by Tina Saxon
I laugh at her. “No, he didn’t leave me. I had to leave him. I don’t want to talk anymore about it. Please?” I sigh.
“Fine.” She huffs. “Let’s drink to our past and look forward to our future,” she says as she lifts her shot.
“I’ll drink to that.” Smiling, I lift the shot and quickly down it. Although, my future is a little uncertain right now. “Another one, Vinnie.” I need to stop thinking about tomorrow.
We drink another shot, and Harper pulls me to the dance floor. It’s not a big dance floor, but we make it work. We both love to dance, but Harper demands attention when she dances. When I dance, I don’t care who is watching. It doesn’t take long before she has the attention of several men. Harper eats it up and dances with more seductive movements. Typical Harper.
We stay on the floor for the next song. I spin around toward the bar, debating if I have enough time to run and get a drink first. The song starts, making my decision for me. I’m getting into the beat when I feel a body behind me. I can tell it’s a tall, strong, hard body. He moves fluidly with me, staying with the beat. I feel his hands grab my hips, squeezing them.
He whispers into my ear, “Please tell me I’m not fucking dreaming.” Chills break out all over my body.
Aiden.
Chapter Twenty-eight
Aiden
“WOW, O’MALLEY’S has expanded,” I say, walking into the bar. The last time I was here, it was a small hole-in-the-wall pub, but now it’s much larger.
“Yeah… I guess it happened right after you left. It’s been about ten months since O’Malley remodeled. He added a small dance floor and a couple more tables. It’s definitely become the place to go after work,” Damon replies.
We head to the bar and I see Vinnie. I haven’t seen him in forever. He pretty much runs this place. His dad owns it, but Vinnie is the one who does most of the work. The place has been on this corner for over twenty years.
“Vinnie, how the hell have you been?” I ask when he sees us.
“Aiden! What hole did you come out of?” he says, shaking my hand.
“Work. But I’m back for a while. The place looks great. You and your dad are doing well, I see. And the dance floor is a nice addition, especially seeing how it brings free entertainment,” I say, looking toward the dance floor. There’s a group of women on the dance floor, all being watched by every guy in the place.
“Holy shit, if we would’ve known that…” he says pointing to the dance floor “…we would’ve done that a long time ago.” I nod in agreement. “What’ll it be tonight?”
Damon and I order our beers. People from NYPD who I haven’t seen since I got home come over. It feels good to be back. I missed this place. New York City is my home. It’s hard to be away from everything you know and love for two years of your life. I know it’s my job, but it doesn’t ever get easier. Usually, it’s great to get back and forget about the fictitious life I lived, but this time there is still one piece I can’t seem to forget. I close my eyes and pinch the bridge of my nose. I need to stop thinking about her.
“Vinnie, another shiner!” I yell.
There are lots of women here tonight. I only need one to help me. Help me forget. I haven’t had sex since her. How can I be so hard up for a woman I knew for five days and slept with once? And then she shot me. What the hell is wrong with me?
“Isn’t that Harper from forensics?” I ask, leaning against the bar and point to the dance floor.
“Yep, that’s her, and she’s with Addison. You can’t see her face, but I’m sure that’s her. They’re usually here together. Not many women have a smoking body like that.” He eyes the other woman on the dance floor.
I tilt my head, bringing my beer to my lips, wondering if I do know her. Her body is familiar, but she isn’t facing us so I can’t be sure. She has long, beautiful, blonde hair and I definitely agree, she does have a body that I wouldn’t mind doing things to. Those black jeans make her legs look impossibly longer and her ass is perfect. She’s gorgeous from behind. My dick twitches. Holy shit! I actually want to give it a high five, excited that he’s not broken.
Damon and I stand there and stare as she dances, swaying those hips. I adjust myself to hide my semi-hard dick. Harper is beautiful, too, but she isn’t my type. She likes attention from men and tries a little too hard to get it. I wish Addison would turn around so I could see her face.
I get my wish when the song ends and another one comes on; both women stay on the dance floor. Addison turns and looks my way, but she quickly turns back around.
