Irresistible (Neighbor from Hell Book 11)

by R. L. Mathewson

  “And we should be the godparents,” Caitlyn said, sending Adam a look that told him that it would be in his best interest to say something.

  “Lucifer and Rebecca are Drew’s godparents,” Aidan said evenly as he reached for the platter filled to the brim with pot roast and began loading Melanie’s plate for her.

  “Why?” Caitlyn demanded with a pout only to clear her throat and drop her arms when Aidan said, “Because I said so.”

  Chapter 25

  “You know what I’ve been thinking?” the epitome of evil asked while Aidan sat there, unable to take his eyes off Melanie.

  “That it would probably be in your best interest to avoid going near religious relics so that you don’t burst into flames?” Aidan asked absently as he watched Melanie smile down at the photo album that his mother handed her a few minutes ago.

  “No, but that’s probably a good idea,” Rebecca said with a heartfelt sigh and a nod as Aidan sat there, trying to tell himself that this was a bad idea.

  “Then what have you been thinking?” he absently asked as he shifted his attention to the right and immediately wished that he hadn’t when he spotted his mother and brother locked in another glaring match over who was planning the baby shower.

  “I was thinking that you might want to stop staring at her,” Rebecca drawled as Aidan once again found himself watching Melanie.

  “And why’s that?” Aidan asked, still debating what he should do about her.

  “It’s getting creepy.”

  “Then what would you call what you did to Adam?” Aidan absently asked, not that he was complaining since it had chased the asshole off along with his pain in the ass wife before her parents had enough of their oldest daughter’s bullshit and left as well.

  “Part of my process,” Rebecca said, shrugging it off.

  “And what’s that?”

  “You don’t want to find out,” Rebecca said with a pointed look that he easily ignored.

  “Is that a warning?” Aidan asked, glancing back over to find his brother and mother still locked in a glaring match.

  “It’s a promise,” Rebecca said, leveling a glare of her own on him.

  “Is this the part where you tell me to back off?” Aidan asked as he helped himself to one of the large cupcakes that his mother picked up from Dixon’s bakery as he considered the small woman watching his every move.

  “I would never do that,” Rebecca said, blinking innocently before adding, “but that doesn’t mean that I won’t make your life a living hell if you do anything to hurt her.”

  “So, you’re fine if I decide to see if this is going anywhere,” Aidan said, taking a bite of the delicious cupcake as he watched his mother send his brother one last glare before she left.

  “I didn’t say that, now did I?” Rebecca said, cocking an eyebrow as she reached for one of the gluten-free brownies that his mother picked up for her.

  Nodding, Aidan murmured, “True,” as he glanced back at his brother and decided that he really didn’t have a choice.

  “Glad we have an understanding,” Rebecca said with a sniffle as she took a bite of her brownie.

  “Me, too,” Aidan murmured thoughtfully before finishing his cupcake and tossed the cupcake wrapper on her lap. When she picked it up with a frown, Aidan shot her a wink as he said, “Oh, god, you didn’t eat that cupcake, did you, Rebecca?”

  “Wait. What? No, I didn’t-” she started to say, but it was too late.

  There was a heavy sigh and then, “I told you to be careful.”

  With a frantic shake of her head, Rebecca pointed towards Aidan, “No, no, no, you don’t understand, he-”

  “I told you that wasn’t gluten-free,” Aidan said with a sad shake of his head as Lucifer walked over with another sigh. He plucked the cupcake wrapper out of her hand and tested a small crumb left behind. Sighing heavily, he tossed the cupcake wrapper aside with a glare before reaching down and grabbed his wife before she could run, and she definitely looked like she was about to run.

  “He set me up!” Rebecca said, sounding desperate as she was forced to grab onto the back of her husband’s shirt when he threw her over his shoulder.

  “That’s just the gluten talking,” Aidan said with a pitying look that earned a murderous glare.

