“Thanks.” He lightly tapped the desk, not even looking at the receptionist as he strode over to Nicole.
“Aidan,” she breathed as he neared. The gray-haired man had stepped away, leaving them all alone, but Nicole still looked around as if they were in danger of being caught doing something wrong.
“Surprised?” He held his hands up before she could respond. “Wait. Don’t answer that. I know it’s kind of a bold move, showing up here like this.”
Nicole’s cheeks turned pink and she clutched her folder to her chest like it was a lifeline, all the while shifting her weight from foot to foot and glancing around the room.
“But I had to see you.” He stepped a little closer and her eyebrows shot up. At the same time, though, her pupils started dilating and her breathing sped up.
Aidan knew enough about body language to get the basic gist of what was going on. He’d been right. She was as into him as he was into her.
“Dinner,” he said simply, staring into her eyes. “Once.”
She immediately shook her head. “I already told you, I don’t think that’s a good idea—”
“Why?” he cut in.
“Many reasons.”
“Give me one.”
“We live in different states.”
“True,” he nodded emphatically. “Fair enough. But here’s the thing. I’m kind of at a—crossroads. I don’t know how much longer I’ll be in California for. Maybe I’ll move next month, or maybe I’ll be there my whole life. I don’t know. For all I know, I could end up living in New York. Maybe even on your block.”
Nicole squinted her eyes in confusion. “Okay. That’s a little creepy.”
“Sorry. Forget I said that. It was weird. What I’m saying is, maybe you’ll move there. To Los Angeles. Who knows what could happen.”
She guffawed. “I’m not moving to California.”
Aidan pushed his fingers through his hair and smirked. “Okay. Backtrack. It’s kind of early to be talking about our future plans. Especially considering we haven’t had a first date yet. Don’t you think?”
She chuckled. “Are you always so self-confident?”
He stepped closer and whispered into her ear, “It’s all a façade. It took me 20 minutes to gather up courage to get out of the car and walk into this building.” Even though his tone was playful, Aidan was telling the truth.
Her lips split into a wide grin. But a second later a couple employees walked by and, in the blink of an eye, she clammed right up, dropping her face and shaking her head. “You should go,” she said in a low voice. “I’m at work. And… people are watching.”
Aidan glanced around, finding she was right. The receptionist had turned around in her seat to flat-out stare at them and the few other people in the room shot quick glances their way.
“Okay,” Aidan conceded. “I’ll go. But I’m not done here. I’ll be in town all week.”
“Yeah,” she retorted, “And then you’ll be gone.”
He wanted to tell her that didn’t matter, but he stopped himself. She was right, after all. He would be gone soon. Still, that didn’t mean that what he sensed between them wasn’t worth pursuing. What was distance, anyway? Especially when you could rent a private jet anytime you felt like it?
He couldn’t tell her any of this, though, without making it sound like he was boasting.
“If you change your mind, call me.”
He plucked a thick marker from a pencil holder on a nearby desk and reached for Nicole’s arm. She didn’t resist, and, in fact, he felt her wrist’s pulse speed up. Carefully writing his number on her forearm, he grudgingly let her go.
“Or text,” he added.
“Goodbye, Aidan.”
“Bye, Nicole.” He took a few steps back. “For now.”
Turning, he strode across the room, not caring that a whole office had just seen the exchange. At the front door, the receptionist pressed her hands against her heart and gave him an approving nod.
Aidan didn’t look back, but the tingle on his neck told him Nicole watched him. Smiling to himself, he pushed open the front door. She might have gotten the final say their first two meetings, but he knew he’d just made a major advance.
Even if he hadn’t, it wouldn’t have mattered. The last year had been one of endless searching, of waiting to see what would happen and what would cause him to finally feel like he’d found his place in the world. After months of that, as luck would have it, he’d finally located something—no, someone—who made him feel alive in a way he hadn’t in years.
