Hate at First Sight

by Diana Nixon

  “I don’t need anyone to tell me what I can see myself.”

  “You were right, you are one hell of a man to stand,” I said, smacking his hand.

  “I told you it wouldn’t be easy.”

  “And I foolishly hoped it would be as simple as anything….”

  Aiden looked at me, squinting.

  “What?”

  “You don’t deny that you like me.”

  Well, hell … it was hard to deny something that I wasn’t sure about. But still, I wasn’t going to admit it. “I hate you, Mr. Murphy. Happy now?”

  “Love and hate are just one step apart, Sweetheart.”

  “One long, long step apart,” I added, watching the fire.

  Aiden didn’t say anything at my comment. I couldn’t see his face, but I could swear he was smiling at that moment. Again I thought he was making fun of me, because there was no way he believed his own words….

  Chapter 14

  Aiden

  I could hear sounds of running water. I had been pacing the room for ten minutes already, trying to suppress the wild desire to join Megan in the shower. I liked the game we were playing, but the lower part of my body had its own opinion about that — it was about to explode, any second. Crap….

  I sighed, running a palm through my hair. I wasn’t ready for the upcoming night. Apparently I had overestimated the limits of my patience. The first day of the bet hadn’t finished yet, and I already wanted to send to hell the rules we set up in the morning. So I decided to give Megan some space and went to the terrace to cool off.

  The night was surprisingly warm. I took a seat at one of the benches and inhaled deeply. The visions of Megan standing under the shower filled my mind. I could almost feel how painfully soft her skin was, covered with the water drops. I could almost taste the sweetness of its scent on my lips. I wanted to explore every part of it, and I didn’t know how to make myself stop thinking about making love to Megan. I wanted to claim every inch of her body with my kisses and make her go wild in my embrace, drowning in the waves of her warmth and tenderness.

  Did I actually realize how close I was to sacrificing myself to her every wish? No … I was still sure I had it all under control. Did she realize how close we were to crossing the forbidden line? Sometimes I felt like I was under some spell that mixed my blood with the intensity of her gaze, turning me into one helpless human being.

  Did she know how unbelievably stunning she looked in that red dress I gave her? Did she know how much I wanted to get rid of it and feel her skin touching mine? Did I realize that I was one step from giving up everything for the only chance to be with her? One step from falling for her….

  I closed my eyes, trying to switch my thoughts to something different; it was too soon to let these feelings take control over me. Then I saw a few beautiful pale-pink roses, growing near a small waterfall. I took one of them and went back to the bedroom. The game wasn’t over yet….

  When I entered the room, Megan was sitting at the edge of my bed typing something on her cell phone. She was wearing one of my T-shirts that I desperately wanted to take off of her. My walk in the garden didn’t help a thing….

  “Is everything all right?” I asked, coming up to her.

  “Yeah, it’s just Owen. He wanted to ask something about tomorrow’s barbeque. I can’t believe he and Mary decided to combine the bachelor party and the bridal shower. ”

  “Does he know that you are with me?” I sat beside her, giving her the rose.

  “No. Do you want me to tell him that we are going to spend the night together?” She smiled slightly, taking the flower. “Thanks, it’s beautiful.”

  “Are you afraid of what he may say about it?”

  “Not really. It’s none of his business. And I’m a big girl after all. I can take care of myself.”

  “Really?” I leaned closer, moving a few strands of hair that hid her neck, and let the intoxicating scent of milk and honey fill my nostrils.

  “Your bathroom is full of my favorite shower supplies,” she said.

  “Looks like we love the same things.” She shivered the moment my hand slipped down her back, and I pulled her closer.

  “Do you still remember about the bet?”

  “Why don’t we let it all hang out?” I said, holding her chin with my fingertips.

  “No way,” she replied firmly.

  I sighed, disappointed. “Then shall we call it a night?”

  She broke free from my arms and slipped under the blanket.

