The Pairing

by Katie Ashley

  “Are you saying that you and Aidan have never had seedy passion?”

  “Aidan and Pesh are not in the same league of men. I love Aidan, but he’s not necessarily a gentleman. Pesh is.”

  “Yeah, but you’re a lady,” Megan protested.

  “Maybe in the street, but she’s one hell of a freak in the bedroom,” Aidan said behind them.

  Emma squealed before whirling around to smack him. “People could hear you,” she admonished.

  As Aidan chuckled, Megan shook her head. “Forget other people. Me having to hear it was painful enough.”

  Crossing his arms over his chest, Aidan said, “I came over here to ask if we were going to eat or not? People are getting restless. I had no idea I was going to interrupt such an interesting conversation. Of course, I don’t think I want to know why the two of you are discussing Emma’s and my sex life right now.”

  Emma waved her hand dismissively. “We weren’t. And yes, we’re ready to eat. Let’s round everyone up.”

  As Emma walked off to call people to sit down, Aidan grinned at Megan before saying, “Total freak.”

  Megan closed her eyes as if in pain. “Spare me. Please.”

  “Just saying. Because you never know if your gentleman might be a super freak too.” And with a wink, he walked off to join Emma, leaving Megan to wonder why everyone seemed so concerned with hers and Pesh’s love lives.

  As the sunlight started fading, most of the party guests began to trickle out the door. By the time it was dark, it was only a few of Aidan and Emma’s close friends left. Megan had let her parents take a sleepy Mason home, vowing she wanted to stay to help Emma clean up. The truth was she wanted to spend as much time as she could with Pesh.

  Thankfully, she found herself sitting next to him at one of the poolside tables. Somehow they managed to end up by themselves after some of the other guests had left. Leaning forward in her chair, she asked, “Did you always want to be a doctor?”

  Pesh nodded. “For my fifth birthday, my father bypassed the usual play doctor’s kits by giving me a real medical bag with tools from the hospital. I examined everyone who would stand still long enough, including the two dogs.”

  Megan laughed. “I bet you were a cute little doctor.”

  “My mother has some embarrassing pictures,” he replied, with a smile.

  “So your father was also a doctor?”

  “Yes, he had a general medicine practice for forty years. He just recently retired.”

  “Did he pressure you to follow in his footsteps?”

  He grinned. “I’m starting to feel like I’m being interrogated.”

  She laughed. “I’m sorry if you feel that way. I’m just trying to get to know you.”

  “You’re certainly a very attractive interrogator,” he said.

  “I think you’re avoiding the question by flattering me.”

  “There’s flattery and then there’s the truth.”

  Cocking her brows, she replied, “And then there’s not answering my question.”

  He held up his hands in defeat. “Fine, fine. No, I didn’t feel pressure to become a doctor. My father would have never wanted me to pursue a profession where I didn’t feel useful.”

  Megan smiled. “So you’ve always had a need to help people?”

  “Pretty much. As the oldest, I always looked out for my two younger brothers and sister. My mother has always called me an old soul.”

  “I can see that about you.”

  Leaning forward, he rested his elbows on the table. “Now it is my turn to be the interrogator.”

  “Okay, I don’t mind.”

  “What about you? Did you always see nursing in your future?”

  “Yes and no. Originally, I wanted to be a doctor.”

  His brows shot up in surprise. “Really?” When she nodded, he asked, “What happened?”

  There was no way she was going to tell him the truth about her past and why she had been forced to abandon medical school. Instead, she shrugged. “Life happened, I guess. I decided on the next best thing, which was nursing.”

  Pesh stared thoughtfully at her. “Was it your son?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Was it your son who changed your plans about medical school?”

  She shook her head. “No, it was before I had Mason.”

  “Does he…are you…?” Pesh shook his head. “Forgive me. I was being too forward.”

  “No, go ahead. I told you I wasn’t afraid to answer your questions.”

  He grimaced. “But it’s rude to pry, and it’s not my business.”

  “Just ask your question,” she replied.

  After a resigned sigh, he finally asked, “Were you married?”

