The Proposal

by Katie Ashley

  “I figured as much.”

  Dr. Nadeen laughed. “Well, I’ll wish you the best of luck then, Mr. Fitzgerald.” He leaned over and shook Patrick’s hand.

  With a wink, Patrick replied, “Same to you, Doc.”

  Cutting his eyes over to Aidan, Dr. Nadeen gave a slight nod before walking to the door.

  When he exited the room, Aidan turned a wrathful gaze on Patrick. “After the last three weeks of experiencing my pure and total hell, how could you do that to me, Pop?”

  “I didn’t do anything to you.”

  Aidan gripped the rails on the hospital bed and leaned in closer. “Giving him Emma’s number? Pawning her off on him?”

  Patrick grinned. “I’m glad to see I got you fighting riled right now.”

  “Oh, I’m far from riled. I’m fucking livid!”

  “Good. You need to be. It’s important that you keep up your fighting spirit.”

  Aidan shook his head. “What will my spirit matter if she…” His heart shuddered at the thought of Emma being receptive to Dr. Nadeen’s charms. After all, he was a good-looking doctor who wasn’t even turned off by her being pregnant. That should be enough to make any woman swoon.

  “There is not a doubt in my mind that Emma loves you, and while Dr. Nadeen’s interest might be flattering, it will only serve one purpose.”

  “And what’s that?” Aidan croaked.

  “To show her there’s no one else in the world for her but you.”

  They were interrupted by Julia sweeping through the door with her husband, Tim. While Becky, Angie, and Aidan favored their mother, Julia and Liz both took after Patrick with their dark hair and eyes. She gave Aidan a quick hug before wagging her finger at Patrick. “Pop, I can’t believe it took a collapse at the VFW to finally get you checked out!”

  Patrick rolled his eyes. “I was going to the doctor next week.”

  “Always a stubborn ass,” Julia replied, pinching the bridge of her nose. “I’m just thankful you weren’t alone. Thank God Emma was there, and you were so close to the fire station.”

  The mention of Emma’s name heightened Aidan’s senses. She had been gone an awfully long time to get a drink. “Speaking of Em, I better go find her.”

  “You do that, son.”

  “She was out in the hallway when we came in,” Julia replied.

  As Aidan whirled around, he stumbled over his feet, almost knocking Tim over. Julia grabbed his arm to steady him. “Easy, Little Brother. I don’t think she’s running away. Yet.” She then winked at Aidan.

  “Thanks, Jules,” he mumbled under his breath. When he stepped out into the hallway, he craned his neck left and right, but he didn’t see Emma. Walking briskly, he smacked the button for the Authorized Personnel Only entrance and walked into the waiting room. Slumped in one of the chairs, Emma’s fingers texted furiously on her phone.

  “Em?”

  She jumped at his voice. “I, uh, I thought you and your family needed some space.”

  “That was sweet, but you could never be in the way,” he said.

  Emma held his gaze until her cheeks tinged, and she dropped her head. “I was just seeing if Casey or Connor could take me to get my car.”

  “I’ll will,” he offered.

  Nibbling her bottom lip, he could tell Emma didn’t like his proposal at all. “Well, since it’s Saturday night, I can’t seem to get either of them to answer, so…”

  “Good. Then it’s settled.” He held out his hand to her. She eyed it warily. “Let’s go tell Pop goodbye.”

  Hesitantly, she put her hand in his. Crackling electricity surged from his fingers all the way up his arm. From her stunned expression, he wasn’t the only one to experience it. He refused to let go until she pried her grip from his. He didn’t argue with her. Instead, he pressed his hand into the small of her back, leading her to Patrick’s room.

  When they got to the doorway, they found the room was empty. “Oh, they must’ve already taken him upstairs.”

  The corners of Emma’s mouth turned down in a frown. “I didn’t get to tell him good-bye.”

  “I’ll text Julia and get her to tell him I’m taking you home.”

  Emma bobbed her head in agreement.

  As they started back down the hall, he turned to her. “I could pick you up in the morning, so you could see him before the surgery.”

  “Aidan, I—”

  He grimaced. “Yeah, I guess I’m the last person on earth you want to spend time with, huh?”