  “You are impossible, Megs, you know that?” I stood up and went to the other side of the bed.

  “Look who’s talking!” She laughed, leaning on an elbow.

  “First you let me take a step closer, and then you take fifty steps away from me!”

  “Well, karma is a very bad girl, you know?”

  I shook my head, smiling down at her. “I can see only one bad girl here. And she looks so damn good in my shirt. Is there anything under it?”

  “You will be the last person to know it.”

  “Hmm … don’t you think it’s unfair?” I took off my shirt and trousers, and lay down next to Megan, who to my surprise, didn’t move an inch when I got really close to her. “See? You are not afraid of sleeping in my embrace anymore, though the bed is big enough to sleep in without even touching each other.”

  “What if I like being close to you?”

  Sweet Baby Jesus, she knew what to say to make me lose my mind.

  “How close do you want me to be?” I asked, wrapping my right arm around her waist.

  “How close can we be without kissing and making love?”

  I hesitated for a moment, and then my gaze stopped at the rose I gave her.

  “Close your eyes,” I said, reaching for the flower. “Do you trust me?”

  I searched her face, as uncertainty crossed the gentle features. “I do,” she replied almost in a whisper.

  “Then do what I say and don’t ask any questions. Don’t worry; I’ll behave. Well … as much as I can.”

  “It’s a bargain with a devil,” she said, rolling on her back.

  “Yes, but you like him, don’t you?”

  “Not even close.” She closed her eyes, smiling.

  I leaned on my elbows looking down at her, and my heart missed a beat. I didn’t know how close I would be able to get to her tonight, but I was going to do my best….

  I took the rose and touched Megan’s cheek with its petals. Her lips trembled, and she moistened them taking a deep breath.

  “What do you feel?” I asked in a whisper, moving the rose to her lips. No matter how close I got, they were still out of my reach.

  “You are watching me, your gaze is following the flower, and your breath is touching my skin, as if it were your lips kissing my face.”

  “Can you feel my lips here?” I asked, sliding the petals down her neck and collarbone.

  “Yes.”

  “What if I kiss you here?” I said, as I put my palm on her hip. “And then I will move higher,” I added, slipping my hand under the shirt, and to her belly button. Then I kneeled and pushed her shirt up to her breast.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, a little worried.

  “You said you trusted me, remember?”

  “I should have thought twice before saying that.”

  “Stay still,” I said, as I tore the rosebud off the stem and placed it in between my lips.

  I leaned over Megan’s belly and started drawing invisible lines across her skin. She shivered from my touches. I knew she liked what I was doing, and I wasn’t going to stop. Instead, I moved lower, and to the line of her dark-blue lingerie, caressing her hips with my palms, with the rose in my lips touching her skin. When the rosebud stopped at the most sensitive part of her body, fire ignited inside me. I pressed the rose harder against the silky fabric, as my hold on Megan’s hips tightened, and she raised them slightly, thrusting her fingers into my hair. The muscles of my lower body tightened in
response.

  It was torture for both of us, but the temptation was stronger than the need to stop. I could easily imagine myself making love with Megan; being with her felt so right. Every time we kissed, it was perfect, as if our lips knew exactly what we wanted to get from each other; as if her every move mirrored mine.

  My hands travelled down her legs, and when I thought the torture couldn’t get any worse, she sat abruptly and took the rose from my lips.

  “What are you doing?” I asked, as she rose, and sat on my lap; both of her legs over mine.

  “Do you trust me?”

  “I do, but….”

  She put a finger on my lips and placed the rosebud in between hers. God, she looked so unbelievable beautiful: first part angel, second part danger … I was too stunned to do anything, but stare.

  With her eyes burning with the flames of passion and her cheeks flushing, she pushed me to the blanket and leaned over me. I closed my eyes and let myself sink into the rivers of what she made me feel.

