Karise nodded. “Surprise attack, very sneaky.”
“I’m smart like that.”
She almost responded that it was one of the things she loved about him but caught herself. A wave of shyness overtook her. She smiled instead before turning her attention back to Clyde to hide her embarrassment.
Aidan grew serious. “The truth is, I couldn’t wait another day to see you. I missed you. And I thought maybe we should talk.”
Her stomach tightened and panic flared. For the first time it occurred to her he might not feel the same way she did. Karise rose from the couch and set about picking up her things, preparing to run as fast as she could to solitude. “You had a long flight; you’ve got to be exhausted. We can talk tomorrow.”
“What just happened?” Aidan straightened; his brow furrowing.
“What? Nothing happened.”
“No, something definitely just happened. What did I do?”
“You didn’t do anything,” she rushed to reassure him. “I… I just… I just kind of panicked.”
Aidan met her in the middle of the room, reaching out to take her hands in his. “I didn’t mean to cause a panic. I guess I’m going about this all wrong.”
Karise stilled, something in his expression commanding her attention.
“What you said on the phone last night, you beat me to it. Sometimes it feels like everything is happening so fast, and then there are times when every moment I’m not with you seems to last an eternity. I’ve been trying to respect your need to take things slow, and I know I shouldn’t rush things for Zoe’s sake, but I can’t look at you without wanting to tell you I love you. I want to shout it from the rooftops. I want to whisper it against your skin. I love you and I am in love with you. I want to spend every moment of my day loving you.”
She didn’t know what to say. Of all the things he could have said, she wasn’t expecting that. He was waiting for a response. She could see the fear in his eyes; he was dealing with his own flare of panic now that the words were out there.
Even if her brain couldn’t formulate a response, her body knew what to do. Karise’s arms wrapped around his neck. Her lips sought his. His hands, resting on her waist, pulled her closer. It would be so simple to let her actions speak where the words were too hard, but Karise was determined not to let this come down to taking the easy way out.
When she pulled away, he tried to pull her back. Wanting to say what she had to before she lost the nerve, Karise placed a hand on his chest, her eyes rising to meet his. “What I said on the phone, it just sort of spilled out without thinking. But then I thought about it – really thought about it – and I realized I meant it. I love you. I’ve been attracted to you since the moment I laid eyes on you, but that rush of emotion pales in comparison to what I feel for you now. You are an amazing man and a wonderful father. I love that about you. I love that you’ve made this incredible life for you and Zoe. You fascinate me. I could spend a hundred years studying and still not learn all there is to know about you. I don’t know what to do about it, but I love you, Aidan.”
He took her face in his hands and drew her in, kissing her thoroughly. “I love you, Karise. Can I tell you that you’ve made me the happiest man alive, or is that too cheesy?”
“That is a lot of cheese, but I’ll let it slide because I like hearing it.” She kissed him back, her body pressing into his, creating a sweet ache deep within.
“Will you stay tonight?” The words came in between the kisses he was brushing on her cheeks, her forehead and her jaw.
Karise nodded, not trusting her voice. Her body was putty; her legs didn’t want to cooperate as she followed him back to his room, her fingers laced loosely in his. She now understood the phrase “walking on clouds.” That’s exactly what it felt like she was doing.
Behind his closed door, he paused only long enough to secure the lock before turning his attention back to her. Her head rolled to the side, resting its weight in his hand as his mouth grazed the side of her neck. He started at the juncture of her jaw, just below her ear. His breath fueled her fire. His teeth grazed her flesh.
Moonlight spilled through his window, lending its magic to the moment. She wanted to be greedy, wanted to grab hold of him to take her fill, but that wouldn’t fit the reverence of the night. He must have felt it too, because he gently scooped her up and placed her on the bed, taking the time to be sure her head was comfortable on his pillow before he unwrapped her as if she was his most precious gift.
