Tall, Dark and Charming

by Erika Wilde

  “Oh, my goodness, Daisy,” she said happily, and before Daisy could even register what was happening, Aiden’s mother wrapped her in a genuinely kind and affectionate embrace unlike any she’d ever received from her own mother.

  And it struck her that, while Daisy’s mother had treated Aiden with disdain, his mom had welcomed her as if she was family, no prejudgment of her character.

  “I should have warned you that my mother is a hugger,” Aiden teased, most likely having seen the initial startled look on her face.

  His mother ignored Aiden and grasped both of Daisy’s hands in hers, as her eyes, the same shade as her son’s, took in her features. “It’s such a pleasure to finally meet you. You’re just as beautiful as Aiden said you were.”

  Oh, wow. The compliment suffused Daisy’s cheeks with warmth. “Thank you. It’s wonderful to meet you, too, Mrs. Stone.”

  “Pfft.” She waved a dismissive hand between them. “Call me Grace, and come on in. Everyone is in the kitchen.”

  Grace hooked her arm through Daisy’s and led her into the adjoining room, where three men were standing around a granite-topped island in the kitchen, drinking a beer and snacking on the chips and dip that were laid out.

  “I hear you already know Dylan since he’s working on an app for one of your clients, but this is my other son, Leo,” Grace said, introducing them.

  Daisy was grateful that she and Dylan had gotten over her awkward rejection a few weeks ago, and she stepped up to Leo and shook hands with the other man, who was just as good-looking as both of his brothers but seemed to be more serious and reserved. But he did give her a smile . . . and yes, he, too, had inherited that sexy Stone dimple.

  Grace turned toward an older gentleman who looked to be around her age, with salt-and-pepper hair and light blue eyes that sparkled jovially. And the way he looked at Grace . . . well, he clearly adored her.

  “And this is my friend Charles,” Aiden’s mother said.

  Dylan cleared his throat, the beginnings of a smirk appearing on his lips. “Her gentleman friend,” he explained, giving the two words air quotes, then followed that up with, “wink, wink.”

  Charles chuckled at the insinuation and didn’t refute Dylan’s statement, but Grace blushed furiously.

  “Behave yourself, Dylan,” his mother scolded, wagging a finger at him.

  “Come on, Mom,” Leo chimed in, rolling his eyes at his mother’s modesty. “We’re all adults here. You’ve been ‘friends’ with Charles for the past six months. You just spent three weeks with him on a cruise and stayed in the same room. And if I’m not mistaken, I saw a man’s overnight bag in your room when I walked by to go to the bathroom earlier.”

  “Ohhh, busted,” Dylan said, and laughed.

  “I guess the cat is out of the bag, thank God,” Charles said with relief, and pulled Grace to his side and placed a kiss on her head. “I knew your boys would understand and wouldn’t think you were a floozy.” He grinned at the group. “Those were her words, not mine.”

  “Mom, we just want to see you happy with someone who treats you well,” Aiden said, more serious now. “And clearly, Charles is that man.”

  “Fine,” Grace said, and relaxed enough to put her arms around Charles’ waist in an open display of affection. “Yes, we’re . . . dating.”

  Dylan popped a chip into his mouth, looking smug. “See, that wasn’t so hard to admit, was it?”

  Daisy found herself enjoying the playful exchange between everyone. She’d grown up with a mother who’d always been so negative about everything, men included, and she’d never had any siblings to bond with. She loved how open and close-knit this family was, despite Aiden’s father’s selfish choices that had undoubtedly hurt all of them on varying levels.

  “So, how about you boys, Charles included, head on out to the patio and fire up the grill for the chicken,” Grace suggested, “while Daisy and I get to know one another and make the side dishes.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Aiden said, grabbing a beer for himself from the refrigerator and then following Charles and his brothers out a sliding glass door to the patio.

  “Are you good with cutting up lettuce for a salad?” Grace asked Daisy once they were alone.

  “Sure. I can do that.” She set her purse on the counter and washed her hands while Grace retrieved the vegetables and set up a cutting board and knife for Daisy to use.