What the fuck? My eyes go wide and I almost drop my beer. I shake my head. Am I seeing things?
“What’s the girl’s name who Harper is with?” I ask Damon, not believing my eyes. I know he said Addison, but I need to hear it again. That was definitely Emily. I memorized her face. And those eyes… they haunt my dreams every night.
“Addison. Isn’t she gorgeous?”
If he only fucking knew.
“What?” asks Damon.
I mumble a curse under my breath. “Her eyes are so fucking blue,” I respond quickly.
“Oh, I know. I’ve never seen eyes that turquoise blue before. They’re hard to look away from. I’ll introduce you to her when she comes off the dance floor. Right now, I’m enjoying the show too much.” He chuckles.
As Damon continues to watch, I look around noticing every guy watching her on the floor. Heat spreads through my body as I make fists. I can’t explain it, but all of a sudden I want them to stop watching her. This foreign feeling of jealousy shocks the hell out of me.
I notice a couple of guys heading their way. My spine stiffens. I know what’s about to happen. I can’t stand here and watch another guy go after the one person I’ve been dreaming and fantasizing about for almost a year. My nerves stop me. I don’t know if she even liked me. Shit, the last thing she did was shoot me before running off.
Setting down my beer, I push back my nerves and catch up with the guys heading straight toward them. “She’s with me,” I hiss, pointing at Addison. I’m already primed for a fight. They look at me and size me up before nodding and retreating. My eyes are laser-focused on one thing: Addison. Everything ceases to exist as I walk toward her. I slide up right behind her, pulling those perfect hips to mine.
Her scent takes me back. I could never forget that smell. I squeeze her hips as I grind into her. I bend down and whisper, “Please tell me I’m not fucking dreaming.”
She spins around immediately. We stop moving and stare at each other. I narrow my eyes, expecting to see a look of surprise but it never comes. Instead, she flashes her beautiful smile at me.
“Hi, Aiden,” she says quietly, tilting her head to look up to me.
She said my name. My real name. How long has she known? If she knows who I am, why hasn’t she come to talk to me? Was I really just a way for her to escape? She’s staring up at me, and I can’t move. Hypnotized is an understatement.
“Hi,” I murmur.
My eyes flicker to her lips, and she licks them. That fucking does it. I slam my lips to hers, and she opens them for me. Our kiss isn’t soft; it’s heated, necessary. My tongue explores her entire mouth, and she sucks on it lightly. I growl into her mouth as I feel her body melt into mine.
“Well…” coughs Harper “…Addison meet Aiden.”
I reluctantly stop kissing her. Damn. I look around at Harper, who has a huge smile on her face. I notice Damon standing right beside her. Both of them are staring at us with mouths gaped open, wondering what the hell just happened. Shit, I don’t think I know myself.
I look back at Addison, and she smiles. She reaches up and touches my shoulder softly where my scar is from where her bullet grazed me.
“I’m sorry,” she says as she looks at me with guilt in her eyes.
I chuckle. “I’m glad you missed.”
I’m not sure what I said to make her laugh, but she does. She grabs Harper’s hand and pulls her off the dance floor. I wa
tch them head to the bar.
“I’m so confused,” Damon says, still standing there with me. “What the hell just happened? I thought you didn’t know Addison. Then you’re dancing with her like you own her. Then you kiss her like you’re fucking her with your mouth. And then she’s saying sorry for something on your arm.” He glances at my arm right when he says it. I can see when the light bulb goes off in his head because his eyes get wide.
“Is Addison… Emily?” he asks. I nod slowly. Then he starts laughing. Why is everyone laughing at me? This is not a funny moment.
“If Addison was the one who shot you, she didn’t miss.” That’s all he says before he walks back to the bar, too, shaking his head and laughing. I’m standing there, sure I look an idiot, wondering what joke I missed.
Chapter Twenty-nine
HE ACTUALLY THINKS that I missed when I shot him. I didn’t mean to laugh, but it was funny. I’m sure once he figures out why, he’ll be thankful I only grazed him.