Maybe it was that Nicole was new. Or that she was so resistant. Or maybe it was a deeper, stronger connection that he was seeing while she was refusing to. Aidan didn’t know. But he wasn’t giving up on her until he found the truth.
CHAPTER 5
NICOLE
Amelia crouched down in the sand, inspecting the marked-off sea turtle nest. Stakes had been driven in and rope wrapped around its circumference after some locals saw a turtle digging and lying there. Though the tracking of local turtle nests often fell to another NGO, one specifically focused on sea turtles, Amelia had come out the day before to partition off the spot before the turtle people could send someone over.
As Wildlife Manager for Florida Keys Conservation, Amelia was probably the most qualified person when it came to jumping into the field, collecting data, and figuring out how best to mitigate, develop, or all around manage a situation. Nicole was constantly in awe of her skills—and, luckily for Nicole, being Amelia’s intern meant having a front row seat to the show.
“Looks undisturbed,” Amelia said. She stayed squatted for another minute, checking over the sand once more.
Nicole looked around the area. Residential, with big beach houses, each one seeming larger than the last. It was the fancier end of the beach, the kind of neighborhood Nicole’s parents would probably rent in, were they ever to come to a ‘middle of nowhere’ town such as Haven Sound.
“So are you going to say yes to that guy?” Amelia popped to standing and stared at Nicole, her dark eyes intense and her cocoa skin gleaming in the sun.
“What?”
“Don’t play coy.”
Nicole shrugged and looked away. She’d almost forgotten about how Aidan had embarrassed her in front of all her new coworkers. What she hadn’t forgotten was the way his eyes had shone when he looked at her or the swirling, giddy feeling she got in her stomach the instant she saw him standing in the office.
“No,” she answered, hating the word as it slipped from her lips.
“You sure? He’s really cute.”
Nicole turned halfway back to Amelia. She’d only been working at the organization a week, but she and Amelia had clicked right away, despite the fact that Amelia was at least ten years older. The other woman had an easiness about her that Nicole really appreciated. No matter what happened, she remained calm.
“Yeah, he’s cute,” Nicole admitted. “But that’s not everything.”
Laughing, Amelia shouldered her backpack. Together, they started pushing through the sand, headed for the nearest beach access parking lot.
“Why are you laughing?”
“Sorry. It’s just—I heard your whole conversation this morning, you know? Everyone did.”
Nicole groaned and dropped her head back. “That’s what I was afraid of.”
“He seems to really like you.”
“He doesn’t know me,” Nicole answered right away.
“And you’re not going to give him the chance to?”
Nicole clomped up the wooden steps, her irritation growing. “Why are we talking about this?”
“Because...” Amelia stopped halfway down the walkway and looked back at the beach. One of her dreads had come loose from the scarf she had them wound up in and sweat shone across her forehead.
Nicole waited for more, feeling Amelia was in intense contemplation and didn’t want to be interrupted.
“You haven’t gone out since you’ve
gotten here,” Amelia finally said.
“How do you know that?” Nicole asked.
Amelia gave her a ‘gimme a break’ look. “Name one restaurant or bar in this town.”
“Um—”
“Or one person, besides someone who works with us.”
“There’s—”
“And not your landlord.”
Nicole’s shoulders slumped. “I like being alone, Amelia. I’m an introvert, okay? Some people just are.” She pressed her palms against the worn, wooden railing and stared down at the sand next to the walkway.
“Even when it comes to a nice, cute guy?”
Her voice was filled with so much kindness—so much concern—that Nicole could no longer skirt around the truth. Sighing, she nodded. “I’ve never really dated. I went out with one guy a few times before senior year, but that’s really it.”
“That’s okay. I didn’t start dating till college. But when a perfectly nice guy walks into your life, you gotta listen to your heart, girl.”
Nicole pursed her lips, struggling to keep her emotions in check. She was a sensitive person who dreamed of a quiet family life and the idea of the right man walking into her life warmed her heart. But what seemed to be even stronger than her need to love and be loved was her fear of being hurt. “You never know who’s a perfectly nice guy and who’s a fake. So listening to your heart can prove to be pretty dangerous,” she said bluntly.
