The Sweet Spot (Sweet And Spicy)

by Eason, Mary

  “If you change your mind you know you’re welcome? Come on over. I’d love to have the help.” Shelby grinned.

  “I promise if I’m in a cooking mood, you’re the first person I’ll come to.”

  * * * *

  Aiden signed the last contract late Tuesday evening and handed it back to Lois with a tired grin. Thank God, that was the last of them. He was ready to get out of this town. He’d tried at least a dozen times to call Cara but she was avoiding him. And all he could think of was that ridiculous argument they’d had right before his sister barged in and screwed everything up with her questions and her presence. If Ally hadn’t showed up when she did, what would he have done? But Ally was the one who had made him see his feeling for her clearly. Even though he wasn’t about to tell his sister that. Not that it mattered; his very behavior toward Cara would have made it clear to Ally. Everyone in the family would know this by now.

  Cara wanted his input on her offer. She didn’t want to hear all the reason’s why he didn’t want her to take it. But it was hard not to give into that need and tell her anyway. She never complained about his absences. He was gone for weeks on end and yet she never insisted he give up his dreams. How could he do anything less for her? Even if it meant losing her?

  He couldn’t even bring himself to consider that. He knew that he needed to be clear with her. Tell her how he felt. But Aiden was still struggling with the truth. He loved her. He’d loved her for a long time. He’d just been too stubborn to admit that truth to himself. It took the thought of losing her to New York, and then whatever city lay after that—to her career that had made him see the truth.

  But Cara had worked hard to accomplish her goals. How could he ask her not to go for them?

  “You know, I’m pretty good at listening, or so my husband tells me.”

  Lois’ kind voice interrupted his thoughts. He realized he’d pretty much zoned out on his assistant. “Sorry, Lois. Is it that obvious?” He grinned.

  “It is. Why do you young people complicate love so much? It’s not that hard really. If you love someone, you do what you have to do to be with them.” She patted, actually patted his hand. For a second, Aiden was too overcome by emotion to speak. “You’re still playing games. You need to tell her the truth. Things will work out if you’re honest with each other.”

  Aiden nodded. She was right. If only it were that simple.

  “It is,” Lois answered and Aiden met her gaze. She saw a lot. She’d known for a while how he felt. “Just be honest with her.”

  The flight into Dallas seemed endless. The weather leaving Arkansas was threatening. Aiden was afraid the flight wouldn’t be able to leave.

  When he arrived at Dallas Bergstrom International airport, it was almost midnight. He caught a cab and forced himself to relax. He’d long ago stopped leaving the Rover at the airport. Cara’s little clunker was in the shop more than it was out and he didn’t like her being stuck without a way around the city, even though she fought him at first when he’d suggested it just made sense for her to use the SUV.

  Aiden paid the cabbie and retrieved his bag. The house was dark. He wondered if she’d even be there. He hadn’t really talked to her since Sunday and that ended in an argument.

  He unlocked the door, dropped his bag by the door and went to her room. She wasn’t there. Aiden’s mind went over the possibilities. Had she gone home to Pineville after all? She didn’t seem all that excited about the visit. He was tempted to call Shelby but decided against it. It was late. If Shelby were home, she would be sleeping by now.

  He’d wait until morning and call her parent’s house. He opened the door to his room and froze. She was sleeping in his bed. He didn’t understand. She was upset with him, not speaking to him, avoiding him, yet she was in his bed.

  Aiden undressed and slipped into bed close to her. She wasn’t wearing anything—even more intriguing.

  When his hand slipped up her thigh, curving around her hip and bringing her close to him, Cara opened her eyes.

  “Aiden!” she breathed in surprise.

  “Caught you,” he whispered against her lips, leaning closer so that their bodies touched. He felt her reaction. Her body shuddered and moved closer.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked against his lips, her kisses matching his in passion.

  As much as he liked where this was going, this was what had gotten them into trouble in the first place. He was tired of playing games with her. Aiden pulled away and watched her for a second. Her disappointment was clear. This was going to be harder than he’d thought.

  “I came for you. You won’t talk to me over the phone so I figured you couldn’t hide here. When I didn’t find you in your room, I thought I was wrong. Does the fact that you’re in my bed mean you’re at least missing me a little?”

  “Aiden…” She tried to push him away but he didn’t let her go.

  “Cara, we need to talk. Surely, you see that. Things can’t go on like this.”

  “Aiden, I don’t want to fight anymore,” she whispered and moved closer, her arms going around his waist. She began with kissing his chest, before moving slowly up to his throat and then his lips. For a moment, Aiden’s resolve held. His arms tightened around her before he hauled her closer. His lips met hers with a need that had been growing inside for days. Since he’d left her, a cold insurmountable silence had been between them preventing intimacy.

  This was the first time he’d made love to her since admitting his feelings, at least to himself.

  It felt different. He didn’t want to rush to be a part of her. He wanted to take his time, explore this new feeling. It felt right.

  With each touch, each stroke, his hands and his lips showered her with love. And her response was just as unpredictable as his. She didn’t understand the change in him. But she loved it.

