Just not with him.
Okay, so that wasn’t entirely true, Melanie admitted to herself. It was just that she was fat, bloated, and…
She just…
She just couldn’t do it.
She couldn’t sleep with a man that she barely knew.
Okay, so clearly she could, Melanie thought, biting back a wince as she glanced down at her large belly, but that had been with the help of a lot of unidentifiable alcohol and a knee jerk reaction to finding out something that she really should have seen coming. Caitlyn wasn’t happy unless she got what she wanted. She’d been that way since they were kids.
If she saw something that she wanted, she’d do whatever it took to get it and unfortunately for everyone around her, Caitlyn usually wanted what someone else had. When they were little, that meant having to deal with tantrums, shouting, crying, and waiting until Caitlyn finally passed out when she held her breath until she got what she wanted. As she got older, she’d figured out how to get what she wanted without having to resort to tantrums. She’d learned how to get what she wanted with coy smiles, false flattery, and-
Melanie never thought that Caitlyn would do something like this to her. She should have known better, she thought with a sigh only to frown when she suddenly found herself looking down at the man helping her with her shoes.
“Umm, what are you doing?” Melanie couldn’t help but wonder.
“I considered waxing, but that just seemed like a lot of work,” Aidan said, instead of answering her.
“Umm, waxing?” Melanie asked as he finished tying her laces before standing up and helping her to her feet.
“Shaving seemed easier,” Aidan said absently as he took her hand in his and led her to the door.
“I’m sorry. I’m a little confused. Why are you telling me this?” Melanie asked as he handed her bag to her.
There was a heavy sigh and then, “It’s my next five things, woman. I’m really gonna need you to try to keep up here.”
Biting back a smile, Melanie asked, “And is there a reason why you shaved your legs?”
“My brothers are assholes,” he asked, opening the door for her.
“That’s what I heard,” she murmured, nodding solemnly as he led her to his car and helped her inside before closing the door.
“They convinced me that I had a better chance to get on the football team if I shaved my legs because it would make me faster,” Aidan explained as soon as he opened his door and climbed in.
“And did it help?” Melanie asked as she buckled in.
Chuckling, he said, “Not even a little bit.”
*-*-*-*
“I demand to see the rule book,” Melanie said, crossing her arms over her chest as she narrowed her beautiful blue eyes on him as he finished his burger.
“We discussed this,” Aidan lied, mostly because he felt that it would be in his best interest if they moved away from this subject.
“We really didn’t,” she said with a sad shake of her head as she plucked a dessert menu off the table.
“We really did, though,” he said as he followed suit and grabbed a menu, hoping to change the subject but the beautiful woman across from him refused to let it go.
“Can you really start telling me something and then stop? Doesn’t that go against the rules?” she asked, throwing him a teasing smile that he liked a little too much.
“I changed my mind.”
“Can you really do that though?” Melanie asked, looking thoughtful.
“It’s in the rule book,” Aidan said, admittedly pleased that she was smiling and seemed comfortable with him again.
For a moment there, he’d been worried that they were going to have to start over and they didn’t have time for that, not with a baby on the way. He had less than two months to figure out how to make this work and he couldn’t afford any delays. He might not have planned on having a family, but he had one now and he was going to do everything within his power to make this work.
He wanted to be part of his son’s life and he didn’t want to have to go through the courts to make that happen. He wanted to be able to see his son whenever he wanted, wanted to be there for birthdays, holidays, and everything in between. He didn’t want to have to settle for seeing his son every other weekend, alternate holidays, and argue over who was going to have him in the summer. He wanted to be there for his son, making sure that he was taken care of and knew that he was loved, and he wanted to do this with Melanie.
They were in this together.
When Trevor’s dad stopped coming around, Aidan had only been four years old, but he remembered the look on his cousin’s face whenever his father was mentioned. He remembered those times when Trevor’s father actually showed up to family events, the screaming over visitation and child support, the crying, and the way that it had destroyed his Aunt Sarah.
She’d struggled to raise Trevor on her own, worked two jobs to keep food on the table, and had bent over backwards to do everything to make it work for Trevor. She’d pleaded with Trevor’s father to show up and held Trevor when he didn’t. They’d struggled and Aidan didn’t want that for his son. He didn’t want his son to hate him or cry when he wasn’t there, wondering what he did wrong, and he sure as hell didn’t want to be the reason Melanie cried.
“Can you produce this rule book?” Melanie asked, propping her chin on her fist as she considered her options for dessert.
“I’m afraid that you’re going to have to trust me,” he said, debating between the chocolate cake and pumpkin pie.
“Then I’m afraid that you’re going to have to tell me why you had a Jonas Brothers poster on your bedroom wall when you were fifteen,” she said with a sad shake of her head and a heartfelt sigh.
“What if I just bought you one of every dessert instead?” Aidan said, hoping to use her love of carbs against her.
Without missing a beat, Melanie said, “Make it two,” letting him know that they were going to get along just fine.
Chapter 19
A Week Later…
“Veto,” Melanie said with a heavy sigh, wondering when he was going to start taking this seriously.