  As Daisy shredded the lettuce and put the pieces into a big bowl, Grace checked on the scalloped potatoes she already had cooking in the oven, then started to prep the chicken for the barbeque.

  “So how did you and Charles meet?” Daisy asked curiously.

  Grace ducked her head sheepishly. “I can’t believe I’m going to admit this out loud, but we were matched on a dating website.”

  Daisy tipped her head, not sure why the other woman was embarrassed about using a matchmaking site. “What’s wrong with that?”

  After patting down the chicken with a paper towel, Grace rubbed seasoning over the thighs and breasts. “I suppose there is nothing wrong with it, but initially it just felt . . . tawdry.”

  Grace made it all sound so scandalous, and Daisy laughed. “Tawdry?” she asked, prompting the other woman to explain.

  Grace nodded. “I’m a very traditional woman, and back when I was a teenager, we didn’t have the internet, where everything feels so impersonal and people have the ability to pretend that they are someone they aren’t.”

  Wow, Daisy could certainly relate to that, considering that’s how she’d met Troy . . . on the internet. And yeah, he’d led a secret double life she hadn’t known anything about, and she’d given up her job and nearly uprooted her life to be with him when it wasn’t even possible since he was married.

  “Back then, we met boys that we were introduced to face-to-face,” Grace went on as she flipped the chicken over to season the other side. “Usually by a friend, or someone who knew the person well enough to vouch for them. And then we dated and got to know one another the old-fashioned way. I don’t do all that hooking-up stuff like the younger generation does, so the whole concept of meeting someone online made me cautious. But a girlfriend of mine suggested it, and it was Charles who contacted me after reading my bio and seeing my picture. And, well, I took a leap of faith and went out on a coffee date with him, and we’ve been together ever since.”

  “That’s a great story,” Daisy said as she started dicing the tomatoes and tossed them into the bowl, too. “You two seem very happy together.”

  “We are. More than I believed possible,” she admitted, giving Daisy a soft, I’m definitely in love smile. “After everything that happened with my husband, and then the cancer scare, I was wary and I didn’t think I’d ever be able to find love again. But I realized that sometimes you just have to put yourself out there, even at the risk of getting hurt. Because if you don’t, you might miss out on finding the person you were meant to be with, and for me, that’s Charles.”

  It felt as though Grace was speaking directly to her, her fears the same as the ones that kept Daisy herself so guarded, and she had to swallow hard around the suddenly tight lump in her throat.

  Done with the chicken, Grace went to the sink and scrubbed her hands with soap. “So, enough about me,” she said, waving a hand in the air as if to dismiss the conversation they’d just had. “We have far better things to talk about. Like the baby.”

  The excitement infusing Grace’s voice made Daisy smile, but she wasn’t sure what the other women knew in terms of Daisy and her son. “I’m assuming Aiden pretty much told you everything?”

  Grace laughed as she bustled around the kitchen. “Just the things that matter. Like you being pregnant, of course, and when the baby is due. And he did mention that your mother wasn’t happy about the news, but I’m going to reassure you right here and now that I can’t wait to be a grandma.”

  Her enthusiasm warmed Daisy’s heart. “I’m glad, because I want this baby to have a family who loves him or he
r.” Because Diane had made it clear that she wasn’t going to be one of those doting grandparents.

  “You have no worries there, honey,” Grace said softly and with understanding. “Both you and the baby are now a part of this family, whether you want to be or not.”

  Oh, Daisy wanted to be. Desperately. Even if her belonging was just as an extension of the baby. “Thank you. That means a lot to me.”

  “This baby . . . well, I know it was unexpected, but sometimes the best things in life aren’t planned. After everything that happened with the divorce, and Leo’s experience with the woman he thought he was going to spend his life with, my boys haven’t exactly been eager to settle down.”

  Daisy continued tossing the salad with croutons and didn’t correct Grace’s assumption that she and Aiden were “settling down” together just because they were having a baby.