  She came against his gentle stroking, begging him to enter her. But he took his time. He let her body relax while holding her closer. When she was still in his arms, Aiden moved over her once more and slid into her body watching her arch against him and move closer. She felt familiar and yet looking at her through the eyes of love, he’d never noticed the little things about her that now, drove him close to the edge. Her sultry eyes were half closed. She looked like a dream come true. He never wanted to break the spell. He moved within her slowly, rhythmically and then stopped to watch her reaction. She was begging for more.

  He gave it to her. Aiden untangled her hands from his neck and held them above her head. She opened her eyes. She looked so vulnerable beneath him. He heard her whisper his name and then he begin to move once more, driving harder, deeper into her soft warmth. He felt her body tense once more, her muscles contracting around him as she succumbed to her passions once more.

  The sight of her body moving against his was too much. Aiden drove hard into her once more then captured her lips as he released inside of her.

  “That was incredible,” she whispered against his lips, cuddling closer.

  “Yes.” Had she guessed? Suddenly he wasn’t so anxious to tell her about the change in him. “Yes, it was amazing. Happy Thanksgiving.”

  She laughed and looked up at him. She wasn’t so sure of him anymore. Good. She needed to be a little nervous. He certainly was.

  “Have you decided if you’re going to see your parents yet?” he asked instead of answering the unspoken question in her eyes.

  She shook her head. But she was still wondering. “I should. Mom called tonight. She hinted that she really wanted me to go. I just don’t know. I just wish…”

  “That you actually enjoyed going home?” he supplied for her and she nodded.

  “I feel like such a heel for dreading these visits, but I do. I hate being dysfunctional,” she told him and he laughed, kissing the top of her head.

  “I don’t think you’re the one who is dysfunctional, baby. Would it help to have company on the trip?” he asked causally.

  She looked up at him even more curious. “
You want to come home with me?”

  “Well, I was thinking its time that I met your family. And as much as I’d love for you to meet mine, now is probably not the right time. Ally will have filled their heads with all sorts of ideas by now.”

  “You’re probably right about that. I’m sure she’s imagining all sorts of scenarios.”

  Aiden met her gaze and held it. “Don’t sound so frightened. Would that really be so bad?” The second the words were out, he was regretting saying them. Could he have been more direct?

  “But I thought…” She looked up at him suspiciously.

  “Don’t…answer that. Look, I was thinking we could go see your family on Thanksgiving and then maybe you could come with me to Little Rock and I could show you around the office. Then you could give me some pointers on how not to stand out as a Texas fan in that anti-Texas city.”

  “You’re still having trouble with that? Sorry, but I’m beginning to think you’re hopeless,” she teased.

  “Very funny, Miss Bennett. I never pictured you the type to give up on a lost cause.”

  Cara moved closer, her body moving against him making him forget all of his promises to talk to her this weekend.

  “Oh, you’re not a complete lost cause. In fact, for a Texas fan, you’re pretty good at some things.”

  Chapter Ten

  “Why are you so nervous?” Aiden asked her for the second time. They were just outside of Pineville. She still couldn’t believe she’d let him talk her into this. What seemed like a good idea lying next to Aiden in bed now felt like the biggest mistake of her life.

  “Are you afraid your parents won’t like me?” he asked again. By this point Cara couldn’t even think of a good lie. She felt close to hyperventilating.

  Another glance and he’d picked this up. Aiden pulled the Rover over onto the shoulder of the road and stopped. His full attention was on her now. She felt like she was going to throw up.

  “Are you okay?”

  Cara could only nod as she rolled the window down and breathed in the crisp Arkansas air.

  Aiden waited until she could actually breathe normally again before asking that question one more time. “Are you going to be okay?”

  “Yes, I’m okay. I’m sorry.”

  “Cara, I know you don’t like to talk about your family but I think its time. Don’t you? I mean, I need a little insight here.”

  He was right. By now, he probably thought she came from a line of serial killers or worse.

  “I’m sorry, Aiden.”

  “Just tell me why you feel this way?”

  It was the hardest thing to do. Telling Aiden, someone who came from the American success story family, how hard it had been growing up in Pineville.

  She looked at him. There was so much compassion in Aiden’s eyes that the words just tumbled out of her.

  “You’ll probably think I’m some kind of heel. My family isn’t bad, they’re just right. In fact, I’m sure they’re normal by most family’s standards. Not yours. Your family is not the rule, Aiden. You had a great childhood. I’ve never felt as if I belonged in mine.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He asked that question so honestly that she didn’t even hesitate before answering. Maybe it was best this way. She’d been thinking too hard about how to explain them for a while now.

  “My parents never finished high school. Well, my mom somehow managed to get her GED in between having babies, but my dad dropped out when he was a junior and went to work at the local plant. He and my mom started dating when she was a sophomore in school. My mom got pregnant and had to drop out. She never went back. She spent a great deal of her life raising kids.”

  “You have two brothers and a sister right?”

  “Yes. Raymond’s the oldest then Seth and then Savannah. They’re all married with families of their own. Most still live right there in Pineville. Where I grew up, that’s what people do. They get married right out of high school and have families. My brothers both work at the plant with Dad. Savannah stays at home with the kids.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with that, Cara.”

