The Wells Brothers: Aaron

by Angela Verdenius

  The delightful memory didn’t mean he couldn’t tell there was something on her mind. She might smile, nod in answer to his words, but several times he caught her regarding him seriously before glancing away.

  Definitely something on her mind.

  It was just as definite that she wasn’t going to broach the subject, whatever it was. No worries.

  “Going to tell me?” he asked quietly.

  Her eyes cut to him.

  Hmmm, so she wasn’t surprised that he’d notice her preoccupation. Interesting. That could possibly mean it was something she wanted him to know.

  “Tell you what?” she parried.

  Ah, so something she might not actually want to tell him just yet.

  “What’s on your mind?”

  “It’s a lovely restaurant.”

  “The other thing on your mind.”

  “I’m looking forward to that snapper.”

  He arched an eyebrow.

  She took a sip of wine.

  He didn’t look away.

  Nor did she.

  That’s what he liked about her; the woman could handle his intensity. It also made her a little difficult to rattle, but he was more than up to the challenge. In fact, he liked it when she challenged him. Call him a little sick but the flashes of defiance wetted his appetite for more - to see her eyes go a little stormy, the toss of her head, the hands on hips, or like now when she locked her gaze with his.

  Let’s see who looks away first, honey.

  Settling back in the chair, Aaron took a sip of the one and only glass of wine he’d allow himself for the evening. He didn’t believe in overindulging in alcohol, liked to keep a clear head. It made him sharper for times such as this.

  Eyeing him over the rim of her glass, Shea tipped the tiniest amount of wine into her mouth, swallowed, set the glass back down on the table.

  The conversation around them faded into the background as their gazes remained locked, neither backing down.

  Didn’t worry Aaron, he could easily keep eye contact for a long time. In fact, no person had ever been able to make him look away first.

  He won this round, too. After a full five minutes, Shea rolled her eyes. “Hells bells, you’re stubborn.”

  Aaron arched an eyebrow again.

  “Keep arching it and I’ll shave it off one night while you’re asleep.”

  “Luke already tried that. I held him down and shaved his head.”

  “You did what?”

  “He was fourteen.”

  “That means you were an adult.”

  “I was stronger. Luke always was a slippery little bugger when trying to get away.” Aaron still laughed inside at the memory of a bald-headed Luke. It hadn’t been easy for a young copper to go around minus half an eyebrow, but a kid going to school with a bald head was justice.

  “Did your Dad go berko?”

  “Dad took one look at my partially missing eyebrow, Luke’s bald head, and said not one word.” Not about to let her turn the conversation away, he asked, “What’s on your mind?”

  Shea fiddled with the stem of the wine glass before sighing. “I was going to talk to Cole first.”

  Something between brother and sister. It was still early days in Aaron and Shea’s relationship, but he hoped one day soon he’d be included in the first talks. But for now… “Okay. No need to say anything more.”

  “Actually, I’m thinking of maybe giving up the clairvoyant business.”

  Aaron wasn’t in the least surprised. Deep down she was an honest woman - paying for that honesty in the past, sure - but still maintaining an honesty that was at odds with her chosen scam, which was troubling her more with every day that passed. At some stage he’d fully expected her to stand back and re-evaluate her life and decisions.

  No wonder she wanted to talk to Cole first. He was her cohort in crime.

  “Well?” She waited expectantly.

  “What are you thinking of doing?”

  “You’re not surprised?”

  “No.”

  “Why?”

  “You’re an honest woman. You’ve had some hard times that had you making decisions that at the time you deemed right. Now you’ve had time, run your business, and you want something more.”

  “I want something more, huh?”

  “You’re tired of living a double life,” he stated calmly. “You want to be you, let Cole be a kid without snooping, live your life without wondering when something isn’t going to come back to bite you on the derrière.”

  Her mouth dropped.

  Oh yes, she hadn’t thought he’d know that much. Aaron waited, watching the fleeting expressions cross her pretty face.

  “Okay,” she finally said. “That was freaky.”

  “Nothing freaky about it.”

  “How did you know?”

  “You’re worried about Cole’s invasion of privacy, so you’re not prepared to go too far even though you know you could make a killing with private information. You were wary of attending the BBQ with my family because of revealing who you are, yet you did it not just for me, but for yourself. You’re able to be who you really are with my family. You’ve made friends, Cole’s made friends, and I know you refuse to do readings for his friends. I know you’ve fobbed off Mikki and Izzy, stating that you don’t do readings for friends, yet you know more about them, could lead them on and make more money. You have standards you won’t drop regardless of how much you could make, how big a reputation you could build on it. And another telling factor was the comment you made about not wanting to keep up the act after hours.” He watched her digest everything he’d said.

  “Well, shit.”

  “Eloquent,” he murmured.

  “Maybe there’s something more you don’t know, smart arse.”

  “Enlighten me.”

  “That’ll be a first.”

  He grinned. “There’s been a few ‘firsts’ with you.” Namely condom. Very big first.

  She grinned back, both of them intuitively sharing that intimate thought until Shea took another sip of wine and shrugged. “Well, I didn’t expect some of the situations that have come up to, well, come up.”

  “Situations.”

