by Sara Whitney
Still, he wasn’t ready to walk away from the reason for his visit tonight. He might not be allowed to touch her the way he wanted, but he could at least try to make sure she was okay. “So. Want to talk about it?”
Just like that, her gaze zipped away from him, and the joy she’d found in destruction fell from her face.
“Talk about what?” She pivoted and yanked open the refrigerator, disappearing briefly into its depths. She emerged with two bottles of water, handed one to him, and dropped into one of the chairs at her kitchen table with a glare. “The fact that you want everybody to think you’re some cool, laid-back guy but you’re actually super rigid and unwilling to deviate from your precious schedules?”
His arm jolted to a halt as he lifted the bottle to his lips, startled that she’d evaluated him so precisely in one short sentence. But the fact that she was insightful as hell wasn’t what they needed to address tonight.
“No deflecting with observations about me.” He pointed his water bottle at what they’d just done in the kitchen. “Maybe that was just a random nighttime home-improvement streak, but I’m asking if maybe it was something else.”
She worried the corner of the water bottle label instead of answering. “Did you know I’ve never dated anyone for longer than four months?”
Okay, he’d definitely missed a step somewhere. “Um, no?”
She twisted off the cap and took a swig. “Remember how fast Mom and I moved away from your neighborhood?”
He nodded and took the seat next to her, still not following this conversational track.
“Some people aren’t built to be alone, I guess.” She ripped a strip of label off the bottle. “So Mom married the first guy who came along.”
Ah. Okay. “And did she regret it?”
Thea shrugged. “I sure did. But she says she’s happy. And she loves Annabelle.” Her stepdad’s fucking spite plant sat in the center of the table, and she poked her finger into the pot, then dumped the rest of her water into the soil. “Next time I see her, she’s going to ask me if I can afford the property taxes on this place, mark my words. He’ll have gotten into her head.”
Aiden’s irritation flared. Those people should be delighted that Thea had managed to make her dream come true. But that didn’t fully explain her previous comment. “And the boyfriend thing?”
“Yeah well, if you watched your mom become a completely different person because she married somebody she knew for five months, you’d be choosy too.” One corner of her mouth twisted down. “Somewhere along the line, I got kind of used to moving on before things got serious because God forbid I end up stuck with someone who makes me miserable.”
Aiden rubbed his knuckles along his jaw, reconciling what he knew about her habits with this new information. “Makes sense.”
“Oh, is that also the reason you’ve never settled down with some nice girl?” She raised a challenging brow at him, and he rewarded the return of her sass with a grin.
“Hardly. My parents have a great marriage. I just prefer to embrace my Peter Pan syndrome.”
She rolled her eyes. “Lord, grant me the confidence of a mediocre white man.”
“Hey! Ain’t nothing mediocre here.” He gestured down at his sweaty shirt to cover his discomfort at discussing his relationship history. When they’d discussed it before, it hadn’t felt so… personal.
She made a pshht sound. “Please. You’re magnificent and you know it.”
He’d never been called magnificent before. Had to admit, he liked it.
She blushed and looked down, her teeth worrying the corner of her lip, before saying briskly, “Anyway, I can now add kitchen demolition to my list of skills.”
“Hell yes you can.” They exchanged high fives, then a thought struck him. “Same deal with the jobs?”
“What do you mean?” She snagged their empty water bottles and got up to toss them in the recycling bin.
“Is that why you run through careers the way some people run through songs on a workout mix?”
When she turned to face him, she was frowning. “I guess I’ve never really thought about it like that. But yeah. Maybe. People start to rely on me at the job, and I get the itch to move on.” She shifted from foot to foot. “I’m… not happy working at the station.”
Her voice was a barely audible whisper, and he crossed to where she stood in front of the sink. “Oh yeah? Is this how it usually goes for you?”