“What’s wrong with Gage?” Aidan asked as he settled back against the side of the tub as he shifted his attention to the stack of patient files next to him.
“Pet Semetary,” she said as she settled back in the tub, enjoying the hot water as it slowly worked its magic on her sore muscles and swollen feet.
“Are you going to keep vetoing names based on movies and television?”
“Yes, yes, I am,” Melanie said, feeling her lips twitch when he released another long-suffering sigh.
“You’re high maintenance, woman.”
“I have been told that,” Melanie admitted as she closed her eyes and felt herself relax.
“What do you think of Chris?” Aidan asked.
“As in Chris Hemsworth?” she asked only to sigh wistfully when she thought of the incredibly hot actor that-
“Veto,” Aidan bit out, making her frown.
“Wait. You’re vetoing your own suggestion?” she asked, opening her eyes to find him staring down at the file in his lap.
“Yes,” he murmured absently as he picked up another file.
“What if I vetoed your veto?” she couldn’t help but wonder.
“I’d veto that,” Aidan said, making her chuckle.
“What about Drew?” Melanie asked as she reached for the apple juice he got for her and took a sip.
“Drew Bradford?” Aidan murmured, testing the name and…
Melanie realized that she was going to have a different last name than her son. It was something that she’d never really thought about until now. She’d always thought she would meet the right man who would sweep her off her feet, they’d fall in love, get married, have a family, and grow old together, but that hadn’t happened. It might never happen, she realized, unable to help but smile as she felt her baby boy push against her stomach.
&
nbsp; “You like Drew, baby boy?” she asked, placing her hands on her belly, chuckling when he pushed against her hands.
“Does he like it?” Aidan asked, shifting so that he could reach back and place his hand over hers without looking, respecting their unspoken agreement that allowed her to take a bath without dying of mortification.
“I think he does,” Melanie said, smiling.
“Then Drew Bradford, it is.”
*-*-*-*
“Why are we watching this?” Aidan couldn’t help but wonder as the small woman bundled up in a shitload of blankets next to him absently took a bite of the blueberry cake donut that he’d been eying for the past hour.
“Research,” Melanie said absently with a nod that had him looking from her to the crime show that they were binge-watching and back again.
“Research?” he repeated only to sigh with relief when he saw what time it was.
“Time for another walk,” Aidan said, hitting pause before tossing the remote aside.
“But I didn’t find out why the acid didn’t work on the body yet,” she said with a disappointed sigh as she reluctantly saved what she was working on before closing her laptop so that he could set aside the laptop table that he’d picked up for her yesterday when it became apparent that her old one wasn’t pregnancy-friendly.
“You’ll just have to wait until after your walk,” Aidan said even though there was no way in hell that he was going to be able to sit through four more hours of this.
“Fine,” Melanie mumbled with an adorable pout as she pushed the blankets off, carefully got to her feet and waddled towards the bedroom to put her shoes on as he found his gaze lowering to her generous ass and-
He forced his attention back to the article that he was reading, reminding himself that sex wasn’t an option, something that Aidan had to remind himself at least a hundred times a day. He didn’t think that it was a good idea to cross that line, not if he wanted this to work. It didn’t matter how good she felt in his arms at night or how much he’d thought about her since that night, she was off-limits. Unfortunately, even knowing that nothing was going to happen didn’t stop him from thinking about that night
The only thing that he remembered about that night was just how fucking good it felt when the condom broke. He’d never felt anything like it. The feel of her tight sheath wrapping around him as she’d moved on him, the feel of her walls had been like warm honey, caressing the tip of his cock with a wet kiss as she’d moved on him and-
Deciding that it was a bad idea to sit here thinking about it, Aidan stood up and headed towards the bedroom to see if Melanie needed any help. He walked into her bedroom and found himself sighing, just fucking sighing when he spotted the woman that was supposed to be getting ready so that they could go for a walk, curled up on the bed, fast asleep.
For a moment, Aidan debated waking her up, but since he already knew that wouldn’t end well, he decided to let her sleep. He should probably use this time to catch up on patient charts or finish reading all those articles that were waiting for him on his iPad, but she needed sleep and he knew that she slept better in his arms. At least, that’s what he told himself as he took off his clothes and tossed them on the chair. Once he was down to his boxers, Aidan carefully climbed in bed behind her and wrapped his arm around her as he reminded himself one more time that nothing was ever going to happen.
*-*-*-*
There was something seriously wrong with her, Melanie decided, somehow managing to stop herself from nodding in agreement as she laid there, closing her eyes as she bit back a moan that would probably make this awkward.
Not that she really thought that was possible.
God, he felt so good, Melanie thought as she struggled against the urge to push back against the very large thing that she was doing her best to pretend didn’t feel good pressed against her bottom. She should move, she told herself only to amend that by reminding herself that she shouldn’t push back, because that would be wrong.
So very wrong.
Okay, she was going to move, Melanie told herself even as she allowed herself another moment to simply imagine all the possibilities only…
It wasn’t possible.
Sex wasn’t an option.
