by Eason, Mary
Aiden knew how hard she’d struggled, working her way through school and holding down two jobs until she could make her little business successful. He admired Cara’s strength. Things had come too easily for him growing up with parents that were wealthy.
Midway through the movie they’d both fallen asleep. Aiden had woken in the middle of the night with Cara in his arms. He hadn’t done the right thing then, just like he hadn’t the night they’d made love.
His conscious had told him to leave. He hadn’t. Instead, he’d carried her to bed and spent the rest of the night in her arms. He’d never felt more comfortable with a woman even though nothing had happened.
Cara’s reaction the next morning to waking up in bed with him, even though they were both fully clothed had been total embarrassment. She’d all but rushed him out of the apartment with some excuse about work. She’d been pushing him away ever since that night.
But he wasn’t prepared to let her keep pushing him away. Whether or not she wanted to admit it or not, the truth was, she’d wanted him just as much as he had wanted her. She just couldn’t get beyond that ridiculous ‘friendship only’ thing of hers enough to see that two people, especially two people that had the connection they had with each other could be lovers as well as friends.
He had his work cut out for him. Aiden smiled as he parked the Rover in front of his house. That was okay. Somehow, the thought of changing Cara’s mind was a tantalizing challenge. And he lived for challenges.
Chapter Seven
“Hi.” Aiden’s voice came through the telephone line sounding anything but angry. Cara could almost picture him smiling. “How about we call a truce and have dinner tonight?”
“You’re not still angry with me?” Oh, for crying out loud. She sounded like a little girl trying to please her parent’s, Cara thought pitifully.
“I’m not angry with you, Cara. But we do need to talk. And I have a proposition to make to you.” The prospect of that sent knots in the pit of her stomach.
“You do?” Geez, that little girl voice again.
Aiden laughed. He apparently was finding all of her new humility amusing. “I do. Why don’t I pick you up at the apartment at seven and we’ll go someplace special.”
She wanted to say yes. Shoot, she wanted to scream it, but she was remembering the last scene that had taken place at her apartment this morning and the thought of being there alone with Aiden was just too much of a temptation.
“No…that is, why don’t you pick me up here. I’m working late. We can go some place trendy instead.” She hoped that Aiden didn’t pick up on that lie or the reasons behind her nervousness.
She listened to the silence between them stretch on before he answered a little disappointed. She recognized that tone from the past. Which meant she’d disappointed Aiden a lot in the past. Another thing for her to feel sorry about.
“Okay, seven at the shop. I’ll see you then.” Cara hung up the phone and glanced at her hands. They were actually shaking. What was wrong with her? Aiden was her friend.
“Was that him?” Shelby peeked through to the kitchen door and smiled that familiar ‘I told you so’ smile of hers.
Cara only shook her head, thankful that Shelby had three customers waiting otherwise there would be no end to the questions.
Cara started the decorations for a wedding cake according to the bride’s specific albeit odd directions when it hit her that she’d just accepted a dinner invitation from the most dangerous man in Dallas.
She glanced down at her jeans and tee shirt and closed her eyes. Not exactly going to turn any heads. That was perfect she reminded herself, because Aiden was just her friend. And she was a jeans kind of gal. Aiden wouldn’t be expecting anything else.
“So, where are you two going?” Shelby asked when the last of her customers were gone. She stepped over to the cake, frowned and shuddered at the black icing and explicit decorations of a handcuffed groom and leather-wearing bride. “I still don’t get it.” Shelby threw up her hands and picked up where she’d left off on another birthday cake.
“What makes you think that was Aiden? And who says we’re going out?” Cara asked her, her fingers shaking so much that the handcuffs actually went up the groom’s arms.
“Please, you’re as nervous as a cat. Of course, that was Aiden. Where’s he taking you?”
“I don’t know,” Cara said, giving up trying to hide the truth or her reaction to it from Shelby. “Someplace casual. He’s picking me up here.”