  “You’ll pay for this!” Rebecca bit out only to wince when Lucifer said, “It’s going to be a long night.”

  “Hope you feel better,” Aidan said, shooting her a wink as he got up and decided that it was time to see where this was going.

  *-*-*-*

  “I know this place that has the best apple pie you’ve ever had,” Aidan said as he plucked the photo album that she’d been looking at off her lap and placed it on the coffee table before offering her his hand.

  “What are you doing?” Melanie asked even as she reached up and placed her hand in his.

  “Using your love of carbs against you,” he said with a boyish smile as he released her hand.

  “And why would you want to do that?” she asked as Aidan cupped her face in his hands and leaned down, slowly brushing his lips against hers in an achingly sweet kiss with a murmured, “Because I want a do-over.”

  “A do-over?” she found herself asking weakly as Aidan ran his fingertips along her jaw before dropping his hands so that he could take her hand in his.

  With that smile that she couldn’t resist, Aidan nodded as he used his hold on her hand to pull her towards the door. “I thought it would be a good idea.”

  “Why’s that?” Melanie asked as she found herself being led outside.

  “Because I don’t remember that night either,” he admitted, taking her by surprise.

  With a sigh, Aidan opened the passenger side door for her as he added, “I don’t normally drink that much, but I was really fucking nervous that night.”

  “Oh,” she mumbled, unable to help but frown as she carefully climbed into the car.

  “Exactly,” Aidan said with a nod as he closed her door and walked around the car while she sat there, wondering if this was a good idea.

  They were just starting to become good friends and she didn’t think it was a good idea to risk that, Melanie told herself even as she sat there, unable to take her eyes off him. This was a bad idea, she tried to tell herself, nervously licking her lips. As soon as he was in the car, she was going to tell him that, she decided with a weak nod as she pulled the seatbelt across her lap and buckled in.

  Definitely a bad idea, Melanie told herself as Aidan opened the driver’s side door and-

  “It’s your smile,” Aidan said as he climbed into the car.

  “What?” she asked, unable to help but frown.

  “It drives me out of my fucking mind.”

  Chapter 26

  “Why don’t I remember this place?”

  “Because we never made it this far,” Aidan said as he opened the door to the small diner that he’d somehow managed to keep a secret from his family.

  He still wasn’t sure how he’d managed to pull it off, but he was just glad that he did. This place helped him keep his sanity during the last year of his residency. It’s where he came when he needed to clear his head, had a bad day, or needed to figure out how he was going to tell one of his patients something that they didn’t want to hear. It was also where he came after that morning when he’d fucked everything up with Melanie.

  “Ah, the bar,” Melanie murmured with a nod of understanding, making him wince.

  “We should have skipped the bar,” he said as they stepped inside the small diner.

  “Probably,” Melanie mumbled absently as she looked down at her belly with a sad smile and-

  Made him realize that he was already screwing this up.

  Taking her hand in his, Aidan leaned down and whispered, “I don’t regret Drew.”

  “You don’t?” she asked, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth.

  “Not even a little bit,” Aidan promised her as he led her towards his favorite booth
in the back of the empty diner.

  After giving her hand a reassuring squeeze, he waited for her to sit down before he sat down across from her and-

  Realized that he had absolutely no fucking idea what he was supposed to say to her and judging by the way that she stared helplessly at him from across the table, he wasn’t the only one. For several long, painful minutes, they sat there, staring at each other until she cleared her throat and said, “This is a nice place.”

  “Yes, it is,” he said automatically and then…

  Nothing.

  Several awkward moments later, Aidan regretted not taking them back to that bar because he could really use a fucking drink right about now. God, he was fucking nervous, he thought, rubbing his hands roughly down his face. It didn’t seem to matter that they’d been sleeping in the same bed for the last few weeks and that they were having a baby, he couldn’t think of anything to say, making him wonder if this was a bad idea. Maybe they should-

  “I watched American Pie when I was eight,” Melanie said, drawing his attention to find her reading a menu.