At least, that’s what she kept telling herself, but since neither one of them had brought sex up since McDreamy suggested it, she wasn’t entirely sure. No, she was definitely sure that sex wasn’t a possibility, Melanie told herself even though she really, really wanted to have sex.
She’d never wanted sex as much as she had in the last few weeks. The first six months had been spent trying not to think about what could happen if her doctor couldn’t figure out a way to get her morning sickness under control. Now instead of wondering if she was going to make it to the bathroom in time, she found herself thinking about sex.
All. The. Time.
Most of the time, she was able to distract herself, but late at night when she had problems sleeping, that’s all she could think about. She wondered what would happen if she pushed back against him, how good it would feel to have Aidan run his hands over her before he slid his hand between her legs and-
She told herself that it was never going to happen.
Chapter 20
Two Weeks Later…
“Don’t overdo it,” came the warning from the man that didn’t trust her for some reason.
“I won’t,” Melanie said, blinking up at Aidan as he continued to glare down at her.
“That’s what you said last night,” Aidan said, and although it had technically been this morning when she suddenly felt the need to reorganize the nursery, she decided, mostly because of that glare, not to point that out.
“And now it’s done and I can relax,” Melanie said, also deciding not to mention that it was done because Aidan had been forced to help her when he’d discovered her sitting in the middle of the nursery, crying hysterically because she couldn’t decide which side the changing table should go on.
“Then why did I find you eying the kitchen cabinets a few minutes ago?” Aidan asked, narrowing his eyes on her as he shoved his iPad in his briefcase, and thankfully, had decided to stop worrying about going back to work and leaving her here alone.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Melanie said, deciding that she probably shouldn’t tell him that she planned on reorganizing the entire kitchen while getting some much-needed baking in since that would only end with another lecture on taking it easy that she didn’t need to hear because she planned on taking plenty of breaks.
“Don’t leave that couch, woman,” Aidan said, pointing at the couch that she was currently cuddled up on with all her favorite blankets, her laptop, and snacks.
“I thought I was supposed to get more exercise?” she reminded him as she took a sip of her chocolate milk.
“I’ll be back at lunchtime to take you for a walk. So, until then, don’t leave that couch,” Aidan said, shooting her a glare as he grabbed his bag and headed for the door only to stop, glare one last time and finally leave while Melanie sat there, shaking her head with a sigh, wondering why he didn’t trust her as she pushed her blankets aside and climbed off the couch.
The man definitely had trust issues, Melanie thought with a sad sigh as she headed into the kitchen and decided that she should surprise him with cupcakes…and brownies. Definitely brownies, Melanie decided only to turn right back around when she realized that she forgot her iPad in her bedroom. Twenty minutes and a bathroom break later, she was walking back into the kitchen, searching through KaseyCooks.com for recipes and trying to decide between two different brownie recipes.
After some much-needed soul searching, Melanie realized that she didn’t have a choice in the matter. She had to make them both. Decision made, she poured herself another cup of chocolate milk, grabbed the mixing bowls and set to work. Twenty minutes later, she had both pans of brownie batter in the oven and somehow found herself grabbing a mixing bowl for chocolate chip cookies wh
en she suddenly got a craving for oatmeal raisin cookies. That somehow led to a craving for lasagna, fettuccini alfredo, and buttermilk biscuits, which eventually led to her standing in the middle of the kitchen, hugging her cookie spatula against her chest and struggling not to cry as she watched the timer, waiting for the moment when she could go curl back up on the couch and pass out.
Unfortunately for her, she still had thirty minutes left on the lasagna and twenty on the apple crisp that she’d decided to make to go along with the homemade French vanilla ice cream that she’d made while the cookies were cooling. Really wishing that she’d taken a break after making the cupcakes, Melanie released a sniffle as she reached over and helped herself to one of the aforementioned cupcakes and-
“Dr. Bradford?” came the somewhat desperate words followed by pounding on what sounded like Aidan’s door. Curious, Melanie broke off a piece of cupcake and headed to the hallway to see what was going on.
“I-I will kill you,” the small woman with long curly black hair pulled back into a ponytail and sporting a Black Jack’s tee-shirt bit out as she glared at the large incredibly handsome man wearing a Bradford Construction tee-shirt that Melanie had seen around the Fire & Brimstone.
“Aw, aren’t you an adorable little thing?” the man that could only be a Bradford said as he reached over and patted the angry-looking woman on the head.
With a murderous glare, she slapped his hand away with a, “Don’t make me kill you.”
“That hurts, pumpkin,” the man said with a heavy sigh as he absently reached over and plucked the cupcake out of Melanie’s hands and finished it off in one bite while she stood there trying to make sense out of what just happened and when she did…
“Oh, shit,” he said, eyes going wide as he took in her bottom lip trembling to the large swell of her belly and back again before adding another, “Oh, shit.”
“What is wrong with you?” the other woman demanded as she slapped the white envelope in her hand on Aidan’s door with some tape before walking away, shaking her head in disgust.
“Many things,” he murmured absently as he focused his attention on Melanie. “I’m sorry.”
Irresistible (Neighbor from Hell Book 11) Page 10