  First I felt the rose petals touching my earlobe, and then they moved to my cheek, followed by the soft touches of her fingertips. Our noses rubbed, and I froze when the petals brushed the corner of my mouth and then my lips. I couldn’t help myself, I reached for the hem of her shirt and pushed it up, gliding my palms slowly up and down her sides; her skin began to heat under my fingers.

  When I felt the rosebud moving down my chest, my breathing stopped. “You are killing me,” I said, catching her hands. I wanted her so badly, my head swam.

  “You started it first,” she replied, smiling down at me. Her eyes were dark now, almost black, and I realized that I was drowning in them, as if she were a magnet that I couldn’t resist.

  “Yes, but being a hunter, and a prey are two different things. Now, I need a very cold shower.”

  “Don’t freeze yourself to death,” she said, turning the rose in her fingers, her eyes still watching me intently.

  “This bet is going to finish me off soon,” I muttered.

  Despite the fact that I initiated the thing, it looked like I wasn’t the one controlling it any more. She had full control over the situation … and me.

  I looked into her joyful eyes one last time and went to the bathroom, cursing everything on the way.

  When I was done with the shower, and my excitement seemed to be less unbearable, I went back to the bedroom and saw the following: Megan, sleeping peacefully across my bed. Great….

  I covered her with the blanket, placed a kiss on her forehead, and went to the living room to have a drink, ‘cause there was no way I could stay with her at the moment. The memories of our rose play were still too vivid to take them out of my head.

  The next morning I woke up from the sound of a coffee machine working. Oh, yeah, I forgot to say that I fell asleep on a couch. At that time of the night it seemed like the best I could do.

  I looked at my watch that showed half past ten in the morning, and then I rose to my feet and went to the kitchen.

  The picture I saw there was really funny: Megan, listening to some pop song and dancing with a cup of coffee right in the middle of my kitchen. I didn’t want to interrupt her, so I leaned against the door frame and started watching her.

  Her long, brown hair was still messy, as if she had the most adventurous night ever. The shirt she was wearing was wrinkled, but it didn’t affect the view of her slender legs and hips moving in tune with the music. And suddenly I thought about the morning we could wake up together, in one bed, in each other’s embrace, with no clothes covering our bodies. It would be the best morning ever….

  “Jeez, Aiden, I didn’t know you were awake!” Megan’s cheeks flushed, and she giggled. “Shame on you. You should have warned me you were there.”

  “And ruin your dance? No way.” I came up to her, and put my arms around her waist. “Morning, Sunshine. Did you sleep well?”

  “Definitely better than you. Why did you take the couch?”

  “I thought it was safer to stay away from you for a while.”

  “Oh … so you think you won’t be able to make it for two more days of our bet?”

  I laughed, tightening the embrace. “I’m not going to give up. Besides, the prize I’m planning to get is worth waiting for, even forever. What about you? Last night you were more than willing to give me anything I wanted.”

  “Last night you were more than willing to take whatever I could give you.”

  How very true, I thought to myself. I was right after all — she was on top of me now.

  Chapter 15

  Megan

  The moment we got back from Cheddar, I knew that something was wrong. My brother was as gloomy as a stormy cloud. He didn’t say a word when he saw Aiden and me entering the house, but the intense glare he gave us said it all: we were in trouble.

  “This is going to be a tough day,” I said to Aiden. “I need to talk to Owen.”

  “Do you want me to go with you?”

  “No, I think we need to talk in private.”

  “Okay.” Aiden nodded, gave me a quick kiss, and went to his room.

  My brother was on the terrace. With his arms crossed, he was gazing the sky.

  “Hey,” I said, standing next to him. “How are things going here?”

  “Mary cancelled the wedding.”

  “What?” I stared at him, shocked. “What happened?”

  “She saw me and Annabel kissing.”

  “You kissed that bitch?”

  “No, she kissed me. But the moment she did that, Mary entered the room, and then ran away crying.”

  “Did you try to talk to her?”

