much, Aidan and I went back to our booth and shared a few appetizers and drank draft beer while we enjoyed the music.

  When the band started playing a cover of a song I’d heard on the radio, I couldn’t stop myself from standing up and dancing. Luckily there were no tables behind me so I wasn’t blocking anyone’s view. I reached out and grabbed Aidan’s hand, forcing him to dance with me. He moved, albeit reluctantly, to stand behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist as I swayed my hips. His nose brushed the side of my neck, and I rested the back of my head against his shoulder and we moved to the bass of the music.

  When Aidan started pressing kisses to the top of my collarbone, I reached one arm behind me to hold the back of his head as I angled my neck to give him better access. He splayed one hand over the flat of my stomach and inched the other to rest on one of my breasts. The upstairs area was much darker compared to the downstairs where the lights were blaring. There wasn’t anyone sitting in the booths on either side, which gave us a little bit of privacy as we sank further back and away from the glare of the lights.

  I loved the feel of his hands on my body, the way my heart pounded from the music, and the way his teeth nipped at the pulse at my neck with just the right amount of pressure to cause my nipples to harden. He turned my face so that his lips were on mine and lowered us until he was sitting on the booth with me in his lap. One of his hands came to rest on my thigh while the other kneaded my breast. When his fingers lightly grazed my inner thigh, I parted my legs slightly. The song that was playing had a slow and sensual beat. Aidan’s hand gradually moved until his fingertips brushed the front of my wet panties. He pulled his mouth from mine as he took in a sharp breath.