  “What?” Aidan asked, dropping his hands away.

  “Well, part of it anyway,” she said, squishing her face up adorably. “My parents thought it was a family movie.”

  “I see,” Aidan said, feeling his lips twitch.

  “The name was misleading,” Melanie said as she looked over the burger options.

  “And how long did it take your parents to figure out what it was really about?”

  With a sad shake of her head, she flipped the menu over and said, “Thirty seconds. That was followed by ice cream and a lot of awkward mumbling as they tried to explain the birds and the bees to us.”

  Chuckling, Aidan sat back against the booth and felt himself relax. “I’m sure that went over well.”

  “It really didn’t,” Melanie admitted with a sigh. “I had a lot of questions.”

  “You were a devious little thing, weren’t you?” he asked, unable to help but smile as he pictured her as a little girl with pigtails, terrorizing her family.

  “I really was,” Melanie said, nodding.

  “I can only imagine the type of hell that you and Rebecca put your parents through,” he said with a sympathetic wince.

  “I’m not allowed to talk about that.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “The contract.”

  “What contract?” Aidan found himself asking as he watched her, noting the way that her pale baby blue eyes lit up when she teased him.

  “I’m sorry, but I’m afraid that I’ve already said too much,” Melanie said with a sad shake of her head.

  “That bad?” he asked, chuckling.

  “It really depends on who you ask,” Melanie said as she looked over the dessert menu.

  “So, I probably shouldn’t ask your parents?” Aidan said, watching as her lips twitched before she managed to pull it back so that she could say, “Oh no, you should definitely ask them,” with a straight face.

  His eyes narrowed on her as he asked, “Trying to get me killed?”

  “That depends,” she said, looking thoughtful.

  “On what?”

  “On whether or not you lied about that pie.”

  *-*-*-*

  “What’s this?” Aidan asked, shifting the bags in his arms so that he could pick up the white envelope off the hallway floor in front of his door.

  “A very angry woman wearing a Black Jack’s tee-shirt, who was visibly struggling against the urge to kill your brother, taped it to the door earlier,” Melanie explained as she lovingly ran her fingertips over the bakery box in her arms.

  “What did the asshole do now?” he asked, sighing heavily as he opened the envelope and-

  His lips twitched right around the time that Melanie decided that she’d waited long enough. With a flick of her hand, she opened the cover and found herself staring down at four of the most beautiful cupcakes that she’d ever seen in her life. As she debated which delicious morsel to start with, she opened her apartment door and headed to the kitchen. By the time she placed the box on the counter, she’d narrowed her choices down to the yellow cupcake with buttercream frosting and the one with chocolate fudge frosting.

  That was followed by her deciding that it just wasn’t fair to either cupcake to choose. By the time she grabbed a plate, Aidan was there, grabbing the chocolate milk out of the fridge for her.

  “Rylie has offered to pay two hundred dollars more a month if I’m willing to help her bury the asshole in a shallow grave,” Aidan said, chuckling as he grabbed a glass for her.

  “That’s a good offer,” Melanie said, taking a bite of her cupcake and nearly groaned.

  “It really is,” he murmured in agreement as he opened the box of pastries that he’d picked out.

  “What happened with Rebecca?” Melanie asked, unable to help but notice that the lemon and apple pastries that he’d picked out looked especially yummy tonight.

  With a sad shake of his head, Aidan said, “She professed her undying love for me.”

  “Is that why she’s been texting me since she left, letting me know that she has no other choice but to make your life a living hell?” Melanie asked, nibbling on her cupcake even as she continued to stare at that delicious looking pastry.

  “She’s taking it hard,” Aidan said with a sad shake of his head as he picked up a lemon pastry and placed it on her plate. Without a word, she abandoned the rest of her cupcake and focused on the lemon pastry that was going to be the perfect way to end the night.

  Well, almost perfect.