She glanced toward the dark stillness of the river, clearly uneasy with the subject. “Yeah. I’ve got my favorite temp agency’s number on speed dial for when I wake up some morning and just need to make a change.” She blew out a breath and shot him a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Guess I haven’t found the job that makes me want to settle down yet.”
Haven’t found the job or haven’t found the man? The question almost slipped out, and he was suddenly more curious than he should be about the guys she’d dated in the past and how they’d failed to satisfy her. Weeks ago he’d pegged her as a “marry me” girl. She apparently would disagree, but he wasn’t convinced he’d been wrong. Then again, how many men were worthy of her quick wits and sunny nature?
Just as he was about to lose his damn mind and start saying things that a fake boyfriend really shouldn’t be saying, she yawned and sagged against the counter. “I think it’s time for bed.”
Fair enough. If this was a heavy conversation for him, it would be massive for her. “Okay if I leave my stuff here for the night? I’ll be back tomorrow to take out the countertop and finish cleaning all this up.”
“Ha. I messed up your schedule for a second day,” she crowed.
He good-naturedly grumbled as they ambled to the front door, but he paused before saying good night. Part of him wanted to tell her to ignore her mom’s mistakes and her stepdad’s shittiness and trust that she’d find the right guy someday. But another part of him—a loud, annoying part—didn’t want her to start picturing some other guy in this house, at least not while he was still here doing work. He wanted to have her to himself for a little longer.
“Thanks for tonight,” she said. “I feel better.”
“Hitting things with a hammer’ll do that for you.” He took a step toward her until he could see the specks of dust in her hair from the destruction in the kitchen. “You’ve got…” He brushed away the traces of their work, then let his hands drift to her cheek, her neck.
When his fingers kept moving downward, all thoughts of plans and schedules and agreements flew from his head, which gave him permission to do something he’d been wanting to do all night: he slid his hands into the gap between her overalls and the bottom of her shirt, resting his fingers gently on her hips where they dipped in to her waist. He’d been tortured by flashes of her skin as she moved, and now he gave in to the overwhelming desire to touch.
Her breathing hitched as his thumbs brushed across her warm skin and came perilously close to slipping under the hem of her tank top. She closed her eyes and swayed forward, and for one dizzying moment, he leaned in too. Nobody was around to put on a show for. He wanted to kiss her because he wanted to kiss her.
And fuck, that’s why he shouldn’t. Because if he kissed her right now, he’d be tempted not to stop. This thing between them was changing by the day, in his mind at least, but that wasn’t what they’d agreed to. He’d promised no sex, and right now he wasn’t sure he could stick to that if he didn’t put some distance between them. With immense effort, he took a step back, his hands falling to his sides, and when her eyes fluttered open, he couldn’t read her expression. Relief? Disappointment?
He cleared his throat and took another step toward the door. “Sleep well, killer. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He let himself out the door and kept his windows rolled down for his drive home, hoping the April air would cool his blood enough to let him sleep that night.
Fifteen
“Aiden? Boyfriend? Cutie patootie?”
Thea’s voice echoed through the war
ehouse portion of Murdoch Construction, and she located the man she was looking for by the grumbled “Jesus Christ” coming from the back corner.
“What, you don’t like cutie patootie?” she asked when she found him among a pile of sinks and PVC pipes.
“Worst one yet.” But he smiled when he said it, and the sight of him, gorgeous and grinning, knocked her breath from her lungs and filled her with a surge of joy.
“You love it.” She poked at his ribs, and he laughingly grabbed her finger to stave off a second jab. “So I’ve presented myself over the lunch hour, as requested. What’s up?”
“Right. Follow me.” He linked his fingers with hers and led her to a different section of the warehouse where a large hump of something was covered in cardboard and bubble wrap.
“What do you think?”
She looked again at the packing material. “You… shouldn’t have?”
He laughed as he pulled a utility knife from his back pocket and cut through the wrapping with swift efficiency. It parted to reveal a minimalist slate-gray cabinet with clean lines and no frills.
“Oooh, they’re here!” she cried. “And they’re beautiful!”