His actions were intentional, his gaze appreciative. She felt a twinge of embarrassment over the attentiveness of his slow, seductive movements.
“You are perfection.” The huskily breathed words emboldened her. She stroked his cheek with more love than she’d known herself to be capable of. He traced her face with his fingertips then caught her lips again. The kiss began tenderly, building into an inferno.
She tugged his shirt off, admiring every angle as she skimmed her hands along his lean muscles, honed by countless hours of hard work. Karise leaned up to taste him, her teeth grazing his skin as she kissed his chest, then his ribs, then his taut stomach. He sucked in his breath, frozen as she toyed with the V of his hips.
With a growl, he shifted so he could kiss her, reclaiming the momentum as his own. His hands were both firm and affectionate as they explored her every curve. He touched her in a way that made her want to be touched only by him. It was more than a touch, more than a craving. He made her want to know him, all of him, all the way to his soul. She wrapped him up in her – her arms, her legs, her heart. As they moved together, she knew this man was the one she’d been created for. It was their rhythm her heart beat to, theirs and no other.
When they were sated, she lay wrapped in his arms, her legs tangled with his and her head resting on his chest. Karise had never felt as safe and warm as she did in that moment. She knew she was fully loved and fully happy. What came next could wait. The now was enough.
Too tired and happy to talk, she let the steady rise and fall of his chest carry her off to sleep. The last thing she remembered was him brushing her hair back and kissing her forehead. It was also the first thing she experienced when sunlight replaced the moonbeams.
Karise wrapped the blanket tighter around herself in a vain attempt to make up for his absence after he slid out of the bed. “Where are you going?”
“To get a shower and make Zoe some breakfast. No one has ever stayed over before. I don’t want it to be too weird for her.” He paused from gathering his things to give her a lingering kiss. “I love you.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of hearing that.” She smiled.
“Good, because I’m never going to tire of saying it.” He returned the smile, his eyes drinking in her face one more time.
Karise snuggled back into the pillows, listening to him shower while she reveled in the night before. Now that she’d abandoned the fear and running, she couldn’t remember why she’d taken that approach to begin with. She marveled at being so lucky to have found where she belonged, to have found Aidan and Zoe. Anytime her mind started kicking into overdrive, she chastised herself with a reminder to simply enjoy this time.
Aidan emerged from his shower with the occasional water droplet clinging to his bare chest and his jeans resting loosely on his hips, exposing the top half of that delightful “V” she’d tormented the night before. Karise swallowed.
“I love you, Aidan.” She rose from the bed, braver than she’d ever felt in her life, and walked purposefully across the room to him.
He froze, his eyes taking in her every movement. She placed her hands on his chest, running them lightly down to rest on his hips, pulling him closer as she leaned up to kiss him.
“I love you and I want you to know that I’ll be counting the minutes until I can get those clothes off you again.”
He responded with a kiss so full of passion it almost swept her away. She clung to him to stay upright, resting her head against his chest while she
regained her breath. Karise knew she had a busy week ahead of her and Aidan needed to dedicate some time to Zoe, so once she stepped out of their happy little bubble, it would be a while before she could return to it. That knowledge made letting him go all the harder, but she mustered the willpower to get a shower so she didn’t look freshly rumpled by the time Zoe made her entrance.
Truth be told, she was exhausted and already looking forward to an early bedtime. She had no intention of admitting that to Aidan, though. The three of them enjoyed a breakfast of scrambled eggs, freshly baked muffins and orange juice without strings in it. After the plates were cleared away, Karise and Aidan shared a lingering goodbye at her car before she headed to work, leaving father and daughter to spend a much-needed day together.
Despite the full schedule looming ahead of her, Karise felt empty as she drove away from the farm. The farther away she got, the more her time there felt like a happy dream. Now she was back in reality, and it was rather drab.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
NOT SO VERY LONG AGO, Karise had thrown herself into her job to avoid thinking about Aidan. She found herself doing so yet again, though this time for entirely different reasons: to give Zoe some much- needed daddy time, and to give herself and Aidan a chance to catch up at work. Suddenly there weren’t enough hours in a day for Karise’s job.
