by Roy, Chelsea
“I couldn’t help falling in love with you Aimee.” Eric’s words were said despairingly and Aimee’s heart broke for him. There was no mistaking their meaning.
“God, Eric. I had no idea.” She looked down into his glistening eyes and for the first time she could see banked desire in the hazel depths. She became acutely aware of the thin nightie and robe she wore and hated the fact that she was even worried about any of this. God, her life was such a mess right now.
“I didn’t want you to know,” he told her softly. “I knew you were all in with Brent.” Aimee sank to her knees and wrapped her arms around him, comforting him the only way she knew how.
“You’re an amazing man. I don’t know how you held it in and kept helping us, but I appreciate that you did.” She kept her head tucked under his chin. “Where do we go from here?” She asked gently. She needed to know where Eric was mentally. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt him further.
“I would love nothing more than to make a life with you.” He said slowly, as if weighing out each of the words. “But I think you’re so in love with Brent, I’ll never be a consideration.” Her arms tightened around him.
“I’m so sorry,” she said sincerely. She hated hurting this wonderful man. He stood, his strong arms lifting them both off the floor. He set her gently on her feet.
“Can I…” Eric took a deep breath and blew it out. He took her hand. “Just once…” He laced their fingers together. “I’d really like to kiss you, Aimee. Just once.” His eyes searched hers and her heart beat a little unsteadily. Aimee bit her lip, before nodding slowly. Eric’s eyes warmed until they were glowing and Aimee caught her breath. He’d never directed that kind of look at her and it made her realize just how much of himself he’d held back so she wouldn’t know how he felt.
Bending down, Eric slowly pressed his lips to hers. They were wide and soft and gentle. Aimee’s eyes slid closed. She opened her mouth slightly to capture his full bottom lip in hers, sucking on it gently. When she released it, his tongue came out to lick along her lips. It never demanded entry, just caressed gently in between the small nips and presses they passed back and forth. Eric ended the kiss and pressed his forehead against hers, his breathing rough. His palms ran over her cheeks and through her hair.
“Since hot monkey sex is out, why don’t we order some expensive champagne, some calorically crazy dessert, and watch an action flick?” Although Eric’s words were purposefully light, Aimee could tell he was fighting arousal and trying to bring things down a notch. She wasn’t completely unaffected by the kiss and worked hard to bring match his tone.
“Hot monkey sex is definitely out since I don’t really even know what that is.” She told him wryly. He chuckled hoarsely. “But you’re on for the rest of it!”
While Eric phoned in a room service order, Aimee went into the bedroom and snagged a few pillows off the enormous and luxurious looking bed. Eric stood in the doorway and for a brief second, Aimee could see the naked longing on his face before he quickly masked it. She moved toward him and shoved a pillow into his chest. He over exaggerated her hit and made gasping noises. She giggled and they took spots on opposite ends of the couch, snuggling down just like they used to do at Eric and Brent’s old apartment. Aimee refused to second-guess allowing the kiss to happen. Eric had been there for her and Brent so many times that honoring his request seemed to be the right thing to do.
“Will you tell me about Brenna’s delivery? And what it was like for you after?” Aimee stilled in her corner and glanced at him. Frankly, she was surprised at his request.
“The truth? Or what I’ve told everyone else, including Brent?” Eric’s eyes flashed to hers and she could hear his teeth rubbing as he clenched his jaw tightly.
“That bad?” He ground out.
“Worse than you could ever imagine,” she confessed shakily. His hand extended across the couch and she latched onto it gratefully. She had never shared with anyone exactly what had happened after her parents took her from San Diego and installed her in the mental facility. She had told Brent bits and pieces of it, but not everything.
“Tell me,” he urged quietly. And Aimee took a deep breath and let the words spill from her lips after ten long years of keeping them buried inside.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Brent was roused from a pleasant dream involving waves, a sunset, and Aimee in a gauzy white dress by his daughter shaking his shoulder roughly. I’m whipped, he thought to himself sleepily, before focusing in on his daughter.