“They are pretty nice.” He ran a thumb along the closest edge. “These are going to transform your kitchen.”
“I can’t wait.” She glanced up at him, almost bashful all of a sudden. “I don’t tell you enough how much I appreciate everything you’re doing for me.”
He waved it off. “Probably as much as I appreciate what you’re doing for me.”
“Please. Spending time with you is no hardship.” The opposite. She liked it way too much.
“I dunno. I’m sure it’s tough, pretending to keep me satisfied at night.” He winked, and her insides reacted as if he’d dipped her into a pot of boiling water.
The memory of his hands on her hips the night they’d destroyed her kitchen had haunted her all weekend, but the only satisfaction she could find these days was battery operated. And wasn’t that the ultimate irony? Hours alone with the player of Beaucoeur, and all her orgasms were courtesy of her vibrator. A shame when Aiden had such long, lovely fingers right there.
Her head lolled to the side as she watched him bundling up the packing material, and she lost herself in the fantasy of what he could do with those babies. If only she wasn’t, well, her. In all the time they’d spent together, she sometimes almost thought she was picking up a vibe from him. The way he leaned close. The way he watched her talk. The way his fingers flirted with the hem of her shirt on demolition night. But if he was actually interested in her like that, he’d have said so or done something by now. It’s not like he was shy around women, for God’s sake. But he always pulled away just when things were about to get interesting, probably because he remembered who he was with.
She was pathetic. The limits of their deal were clear, and she might as well go around in a potato sack and a chastity belt for all it mattered to him. She had to slam the brakes on her runaway thoughts.
Best to put on a brave face. She patted her new cabinets and bent down to whisper, “You’re coming home with me soon.”
“Okay, weirdo.”
She allowed herself to enjoy the laugh lines around his eyes before she hiked her purse up her shoulder. “Well, if that’s it, I should probably—”
“Oh, I’m not done with you yet.”
Heat. Immediate heat in her nethers. What would it be like to have him say that to her for real, in whatever voice he reserved for naked play with the women he actually saw as sexual objects? She’d combust on the spot. The images flashing through her mind left her incapable of anything more than bobbing along in his wake as he led her to his office. He opened the door and ushered her inside, where she was greeted by a whimper that turned into a series of yips.
“What…?” She squinted at the little brown lump of something plopped on a coat laid in the corner of Aiden’s office. Then the lump shifted and changed shape until its angles resolved itself into four legs and a snout. “Is that a dog?”
“Surprise,” Aiden said sheepishly.
The dog quivered and wagged its tail, the action causing its whole body to shake. She immediately crossed the room and dropped to her knees, and the dog took a hesitant step in her direction. “Where’d he come from?”
“She, I think.”
“Hi, girl,” she crooned, holding out a hand to be sniffed.
The dog brushed the tips of Thea’s fingers with her cold black nose before she gave her knuckles a tentative, tickly lick.
“One of the guys found her on a job site in rural Cavelier County, and I immediately thought of you.”
“Me?” For a horrified moment, she thought he was comparing her appearance to the bedraggled, skittish creature in front of her, and she wanted to cry for both her and the dog.
“Yeah, a couple of weeks ago you mentioned you wanted a dog, and this one fell in my lap.” He plunged his hand in his hair, looking almost nervous. “If you weren’t serious though, I can find another home for her. I just thought…”
“I love her,” Thea breathed.
The dog’s eyes peered out at her from under a tangled clump of fur, two shiny little buttons looking warily out at a world she wasn’t quite sure she trusted. Thea knew the feeling.
“Do you think she has an owner somewhere?”
“She’s friendly enough.” Aiden moved to crouch next to her and scratched behind the dog’s floppy ear. “But she definitely looks like a stray.”
“We need to get you cleaned up, poor hungry lady.”
He gestured to a pair of bowls against the wall. “I picked up some food for her and left her in here with plenty of water, but yeah, she’s going to need a whole checkup.”