  “No, but I never wanted those things. I couldn’t wait to get out of school and leave Pineville. My brothers and sister have always resented that I think. They don’t understand why I needed to go away.”

  “Cara, you can’t always pick your family. And there’s nothing wrong with being different.”

  “I know, but it seems like every time I’m home I’m treated like an outsider. I don’t fit in, Aiden. Mom is the only one who ever really got me. She used to encourage me to succeed. I can’t tell you how many cookie recipes she let me try out on her growing up. But she never fussed. Mom loves to cook. I think in a way I’m living her dream.”

  “That’s a good thing. She must be proud of you.”

  “She is. But Dad, well Dad never understood why I wanted to go away to school. My father believes a woman’s place is in the kitchen and having babies.”

  “You’re not close to your father?”

  “No, Dad was always the stern no nonsense guy. I don’t think he told me he loved me once growing up.”

  “What about your siblings? Are you close to them?”

  “My brothers were always my big brothers. Raymond was out of the house by the time I was old enough to remember him. Seth left shortly after. Savannah and I stay in touch but she’s involved in her own life so we don’t’ really get to talk much.”

  “You know, sometimes having a family that you’re not so close to isn’t a bad thing. At least they stay out of your business.”

  “Ally seemed nice, Aiden. I’m sure your other sister is as well. What did you tell them?”

  He smiled at her. “Well, I didn’t really need to tell them anything. Ally filled Mom in on you. She wants to meet you. I had to promise I’d bring you home for Christmas, otherwise she was going to be on a plane in nothing flat.”

  “Aiden, you don’t have to do that.”

  He laughed and kissed her nose. “Oh, trust me, I do. I’ll never hear the end of it if I don’t take you to meet my parents. They’ve waited a long time to meet you.”

  Any other time Cara would have wondered about that. But now, just ten minutes away from what she was convinced was going to be the worst possible disaster in Pineville history, she simply nodded as Aiden put the Rover in gear and headed toward his fate.

  * * * *

  He didn’t think she could get any more nervous but he was wrong. The second they parked the Rover in front of the small white house with dark green shutters in a neat little middle class neighborhood, Cara almost hyperventilated again.

  Aiden was torn between wanting to take her in his arms and tell her everything was going to be okay and wondering if maybe he should be running for his life; if her reaction was any indication.

  He was determined to be strong for her. He got out, went around to her door, and practically had to pry her from the seat.

  “Just relax. I can be charming when I want to.” He tried to make her smile. She simply glared at him.

  Aiden took her hand and held it all the way up to the small porch that had barely room for two people.

  Cara made no move to ring the bell, so he did it for her. They waited in silence until the front door opened and a woman who appeared slightly older than Cara answered it.

  “Hi, Savannah.” Cara opened the screen door but made no move to go inside. Aiden could feel her tension. Savannah looked from Cara to Aiden then back to Cara before smiling and reaching for her sister.

  “I can’t believe you came. When Mom told me you were coming and bringing someone I just knew you’d change your mind.” She still held her sister close to her side but her eyes were on Aiden. “I’m glad to meet you. I’m Savannah.”

  “Savannah, nice to meet you. Aiden Wilder.”

  “Nice, Cara. You did well. Hope you’re ready for this, Aiden. Because you are the center of attention,” she told him with a wicked, little smile.


  “Vanna…” Cara reproached her sister, but Savannah only grinned a little wider.

  “Hey, facts are facts. The boys and Dad are driving themselves crazy trying to figure out what an ad person really does.”

  Aiden had to admit, meeting the Bennett men had been a little daunting. But in the end, he had somehow gotten on their good side. They’d probably never be close. At least not for a long time. He only hoped that he had the opportunity. Even though it was probably the strangest family gathering he could ever remember being at, he liked Cara’s family.

  Her mother was a wealth of insight into her daughter when Aiden had managed to get her alone without Cara being close. He liked Susan Bennett. When she told him to call her anytime, he knew it was going to take her up on that offer. In fact, Susan was going to be an instruction guide to her daughter. Aiden was thrilled.

  “What were you and Mom whispering about in there?” Cara asked him after they left her family and headed for Little Rock.

  “Now, I’m not going to tell you that, so don’t ask.” He tossed her a grin that was filled with intent.

  “Aiden…”

  “Nope. Don’t even ask.”

  By the time they reached the city, it was late. Aiden’s apartment was close to the office. He pulled into his usual parking spot and grabbed their overnight bags. Cara followed him without saying a word. She looked tired. She hadn’t relaxed an inch in all the time they’d been at her parents’ house.

  He unlocked the apartment door and held it open for her. She stepped inside and wandered around the living room looking at the view from the balcony. He dropped the bags by the door and watched her. He could read her thoughts.

  “So this is where you spend all those nights that you’re away from me,” she told him with one eyebrow slightly arched.

  “This is it. Would you like to see the bedroom?”

  She simply laughed. “Oh, Mr. Wilder you do know how to sweep a girl off her feet. Do you say that to all the women?”