“You can’t be serious? You can’t go out with the man of your dreams in jeans and a tee shirt.”
Cara closed her eyes and counted to ten before tossing the screwed up groom in the trash. “Aiden is a friend and only a friend, Shelby, and I like jeans. I’m not dressing up for him.”
“Oh yes you are. I have something that will do the trick.”
The very thought of something Shelby might suggest made her shudder. “Uh, no thank you. I don’t want to give Aiden any ideas. I’ve seen you dress, remember?”
Shelby didn’t take offense. She actually enjoyed dressing provocative. “Not to worry. It’s tame by my standards. Just a simple skirt and top. It will be perfect. Not too dressy.”
Cara didn’t answer. She was busy trying to figure out how to refuse Shelby’s offer without hurting her friend, while wondering who brought a full wardrobe to work with them?
With any luck, Shelby would be out of the shop making deliveries by the time Aiden arrived.
“Oh, no you don’t. Cara, you have a lot of competition out there. You have to dress nice for Aiden. Trust me, you’ll like this outfit.”
Hours later, standing in front of the tiny bathroom mirror, looking at the woman who wore a slim fitted knit black top that stopped just above her waist with a matching skirt that barely met the top, Cara wasn’t so sure. Why had she gone along with Shelby’s crazy idea in the first place? She looked…sexy. That was not how she wanted to look for Aiden. She wanted there to be no misconceptions, didn’t she? So why had she let Shelby talk her into wearing the dress and the matching shoes as well as more makeup than she was accustomed to wearing if she only wanted to be Aiden’s friend? Did friends dress sexy for each other?
Cara closed her eyes. “I look like a whore,” she told Shelby who let out a whistle when she emerged from the bathroom.
“Are you kidding? You look fabulous. Perfect. Just sexy enough but not too much so that he’ll want to skip dinner altogether.” At Cara’s shocked expression, Shelby winked. “Hey, a girl’s gotta eat.”
“I cannot believe I let you talk me into this.” She glanced at her watch with hope. Then sank into the chair. There wasn’t time to change again. She dreaded Aiden’s reaction.
Shelby on the other hand was thrilled when Aiden walked through the door and stopped dead in his tracks the second he got a good look at her.
Vaguely, Cara was aware of Shelby laughing and whispering in her ear, “Bingo. That was the look we were going for,” before her friend disappeared and it was just the two of them.
Cara clinched her hands, and felt her palms grow damp. This was not the reaction she wanted to have to Aiden, who looked casual but very, very sexy in his dark blue slacks and lighter pullover in muted shades of blue.
Cara had to turn away to keep from gaping. Aiden looked fabulous. Better than she’d remembered. She forgot what she was doing. She wanted to run.
“Wow, you look amazing.” She closed her eyes tighter and shuddered as Aiden’s words washed over her. This wasn’t good. She was a nervous wreck already and they weren’t even really alone.
Cara tried to come up with some way out of the dinner. She really wasn’t feeling too well was she? In fact, she hadn’t been feeling well since…
“Ready?” He was standing close behind her, his breath brushing her cheek. Cara felt his hands touch her shoulders, turning her to face him. “Cara?”
Had his eyes always been that blue? Cara wondered as she watched him reading a
ll of her reactions. She closed her eyes and stepped back.
“We should go. I really need to make it an early night. I have lots to do tomorrow.”
Cara didn’t even have to turn around to guess Shelby’s reaction to that statement. Shelby probably thought she’d suddenly gone stupid or something.
The Range Rover had never looked more intimidating as Cara considered the possibilities. Alone with Aiden in the small confines of the SUV was not where she needed to be after spending two long weeks thinking of nothing but being alone with him.
“You did say casual…” Aiden said when Cara’s eyes collided with his as he parked the Rover outside of his house.
