Aiden (A Next Generation Carter Brother Novel Book 2)

by Lisa Helen Gray

  “Charlotte brought them over and I don’t have the heart to throw them away.”

  I nearly drop the plate like it burned me. “You could have started with that. I nearly ate one.”

  She laughs, and it’s music to my ears. “Sorry. I just didn’t want you to get offended.”

  “Trust me, as long as you don’t say anything to Charlotte, you won’t offend me. I’ll even help you dispose of them.”

  “She made me eat one,” she tells me, pouting. “They’re terrible—tasted like cardboard.”

  “At least you weren’t sick,” I tell her, trying to cheer her up.

  “Maybe I could give her one of my recipes.”

  I shake my head, dropping the contents of the plate into the bin. “Wouldn’t bother. She’ll still fuck it up somehow. We’ve tried.”

  “Can she cook?”

  I place the plate in the washer before turning to face her. “Nothing edible. We can’t even let her have animals in case one of them eats something she’s cooked and dies.”

  “Have you tried teaching her?” she asks.

  I’d told her about my plans to be a professional chef, but not even my skills could make Charlotte’s cooking any better. “Wouldn’t help. Her mum and dad can both cook so we don’t know where she gets it from. It’s like she’s cursed.”

  Giggling, she passes me the plates she just swilled off so I can put them into the washer.

  “Did you want to stay for a movie or are you ready for bed?” she asks.

  Fuck being tired. If it means spending more time with Bailey, I’ll push through it. I can have a soak in the bath tomorrow night.

  “A movie sounds great.”

  She ducks her head, trying to hide her smile from me as she grabs a glass from the side. “Good.”

  Yeah, I could have gone days without sleep and still managed to find the energy to watch a movie with her.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  BAILEY

  Today, I decided to give my hearing aid a rest. I miss the solitude, the silence, which is I why I spent the morning without it in. I’ve got the doorbell device in my pocket, switched the lights to work if it rings, and my phone is set to vibrate. If anyone needs me, which I doubt they will, I’ll have everything on me.

  The past week has been a blur. The doctor said I’ll have my appointment through in a couple of weeks and that everything looked promising. I’m excited and scared all at the same time.

  Another highlight of my week was spending time with Aiden and Sunday. He fills my life with laughter and joy, but most of all, happiness. He makes me so incredibly happy that sometimes I wonder if he’s real or not.

  And the way he is with his daughter… they have a bond so strong it hurts to witness. It reminds me of my parents; of how much they loved me. Missing them has become a part of me. And my brother, Thomas; I see the seven old boy who was taken far too young. I sometimes dream about what we would be like now. Would he argue with me, tease me, like Aiden’s siblings do to him? Would he still want to play video games with me, or would he have outgrown my presence and played with his own friends?

  So many possibilities, so many scenarios, but I’ll never know who my brother would have grown into, the man he would have become.

  I wipe at the tear that drops down my cheek, blowing out the candle placed in a small cupcake.

  “Happy birthday, baby brother.”

  Later, I’ll place some flowers on their graves, and make sure to leave one of Thomas’s favourite action hero figures too. He would have loved all the new action movies that have been released, and demanded for every game, toy and merchandise out there. And he deserved it. He was the best brother a girl could wish for.

  A hand on my shoulder startles a scream out of me. I turn, ready to hit my intruder over the head. My gran’s face brings a sob bubbling to my throat, and I throw myself in her arms.

  Her chest vibrates against me, but I don’t pull back to read her lips, instead I soak in her warmth. Granddad’s arms wrap around us both, and I smile, so happy they’re here.

  I pull back, wiping at my tears with one hand whilst reaching for my hearing aid with the other. I put it in, and a door slamming open is the first thing I hear. I jump at the same time my grandparents do, my granddad grabbing a rolling pin from the side.

  “Bailey?” Aiden shouts, running into the kitchen with Sunday in his arms, a look of panic on his face. “Thank fuck you’re okay. I thought something had happened to you when I heard you scream. Shit, girl, I thought Sunday could scream.”

  I giggle through my tears. “Sorry, Aiden.”

