Shelby held up her hand. “You don’t even have to ask. I’ll work more hours and take on anything you want me to. Pretend you don’t even own a bakery.”
“Thanks. I was hoping you’d be okay with me taking it easy. There’s a lot to worry about and at the same time, I’m not supposed to worry.” She touched her tummy. “I’m so happy.”
“I’m happy for you.”
Amber stood. “We’ll talk soon, okay? Oh, and if you could not say anything for a few days. I’m telling close friends and family first. My dad is beyond excited, of course. Threatening to buy one of every children’s book ever published.”
Shelby smiled, imagining Morgan’s happiness at finally being a grandfather. “I won’t mention it until I hear it from another source.”
Amber grinned. “Of course you can tell Aidan.” She covered her mouth. “Oh, no. I can’t believe it. I’m sorry. Here I was going on and on about the baby, when you have other things on your mind. Congratulations on the marriage. That’s so great.”
Shelby thought about pounding her head against the desk. “We’re not married.”
“What? You’re divorced already?”
“No. We were never married. The ad was a joke because we...” She waved her hand. “It’s not important. Pretend you never saw that announcement.”
“Okay. Well, for what it’s worth, I think you two make a cute couple.”
“Thanks.”
* * *
THE RETRACTION IN the paper got about as much reaction as the ad. Aidan watched Shelby pace the length of his office before she turned around and went the other way.
“It’s just so strange,” she said as she walked back and forth. “Everything is changing. With Amber pregnant, I’ll have more responsibility at the bakery, which I like. But she won’t be around as much, which will make it harder to change things.” She looked at him. “I’m not comfortable just doing what I want without talking to her first and if she’s not there, she won’t be available to discuss anything.”
“Right. She also might feel so stressed about the baby that she doesn’t want to take on one more thing.”
“I know.” Shelby turned and walked back the other way. “I’m happy for her. Really happy, but the timing. I wish we’d been able to do more. Plus, after the baby’s born she’s going to be busy, so talking to her then will be hard.”
“Are you that unhappy with how things are?”
“No. It’s good. I love my work. But we could be bigger. The building next to us won’t be available forever.” She grimaced. “Not that it matters. Amber would never agree to the expansion now. She’s got the baby to deal with. There would be expenses and construction and stress. It’s just that I had all these plans.”
He stood and moved toward her. “It’s okay.”
She came to a stop in front of him. “It’s kind of not.”
“Okay—then how about me saying you’ll get through this. We’ll talk about it and you’ll come up with some solutions.”
She looked at him. Her bangs were too long. They were practically in her eyes. The look was adorable.
One corner of her mouth turned up. “What you really want is to tell me exactly what to do. I appreciate that you’re not.”
“I’m here to listen.”
She leaned against him. Her forehead rested on his chest and her hands settled at his waist. “Why does life always have to have a sense of humor?” she asked, her voice muffled against her chest. “I’m such a bad person.”
“You’re not. You’re happy for your friend, but frustrated because of what her news means for the business. Neither emotion is wrong.”
She raised her head. “You swear?”
She was close. So close he could feel the heat from her body. It would only take the lightest of touches to pull her up against him. Then they would be touching everywhere. While it wasn’t all that he wanted, it got him a good part of the way there.
“Aidan?”
He was sure it was his imagination, but it seemed to him that the word came out as a plea. A request. One he couldn’t resist. He lowered his head those last few inches and pressed his mouth against hers.
He was pretty sure he’d caught her off guard, so he half expected her to pull back. Only she didn’t. She stayed exactly where she was, her lips against his.
Her skin was warm and soft. Her hands moved from his waist to his shoulders. His slid around her body. He took a step forward—or she did?—then they were pressed against each other and it didn’t matter who had moved first.
Wanting struck him like lightning, burning hot and bright. His breath caught in his throat as the need grew. She fit him perfectly. Her breasts nestled against his chest. Her belly rubbed against his growing erection. And then there was the kiss.
Her mouth was everything he’d hoped for. Hot and sweet and willing. She parted her lips before he asked and he eagerly swept inside. Heat grew until it consumed him and all he could think was how much he wanted her.
His hands were in her hair, stroking her neck, her back. Everywhere he touched was perfection. This was Shelby, he thought hazily, deepening the kiss until they were both straining toward each other. The woman he liked as much as he desired. The woman whose laugh made him happy. His friend and his—
Friend. The word was like a bucket of ice water. He drew back slightly, breaking the kiss and resting his forehead on hers. Their breath came in gasps. The rhythm matched the aching pulse in his groin. He was harder than he’d ever been, so ready to make love with her. He wanted her naked and writhing. He wanted to please her, then fill her until his release threw him to the other side of the universe.
The primal side of him told him she wanted it, too. That she was still touching him, still leaning into him. She had to feel his dick against her belly and she was okay with it. He nearly drowned in the images of them together. It was going to be so good.