  “No, I’m not divorced. And no, Mason’s father doesn’t have anything to do with him.”

  Anger flashed in Pesh’s dark eyes. “Even though I know nothing of him, I know that he is not a man. A man does not abandon his children and his responsibilities.”

  “You would be right. He’s just a boy playing at being a man,” she replied, glancing down at the table.

  When Pesh took her hand in his, she jerked her head up in surprise. In a soft voice that vibrated with empathy, he asked, “He hurt you very much, didn’t he?”

  As she shifted in her chair, she tried downplaying the moment by wagging her free finger at Pesh. “Now you’re really turning the heated questions on me, aren’t you?”

  He quickly released her hand. “I apologize.”

  She sighed. “No, it’s okay.” She raked her fingers through her hair as she tried processing if she was really going to be honest with Pesh. Gazing into his eyes, she didn’t detect any judgment or prying—there was only compassion. “Yes, he hurt me. He continues to hurt me each time I look at Mason and realize what he’s being denied.” She jerked her chin over to where Aidan cradled a sleeping Noah in his arms. As the others talked and laughed around him, Aidan stared down at his son with such love in his eyes and adoration on his face that it cut a jagged hole in Megan’s chest. Her chin trembled as she replied, “I want that for my son.”

  Pesh’s dark eyes pooled with empathy as he once again took her hand in his. “It isn’t the same pain, but I do know how you feel. I experience it every time I see a husband and wife sharing a loving moment. It drives home what I do not have…what I have lost.”

  Megan wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “Emma told me about your wife. I’m very sorry.”

  “Thank you,” he murmured.

  Nibbling her bottom lip, Megan then hesitantly asked, “What was she like?”

  By his raised eyebrows, Pesh seemed surprised by her question. Megan hoped she hadn’t stepped over a boundary in asking. He leaned back in his chair and drew in an agonized breath. “She was my world—the sun, the moon, and the stars.” He met her intense gaze, checking to see if she really wanted him to continue. After she gave a brief nod, he began to talk. He told her how they had met and all the little attributes that Jade possessed that made her special. As Megan listened to him speak with such reverence and love about his late wife, she couldn’t help feeling just a little bit jealous. She’d never had a man possess such intense feelings for her. She couldn’t imagine ever being loved so completely by a man that not even death could lessen his feelings.

  “What you had with Jade, what you still feel for her, it’s really beautiful,” she murmured when he finished.

  Pesh jerked a hand through his thick hair. “It’s interesting to hear you say that. I think most women are turned off by what they perceive is a man who can’t let go of his dead wife.”

  Megan shook her head. “I don’t think so. Who wouldn’t be turned on by a man who feels so deeply that he didn’t stop loving his wife just because she died?”

  Pesh’s eyes widened at her statement, and he sucked in a harsh breath. “Most women don’t want to share your heart,” he challenged softly.

  “Then they’re obviously insecure. All of us have the ab
ility to love people in infinite capacities. I love my son with all my heart and soul, but there will still be room for a man…someday.”

  He stared at her for a moment, unblinking and unmoving. “I have to say that I find your reasoning absolutely fascinating.”

  “You do?”

  “Yes.”

  The intensity of his gaze caused her to laugh nervously. “I don’t think a man has ever called me fascinating.”

  “That’s a pity.”

  Before she could try changing the subject, Aidan came by their table with Noah in his arms. “After I put him down, I’m going to make some drinks. Emma wants one of her margaritas. You game?” he asked Megan.

  She nodded. A drink would certainly help cool her off after the conversation she’d been having with Pesh. “Sure. I don’t think I’ve had one in forever.”

  “Neither has she. I may be peeling her off the ceiling tonight,” he teased.

  Megan laughed. “You have seriously got to stop with the innuendo. You are my uncle, and it is mortifying and disgusting to have to think of you in that capacity.”

  “I am so terribly sorry for scaring your sensitive mind.” Grinning, Aidan turned to Pesh. “Beer okay with you, or would you like something fruity, too?”

  “I’m fine with a beer,” Pesh replied.