  “So, are you going to stay home with the baby after it’s born?” Grace asked as she pulled down plates from the cupboard to set the dining table. “Aiden mentioned that he’s doing well enough at work that you could easily be a full-time mom, which would be an ideal situation.”

  Grace’s words were like a screech of brakes in Daisy’s mind, and her entire body stiffened in reaction. Did Aiden expect her to quit work? When had that idea come about and why hadn’t she been a part of the conversation? And what other ideas had he come up with that she had no clue about?

  Daisy felt sick to her stomach but met the other woman’s gaze to set her straight. “Grace . . . I don’t plan on quitting work once the baby is born.” She didn’t want Aiden’s mother to think that was the plan when it wasn’t.

  “Oh,” Grace said quietly.

  The disappointment threading the other woman’s voice was also visible on her face. Daisy hated that it made her feel like she was being selfish for wanting a career, and she couldn’t help but wonder if that’s how Aiden saw things, too—that it would be a self-centered choice to hire a nanny while she worked. For as much as they’d connected over the past month, how had she not known this?

  The silent questions bombarded her, but she had no answers, just a knot of dread that was tightening in her chest at the thought of giving up important things in her life because it was expected of her because of the baby—her career, her independence, and then what else would come next?

  The sliding glass door to the patio opened, and Leo stuck his head inside. “Hey, Ma, we’re ready for the chicken,” he announced.

  Daisy was grateful for the interruption, because it broke up the sudden awkwardness between her and Grace. It wasn’t the other woman’s fault for relaying something Aiden had said to her, and Daisy wasn’t quite sure what she was going to do with the information now that she had it.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Aiden glanced at the quiet woman sitting in the passenger seat of his car as he drove back toward Daisy’s apartment. Something was up with her, and Aiden couldn’t pinpoint what it was, but it was beginning to concern him. All he knew was that he’d left a cheerful Daisy in the kitchen with his mother while he went outside to hang with the guys, and by the time dinner was served, he’d felt a palpable tension in her.

  Oh, she’d smiled and responded to all the conversations and questions that came her way, but her demeanor had definitely changed. She was back to being guarded when he’d worked so damn hard the past month to tear those walls down.

  “Everything okay?” he finally asked, because he hated the silence between them.

  She nodded and looked at him, her expression unreadable in the dark interior of his vehicle. “Your family is great. Very warm and welcoming.”

  It was such a pat comment, as if she’d just said what she thought he expected to hear. Frustration twisted through him, and he tried again. “They all like you a lot, and my mom, well, I’m sure she told you how thrilled she is to be having a grandchild.”

  She glanced back out the passenger-side window. “Yes, she did.”

  End of conversation.

  What the hell? Aiden gripped the steering wheel tighter, and he wasn’t sure where to go from here. Were her pregnancy hormones acting up? He didn’t have a fucking clue, but this wasn’t how he’d envisioned this night ending with her. No, he’d been hoping to nudge their relationship to the next level, which for him was asking her to move in with him.

  Yeah, it was a huge leap, but it made sense. She was looking for a bigger place, and well, he had a house that would easily accommodate her and the baby . . . even if she wanted her own room rather than sleep in his bed with him. Because that wasn’t what the offer was about. Well, eventually he was hoping it would be, because there was no doubt in his mind that this amazing, beautiful, sexy woman owned his heart in a way that no other ever had, and he wanted it all with her. The baby, marriage, and a life and future together.

  The past month with Daisy had solidified his feelings. He loved her, and the realization didn’t send him into a panic. Maybe because the beginning of that headlong fall had started that night together in San Francisco, which was why he hadn’t been able to move on after Daisy. Because she was the one.

  Baby or no baby, she’d always be the one.

  He let the silence between them remain as he continued toward her place. When they finally arrived, he walked with Daisy to her apartment, very aware of the fact that she’d kept her hand out of his reach so he couldn’t hold it like he normally did. Once they were inside her tiny space, she rubbed her forehead and turned toward him.