But the rest of him—that damned sensible, civilized part of his brain, nearly starved for blood—reminded him that there was so much more on the line than what he wanted. Even if he was willing to ignore his own goals, what about hers? She needed to be healed so she could move on with her life. Sleeping with her now could totally screw up everything.
No pun intended.
“Dammit all to hell,” he muttered, his voice hoarse with passion. “I respect you. I like you. I want you to have everything you’re looking for. And it’s not this.”
Even though it was the most difficult thing he’d ever done, he took a step back.
Shelby stared at him. Her eyes were wide, her pupils dilated. She looked aroused and beautiful and it was all he could do to keep from reaching for her again.
“You should go,” he told her. “Just go.”
She started to speak, then shook her head before turning and walking away.
* * *
AIDAN HAD KNOWN for a while that his brother had a secret studio in the woods. He’d even visited Nick there on occasion. But he’d never explored it. Beyond looking at whatever piece Nick was working on, he hadn’t thought about what else might be stored there. Now he stood beside his brother and stared at the rows and rows of incredible creations.
There were wood carvings. Dozens of them. Some finished, others in various stages of completion. He could see the traditional bears and deer, a few raccoons. But there were also life-sized human figures. A dancer with one leg in the air. A woman holding a baby. They were so real, he half expected them to move.
Nick’s glasswork was just as extraordinary. Swirling shapes as big as a man. There was a glass tree, huge bowls, a slithering snake nearly six feet long.
“What’s that line from that old movie, Jaws?” Aidan asked. “We’re going to need a bigger boat.”
“I’ve always been an overachiever.”
That was one way of putting it. Aidan didn’t know where to begin. When Nick had asked for help, he’d jumped at the chance to get out of his head for a few hours. He hadn’t seen Shelby in a couple of days, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t with him. He couldn’t stop thinking about their kiss. Hard labor moving heavy pieces of wood and glass would go a long way to distracting him. Or so he hoped.
“What are you going to do with it all?” he asked.
“Sell some. Put some in storage. The rest of it can be kindling. Or melted down.”
Charlie walked along the rows, sniffing as he went. Aidan knew the little guy would stick close. Over the past couple of months, he and Charlie had become a team. Or was it a pack? Charlie went pretty much everywhere with him. Aidan was still playing with different designs for a sturdy wagon/dog carrier so the bichon could go hiking with him. He figured Charlie would keep up as best he could, but expecting him do five or eight miles uphill was too much.
Nick pulled a pad of stickers out of his back pocket. “Red dots are going to the gallery. Green dots are storage. Blue dots get destroyed.”
Aidan winced. “How can you do that? Destroy something you created?”
“It’s not hard. Some pieces aren’t meant to be finished. There’s a fatal flaw, either in the raw material or the design. Either way, they’re never going to be anything.”
A harsh assessment, but he would guess a mindset that was required for an artist. From failure came the chance to try something better next time.
He followed his brother through the huge studio. Light poured in through windows and skylights. Nick hesitated in front of a two-foot-high carving of a boy with a fishing pole.
The kid sat cross-legged. His expression was intense, as if determined to wait it out, however long it took. The features were delicate, yet masculine. Looking at the perfectly carved hands reminded Aidan that his brother was an incredible artist.
Nick stuck on a blue dot.
“What?” Aidan demanded. “That’s a brilliant piece. Even I can see that.”
Nick turned it so Aidan could see the crack running down the back. “I doubt it’s going to split further, but I can’t sell it.”
“I’ll take it.”
Nick looked at him for a second, then smiled. “Thanks.”
They finished going through the pieces, then began to move them into different parts of the studio. Some of them could be simply carried into place, but others required the two of them to wrestle them or use a hand truck. A few of the bears had to wait until they had more man power.
Charlie supervised for a while before settling on the small sofa in the front part of the studio. After a couple of hours, Aidan and Nick joined him to take a break.
Aidan opened the beer his brother had handed him and took a drink. “You’re really going.”
“If not to Happily Inc., then somewhere.”
“Have you told Mom?”
“No. I want to have a plan before I mention it.”
“She’s not going to appreciate having yet another of her sons leaving town.”
He thought Nick might crack a joke, but instead his brother’s expression turned serious. “It’s all going to be on you now. The family thing. I’m sorry about that.”
“I can handle it. I don’t get her relationship with Dad, but there’s no getting around the fact that she loves him. He’s her world. The rest of us are a distant second.” He took another drink. “I think that’s how it’s supposed to be when you’re married, though. Sure the kids are important, but they grow up and move away. If you lose your partner while dealing with your children, then one day you have nothing.”
Nick’s brows rose. “What is Shelby doing to you?”
Aidan laughed. “Nothing bad. We talk about stuff. Sometimes it’s good to talk.”
“No, it’s not.” Nick swore. “Maybe you’re the one who needs to leave.”
“I belong here.”