As construction at Kate’s house transitioned from one phase to another, Karise’s input was needed more and more. Whether it was part of the job description or not, she also found herself settling disputes between contractors. The way Karise saw it, she’d do anything she could to make the home-building process go smoothly for her clients, even if they weren’t her friends. Since it was Kate, she’d move heaven and earth if she had to. Lately, that’s what it felt like she was doing.
On Wednesday, she was pleasantly surprised by a phone call from a friend of a friend of Kate’s who’d heard good things about her and wanted to schedule a meeting. Karise agreed to lunch on Thursday, and then spent Wednesday evening after work putting together a portfolio that looked more professional than a sketchpad. Other than a few quick texts, she didn’t even talk to Aidan.
The lunch on Thursday went well, and Karise found herself with another contract. That evening, she had dinner with Kate’s family. Joan and Mason were traveling again – Karise was beginning to wonder if their wanderlust had anything to do with the temporary living arrangements. To her dismay, Jack and Tara were there with their son, Caleb. Only slightly older than Jonathan, the toddler was a force of nature. His mother was constantly on the move to keep him out of trouble.
Jack, on the other hand, seemed to have plenty of time to ooze disdain at Karise. For the most part, she tried to avoid him. When that wasn’t possible, she made polite conversation and pretended not to notice. Certainly no one else noticed; maybe it was in her head. Karise wished Aidan had been able to come to dinner so she could have asked his opinion. She came dangerously close to simply asking Jack what his problem was but didn’t want to ruin Kate’s dinner.
By the time she made it back to her cottage, Karise’s head was pounding, and she was completely drained of energy. She flopped down on the couch and tossed an arm over her eyes. She’d intended to rid herself of the headache and then get some more work done, but she fell asleep instead.
It was the next morning when she groggily sat up, looking around for a moment before she realized she was still on the couch. She scowled at Victoria’s urn. “Don’t judge. I’m sure you’ve looked worse.”
Karise checked the clock on her phone, only to realize she’d missed two calls from Aidan. She felt like a jerk, but it was already too late to call him back now. He’d be in the middle of dropping off Zoe, and she was going to be late for her first meeting if she didn’t hurry. So she opted for a shower instead of the phone call, barely skidding into place before the contractor pulled up at the job site.
“Nicely done.” Gary’s compliment was tinged with amusement.
“Thanks.” Karise chose to believe he wasn’t being sarcastic.
“Late night?”
“Surprisingly, no. I fell asleep on the couch pretty early. I’m just so flipping tired lately.” Karise shook her head to clear the cobwebs.
“Are you pregnant?”
“What?” Karise was taken aback. “No!”
Gary chuckled. “Sorry; I didn’t mean anything by it. I just remember my Beth never could get enough sleep whenever she was pregnant.”
Karise forced herself to smile. “Ah, well, I don’t think that’s my problem. I’m pretty sure I’m just the garden variety kind of tired.”
For the rest of the morning, her mind kept straying back to Gary’s words. She wasn’t worried about being pregnant – she was fascinated by the thought of it. Karise couldn’t help wondering what it would be like to be a part of Aidan’s family and for that family to be growing. She also couldn’t help wondering if it was wrong of her to be thinking along those lines at this stage of the game.
After all the running around she’d done for the first part of the day, Karise headed back to the cottage in hopes of spending her afternoon catching up at the computer. She turned on some music, opting for her favorite playlist – an eclectic mix that included everything from Pink to the Statler Brothers – hoping to drown out the silent presence of Victoria’s urn staring at her from the mantle.
She curled up in a chair at the kitchen table, trying to focus on whittling away at her inbox. When she realized she’d spent five minutes re-reading the same email, she gave in to her wandering mind. Her eyelids fluttered closed. She couldn’t help resting her hand lightly on her abdomen, a small smile playing on her lips.