  “She didn’t let me say a word. She said she didn’t want to see me ever again, and then she canceled the wedding.”

  “So what are you going to do now?”

  “I don’t know.”

  My brother never gave up easily, and knowing how much he loved Mary, I was more than surprised to hear that he didn’t have a plan.

  “Okay, do you know where she is?”

  “Have no idea. We haven’t seen her since last night. Her mother is furious.”

  “So Mary left last night? Why didn’t you call me?”

  “Actually I did call you. Many times. But apparently you were too busy to answer my calls.” Owen looked at me angrily. “What’s going on, Megs? Are you and Aiden dating or something?”

  “Or something…” I muttered, turning away from him. The guilt was eating me alive.

  “Whatever,” he snapped, and walked back into the house.

  Everything was against me and Aiden. Even now, when we thought we could make it work, a new obstacle appeared out of nowhere. And I couldn’t believe that Owen and Mary wouldn’t get married. They, of all people deserved a happily-ever-after. That’s why I needed to find Mary as soon as possible.

  But first, I wanted to talk to Aiden. Somehow I was sure he knew more about Annabel than anyone else, and there was no doubt he knew about her crush on Owen.

  “What happened?” he asked the moment I entered his room. Apparently my expression was far from being happy.

  “Did you know about Barbie’s plan of ruining my brother’s wedding?”

  “What did she do?”

  “Answer the question, Aiden.”

  “Listen, Megan … Owen and I both knew about her affection for him. And I told him that inviting her to the wedding was a bad idea, but you know your brother, he never listens to anyone.”

  “Which means it’s his fault….”

  “Can you tell me what’s going on?”

  “Mary caught him and Annabel kissing, and cancelled the wedding.”

  “Oh….”

  “And now we need to find a way to fix it. I don’t know how, but we need to find Mary and talk to her. She won’t listen to Owen now, but I hope she will listen to us.”

  “Okay, what shall we start with?”

  And so the search began. First, Aiden and I went to talk to our neighbors, to find out if any
of them saw Mary last night. Mrs. Therwing said she saw her heading for the beach. But the information wasn’t helpful. Then we went to Mary’s old house, but we didn’t find anyone there.

  “Do you have any idea where else she would go?” Aiden asked.

  There was one more place I thought of. The amusement park that Owen, Mary and I liked so much when we were kids. It had been closed for years, but sometimes we still went there when we wanted to hide from everyone.

  The place was deserted, but there was one old arcade that always attracted kids and youth — The Wild Seashells. Despite the fact that its mechanisms didn’t work anymore, the shells could still move.

  “Are you sure we can find her here?” Aiden asked, looking at the arcade doubtfully.

  “Let’s see … Mary? Are you there? It’s me, Megan!”

  I looked around, listening to the echo of my voice.

  “She’s not here.”

  “Someone is there,” I said, pointing to the furthest shell that was swaying slowly.

  We came closer, and I called again, “Mary?”

  “Go away!” a voice from the inside replied.

  “Thank God!” Aiden and I said in unison. “Stay here,” I added, getting into the shell.

  Mary was sitting there, trembling from head to toe and crying. “Go away, Megan,” she repeated through the tears.

  “It’s not the best place for a bridal shower,” I said, smiling uneasily. I took off my jacket and put it around Mary’s shoulders.

  She looked at me briefly. “Thanks.”

  I hesitated for a moment, not sure what to say next. “Do you remember the time when this thing was still working?”

  Mary smiled slightly. “Yeah, it was the best time of our lives. We were so young and carefree….”

  “I think the best time of your life is going to start on Saturday.”

  “No. There will be no wedding. So don’t waste your time on me, Megan. You’d better go and spend a few more hours with the hottie staying at Owen’s. Last time I saw him, he couldn’t take his eyes off you.”

  I smirked at the words that I was sure Aiden could hear too. “He can’t take his eyes off any pretty woman he sees.”