“Because of the business?”
“Some. I like it here.” There had been a time when Aidan had chafed against what he’d seen as being trapped. When Del had left, the family business had fallen to him. But over time, he’d realized this was where he was meant to be.
“Are you happy?” Nick pressed.
“That’s a very girly question.”
“You, of all people, should be forgiving of that,” Nick pointed out.
“I am.” Aidan thought for a second. “Yeah, I am. What I was doing before, going from woman to woman, it was a way of hiding. I thought I was playing it safe, but acting like that came at a price. I was a jackass.”
“And now?”
“Less of one, I hope.” He reached over and rubbed Charlie’s ears.
“This is Shelby’s doing?”
“Some of it is her and some of it is me.”
“You’re still not...” Nick’s voice trailed off.
Aidan thought about the kiss and how much he’d wanted her. How he’d resisted. How he hadn’t talked to her since.
“No. It’s not like that.”
“But you want it to be like that.” Nick raised his bottle of beer. “That wasn’t a question, by the way. You want her.”
“Who wouldn’t?” Aidan exhaled. “But we’re friends. And I like being friends with her. I like her. Sleeping together would change everything.”
“Maybe not. Maybe if you did it, you could get her out of your system and go back to the way things were.”
Aidan had a bad feeling that wasn’t likely to happen. Shelby wasn’t the do-it-once-and-forget-her kind of woman. “That’s not gonna work.”
“Then sleep with someone else.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“We have a deal.”
“One that’s not working.”
“Then we should probably talk about that.”
Aidan turned and saw Shelby standing in the open door of Nick’s studio.
CHAPTER TWELVE
“I AM SO out of here,” Nick said.
“You don’t have to go,” Shelby told him, because it was the right thing to say. In truth, she needed Nick to go so she could talk to Aidan.
She’d been avoiding him for forty-eight hours. If she’d been able to avoid herself, she would have done that, too. Because she was nothing if not confused. Confused about the kiss and what it meant. Confused about what to do next. When she’d suddenly realized she had to talk to him, he hadn’t been at his office. Fay had told her where to find him.
Now she waited, shifting her weight from foot to foot as Nick collected his car keys.
“Lock up when you’re done,” he told his brother and left.
Charlie hurried to greet her. She crouched down to pet the dog, grateful for the distraction. But eventually she had to stand back up and face Aidan.
They stared at each other from across the room. She had no way of knowing what he was thinking. For all that they were friends, there were still mysteries between them.
He motioned to the sofa. “Have a seat.”
She settled at one end. Aidan took the other. Charlie curled up between them and put his head on his paws. Silence filled the open space.
Shelby tried to think what she should say first. Or maybe she was just hoping he would start talking, because that would be so much easier.
“I miss you,” Aidan said.
The unexpected statement shocked her into confessing, as well. “I miss you, too. It’s been hard not hanging out. Or talking on the phone or texting.”
She glanced at him, then away. She drew in a breath and returned her gaze to his. “We have to talk about the kiss.”
“I know.”
“Really?”
“I’m not saying I want to talk about
it, I’m saying we should. Unless you agree that it was just a kiss and we should let it go?”
He sounded so hopeful, she had to smile. “No.”
“I didn’t think so.”
“But you made the effort. That counts.”
“Not enough.” He leaned toward her. “Shelby, we’re not going there. It would be a mistake. I want you, that’s pretty obvious. Being together would be amazing. But that’s not why we’re here.”
He wanted her? Little butterflies danced through her tummy. He wanted her! Anticipation filled her as she thought about how good she’d felt in his arms. How safe and sexy and hungry.
“It’s not the worst idea,” she began.
He cut her off with a shake of his head. “It would be a disaster.”
“Why? You have a lot of experience. You know what you’re doing.”
She’d been hoping he would at least crack a smile, but he continued to look serious.
“We’re doing something good here,” he told her. “I don’t want to lose that.”
“So if I threw myself at you right now, you’d refuse me?”
“Regretfully, yes.”
Ouch. “But you won’t sleep with anyone else until the six months are over?”
“No, I won’t. We had a deal.”
Talk about an honorable man, she thought glumly. One with integrity. She should be thrilled. Impressed. Instead all she felt was rejection and mild annoyance.
While she’d never considered herself a prude, she wasn’t exactly anyone’s ideal of a temptress. So seducing Aidan was out of the question. Besides, as much as she didn’t like to admit it, she kind of respected his stand. If only it weren’t so confusing.
Because he was right. They were doing something good. But after that kiss, well, everything was different now.
“I can’t decide if I should applaud you or beat you with a stick,” she admitted.
“How about we go back to being friends?”
Her cell phone rang before she could answer. She glanced at the screen and saw it was her sister-in-law.
“It’s Destiny,” she said as she pushed the green button. “Hi. Everyone okay?”
Best of My Love (Fool's Gold) Page 15