“Sweetie, with that mindset, you wouldn’t recognize a perfectly nice guy even if you tripped over him.”
Amelia joined her at the railing and together they silently stood there for a few minutes, listening to the waves and the rush of traffic a block away. Nicole knew there was a good chance Amelia was right, but that didn’t change anything for her heart. It wasn’t going to suddenly open up all because one guy seemed nice.
“It didn’t work out so well for my parents.” Nicole hadn’t even known the words were coming. Once they were out, she stood there in shock, her whole body trembling. She hardly ever talked about her mom and dad. What had suddenly made her bring them up?
“They divorced?”
“Yeah,” Nicole answered, her voice thick. The divorce had been the easiest part of it all. After what her dad had put Nicole and her mom through, his leaving had been the only appropriate ending.
“I’m sorry.”
“Thanks. They never really got along, so, you know, maybe it was inevitable.”
“Never?” Amelia asked.
Nicole released a sigh. “Not that I can remember. Even years before the divorce, they didn’t spend much time together. We hardly ever had dinner with the three of us. My dad was always away, working or…who knows.”
Nicole wasn’t sure where the sudden bout of honesty was coming from. She didn’t usually like to share about her family. Maybe it was that Amelia was so open and such a good listener.
“That was a heavy ‘who knows’,” Amelia said.
The two of them exchanged a smirk. “I won’t ask anymore if you don’t want me to.” Amelia seemed to understand that Nicole touched on dangerous territory.
Nicole nodded, and there was another quiet pause. A few people walked by them, laughing and talking, their flip flops smacking against the boards as they made their way to the beach.
“But you’re not your parents,” Amelia said, once they were alone again. “I do think I should say that. And maybe, by acknowledging whatever mistakes they made, you’ll be sure not to make the same ones.”
Nicole let the words sink in. She knew they made sense, but the advice couldn’t be easily applied. She’d worked endlessly to erase the pain from fifteen years ago. Now, she was finally at the point where she had something of her own to live for, something that didn’t have to do with her parents’ drama, and she wasn’t giving up her focus that easily. Her life was about work. Animals. Conservation. Her mom had made her life about a man, constantly giving to someone who never even acknowledged the effort, and look at how that had ended.
Nicole shook her head and pushed away from the railing. “Shouldn’t we be getting back?”
Amelia opened her mouth slightly but then nodded. Together, they made their way to her car.
Opening the passenger’s side door, Nicole paused. “Hey. Thanks for talking to me. I get what you’re saying.” She found it hard to look Amelia in the eye. “I just don’t know if I’m ready for men yet. I like where my life is now.”
“I get it. What about a simple night out? Are you ready for that?”
“With Aidan?” Nicole asked, hating how good it felt to say his name.
“No.” Amelia grinned. “With me. Nothing fancy. There’s live music tonight on this awesome restaurant’s patio. What do you say?”
Nicole thought about it. Lauren was flying in the next day, but until then, the hours off were sure to all be the same. Dinner. Couch. TV. Bed.
Walks on the beach were now out, as she was afraid of running into Aidan again.
“Sounds fun,” Nicole answered. “Count me in.”
“Nice. Hey, maybe we’ll meet some hot—” Amelia cut herself off just in time. “You know what? Tonight is about us. Forget men. We’re just two girls having fun.”
Nicole nodded and ducked into the car. What she didn’t say was that she wished badly she could be like Amelia—like everyone else, it seemed. Other people weren’t terrified of the opposite sex. They didn’t turn tail and bolt at the first sign of romance.
Maybe one day Nicole would be one of those people. Maybe.
CHAPTER 6
AIDAN
The silverware echoed in the cavernous dining room. As Aidan cut his steak, his gaze drifted to the vaulted ceiling. The windows went nearly to the rafters and he found himself wishing it were light out so he could see the beach beyond them.