“Aiden…”
“Relax. When I said I had a proposition to make, it wasn’t exactly that, although with you looking the way that you do right now, it sounds a whole lot more enjoyable than dinner, but I really did invite you here to eat,” Aiden added quickly as Cara felt the embarrassing color returning in full force.
She followed him inside to the living room, while trying to block out images of the last time she’d been here with Aiden. When they stood facing each other in too familiar territory, Cara regretted ever letting Shelby talk her into wearing that skirt.
“You said you had a proposition.” Why did the very word have to sound like an invitation for more?
“Yes, well I do, but why don’t we have dinner first and then we can talk about that.” Aiden sounded nervous. Aiden wasn’t supposed to be nervous. She couldn’t ever remember Aiden nervous.
That surprised her so much that she followed him into the kitchen where Aiden had apparently gone to quite a lot of trouble.
The dining room table was laid out perfectly right down to the candles.
“You did this?” she asked in wonder. In a second, Cara realized there was a lot about Aiden that she didn’t know.
“Don’t sound so shocked. I can take care of myself, you know.”
“So you’re saying you can cook?” Cara asked with a teasing smile. Aiden’s eyes met hers. She saw gentleness in them that she’d never noticed before. Cara tried to remember this was her friend.
“Oh, I can cook. Quite well. It might surprise you the things I can do.” Aiden took a step closer, just as her breath caught in her throat and her heart slammed against her ribs. “In fact, it might surprise you just how domesticated I truly am,” he told her quietly, his hand cupping her face bringing her closer.
* * * *
Aiden was finding it hard to concentrate on what Cara was actually saying throughout most of the evening. In truth, he didn’t really care. She could be reciting the Declaration of Independence for all it mattered. He was just happy to be there with her and more than a little surprised at how comfortable it felt, sitting across from her, and simply talking in his kitchen. The place had never felt like a home in all the years he’d owned it until now. Now, he found himself dreading having to leave it for the first time.
“Aiden?” Cara’s soft voice saying his name brought him back to the moment. He glanced at her. She was watching him with a mixture of confusion and uncertainty.
“Hum? I’m sorry, what did you say?”
Another questionable look from those sultry eyes… sultry? He’d only seen them this particular shade of brown once. But they’d haunted him ever since that night two weeks ago when she’d let him love her.
Aiden jerked his mind away from such thoughts. They were in the middle of dinner. He hadn’t even asked her about the house yet and already his thoughts had moved on to the bedroom.
Moved on? Had they ever really left there? Or that night for that matter? He watched her looking at him underneath her lashes and wondered if she guessed. Probably. Women seemed to have a way of guessing when a man was thinking about bedding them.
“I was asking when you have to leave again,” she said while playing with her fork. Cara was nervous. That meant she was remembering as well. He liked that.
“Tomorrow morning, seven a.m. flight,” he told her and was rewarded with another flash of something that looked like regret.
“So soon?”
“Yeah, I know. Unfortunately, it’s unavoidable. Thank God, I’ve only committed to a year. Otherwise, I think I’d go crazy up there.” He teased her, hoping to ease some of that nervous tension between them.
“So, what did you want to talk to me about?” Aiden had been expecting that question for a while now. He’d known she was dying to hear the answer to it.
“Its killing you, isn’t it.” He grinned back at her and she glared at him. “Okay, okay. Let’s take our coffee out onto the deck. It’s much too pretty of a night to be inside. There are a thousand stars out there.” Actually, Aiden was stalling. He wasn’t sure the best way to ask Cara the question he’d wanted to ask her since talking to Miranda.
“Stop stalling, Aiden,” Cara told him once they were sitting next to each other on the double recliner.
“Geez, am I that transparent? Okay, here’s the deal. I talked to Miranda.”
“You’re getting back together with her?” she asked before he could tell her the truth. Aiden glanced her way in the darkness. Cara sounded upset.