  Aidan bobbed his head. “Be right back.”

  After Aidan headed in the house, Pesh caught her staring at him. “What?” he asked.

  “Just surprised you wanted a beer, that’s all.”

  “And why is that?”

  She shrugged. “You just seemed a little too refined for beer.”

  He tilted his head at her. “What other preconceived notions do you have about me?”

  “None really,” she lied. In her mind, she couldn’t help thinking how she wanted to make him be dirty just for her. She wondered what other surprises he might have up his sleeve.

  “For some reason, I don’t believe that.” He crossed his arms over his broad chest. “Let me guess. You think that I’m a ‘refined’ man who drinks wine, would never think of cussing or have inappropriate thoughts, organizes his underwear drawer, and who considers doing the crossword puzzle a fun Friday night?”

  Megan couldn’t help snorting at his summation. It was a good distraction not to focus on how he had mentioned inappropriate thoughts and his underwear drawer. At the moment, she was having inappropriate thoughts about his underwear…or hopefully lack thereof. Of course, she couldn’t help judging him as not being the commando type. “No, that’s not what I think of you.”

  “I would hope not. I know that since I’m a little older than you—”

  “Just a little?”

  The corners of his lips turned up. “Obviously you think I’m an old man.”

  “No, I don’t,” she blurted.

  “How old do you think I am? Just shy of adult diapers and a walker?”

  She scowled at him. “I was not insinuating that at all. I think you’re probably close to Ankle’s age.”

  Pesh’s brows furrowed in confusion. “Ankle?”

  She laughed before explaining where the nickname came from.

  “I see. So just how old is Ankle again?”

  “Thirty-four.”

  “Hmm,” Pesh murmured.

  “Are you younger than that?”

  “Older actually. I’m thirty-seven.”

  Damn, he was a lot older than her. Twelve years to be exact. “Did I shock you?” he asked, with a teasing lilt in his voice.

  She shook her head. “I’d hardly call thirty-seven old.”

  “It’s considerably older than you are, right?”

  “I suppose,” she lied.

  He grinned at her as he leaned on the table with his elbows. “And just how old are you?”

  “Twenty-five—I’ll be twenty-six in a few months.”

  “Twenty-five going on twenty-six.”

  “Yes.”

  “I must be positively ancient to you.” He held out his hand and examined it. “I might have a liver spot or two.”

  She smacked his hand playfully. “Shut up. Thirty-seven is not old.”

  “See any grey hairs?” he asked, bending over to where his delicious head of hair was in front of her face. Her fingers itched to run through the dark strands. Her mind ran straight to an illicit image of her fingers tugging on his hair as he went down on her, jerking too hard when he sucked and licked her until she came, and then stroking the damp hair back from his forehead as he rose up to cover her body with his.

  She cleared her throat that had run dry. “No, of course not.”

  He jerked his head up to wink at her. “Then there’s hope for me yet.”

  “I would think so.”

  Aidan appeared then, carrying all the drinks on a tray. “I expect a tip when you guys finish,” he teased.

  “I’ll remember that,” Megan replied.

  After jerking his chin toward the table next to him, Aidan said, “Why don’t you guys come over here with us?”

  She fought the urge to slap him. She was enjoying having Pesh to herself. “Um, sure. Okay,” she said, reluctantly rising out of her chair. When they changed tables, she was glad to see Pesh take the empty chair beside her, rather than across from her.

  Once she got settled in, she wasn’t lamenting her seat change too much. Between Casey, and Emma’s other best friend, Connor, the table was kept in raucous laughter. It was good being with a group of friends. After she had gotten pregnant, she didn’t have much in common with her sorority sisters anymore. Then when she became a mom, she rarely saw anyone from her old group. Her life moved in an entirely different orbit than theirs now.

  The conversation and laughter flowed as easily as the drinks. Megan found herself halfway through her second margarita when she started feeling funny. A flush filled her cheeks at the same time she felt clammy. As Aidan came back with another beer, she asked, “Did you put something different in this one?”