Was Nicole out there now? How far away from him was she living? It couldn’t be too far, unless she’d driven to the beach the day before.
“So.” His dad’s clipped voice cut into Aidan’s thoughts. “I have some news.”
At the other end of the table, he steepled his fingers and grinned in pleasure. Aidan glanced at Mikey, who was in the middle of biting into a piece of broccoli.
Aidan raised his brows, and Mikey shrugged.
“First of all,” Rick said, looking at Mikey. “It’s too bad your dad passed on my movie idea. I’m telling you, there’s real gold there.”
Mikey nodded, his mouth too full for him to say anything. Aidan knew he didn’t agree one bit.
“But there are always other cards on the table,” Rick continued, turning his attention to Aidan.
“That’s true,” Aidan said slowly, already feeling like he was walking into some kind of trap.
“How would you like to do a television show?” Rick asked.
“Uh?” Aidan stared at him in confusion. “Acting?”
They’d discussed a lot of possibilities in the last year, and acting had been the one Aidan was the most against. His last adventure in theatrics had occurred in fourth grade, when he’d forgotten his one line in the Earth Day play.
“A reality show,” Rick clarified. “Following you.” Rick gestured excitedly at Aidan. “UsTV called me today. They’re ready to offer you a contract on the spot. A full season. Ten to fifteen episodes. What do you think about that? All you have to do is say yes.”
Aidan looked at Mikey again, but he didn’t know why. His best friend had been pretty mum ever since the accident, basically supporting whatever Aidan decided to do.
“I’ve never thought about reality,” Aidan answered.
“Which is why it’s so great,” his dad said right away. “No one will be expecting it. How many athletes have their own reality shows?”
Aidan didn’t know the answer to that. Before his accident, he hadn’t had much time for TV. After it, he’d found himself drawn more and more to activities that involved silence. Walks in nature. Listening to music. Reading. Sitting alone on his porch, contemplating on every
thing that had happened in his life.
All of those pursuits were solitary ones—or ones done with a friend. Living with a camera crew following him around, with the whole country seeing what he did day in and out, was the opposite kind of lifestyle.
“What do people want to see me for?” Aidan asked. “I’m boring.”
“They’ll figure that out. Half of what happens on reality isn’t real, anyway. They edit it to make it more exciting.”
Mikey quickly took a long drink of water, and Aidan could tell from the slight shaking of his shoulders that he was trying not to laugh.
“I don’t know, Dad.”
“What don’t you know?”
“If a reality show is for me.”
The silence in the house became heavy. For the first time, Aidan wondered why on Earth they’d rented such a huge home. They were only there for a week and it was just the three of them. When his dad had shown him a picture of it online, though, Aidan had shrugged and agreed. It was what he always did. Nodded while his father made all the decisions.
Aidan sighed and rubbed his eyes. “I’ve been thinking I might like to go a… different route.”
Rick frowned. “Like what?”
“I don’t know yet.”
His father’s laugh was abrupt and humorless. “You’re not making any sense, son.”
Running his fingers through his hair, Aidan leaned back in his chair and looked around. From his seat in the dining room, he could see the living room with its pool table. Downstairs was a movie theater and upstairs five bedrooms. The place was definitely too big for three people.
Not that Aidan’s house in Malibu was any smaller. Thinking about it now, he couldn’t remember why he’d bought that place. It had easy access to the beach, sure, and a pool, but other than that, why had he picked it?
“Aidan?”
He looked back at his dad and friend, finding them both wordlessly watching him.
“I’m not a reality star, Dad.”
Rick’s nostrils flared. “So then what is your plan, huh? Tell me that. You think you’re going to coast on the Fresh Wear Athletics money for the rest of your life? Because I can tell you this. They won’t be renewing your contract unless you’re keeping your face out there. Come next year, Aidan, and people won’t be talking about you anymore. They’ll be on to the next up and comer.”
Winning Her Heart Page 3