  “Let’s just say that there have been some things that I never expected to see. Or know,” she added reflectively. “And that’s the shitty part, I don’t know, and these things were way too serious for me to even consider pretending to know.” She shook her head. “The consequences that could result aren’t consequences I’m comfortable with, nor do I want to deal with them.”

  Studying her, Aaron noted the way she shifted the glass restlessly around in a small circle on the table.

  With a sigh, Shea abandoned the glass, pushing it to one side. “I need to talk to Cole. Please don’t say anything to him.”

  “I understand, and I won’t.”

  “I don’t know how he’ll take it. We’ve done this together, and now I want to quit to do something else.”

  “I think he’ll be okay.”

  “Do you?” she asked hopefully.

  “Cole’s a good kid. Deep down he’s honest, he just needs guidance.”

  She stared at him for a few seconds before asking sardonically, “A man’s guidance?”

  “You’ve done well all this time,” Aaron replied.

  “Leading him down the garden path.”

  “Which you acknowledge and are in the process of correcting. Acknowledging mistakes is being honest. Cole acknowledged what he did, and you instilled that knowledge into him. Don’t put yourself down.” Leaning forward, he caught her hand. “Circumstances make us all do different things. Circumstances make us change paths. It’s not quitting, it’s making a different decision according to what is happening to us, the changes occurring around us. Life goes on, we follow it.”

  She squeezed his hand. “You’re a comfort to talk to.”

  “Big brother mode.”

  “Really? You think of me as your little sister?”
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  “Well, not-”

  “Because, you know, that’s not just a little icky considering what we did a couple of hours ago.” Her eyes sparkled with laughter. “That’s major icky. Like total gross-out.”

  Oh yeah, he loved that teasing glint, just as he enjoyed the way she slipped so easily into fun. “You do know your brother is out of town.”

  “Nooo. Really?”

  “I’m coming back to your place tonight.”

  Pulling her hand out of his, she primly flicked the napkin onto her lap. “I don’t remember inviting you.”

  He grinned, showing a lot of teeth.

  “That shark smile won’t get you anywhere.”

  “I have other skills,” he said silkily. “I’m sure you remember.”

  Coolly, she settled the knife and fork just-so on the pristine tablecloth. “Is that right?”

  “We’re going to go over those skills when we get home.” He almost purred when she flashed him a look. She might be acting cool, but there was a whole lot of simmering heat in those eyes. “Some you know, some might surprise you.”

  “That’s a mighty big promise to live up to, Mr Wells.”

  “Have no doubt, Miss Winters, I can live up to it all.”

  Leaning forward, she crooked her finger.

  Aaron leaned forward as well. They looked at each other.

  She quirked an eyebrow. “Skills, Mr Wells.”

  “Yes, Miss Winters?”

  “You show me yours.” It was her turn to purr. “And I’ll show you mine.”

  That had lust coiling low. “Maybe we should get the food to-go.”

  Her eyes danced even while she maintained that cool poise. “I need to replenish my strength.”

  Leaning back in the chair, he was both amused and surprised at his unaccustomed frustration. Eyeing her narrowly, he drawled, “You better deliver on your promise.”

  “I always keep my promises,” she returned airily, picking up her wine glass and holding it halfway across the table towards him.

  She was up to something, he just knew it. Keeping his expression bland, he picked up his glass, clinked it to hers.

  “To promises kept.” She looked him right in the eyes.

  “Promises kept,” he echoed.

  She sipped.

  Slowly he raised the glass to his lips, wondering just what was going on inside that pretty head. Taking a mouthful, he vaguely appreciated the smoothness of the liquid.

  “Promise to give you a blow-job,” she murmured.

  He choked.

  Unflappable, calm, I-can-take-anything Aaron choked, coughed and spluttered.

  When he finally wiped his eyes and took a deep breath, she smiled sweetly at him. Before he could do more than open his mouth, Justin appeared beside their table bearing two plates.

  “You okay?” Justin’s expression was amazed as he took in Aaron’s face.

  “Just fine.” Aaron didn’t remove his gaze from Shea.

  Jesus, what she’d just said. It had his blood pooling hot and low in his loins, sent a myriad of decadent pictures dancing through his mind of her lush lips closing around his shaft.

  Shea murmured her thanks to Justin, smiled innocently up at him as Justin cast both of them a curious look. As soon as Justin walked away she picked up her fork, speared a cherry tomato and placed it between her teeth.

  God, the way she closed her lips around it so that the orangey/red flesh was surrounded by her lips. Like he wanted his shaft to be, as it would be in a very short time if he had his way.

  Shea sucked the cherry tomato into her mouth with a pop and winked at him.

  Jesus! “Eat fast,” he ordered.

  Her laughter only stoked his flames higher.

  “Behave,” he growled, the lust rolling through his tone.

  “Okay. I’ll be good.” She winked again. “But I’m better when I’m bad.”

  He groaned.

  Later he found out just how good she could be, and how bad. And just how good she was at being bad.

  *

  Lying in her bed several hours later, Aaron was deliciously spent. Shea slept soundly beside him, tucked into his side with his arm cradling her close. Ginger was curled up against his foot, Carrot stretched out down the side of his leg, and Red was tucked up into the small of Shea’s back.