“Dad! Mom’s not in her room. Her bed was never slept in!” Brenna’s voice was panicky and it sure as shit woke him up right quick.
“Bug, are you sure?” He asked, as he leapt out of bed. Surely Brenna had to be mistaken about Aimee’s bed. He had to pat himself down to make sure he was decent in front of Brenna. He was not a morning person, and not accustomed to waking with a ten year old in his room. To his relief, he recalled pulling on flannel pajama bottoms and a jersey tee that had been a gift from someone at some point in time but until last night had never seen the light of day. He just wasn’t a pajama kind of guy.
When he stumbled into Aimee’s room, he could immediately see that Brenna was right. Both beds were made exactly the way they had been the night before. Aimee’s open suitcase was exactly as he remembered seeing it before they went into his suite. Brenna stood next to him and wrung her hands.
“Her cell phone is gone but her purse is still here. It doesn’t make any sense!” Brenna’s voice was growing shrill with her panic and Brent winced. He was so not a morning person and had no idea how to deal with his frightened daughter.
“Bug, I’ll bet you just about anything your mom is with Eric.” Brent was relieved for all of about two seconds. He recalled last night’s suspicions about Eric’s feelings toward Aimee and the churning in his gut started up again. Surely Eric wouldn’t try anything with Aimee. Would he? Aimee had been pretty upset last night and she would have been particularly vulnerable.
“But why would she be with Eric? I thought she wanted some alone time?” Poor Brenna sounded confused and Brent didn’t know how to explain to her how complicated his relationship was with her mom.
“Your mama always went to Eric when she had a big worry,” he finally said. This was completely true, but only when the worry was her relationship with Brent. Which was exactly the case this time but Brenna didn’t know that.
“Well shouldn’t you go find her?” Brenna demanded. “She should be here with us!” Brent stilled as the truth behind Brenna’s words hit him. No matter what had happened in the past, Aimee did belong there with them. They were a family, period. It was time Brent stopped punishing her for things that had been out of both of their control.
“Are you okay here for a few if I go get her?” He asked Brenna. She was ten and he was pretty sure it was okay to leave her in the room for a few minutes alone. He wasn’t entirely certain how these things were done though.
“Of course, dad! I’m not a baby!” Brenna sounded affronted and he smiled.
“How about I drop you next door with baby Elliott?” He asked her. He knew installing her with Jack and Ellie would be the right thing to do so he could focus on Aimee rather than worrying about getting back to the room to make sure Brenna was safe.
“Elliott’s here?” She gasped, her cheeks pinking in excitement. “Yes, please! I’ll go next door!” She bounced around on her feet. “C’mon, c’mon!”
“Can I get dressed?” He asked his daughter, laughing at her antics. He was going to have his hands full with her in a couple of years, he was sure of it. But first he needed to find her mother so he could lay his heart on the line for her.
“No! You look fine! It’s like, 8 a.m. and everyone is in their pajamas. Nobody cares. Besides, you’re a famous rock star. You can do anything you want!” Brent was amused at her description and tugged at the back of her hair.
“Okay, okay, let’s go.” They walked back through the main suite and Br
ent grabbed his key card.
He was sure Jack and Ellie were up. Jack was an early riser and baby Elliott still didn’t sleep all that much. Brent couldn’t help but feel a deep pang of regret that he’d missed the sleepless nights with Brenna as a baby. Maybe, though, another baby was in the cards for them and he could experience it all with her this time. Brent jerked to a stop in the middle of the hotel hallway. What. The. Fuck. Have another baby? He slowly shook his head back and forth. He was losing it for sure.
“Dad!” Brenna urged, tugging at his arm. He focused on his daughter.
“Right. Baby Elliott.” He walked down a couple doors to Jack and Ellie’s room and knocked softly. He didn’t want to be bawled out by Jack for waking Elliott. That had happened once and once was enough, thank you very much.