  For the past three hours, all she could think about was that kiss, that sweet, simple, incredibly sexy kiss that he’d given her earlier and just how badly she wanted him to kiss her again.

  If it was meant to happen, then she’d let it happen and if it wasn’t…

  She wasn’t going to force it.

  As she stood there, Melanie was surprised to realize just how badly she wanted this to happen. They were having a baby and the last thing they needed to do was to make this thing between them more complicated than it needed to be, but she couldn’t stop thinking about that kiss.

  She never thought such a simple touch could feel so good. It had her wondering if he’d kissed her like that before and immediately understood how she’d ended up spending the night with him because there was no way that she would have been able to stop kissing him.

  “It does seem that way,” Melanie absently murmured in agreement as she looked up to find him watching her. “What’s wrong?”

  “We forgot something.”

  “What’s that?” she asked, unable to help but frown as she-

  “The awkward kiss goodnight,” Aidan said, already reaching for her.

  “We could skip it and go for a confusing handshake and the promise that we’ll do this again sometime?” Melanie said, smiling as she went to him.

  “We should definitely do that,” Aidan murmured in agreement as he wrapped his arms around her.

  “We definitely should,” Melanie said as she reached up and cupped his face in her hands. He leaned down and brushed his lips softly against hers once with a murmured, “Give me ten minutes,” before walking away, leaving her standing there, realizing just how badly she wanted this to happen.

  Chapter 27

  “What’s going on?” the woman that he couldn’t stop thinking about asked as Aidan lit the last candle.

  “My do-over,” Aidan said as he placed the small box of matches back on the bureau before he reached over and hit play so that Paula Abdul’s song Rush, Rush filled the small bedroom.

  “Do-over?” Melanie asked as he turned around and found her standing in the doorway, taking in the candlelit room with the shyest fucking smile that he’d ever seen.

  “Don’t tell me you forgot?” Aidan said as he walked over to her and took her hand in his.

  “Refresh my memory,” she said, adjusting the large towel wrapped around her with her other hand as he
pulled her into the room.

  “We danced that night,” Aidan said as he pulled her into his arms.

  “I see,” Melanie said as she kept hold of the towel with one hand as she wrapped her other arm around his shoulders.

  “I hate dancing,” he found himself admitting as he pulled her closer.

  “Then why are we doing it?” Melanie asked as she absently ran her fingers through his hair.

  “Because,” Aidan said as he leaned down and brushed his lips against hers, “I love dancing with you.”

  “You remember dancing with me?” Melanie asked as he pulled one of his arms back so that he could place his hand on the side of her belly as he moved her around the room.

  “I remember that I never wanted to let you go,” he said, pressing a kiss against her forehead as he felt their baby boy push against his hand.

  “You are a smooth talker, Aidan Bradford,” Melanie said as she pulled him down for a kiss.

  “Yes, I am,” Aidan said, smiling as he met her for a kiss that had him struggling to remember that they needed to take this slowly.

  It was the same reminder that he’d told himself when he heard the shower turn on and he had to stop himself from joining her, but god, did he want to fucking join her. For several minutes, he’d stood outside the bathroom door, debating walking into that bathroom so that he could run his hands over her as he kissed every inch of her body.

  “That’s two,” Melanie said, brushing her lips teasingly against his as Aidan felt her pull his tie loose.

  “Two, what?” Aidan asked as he felt her small fingers work his shirt open.

  “Of the five completely random things that you owe me,” she said as he pulled his shirt out of his pants so that she could push it off him.

  “Then, shouldn’t I get credit for three things?” Aidan asked as he reached up and pulled her towel loose when he felt her hand work his belt free.

  “No,” Melanie said, smiling as he dropped her towel.

  “Three more things, hmm?” Aidan murmured as he moved her closer to the bed.

  “According to the rule book,” Melanie said, making his lips twitch as he sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled her closer so that he could press a kiss against the large swell of her belly.