  She reached out and touched his arm. Once again, electricity pulsed through him, and he fought to catch his breath. “I just thought it would be better for me to drive myself, so you don’t have the burden of taking me home tomorrow after Patrick’s surgery.”

  “Trust me. Pop’ll have my sisters fawning all over him.” He swept a lock of hair away out of her face and pinned it behind her ear. “Besides, you could never be a burden to me.” His fingertips feathered across her neck, causing Emma to shiver.

  Her eyes widened, and she jerked away. “We should get going.” She spun around and started power-walking back into the waiting room. Aidan almost had to break into a jog to catch up with her.

  When she started out the door, he grabbed her arm. “Wait here. I’ll go get the car.”

  “Thank you,” she replied, ducking her head.

  Aidan experienced a bounce in his step as he started into the parking lot. He had a chance to be with Emma again, and he was going to get her to see the truth if it was the last thing he did.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Aidan had barely put the car in park by the curb when he hopped out. “What—” she began, but then she realized he was getting out to open the door for her. She couldn’t help but cock her eyebrows at him. “My, my, aren’t we the gentleman tonight?”

  He gave her a tight smile. “If you’ll really stop and think about it, I was always a gentleman.” His body gave a slight tremor when she crossed her arms over her chest. “Well, for the most part, at least.”

  “I guess,” she replied. He motioned for her to get inside. With the biting chill in the air, Emma gladly slid across the warmed leather seats of Aidan’s car.

  He closed the door and then hurried around to his side. “It’s awfully cold for October, isn’t it?” he mused.

  Shivers went all down Emma’s body like rivulets of rain. Immediately she thought of their parking lot conversation after Aidan first propositioned her at O’Malley’s. He had been nervous then and talked of traffic. She knew now just how nervous he was since he had resorted to talking about the weather. The memory touched a raw nerve, sending a longing ache for the past through her.

  To ease the chill of emotions, she rubbed her hands together. Aidan reached forward and turned the heater on. She glanced over at him. Her heart thumped wildly at his continued attentiveness. “Thank you.”

  “You wanna grab some dinner?” he asked.

  “I’m not really hungry,” she lied.

  Aidan grunted. “Guess Dr. Nadeen filled you up, huh?”

  Emma tensed at the jab. “He just brought me a snack.”

  “Well, you need to eat.” He glanced away from the road to pin her with his stare. “For Noah’s sake, if not yours.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. “I’m well aware of what Noah needs, thank you.”

  He grimaced. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for it to come out like that.” He sucked in a ragged breath. “It’s just I figured you needed to eat for him, even if you were still upset about what happened today with Pop.”

  The sincerity in his voice, along with his compassion, softened Emma. Her eyes took in his thinner frame. Patrick hadn’t been exaggerating when he had said Aidan hadn’t been eating. “From the looks of it, you could stand to eat as well.”

  His jaw tensed. “Maybe if you’ll eat with me, I can.”

  Emma knew the last thing in the world she should do was agree to dinner. But she felt her resolve slowly fading as her traitorous stomach gro
wled. She winced when it caused Aidan to smirk at her. “Hmm, so you are hungry? Was it just the company you wanted to refuse?”

  She twisted her fingers into the hem of her top. “Let’s not argue anymore, okay?” At his hopeful expression, she sighed. “Take me to dinner.”

  The corners of Aidan’s mouth turned up, and Emma could tell he was suppressing a beaming smile.

  When he pulled into a familiar parking lot, she couldn’t help but gasp. “Here?” she squeaked at the flickering green and orange neon O’Malley’s sign.

  Aidan shrugged as he turned off the ignition. “It was the first place I saw. Besides we both like the food here and atmosphere, right?”

  A rush of painful memories crashed against her like ocean waves in a turbulent storm. “I suppose,” she murmured.

  Ever the gentleman, he held the restaurant door open for her. For a moment, she was thankful not to see Jenny at the hostess stand. Then a piercing squeal caused her to snap her gaze toward the bar. “Emma!” Jenny screeched. Her face lit up as she hopped off her stool so fast it crashed to the ground.

  After bounding over, Jenny threw her arms around Emma’s neck. “Oh my God! I can’t believe it!”