  “Yeah, we ran out of the tequila I got for the party, so I gave my favorite niece a good dose of Sierra Silver.”

  “What?” Megan demanded.

  Aidan’s brows furrowed behind his tipped back beer bottle. Once he swallowed, he asked, “Does it taste bad?”

  Megan pinched her eyes shut. The room was beginning to spin around her a little. As she brought her hand to her forehead, she heard a smack across the room and Aidan cry, “Ow, dammit, Em!”

  “That tequila is a hundred and fifty proof alcohol, Aidan,” Emma chastised.

  “Sorry. I didn’t realize it. I just thought it was the better stuff because it was white tequila. That’s your drink of choice, not mine.”

  Oh God, she was in so much trouble. She’d barely consumed any alcohol since she got pregnant and had Mason. Now she’d had one regular dosed margarita and almost a full one of straight alcohol.

  A gentle hand landed on her thigh. “Are you all right?” Pesh asked.

  She opened her eyes to see two blurry images of him staring at her with concern. “Not exactly.”

  “Would you like me to take you home?”

  “Yes, please. While I can still walk.”

  As she rose out of her chair, she swayed a little in her heels. After taking two steps, Aidan’s apologetic face appeared before her. “I’m sorry, Meggie.”

  “It’s not your fault. And I’ll be fine.” She wagged a finger at him. “But when I get shit for coming home drunk, I’m so telling Mom it was your fault.”

  He smiled. “I’ll gladly take the blame and fear Angie’s wrath.” He leaned in to hug her. “Thanks for today—you know, for being Noah’s godmother.”

  “You’re welcome. Thanks for me asking you.” She shook her head. “I mean, thanks for asking me.” God, this was bad.

  After exchanging hugs with Emma and reassuring her at least twenty times that she would be fine and that she did need to go home, Pesh led Megan out the front door. He slid a strong arm around her waist to steady her as they
went down the porch steps.

  As she staggered to the car, she moaned. “I can’t go home yet. Not like this.” She stared up into his face. “I can’t let Mason see me like this.”

  He pushed a strand of hair out of her face. “Don’t worry. I’ll take you to my house then.”

  “Just so I can sober up?” she questioned, although she really didn’t mean it. She wanted to go to his house for a lot more, especially after being so close to his fabulously built body.

  “Yes, of course. I’ll make you some strong, black coffee.”

  “Thank you,” she murmured, trying to still the spinning of her head.

  “You’re welcome.” Always the gentleman, Pesh opened the door for her, and she collapsed onto the seat. Once he made sure she was comfortable, he closed the door and went around the front of the car. Megan gazed around at the plush interior of the Jaguar with its leather seats and sleek console.

  After Pesh slid into his seat, he put the key in the ignition and cranked up. As they started backing out of the driveway, she glanced over at him. “Do you have to come to the rescue women of drunken.” She shook her head. “I mean, drunken women a lot?” she asked. Wait, was she slurring?

  He cut his eyes over at her and smiled. He seemed to be trying really hard not to laugh at her. “Not exactly. But I’m always happy to help a damsel in distress.”

  Megan giggled. Oh God, now she was giggling? She never giggled. She eyed Pesh suspiciously. “Got a hero complex, huh? Wanna be every woman’s knight in shining armor?”

  “Not every woman’s,” he murmured.

  “Mmm, Pesh, you wanna be my knight in shining armor?” As soon as the words left her lips, she fought the urge to slap her hand over her mouth. Alcohol always had this effect on her—it left her completely without a sensor.

  Pesh’s jaw clenched, and he didn’t reply. Pitching her upper body over the armrest, she got as close to him as she could. “You didn’t answer my question.”

  Taking his eyes momentarily off the road, he pinned her with an intense gaze. “I’d be anything and everything you wanted me to be, if you would give me the chance.”

  Momentarily dumbfounded, she could only stare at him. “Oh wow,” she replied, as she collapsed back onto the seat. The motion caused her to feel dizzy. Mumbling almost incoherently, she said, “Mmm, hot as fuck and anything I want. Lucky me.”