  It felt so right. Felt like coming home, his woman by his side, her scent on his skin.

  In the quiet of the night Aaron acknowledged his own truth.

  He loved her.

  Turning his head, he looked down at the top of hers where it was pillowed on his shoulder, her arm flung across his abdomen.

  Loved her - her sass, her defiance, her laughter, her teasing, her curves, her complexity…her everything.

  “I love you, Shea Winters.” He kissed her forehead, rested back on the pillow as she stirred, cuddled closer, a soft thigh shifting to lie across his. “You’re mine. Now and always, even if you don’t know it yet.”

  Closing his eyes, he drifted off with Shea clasped securely in his arms.

  Chapter 12

  Flipping the shop sign to ‘closed’, Shea locked the door before heading through into the hallway. Following the sound of music, she found her brother lying on the sofa with a book propped on his belly. His bare feet stuck over one end of the sofa, his cargo shorts wrinkled, his t-shirt an old favourite dotted with several holes.

  She stopped. “Didn’t I throw that rag out?”

  Cole didn’t look up from his book. “I rescued it.”

  “Did you pull those shorts out of the ironing pile?”

  “Rescued the shorts, too.” He flipped the page.

  It was the least of her concerns. Shea chewed her bottom lip.

  Picking up on her silence, he slid her a sideways look. Whatever he saw on her face had him lowering the book. “Something wrong?”

  Tell him now? Later? After dinner?

  Cole made the decision by swinging up into a sitting position, his expression both curious and concerned. “What’s happened?”

  She perched on the edge of the armchair so she didn’t disturb Red who was sleeping on his back in it. “I need to tell you something.”

  He waited.

  “We need to have a talk.”

  He gave a ‘go on’ gesture with his hand.

  “How to say this.” She rubbed her forehead.

  “Maybe just spit it out?”

  “I don’t think that’s the right way to handle this.”

  He started to roll his eyes. “Oh cripes, Shea, if this is about Debbie and me and the birds and the bees-”

  “What? No!” Recovering herself, Shea shook her head. “It’s nothing like that.”

  “Good. Because I’m not dumb. I have plans.”

  That sent a trickle of apprehension down her spine.

  “I mean, I have plans for the future and that does not include becoming a teenage father or making Debbie a teenage mum. I’m definitely not ready.”

  “Wow. Just lay it on the line. But I’m glad you’re being responsible.” Relieved, Shea faked a shudder. “And eeww. Sister, remember?”

  “Hey, you’re the one who sat me down and told me all about…things.”

  “I’m glad it sank into your thick head.”

  “Couldn’t help it, you nagged me enough.”

  They grinned at each other.

  But then Shea sobered. “Cole, we have to talk about this business.”

  “I thought it was doing well?” He frowned. “Is it slowing down?”

  “No, it’s doing well.”

  “Then what’s wrong?” When she hesitated, he groaned. “Shea, come on!”

  “Fine. I don’t want to do this anymore.”

  His face went totally blank. “What?”

  “This.” She waved her hand around. “This is a con job. Fun for awhile, suited us when we needed it, but now…” She shrugged helplessly. “I’m no longer comfortable with it.”

  “I don’t understand.”r />
  “Cole, I want to be myself around everyone. I don’t want to dress up, lie to people, take their money. It’s dishonest.”

  “Now you’re worried about that?”

  This was not going well.

  “I mean heck, Shea, we work well together, don’t we?”

  “Yes, we do. But we can work just as well together if we did something different.”

  “Different how?”

  “I don’t know. I thought maybe a deli?”

  His mouth fell open.

  “A shop of some kind, still here, still a business.”

  Closing the book, he placed it beside him on the sofa before levelling a startlingly beyond-his-years look at her. “Is this because of me?”

  She wasn’t going to lie. “Partly.”

  “I’m making you give this up?”

  “Partly you, Cole, but partly me as well.”

  He looked at her searchingly.

  Getting up, she strode across to sit on the coffee table in front of him. Resting her forearms on her knees, she leaned forward to meet his gaze steadily. “For both of us. I’m tired of pretending to be someone I’m not. I want you to be the brother of an honest woman. I want to have an honest business. I want you to give up prying into social media to gain knowledge of people we swindle out of their money. I want to be proud of who I am. I’m proud of you already, I want you to be the best you can be. I want you to live a normal life, be a normal teenager.”

  “I think that line was for Pinocchio,” he said faintly.

  “That’s a real boy, remember?”

  He stared at her.

  Willing him to understand, afraid he didn’t, not knowing what he was thinking, Shea stared back at him.

  He looked so much like her, a masculine version with his eyes more brown, his straight brunette hair finger-combed back carelessly. Though he still had the thinness of youth, his shoulders were filling out, his arms strong with wiry muscle.

  Reaching out, she laid her hand atop his. “Cole, you have more intelligence in your little finger than I have in my whole body. You think, you plan, you delve into areas of technology that I haven’t even the faintest clue about. I know you plan on going into computers as a career, maybe have other plans. If we get busted pulling con jobs no one is ever going to hire you.”