“What? No. No, way. Of course not. How could you even think that?” Aiden set his coffee mug down and turned to her, forcing her to face him. Even in the darkness, he could see her reaction. Cara looked hurt.
“I, I just thought. That, well, you were with her longer than you’ve ever been with any other woman, and…”
“Cara, there’s nothing between Miranda and me. There never was.”
“Oh please!” Cara got up and walked away. She didn’t want to be close to him.
“It’s the truth.” Aiden stood beside her, facing her.
“Aiden, you guys were…”
“Yes, well so are you and Jason apparently,” he retaliated. This was not the way he’d envisioned this conversation going. Aiden took a deep breath and waited for calm to return.
“I’m not talking to you about Jason. Jason is none of your business.”
Aiden walked away, as far away as he could get and still be on the deck. He looked out at the city below and tried to control his anger.
“You’re right. Jason isn’t my business. It’s just that you kind of threw me the other day. I just assumed.” He’d turned to look at her at that point. He couldn’t understand her anger. Didn’t she know Miranda meant nothing to him? Was she just using Jason as a barrier to keep him at a distance, as she’d been doing since he’d met her?
“What? What did you assume? That I’d be waiting for you to…that was a mistake. We both agreed it should never have happened.”
“No, you agreed it shouldn’t have happened. I told you I didn’t regret it for a second as I recall.” He came to a stop in front of her. Saw the wariness in her brown eyes. As well as the sultriness. She was only trying to protect herself. Against him?
“Look, let’s agree not to talk about those other two for now. That’s not what I wanted to talk to you about anyway.”
“Well, why did you bring up Miranda then?” Aiden bit his tongue. She had to be the most contrary of women at times.
“Because, Miranda told me about you having to move out of your place.” Aiden tried not to sound angry as he said that. He wanted to talk about Jason. Oh yeah, he wanted to know exactly what was going on between them but he didn’t dare push her for information at the moment. “Miranda told me because she’s moving out you will be forced to find a less expensive place to live.”
“Yes,” she admitted slowly. “When did you talk to Miranda?” Why did she sound like he’d just run over her kitten?
“Forget about Miranda. She’s not important. I only wanted to let you know that I knew about your problem and I think I can help. I want to. If you’ll let me.”
“What do you mean?” Cara asked with a sigh. At least she wasn’t determined to throw Miranda up in his face as a defense for the moment.
“I want you to come stay here.” Ai
den watched her react to that request. It was going to take some convincing to get her to agree; that much was clear by the way she was looking at him.
“You must be kidding.”
“I’m not,” he said so quietly that she believed him.
“Aiden…”
“Okay, just listen for a second and stop jumping to conclusions. I’m not just trying to get you back in bed.” Not that he wasn’t constantly going over every single second of touching her in his head but best not to mention that right now.
“Aiden, it wouldn’t work.” She turned and started back inside dismissing his proposition without even hearing it through.
“It will. If you’d stop for a second.” He caught her arm and turned her to face him. When she struggled to free herself, he pulled her closer. Cara finally gave in.
"Okay, okay. You win. Let me go.”
Impossible. He didn’t. “Just listen without yelling at me for a second.”
She tossed him another glare but only nodded. He grinned at her glare forcing her to look away.
“I’m only going to be here a few days a month. Otherwise, the place will sit empty. I’m not selling the house. I like it too much. You’d be doing me a huge favor by staying here,” he added when she still didn’t look at him. “I just want someone living here. This would help us both out. You’d be doing me a huge favor,” he repeated, sounding lame.
“I’m not staying here for free,” she told him. When she saw the reemergence of his grin, she added, “And I’m not going to pay in sex either.”
He laughed but knew he had her. “A guy can dream can’t he?” Cara’s reaction to that honest answer was to try and pull away again. “Okay, okay. I’m only teasing you. When did you get so thin skinned? So it’s agreed then. You’ll stay here and you can pay whatever.”
“But only for a year,” she told him. “And I’m paying you rent every month.”