  “Aiden, I’m really tired tonight . . . ”

  He knew it was an excuse, and he was just about to call it a night and leave her alone, which was what she seemed to want, when he noticed a few open and empty packing boxes in the kitchenette and near the bathroom.

  He glanced back at her curiously. “You’re already packing up to move?”

  “Yeah, I found a bigger apartment that was within my budget,” she said, setting her purse down and kicking off her shoes, her gaze averted. “The manager contacted me this morning to let me know they had an opening for a two-bedroom, and I decided to break my lease a month early here to make sure I’d get the new place.”

  He set his hands on his hips, his frustration growing all over again, because after the last month together, he thought she would have shared something like this with him. “How come you didn’t tell me?”

  She shrugged. “It literally just happened, and I was going to tell you when we got home tonight. I still have another two and a half weeks before I have to move.”

  She was trying to be nonchalant about the situation, but her body language was anything but casual or relaxed. And goddamnit, she wouldn’t meet his gaze.

  “Daisy, look at me, please,” he said firmly.

  She finally did, but she wasn’t giving anything away emotion-wise. With all the tension in the air, it wasn’t an ideal time to put out the offer to move in with him, but it made no sense for her to lug all her stuff into another apartment, then eventually move again into his place. And if he didn’t ask her now, she’d risk losing a deposit on the new apartment.

  “I’d really like for you to move in with me,” he said on a rush of breath to get it out there in the open. “I have plenty of room for both you and the baby in separate rooms if that’s what you prefer. I’d really like to be a part of this pregnancy, and not just on a part-time basis, and living together would make it so much easier to help you and be there for the baby.”

  He didn’t miss the panic that flickered in her eyes. “Are you putting the offer out there so you can set me up and keep me at home with the baby once it’s born?”

  Confusion washed over him. The question was so out of left field and unexpected it almost gave him whiplash. “What are you talking about?”

  Her lips pressed together for a moment, and she crossed her arms over her chest defensively. “Today, when I was talking with your mother, she told me that you said it would be an ideal situation for me to be a stay-at-home mom, instead of going back to wo
rk. What gives you the right to make that decision for me, or without me?”

  Oh, yeah, total whiplash. “Whoa. Wait a second,” he said, putting up a hand to stop anything else she might say, though at least now he knew the source of her change in mood this evening. “I never said I expected you to stay at home after the baby was born. After I told her about the baby, she made the suggestion because that’s the kind of woman my mother is. Very domestic and traditional. I told my mother it was an option if you ever decided that’s what you wanted to do, but you should know me well enough by now to trust that I’d never make that kind of demand.”

  And then it hit him, that trust he’d just spoken of was the crux of her fears. It was why she kept those emotional barriers up, and the reason for this conversation. She didn’t trust him enough to believe that he’d never take away her independence. She didn’t trust that they could have a real relationship that wouldn’t jeopardize her job. She didn’t trust that somewhere along the way he wouldn’t pull the rug right out from under her like her asshole ex had done—like her own mother said would eventually happen with Aiden.

  With all those doubts still weighing on her mind and her heart, he wasn’t sure what else he could say or do to make her believe him. But he tried, because she was looking at him with eyes filled with wariness, and he wasn’t going to give up on her, on them.

  “All I want to do is take care of you, Daisy.” And love you. “And make everything as easy as possible for you and this baby.”

  His words did nothing to dissipate her apprehension. “I can take care of myself and this baby just fine.”

  “I know you can. You don’t have anything to prove to me.”

  Her chin lifted a fraction as she frowned at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  He sighed and rubbed a hand along the back of his neck, knowing he was about to travel into sensitive territory, but it needed to be said. “It means . . .your mother has totally messed with your head and made you feel like you can’t trust a man for various reasons. Your experience with Troy didn’t help matters, either. But not all men are like him, Daisy. I’m not like him, or your father who left when you were a baby. And I’m not trying to take anything away from you. I want to give you everything you need and deserve. I want to support you in any decisions you and I make together and be there for you and the baby, every single day . . . because I love you.”