  “You’re the neighbour?” Granddad asks.

  Aiden looks at him, just as my gran starts fanning herself. “Oh, my.”

  “Yeah, I live with Mary next door. You must be Bailey’s grandparents,” he says, holding his hand out to shake Granddad’s.

  I ignore them, jostling my gran to get her attention. “Gran, what are you doing here?”

  She cups my face, happiness filling her watery eyes. “We couldn’t leave you today of all days.”

  “What’s today?” Aiden asks, before he starts sniffing. “Please tell me Charlotte didn’t make those.”

  I laugh as I look to all the cakes I baked. It’s my brother’s birthday, after all. After I baked the cake, I got carried away and started making loads of cupcakes. Now my kitchen side is filled with them.

  “No, she didn’t.”

  He walks over, his hand hovering over one, when the cake catches his attention. “Thomas is your brother, right?” he asks quietly.

  “Yeah. He would have been ten today.”

  His expression changes from hunger for cupcakes to sadness. He steps over, shifting Sunday up so he can pull me against him and kiss the top of my head. “I’m sorry, Bailey. Why didn’t you tell me it was his birthday last night? I would have been here for you.”

  I pull away a little to look up at him, surprised at his sincerity. I melt into him. “Because I didn’t want to make a big deal. Today is hard as it is.”

  “Oh, my,” Gran whispers.

  “You should have told me anyway. I can be lazy and not make a big deal. And I can totally be on board to eat all these cupcakes.”

  I grin. “I was going to bring some out later.”

  “To Maddox and his team?” he asks, eyes narrowed.

  “Yep.” I slap his shoulder before turning to my grandparents. “You two could have called me—not that I’m not happy you’re back, but you still have places to see, people to meet.”

  My gran’s focus drifts from Aiden to me, but I can see it was a hardship for her as her eyes keep flicking back to him. She opens her mouth to answer, but no words come out.

  I sigh.

  “We wanted to be here for you. After your phone call about your appointment with the doctor, we had a long chat and decided to come home. It wasn’t the same without you there, anyway, darlin’,” Granddad explains when Gran can’t.

  “Apart from those three nights in Vegas,” Gran whispers, still drawn to Aiden.

  “But it was your dream,” I say, my voice low. I can’t bear the thought that they’ve cut their trip short for me.

  “We want to be here with you. You’re going to need us. Once the operation is done and you’re all healed, we are going to move into the cottage. You’re getting older now and don’t need us oldies cramping your style,” she says as her eyes drift back over to Aiden, checking him out.

  “What about all the changes you’re making to the house? Will you be selling it?” I hate that the first thought that crosses my mind is Aiden and that I’ll no longer be the girl next door.

  “Gosh, no,” Gran says.

  “We’re signing the house over to you,” Granddad tells me.

  “But it’s your home.”

  “And something tells me it won’t be long until you make it yours,” he says, his gaze flicking to Aiden.

  I hear the backdoor open, and before my granddad puts that rolling pin to use
, I explain. “That will be the builders. They’re Aiden’s family—well, some of them.”

  Aiden squeezes my shoulder. “Don’t give them any cupcakes,” he whispers.

  “Yo, Bailey, do I smell cupcakes?” is Maddox’s reply.

  “It is,” I yell, chuckling to myself as he lets himself into the kitchen. He looks like a wolf with the way he’s sniffing the air.

  “Hey, new people,” he greets.

  “Oh, my,” Gran says, swaying on her feet. Landon, Liam and Mark follow in after him, and Gran gasps before falling. Maddox, already a few steps in front of her, quickly catches her before she hits the floor.

  “Gran,” I gasp.

  Granddad sighs, helping Maddox lift her. “I knew this was going to happen. She gets too excited. Maybe wear shirts next time you’re around her,” he tells Maddox, but his gaze flicks to Landon, who is also shirtless.

  I lick my lips when I see the sweat dripping down his body, the hard lines of his abs glistening. Even his pecs are huge.

  Now I can see why my gran fainted. I’ve never seen a body like that on anybody, and Aiden’s body is pretty fucking sexy. Landon’s was moulded by God himself.