  Warmth filled Emma’s cheeks as well as her heart at Jenny’s over the top enthusiasm. “It’s good to see you, too.”

  Jenny pulled away. Her blue eyes flashed with happiness as she took in Emma’s appearance. “You look absolutely stunning!” Her gaze honed in on Emma’s protruding belly. “Man, I hope I look as hot as you do when I’m pregnant!”

  Emma laughed and placed a hand on her stomach. “Thank you. I don’t exactly feel hot at the moment.”

  “Trust me, you look it, sexy mama! Hell, you barely look pregnant, and you’ve got to be what, like six months now?”

  Emma nodded.

  “Congratulations on it being a boy.”

  “Thank you.”

  Jenny turned her attention to the hostess. “Why don’t you take Aidan on back to a booth? I want to hear more about the baby.”

  With a nod, the hostess grabbed two menus and motioned for Aidan. He reluctantly followed her. He even threw a few cautious glances over his shoulder at Emma.

  Jenny took Emma’s hands in hers. Her once jovial expression faded into one of concern. “I just want you to know how worried we’ve been about Aidan. That first week my dad had to drive him home a few nights.” Shimmering tears pooled in her eyes. “We were afraid we were going to lose him.”

  Emma sucked in a breath. Before she could respond, Jenny shook her head. “Look, I know he screwed up. I tried to warn him when he had the audacity to bring that skank in here.”

  “H-He brought her…”

  Jenny bobbed her head. “Sometimes I wish I hadn’t refused him a table. I think maybe if he had thought about it a little longer he would have never taken her home.”

  Over Jenny’s shoulder, Emma saw Aidan staring expectantly at her. “I have to go.” She started to pull her hands away, but Jenny squeezed them tight.

  “I don’t know what I would do in your shoes. I hope and pray I never have to. But I do know I’ve never seen a man more miserable over screwing up in my entire life. He’s been so eaten with guilt and remorse that we’ve been afraid it would consume him.”

  Emma didn’t know what to say, so she merely jerked her head in acknowledgement. On wobbly legs, she made her way over to Aidan. Thankfully, the waitress hadn’t put them in the same section where they had been before.

  Aidan had already ordered their drinks. Since she hadn’t had any caffeine so far, she didn’t ask for something different than the Coke that was already on the table. After taking a sip, she started scouring the menu. Glancing up, she asked, “What sounds good?”

  Aidan shrugged. She could tell from the way he twisted his bottom lip back and forth between his teeth that he was struggling with something. She opened her mouth to question him when their waitress returned. “What can I get for you?”

  Emma peered at the menu. “Hmm, I’m having a hard time deciding.” When she looked up, she met Aidan’s haunted eyes. She knew she needed to do something to ease the tension a bit. “Are you paying?”

  His brows furrowed. “I can. Why?”

  She grinned. “Good. I was torn between ordering something less expensive and then something more expensive. But if you’re paying, I’ll treat myself.”

  When she winked at him, a slow smile tugged at his lips. “Order the whole damn menu. I don’t mind.”

  “I think I’ll have the Ribeye, well-done, with the steamed vegetables. And I’d like a salad too with honey mustard on the side.”

  Nodding, the waitress scribbled down the order. She then turned to Aidan. “And what about you?”

  “Just the beer is fine for me,” Aidan replied.

  The waitress started to leave for the kitchen, but Emma banged her fist on the table. “Oh no, you don’t! You’re not just going to sit there and drink like a fish. You better order something and do it right now! That was part of the deal, remember?”

  “Em, I don’t want—”

  She swung her hostile gaze from him over to the waitress who had paled a little at the growing tension. “He’ll have the Porterhouse steak, medium rare, with a loaded baked potato. You can also bring him a side of the garlic mashed potatoes because he’s is addicted to carbs and potatoes. He’ll also have a salad, but make his Caesar. And can you please bring a loaf of bread with lots of butter as soon as you can?” She cocked her head at Aidan. “He loves your bread so much he could make his meal just eating that.”

  He stared at her in shock. The waitress’s pen hovered over the pad until Aidan bobbed his head in agreement. “Okay then. I’ll put your order in and bring the bread.”