A very put-together Jack answered the door. He had piercings in, his hair spiked up, and his tattoos on full display with the tight short-sleeve band tee he wore. Jack was the consummate front man for their band. He could tell from the look on Jack’s face he was in for some grief just for the hell of it when Brenna popped her head under his arm and smiled at Jack. Jack’s face visibly softened and he smiled. Brent smirked.
“Let me guess,” he said in the raspy voice he was well known for, “you’re here for the baby.”
“My dad said he was here already and I really want to meet him. Is that okay?” Brenna whispered excitedly. Jack laughed a little and opened the door widely for them.
“He’s even awake and ready to play,” Jack told her. Brenna walked in unselfconsciously and made herself comfortable. Brent realized what a good job Aimee had done raising their daughter alone and knew he’d been an incredible ass to her last night, most likely crushing her feelings in the process. Hopefully nothing damaging had happened between her and Eric and Brent broke out into a cold sweat just contemplating it.
“Do you mind if I leave Brenna here for a few? I’m pretty sure Aimee’s down with Eric.” Brent kept his voice low so Brenna wouldn’t overhear their conversation. That girl was far too perceptive. Jack’s pierced eyebrow shot up.
“Dude, you sound worried.” Jack leaned against the wall, electric blue eyes appraising the way Brent couldn’t keep still. “And you’re freaking out. What’s up?”
“I don’t want to spread shit. Do you mind if I keep it under wraps for now?” He asked Jack. Jack had confided in him many times when he’d been working on his relationship with Ellie and it felt weird not returning the favor but Eric was a member of their band. Until Brent knew how things stood, he didn’t want to cause a rift between the entire band that didn’t need to be there by accusing Eric of something he probably hadn’t done.
“Sure dude. I’ll tell you one thing though. Eric worships the fucking ground you walk on. He would never do anything to hurt you. Even if it meant cutting off his own balls. So yeah, take a few and go get your woman. But don’t be an ass to Eric. He doesn’t deserve whatever you’re cooking up in your head right now.” Jack was good at dishing out solid advice in his own twisted way and Brent kept Jack’s words in his head as he hurried down the single flight of stairs.
Eric had booked himself into a smaller city view suite and Brent was nearly hyperventilating over the thought of what might have happened last night. He was trying desperately not to overreact but it was damn hard. The fact that Aimee hadn’t come back to the suite didn’t sit well with him and he knocked a little more forcefully than he probably should have on Eric’s door. When it didn’t immediately open, he knocked again. After what felt like an eternity, the door flung open and Eric stood there glaring at him, shirtless and rumpled. Brent’s heart pitched into his stomach.
“Where is she?” He demanded. Eric scratched his chest and looked bored.
“Did you care last night?” He asked. Brent felt the sting that Eric intended.
“Of course I cared. It just didn’t occur to me that she might leave.” Brent took a deep breath, vowing to grow a pair. “I didn’t think she would come here, to you.”
“And why would it matter if she was with me? You never cared before.” Eric’s words were drawled out lazily, but his hazel eyes were sharp as a hawk’s as he watched Brent for a reaction.
“Because I saw it, dude,” Brent whisper-shouted. The 8th floor of the Ritz did not need to know his business. And the last thing the band needed was some half-true juicy story circulating in the gossip rags. God, they’d probably be running with a band breakup bit.
“And what did you think you saw?” Eric whisper-shouted back, glaring at Brent.
“What are you guys whispering about?” Aimee asked, as she appeared behind Eric in the suite’s hallway. She looked sleepy and was wearing the same teal nightie she’d put on for Brent last night. Her long dark hair was rumpled around her shoulders and Brent eyed her critically, looking for love bites or beard burn. “And what are you staring at?” She finally asked him.
“He’s trying to make sure we didn’t fuck last night.” Eric said flatly. Aimee’s spine straightened up and the sleepiness vanished from her face.
“Brent?” She asked him, daring him to contradict Eric. He didn’t, and by his silence admitted to exactly what Eric had accused him of. “You asshole!” She hissed. She stomped away from the door and Brent’s shoulders slumped. Eric was glaring at him and Aimee was pissed. So far he was doing a bang-up job of his plans to repair his family.