  “Wow!” I whisper.

  “Put on a damn shirt, Landon,” Aiden snaps.

  I jump, quickly looking away and wiping my bottom lip. When I glance back up, he’s grabbing a T-shirt from the back pocket of his jeans and pulling it over his head.

  Granddad and Maddox walk back in, laughing and joking. Maddox walks right over to the cake but pauses when he sees the name on it.

  He looks around, adorably confused. “Um, who’s Thomas? Do I have more competition?”

  “He’s my brother,” I tell him, my voice low.

  “He passed away a few years ago. He’d be ten today,” Granddad adds.

  Maddox quickly drops the cupcake back on the side, looking at me apologetically. “I’m so fucking sorry.”

  “Eat them,” I tell him. “I was going to bring them out anyway. Just don’t eat the cake yet.”

  “Are you sure?”

  I nod. “I am.”

  He doesn’t waste another second before stuffing a whole cupcake in his mouth, moaning in appreciation. “So good,” he mumbles through his mouthful.

  Mark steps over to me and pulls me into his arms. I hug him back, smiling over his shoulder at my granddad. He winks before moving over to help himself to a cupcake.

  “I’m sorry for your loss,” Mark whispers.

  My chest tightens. “Thank you.”

  He pulls away and I take a step back, happy when they all hover around the cakes in preparation to devour them.

  Granddad comes over with a plateful and I roll my eyes. “How’s Gran?” I ask him.

  “She’s just going to freshen up. She’ll be down in a minute.”

  “She okay, then?”

  He laughs. “Yeah. She did it in Vegas too. They had an underwear model shoot going on in the third hotel we stayed at. She walked out to use the pool and was swarmed with young men with no clothes on,” he tells me, then sighs. “They called an ambulance.”

  I shouldn’t laugh, but I do.

  “Your gran okay?” Aiden asks as he tries to juggle a plate of cupcakes and Sunday.

  “Here, let me have her while you eat those.”

  “Thanks,” he says, passing her over to me. It’s rare she’s awake during the day, but I guess all the commotion woke her up.

  “She’s a beauty,” Granddad says. “Make sure you get a bat ready to chase all the boys off when she’s older.”

  Aiden quickly chews before answering. “I’m borrowing my uncle Max’s baseball bat. He borrowed it from my uncle Mason, who borrowed it from my uncle Malik. It kind of got passed down. Only fair I get it next.”

  “Did your uncles ever use it?” Granddad asks before I can.

  “Uncle Malik didn’t use it when Maddison was old enough to date; one look had them running. Mason needed it for Hope and Ciara as Ashton, his only son, was the youngest and he couldn’t really use him to scare them off.” He pauses to take another bite before continuing. “My uncle Max just loved scaring anyone who tried to date Hayden. She’s a triplet, the other two being her brothers.”

  “She had no hope of dating, then,” I say, feeling sorry for her.

  “Nope,” he says, then laughs. “If they weren’t scared of Landon, then seeing how crazy Max acted in front of them had them running off. Anyone else braver ended up in the boot of the car and dumped miles away from home.”

  Granddad laughs. “Looks like she has a good family looking out for her,” he says, glancing down at Sunday.

  “It still doesn’t protect her from accidents. The amount of times we ended up in hospital for doing something stupid and getting hurt is a joke. I’ve been trying to think of a plan to wrap Sunday up, so she doesn’t even get a cut knee.”

  I giggle, watching Sunday’s bright eyes staring up at me. “Is your daddy silly? Yes, yes he is.”

  “Just get loads of plasters ready. When my daughter was a toddler, she was forever falling over and scraping her knee.”

  “Got that covered. I’m gonna make her play in shin pads,” Aiden says.

  I shake my head at them. Maddox groans as he licks icing off his fingers. “Did you cook lunch?”

  I laugh when Aiden snaps, “She isn’t your maid.”

  Maddox rolls his eyes, unaffected. “You’re just jealous she cooks for us more than you.”