“Okay, girl. What. Was. That?” asks Harper. “You’re not the type to kiss a random guy. Especially a kiss like that. Damn, I felt a little naughty watching you guys.” She fans herself.
I sigh. We do have explosive chemistry. At the time though, it was something that couldn’t be, but are we getting a second chance now? What will happen when he finds out why I was actually there? I don’t think I can tell him the truth if he doesn’t know already. I still can’t believe he was an undercover agent. Our entire time together was based on lies. And now there is still this huge lie looming over us. Backing away from him is the only way I can save myself from getting hurt. I need to breathe.
“I need to get out of here. I’ll tell you, but not here.” We walk out and go back to my apartment.
* * *
“So, last summer before I came to New York, Aiden and I met, but we were both going by different aliases for different reasons. I’m assuming he was undercover, now that I know that he’s FBI. I didn’t know then. We had a short fling and then we went our separate ways,” I explain.
“It doesn’t look like he wanted to part ways. Now it’s starting to make sense. You saw him earlier today didn’t you?” Harper asks. “That’s why you were acting so weird.” She knows the answer to her own question. “I have so many other questions. First, why were you going by an alias?” In our line of work there are never too many questions. I should expect nothing less from Harper.
“Yes. He obviously didn’t see me. I was going to go to his office tomorrow to get this whole awkward situation out of the way. It’s not like I can ignore him. We’ll be working together sometimes,” I say. “Last summer I had to figure some stuff out so I used an alias. I did what I needed to do and then I left. Unfortunately, meeting Aiden wasn’t part of the plan,” I say vaguely. I can’t tell her the whole truth.
“So, what’s next? It looks like you both are still hot for each other. It’s obvious whatever was started isn’t finished. And you two are hot together. Definitely a power couple. You’re two of the most beautiful people I know. You’d seriously have beautiful babies with the most beautiful eyes.” I laugh. Harper’s a little dramatic, at times.
“First, we are not having babies. Next, I don’t think we’ll work out. Our relationship, short as it might have been, was all based on lies. Yes, our physical attraction is out of this world…” my whole body reacts when I think about it “…but that’s not enough.” I sigh.
“So are the rumors true?” Harper asks, lifting her eyebrow.
“What rumors would those be?”
“You know… that he’s huge.” She holds up her hands like she’s measuring something.
“Oh, my God!” I throw a pillow at her, laughing.
“Come on! He can’t be perfect everywhere!” She giggles.
“Oh… he is perfect… everywhere,” I say with a huge grin.
“So what are you going to do?”
“I don’t know.” I throw myself back into the couch. “I have a past. Things that need to stay in the past,” I answer, staring up at the wall.
“We all have skeletons, Addison.” Yeah, but mine is an actual person in a jail cell. Put there by Aiden. “But, like you said, it’s in the past. Why can’t it stay there?”
“I wish it were that easy.” I blow out a breath.
“Well, if you ever need to talk, about anything, you know I won’t judge. And I’ll always keep what you say between us.” Harper stands to make her way into the bathroom.
“Thanks, Harper.” It’s still hard for me to trust people. Syd is the only person who knows everything about me.
* * *
“You two look like shit.” Our boss, CJ, stops us before we get to our desks. Harper spent the night last night, only we stayed up talking about what I’m going to do. “You better get some caffeine in you because I need you both out in the field today. We had a person go crazy and kill four family members this morning. Go get your shit together and I’ll brief you in my office in fifteen minutes.”
After a quick dose of coffee, I’m doing much better. I put on my Crime Scene Investigator vest on my way out the door. Harper and I take the crime scene van. Once we get there, we grab our kits. The press is here with grieving friends and family. We’re so used to the chaos it doesn’t faze us anymore. My job is dedicated to the people who have been murdered, finding who did this and bringing them to justice.
The crime scene is gruesome. The parents and two kids have been murdered. It looks like a home invasion with furniture upturned and smashed. Harper and I get to work immediately. There is no need for discussion. Nothing we can say can reverse this horrendous act, but we can hopefully help find out who did it before they do it again.
After an hour of tagging and taking pictures, I run out to the van to grab some more tape. I notice a couple of black SUVs pulling up.