“Dude.” Brent said, apologizing and entreating Eric to not be angry with him all at once. Eric held up his hand and just shook his head. Aimee stomped back up with a robe wrapped around her curvy frame. She held her room key in her hand and turned to Eric.
“I had a lovely evening. Thank you for helping me out, as always. I’m sorry Brent is being such a prick.” And with that, she kissed Eric on the cheek and stomped off down the hallway toward the elevator. The back of her silky teal robe billowed out behind her and the tips of her hair swayed with the force of her movement. Eric shot him the finger as he closed the door in Brent’s face. As he trailed along behind Aimee, Brent knew he’d never been a bigger idiot but that didn’t stop him from admitting Aimee looked pretty damn magnificent in her righteous fury.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Aimee was fuming mad with Brent. She couldn’t recall ever being this mad at him and knew it was due to hearing his accusations on top of finding out about Eric’s feelings. Feelings that Eric had never acted upon. He had already known there was no possibility of a relationship when they’d kissed last night, so that didn’t count. Eric could haven’t been a real ass and pressed for more, but he hadn’t. Eric had been the perfect gentleman toward her, listening to her talk and comforting her during bouts of tears. Brent was silent as he led her down the hallway to his suite. She flounced through the door he held open for her. The minute it closed, she rounded on him.
“What in the hell were you thinking?” She demanded. “Eric has never been anything other than a good friend to us!” Brent looked down at the floor and then looked back at her.
“Aimee…”He paused and seemed to gather his thoughts. “I had a realization yesterday that I’m not the only person who might compete for your affection. It made me uncomfortable.” Brent’s words were carefully chosen and took a little wind out of Aimee’s sails. He was obviously trying to spare Eric’s feelings. He had no idea Eric had revealed everything to Aimee last night.
“You mean you realized Eric might feel more for me than just friendship,” she clarified, softening just a little. Brent nodded, looking completely miserable.
“I never realized it before yesterday. I don’t know why I’d never even thought about it. All of the sudden, though, I could see how feelings might develop on his part. I didn’t like it.” Brent’s instincts were spot on, but Aimee didn’t know how much she should reveal to him. Eric knew where he stood with her, and what he decided to share with his best friend was up to him.
“You told me yesterday you didn’t think you’d be able to get past your feelings of betrayal and
trust me again. Don’t I have the right to continue living my life? Shouldn’t I be able to do that with someone who freely loves me?” Aimee wasn’t trying to be purposefully difficult but she needed to understand why Brent was pushing her away with the one hand and pulling her closer with the other. It was all very confusing for her. It wasn’t like him at all to play such exhaustive head games.
“I realized this morning when Brenna and I were looking for you that I want it to be me who loves you freely. We’re a family. Brenna was created from love and that hasn’t ever changed. We both made mistakes but we’re together now and we can move forward. I know we can.” Aimee searched Brent’s face for signs that he meant what he said. She saw sincerity and love there instead of mistrust and anger.
“Speaking of Brenna…”She murmured. “Where is she?” Brent’s lips quirked in a smile, causing his green eyes to crinkle at the corners.
“She’s with Jack and Ellie and little Elliott.” Brent glanced at the elegant clock on the wall. “The nanny comes in a half an hour so after that, the day is ours. But she was worried about you so we should probably stop in to see her before we go out.” Aimee’s heart beat erratically in her chest. Her emotions were on a rollercoaster but she was still pretty certain Brent had just said he loved her. She kept her eyes on his as longing coursed through her.
“Nothing says we have to stop by Jack and Ellie’s room right now,” she said, taking two steps closer to him. His eyes widened and he, too, took a step forward.
“No?” He asked, reaching out to flirt with the sash on her robe.
Aimee shook her head knowing there would be no stopping them this time. “No.” Brent tugged gently on the tie and her robe immediately loosened.