  I blush, looking away. “I didn’t today. I’ve been busy making cupcakes. Give me five minutes though; I have some pork in the oven to do pork baps with stuffing and gravy.”

  “Again?” Mark asks, looking greedily at the oven.

  “Yep,” I tell him, laughing at his expression.

  “I’ll do it. You keep hold of Sunday. Don’t let Mark hold her with his dirty hands.”

  Mark pouts at Aiden. “I washed them.”

  “Thank you,” I tell him.

  “I’ll help. You can tell me all about how you met my granddaughter,” Grandad says.

  “Oh, she is just beautiful,” Gran squeals as she walks into the kitchen. “I remember when you were a baby. You would only settle in your mother’s arms.”

  “She’s gotten used to her dad’s. He’s been trying to get her to grow out of it since his mum said it will make his life harder in the long run.”

  Gran nods, sitting down next to me in the conservatory, leaving the men to sort lunch.

  “Oh, it will. Your mum had to strap you to her just to do the hoovering. Didn’t even matter if your dad held you; you would still scream the house down.”

  I laugh, remembering a few pictures I have of Mum doing just that. “I miss them.”

  “I know you do. I know,” Gran says, wrapping her arm around me. I rest my head on her shoulder, never looking away from Sunday. “Now, tell me about Aiden. What’s going on between you two?”

  “Nothing,” I tell her with a sigh.

  She scoffs. “I don’t believe that.”

  I lift my head, glancing up at her. “Believe it. I asked him to kiss me and he said no, that he wasn’t good for me and didn’t want to hurt me. From what his cousin and sister have said, he was a player before Sunday came along. He didn’t do relationships. But, Gran, I can’t picture him being like that. And I don’t care. He’s different with me; I know it. I feel it in my soul.”

  Gran runs her fingers through my hair. “The way that boy came charging into the kitchen, I believe you’re right. He looked ready to take on the world one-handed if it meant you were safe.”

  “I just wish he wanted me the way I want him. I tried to keep my feelings neutral, but then we spent time together and I saw a new side to him. It made me fall for him more and more.”

  “You have a big heart, Bailey, never change that. He’ll see reason. He’s just been told he’s a dad. He’s still processing that and the huge change it’s made to his life. If what you say about him is true, then he’s not used to what
he’s feeling. I bet Sunday coming into his life was like a slap in the face. A love for a child has you seeing the world differently. What you saw as important before becomes irrelevant. So it’s not that he’s not capable; he’s just taking time to figure things out.”

  “And what if he doesn’t like me when that time comes?”

  She shakes her head at me. “Silly girl. There is no way that boy will ever not want you.”

  “I hope so. I think I love him, Gran. I really do. He’s nothing like—” I swallow, hating the thought of him. I clear my throat. “He’s not like him. This time it’s real. I’m not some naïve girl seeking affection.”

  “You were always more than that, my darlin’. Just give him time,” she tells me softly, still running her fingers through my hair as I lay my head back down on her shoulder. “Just not too much. You have to make them work for it. I got your granddad by—”

  “No! Stop!” I tell her, laughing light-heartedly. “I don’t want to hear that story again. I’ve only just erased the images.”

  She chuckles. “All true loves have the best stories. I have a feeling Aiden’s will be yours.”

  I smile, closing my eyes briefly. “I hope so, Gran.”

  “Love you, my girl.”

  “Love you too. I’m so glad you’re here,” I tell her.

  “Me too. Witnessing my only granddaughter fall in love for the first time is something I never want to miss.”

  I don’t reply, letting silence fill the lull in conversation.

  I just hope my gran is right and that mine and Aiden’s story will be epic; something we can tell Sunday one day and laugh about.

  Because I can’t picture my life without him in it. He fills the emptiness in my heart, the void in my life.

  He’s the air I breathe.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  AIDEN

  Handing over some cash to the taxi driver, I step out and open the door for Bailey. One look at her when I picked her up and I wanted to drag her back inside. She looks sexy as fuck tonight.

  Wearing leather trousers that fit her like a second skin and a pink blouse that flashes the right amount of cleavage, her body looks hot.