She snuck a glance at him, taking in the little smile on his face as he brushed his fingers over the dog’s knobby spine, and affection swelled in her chest as she watched how gentle he was with the frightened little thing.
Oh God, she needed to be careful. Those were feelings, and she couldn’t afford to develop those for Aiden. Better to focus all her attention on the creature in the room who needed her most. She grabbed her phone and dialed a number.
“Hi, is Kylie working today? Yeah, thanks.” Aiden looked at her curiously, so she put her hand over the speaker to whisper, “Calling in a favor.”
Five minutes later, Aiden loaded her and the dog into his truck to drive them to the veterinary clinic where her friend worked as a tech. The dog huddled on her lap and burrowed her head under Thea’s elbow while she gently stroked the dog’s sides where her ribs were visible under the coarse fur.
“I’m going to take such good care of you,” she whispered to the dog.
Aiden glanced over. “She’s lucky she’s got you now.”
She blinked back tears at his words, unexpectedly moved by his faith in her to care for this small, vulnerable creature. “Thanks.” She curled protectively around the quivering dog until they arrived at the clinic on the north side of Beaucoeur, where she explained the situation to the woman at the front desk, who immediately whisked them into an exam room to await the arrival of her friend Kylie.
“You’re lucky it’s kind of a slow afternoon,” the tawny blonde said when she joined them. She moved efficiently through weighing the dog, looking into her ears, and listening to her heart. “Do you want me to see if she’s microchipped?”
“Yes, please,” Thea said.
Kylie waved the scanning wand over the dog. “Nothing. My guess is she was dumped by a crappy owner, or she’s been a stray her whole life.” She rested a gentle hand on the dog’s back. “Question is, what do you want to do with her?”
“Keep her!” The words burst from Thea’s throat, and she’d never felt more sure about anything in her life. “I want to keep her.”
A grin split Kylie’s freckled face. “Then we’d better get her cleaned up. Let me see what our groomer’s schedule looks like.” She breezed out of the room and was back moments later. “She’
ll squeeze her in around her other appointments this afternoon. Nothing fancy, just a bath and a trim to get her ready to send home. Is that okay?”
At Thea’s nod, Kylie scooped the dog into her arms. “Great. Should take a couple of hours. We’ll call when she’s ready to go. In the meantime, we’ll give her vaccinations, worm her, and check for heartworms.”
“Thank you!” Thea called after her.
As they headed to the exit, Aiden asked, “Did I miss your stint as a vet tech or something?”
“Not all my friends are from old jobs, I’ll have you know.” Then she tipped her head in acknowledgement. “But okay, yeah, I met her during my not-so-illustrious time at the zoo.”
“Right, the zoo. Where you learned how to feed lions and muck out the lemur cages, right?”
“I wish. That would’ve been better than soothing angry guests.” Funny that with Aiden, her checkered job history didn’t feel like something to be ashamed of. He made her experiences seem worthwhile, like they all contributed to who she was. After years of apologizing for her work hopscotch, it was a novel experience.
He dropped her off at her car outside his building after extracting a promise that she’d let him pick her up when Kylie called to say the dog was ready. “We’re in this together,” was his last word on the subject.
Four hours later they were back at the vet’s to claim what looked like an entirely new dog. Thea gasped in delight.
“She did clean up well, didn’t she?” Kylie said proudly. “We even dug up a fancy collar for her.”
The dog had emerged from her grooming session with a light brown, slightly curly coat and a pointy little snout that twitched as she sniffed around the room. She was still painfully thin, and she wore a hot-pink rhinestone collar around her neck that was absolutely ludicrous and absolutely perfect for her somber face.
“Look at you, beautiful Blue!”
“Blue?” Aiden asked.
She scooped the dog into her arms and buried her face in the soft, clean fur to hide her blush. “Short for Blueprint? I just figured since you found her on a construction site. And I know you live to make sketches of all your projects.”