And so it begins. I release a quick breath, knowing this would happen.
I’m not surprised to see Aiden and Damon get out of one of the SUVs. Aiden spots me and struts over. I shift from one foot to the other. Before he can say anything, I ask, “Why’d they call in the feds?” It isn’t normal for the feds to be called for this type of case.
“They think it might be a serial killer, so they called us in to help.” He shrugs and looks me up and down, causing my body to react. Which it shouldn’t be doing. “You look good.” He flashes a sexy grin, revealing his dimples.
“Thanks.” I twist my lips and tilt my head. I could definitely say the same for him.
“All you need is a gun and then you won’t have to steal one if you need to shoot someone,” he teases.
“Maybe someone shouldn’t have made it so easy for me to steal.” I laugh and turn around, walking away with a little more sway in my hips than usual.
“Touché, Addison,” I hear him chuckle behind me.
I only see Aiden a couple of times after that. He is definitely a sight to see. His arrogance is evident in his powerful stride and the straightening of his back, which causes him to appear taller, but when he talks to people, he makes them feel at ease. It’s that damn sexy, deep voice. He is a confident, beautiful man. My heart flutters the couple of times our eyes meet.
Harper and I get back to the office a little after three. It’s been a long day. We unload and enter all of our evidence in the lab. As we’re working, one of the techs sticks her head in.
“Hey, Addison, looks like you have an admirer,” Kenlie says.
I look up from the computer, confused. “What are you talking about, Kenlie?” Harper shrugs.
“Have you been by your desk since you came back?” Kenlie asks.
Harper and I look at each other and both make a fast dash to my desk. We round the corner, and there on my desk are two dozen beautiful red roses.
Harper looks at me. “Is it from… you know who?” she asks with a squeal.
“Oh, my God, did you just squeal? I don’t know who it’s from,” I say, walking over to pick up the card attached to a stick
.
“I don’t know you, but I want to.”
Aiden
I stand there staring at the card. Tingles spread through my body, remembering that night. Harper grabs it out of my hand and reads it. “Wow…” She breathes out, fanning herself with the card.
“Well, you’ll be even more wowed when I tell you what it means. When we were together, or whatever you want to call it, one night we danced to Sam Hunt’s ‘Take Your Time.’ That’s what he sang to me,” I say softly. Of course I skipped the part about being handcuffed to him.
“Addison! You missed a few details when you told me what happened. You made it seem like it was a one-night stand.” I wish it had been. Do I? The sparks that we had definitely have not gone away. Just the sight of him has my body humming, craving his touch. When those eyes catch mine, they penetrate deep into my soul, making me question things, but I can’t give him my heart fully just for him to tear it apart when he finds out who my father is.
“It’s complicated.” I sigh as we head back to the lab.
“Do you like him?” she asks.
“Yes. No. Yes. Shit! See, I can’t even decide if I like him. We don’t know anything about each other.”
“Exactly. He obviously wants to know more about you,” she says, wiggling her eyebrows, pointing back to my office. “Listen, I’ve known Aiden for six years, and I’ve never seen him go after a woman. Ever. He has always put his job first. Women come and go. Shit, we all thought it would be a cold day in hell if we saw him settle down. Addison… it’s getting cold in here,” she says, laughing, rubbing her hands over her arms acting like she is freezing.
“Shut up.” I laugh. “He doesn’t know how to handle a woman who doesn’t throw herself at him.”
“I don’t think so, but you keep telling yourself that.” She grins.
Chapter Thirty
Aiden
I’M LYING HERE in bed and can’t think of a damn thing other than Addison. What is it about this girl that has me actually thinking of wanting more? I can’t be pussy-whipped from one fucking night. The sex was amazing, but I don’t even know her. After a quick search on Google, I found out she won first place in some national action-shoot competition when she was younger. That explains why everyone was laughing. She hit me exactly where she was aiming. She’s not like any other girl. Yeah, she’s not falling at my feet. Is that why I’m so intrigued? I run my hands through my hair, kicking the sheets off me.