“I’d love to know what that look is for.”Aidan’s voice felt like a caress.
Karise’s eyes flew open. She knew her mortification was all over her face, but there wasn’t much she could do about that.
Aidan raised his eyebrows. “Okay, now I really want to know what you were thinking about just then.”
Karise managed to pull it together, although the sight of him leaned so confidently in her doorframe made her throat go dry. “Maybe, if you’re really good, I’ll tell you someday.”
“You’ve been a very difficult woman to get in touch with.” His eyes devoured her. “So I brought us some lunch; I thought maybe I could steal you away from your work for an hour.”
“I’ve been stupidly busy.” She frowned. “But I miss you like crazy, and an hour with you sounds heavenly.”
He rewarded her with a roguish smile. “I’m sorry you’re busy, but I’m glad to hear you missed me. I was starting to wonder if I’d misread things.”
“If you’d misread things?” Karise was incredulous. She thought she’d been embarrassingly plain about her feelings for him.
“Or maybe you changed your mind.” Some of the earlier confidence seemed to melt away as he shrugged his shoulders.
The words stung. As much as Karise wanted to dispute them, she’d changed her mind about William. Aidan’s wife had changed her mind about him. Even in the face of that logic, Karise couldn’t fathom changing her mind about what they shared.
“I may be the worst girlfriend ever, but you certainly didn’t misread things.” She rose from her spot to wrap her arms around his waist, resting her head on his chest. He smelled so good. The heat radiating from his body was so inviting. “I don’t think changing my mind about us is even an option. It’s not possible. You’re too much a part of me already.”
“Anything’s possible.”
“Not that,” Karise argued. She leaned back so she could look up at him. For all of his appearance of carefree charm, for all of the silly flirting, and for all of her own insecurities, he was the one struggling to let go of the past and believe their love was possible. Karise hadn’t seen that one coming. “Aidan?”
“Yes, love?”
She sensed he needed to be the most important thing in her world at the moment. “I can clear my afternoon if you can.”
He gave her a smile that melted her heart. “I think that could be arranged.”
Karise wanted to kiss him. She also knew that if she did, there would be no clearing of the calendar in the near future. She’d forget everything but him. She settled for a kiss on his jaw before scurrying off to check in with Gary and setting her email out-of-office message. The only meeting scheduled for the afternoon was with Devon, and she sent him a quick text to reschedule. They could finalize travel plans just as easily later that evening.
She finished before he did, so she took the time to run through the cottage, straightening up as she went. He caught her in the bathroom, scooping dirty laundry up to toss it in the hamper.
“I’ve been busy…” she explained sheepishly. The look in his eyes said laundry was the farthest thing from his mind.
Aidan took her in his arms, the intensity of his kiss taking her by surprise. He lifted her onto the counter; she instinctively wrapped her legs around him, pulling him in to her. Their hands were everywhere at once. One couldn’t get enough of the other. Their clothes joined the forgotten pile on the floor.
He lifted her off the marble countertop, carrying her the short distance to the bedroom. She didn’t care where they were; the need for him was all that mattered. In the background, the Statler Brothers were crooning “My Only Love.” She arched into the kisses he was trailing across her body. He gathered her even closer as the painfully sweet ballad sang the words her heart wanted to. He was so special, so real. She couldn’t believe the way she felt. This love was meant for the two of them and no other.
She wanted to laugh; she wanted to cry. Emotion rolled over her in one cascading wave after another. When they reached their peak together, she did just that: laugh and cry. He whispered over and over again his love for her.
The lunch he brought was forgotten. Everything fell away except the two of them. The rest of the day passed without them as they lay wrapped in each other’s arms, laughing, dozing, and talking.
“I could do this forever.” Karise traced lazy circles down his side, across his stomach and back up the other side.
Waiting for You Page 15