  “Thank you,” Emma replied, handing her the menus. After taking a sip of Coke, she found Aidan staring at her. “What?”

  “You remembered what I like,” he murmured.

  She slammed her glass down harder than she meant to. “Of course I do. The only thing predicable besides your outrageous libido is your stomach. You ordered the same thing each and every time we came here.”

  A ghost of a flirtatious smile played at Aidan’s lips. “If I don’t clean my plate, are you going to spank me, Mommy?”

  Emma crossed her arms over her chest. “No, but I will force feed you myself like the damn petulant toddler you insist on acting like!”

  He brought a hand to his chest. “Ouch, Em.”

  “Don’t start with me, Aidan. You look like hell, and you need more nourishment than alcohol all the time.”

  He plopped his elbows on the table and leaned forward. “Doesn’t seem fair, does it?”

  “What?”

  “That I look like such hell, yet you look so fucking beautiful.” A pained sound came from deep in the back of his throat as he eyed her green maternity top. “And you’re wearing green just like the first night I ever saw you.” One of his hands reached out to brush against hers. “God, you were and still are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

  She blew out a frustrated puff of air. “I don’t want or need any of your pick-up lines or compliments, thank you very much!”

  He shot her a wounded look. “Can’t I tell the mother of my child how beautiful she looks? How pregnancy has made her blossom into an even more breathtakingly sexy woman.”

  Emma’s heart stilled and then restarted at both his words and the passion in which he delivered them. The gleam in his eyes elicited a response between her thighs as well. She wanted to smack her traitorous body as well as the pregnancy hormones pumping through her.

  “What I need more than compliments is for you to shape up, Aidan,” she said, softly.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” he demanded.

  The waitress, armed with a basket of bread, hovered in front of the table. “Erm, here you go.” She practically threw it at them before sprinting away.

  Ignoring his question, Emma cut a piece of bread. After slathering i
t with enough butter to raise anyone’s cholesterol level, she held it out for Aidan. He didn’t protest. Instead, he took the slice from her, letting his fingers linger on hers longer than they should. After he swallowed the bread almost whole, she grinned triumphantly at him. “I knew you were hungry,” she noted, as she fixed him another piece.

  “Hungry for your company,” he replied, in an agonized voice.

  Closing her eyes, she shook her head. “Please don’t.”

  “Look at me,” he commanded.

  Reluctantly, she opened her eyes to stare into his blazing baby blues. “It’s the truth dammit! You don’t know the hell I’ve been through because you wouldn’t talk to me! You wouldn’t let me apologize or talk this through. You fucking cut me off.” He shuddered. “I’ve been dead inside the last three weeks. But now that I’m with you…”

  “Let me guess. Now that you’re back in my presence, you’re like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon?” she snapped sarcastically.

  “Keep talking that way to me, and I’ll quit eating.”

  She gritted her teeth. “I’m glad to see you’re still impossible.”

  He winked at her as he finished off his third piece of bread. She twisted her napkin furiously in her lap. “You act like you’re the only one who’s been suffering.”

  Aidan’s face perked up. “You mean, you’ve missed me?” he asked, his voice vibrating with emotion.

  “Of course I have! How could you even ask such a thing?”

  His shoulders sagged. “I just figured when you wouldn’t talk to me that your hate won out over anything else you felt for me.”

  “My hatred for you does fuel a lot of my emotions.”

  “Touche,” he replied, tipping his beer up.

  “Somehow you forget that what should have been one of the happiest days of my life was trampled and spat upon by the man I loved and the father of my child!”

  Torment pulsed in Aidan’s eyes as he slowly removed the bottle from his lips. “Jesus Em,” he muttered.

  His pained expression overwhelmed her, and her chest rose and fell in harsh pants. Finally she found her voice again. “I’m sorry, but it’s the truth. Trust me, I may look more put together than you, but I’m not. I’m just as much a wreck on the inside. I can’t shut down this time like when I lost Travis or my mom. I have Noah to think about.” A bitter laugh rumbled from her chest. “So you may think the last three weeks have been hell on you, but you can rest assured they have been for me just as much if not more!” Snatching her napkin from her lap, she dabbed the hot tears that pricked the corners of her eyes.