Insert Groom Here

by K. M. Jackson

  What? Was it supposed to have affected her in some way? Because obviously it didn’t. Not enough to take her off her game. But it had been more than enough to make him want to take one of those kettlebells and go upside T-Rex’s head with it.

  Shit, maybe his father had been right. Not for the reasons he listed, but because he would be so much more effective working on something else, anything else. He still had to live up to his commitments to the company and the family, and he could see that just one date with Eva would be more work than he was prepared to put in.

  “Did you say something?”

  Aidan jolted up at the change in Eva’s tone. He looked at the monitor, then over at her. Both she and Lou were now looking not at each other but in his direction.

  “Excuse me?”

  It was Lou who spoke this time. “Are you getting what you need? We heard you mumbling something over there.”

  Aidan looked up at their boom guy, Stan, who nodded, then took his eyes skyward. Oh hell. Was he now mumbling his thoughts out loud? He turned to the two women. “I’m fine. You both just continue.”

  Aidan drew in a deep breath of irritation at his misstep as he watched Eva purse her pretty lips in impatience as once again the light and sound levels were checked around her. It was official: He was in hell. This was what he got for not following the rules and for playing fast and loose with his own privilege. He should have never gone after her. He couldn’t believe this slim, unassuming slip of a woman would be the one to have him questioning his lifelong mantra of leap first and look later.

  Aidan leaned in closer to the monitor and watched Eva as she tucked a tendril of hair behind her ear. She looked down at her hands, and her full lips pursed a little in annoyance. Then she licked her lips and blinked, that spark jumping back into her dark-honey-colored eyes. She was back, and he was pulled in, remembering that sweet kiss of hers as he narrowed in on the glistening fullness of her ripe bottom lip. Immediately, he wanted to taste it, run his tongue across hers, and take it into his mouth.

  Aidan looked away from the monitor, his head coming up and his gaze going to her, not just the pixilated facsimile of her, as she was now spotlit in the middle of her living room. Their eyes caught for a moment as she looked up and over to him in the shadows. He noticed a millisecond of hesitation as her brown depths connected with his, widened for the briefest of moments before she raised one perfectly arched brow, then turned back to Louisa, her smile back in place.

  “Yes, I really am looking forward to the next date. Won’t you at least give me a hint about him? No?” She feigned a pretty pout and crossed her arms before smiling again. “Oh well, here’s to being surprised.”

  “I think we’re good.” Lou’s voice came over to him sharp and clipped, jarring him out of his thoughts. His head shot up and away from the monitor to find both her and Eva staring his way, Lou’s face with a look of impatience and Eva’s one of cool indifference. He didn’t know which annoyed him more.

  He glanced over at Stan, who had been the last to follow them back to her apartment location to get the final wrap-up. Stan wore his usual bored expression, not caring about anything other than if the sound quality was right. Stan gave him nothing more than a silent nod, indicating that he had what he needed and was ready to be done for the night.

  “Great. Thanks. Good work. I think we can pack it in,” Aidan finally said.

  Lou’s frown deepened as she shook her head before leaning in toward Eva and unhooking her body mic. He watched Eva finally slump back on the couch, the fatigue of the day releasing on her breathy sigh.

  “You okay?” he asked, walking her way.

  She pulled herself up, but not before he saw her wince as she reached for her lower back. “I’m fine; nothing a hot bath won’t take care of. That and having my apartment back to myself.”

  An image of her in a steamy tub pulled him up short and had him willing his body not to react.

  He noticed Lou’s side-eye as she wrapped cords and went about making final adjustments. “Sorry again about the extremes with Trey,” Lou said. “But hey, it’s the business. We knew he was hard-core but didn’t expect him to go that hard. Not on a newbie, at least. But you held your own. Props to you.” Eva grinned and gave her a thumbs-up, and Lou gave back a half smile, happily flexing her own muscles as she lifted a heavy box of audio equipment to load it onto a hand truck. When Aidan moved to help her, she stilled him with a firm look. Still, he leaned in and picked up the container. There wasn’t time to deal with Lou’s power struggles; he was only being nice. Besides, he was the boss. She’d deal with it.

  The quicker they were out of Eva’s hair, the better for all involved. This had been a long day.

  He rose and looked around. Most of the equipment had been stowed or cleared out earlier. They had a few days before the next date, so she would be happily free of them for a while.

  “Lou was right, this was good, and you handled things well. And don’t worry, on Thursday there will be no tire flipping or rock walls,” he said looking down at her still on the couch, her eyes closing and her hand to her forehead.

  She opened one eye and looked up. “Promises, promises. You’ll excuse me if I’m only cautiously optimistic.”

  His gaze roved over her body. More than anything, for some reason, in that moment, he wanted to pick her up, carry her from the couch, take her into her bedroom, and take his time wiping that look of contempt off her face. He’d enjoy watching it slowly change.

  “So should we wait for you or head to the studio?” Lou’s voice from the doorway brought his head popping up.

  Stan had already made his way to the hall, having moved what he needed to load to the van.

  “What?” Aidan asked, annoyed with himself for being caught lusting over Eva and not with his head on the job.

  Lou gave him a look that pretty much checked him on his bullshit. Her tiny stature in no way took away from her domineering power. “So you calling it, boss?” The way her “boss” came out, heavy and dripping with condescension, let him know he still had plenty to prove with her.

  Aidan let his eyes sweep briefly over to Eva for one more moment before going back to Lou. “I’m on my way. This piece isn’t up until Tuesday, so we can get it to editing tomorrow. No need for anything else tonight. Good job. You all go on. My car is downstairs.” Lou gave him a brief nod before following behind Stan.

  He turned back to Eva and extended his hand, already knowing he should have followed behind Lou and been out of there, but when did he ever do what he was supposed to do? Eva tilted her head, confusion drawing her brows together. “Don’t worry. I’m simply helping you up, Miss Ward. Noticed you had a little twinge in your back earlier.”

  Her frown deepened, but still she took his hand, and the easy coolness of her slim fingers as they slipped into his produced an erotic tremor—but no, she was the talent. And this was his job. He pulled her up, her body just a little too close, the scent of her soft, lavender fragrance still lingering at this late hour.

  Aidan released her and took a step back, clearing his throat. What was his problem? He hadn’t been this flustered since he was a kid. “So it looks like we’re out of your hair. Thanks again. You did fantastic for your first day. Lou’s right. You did really well today.”

  She turned and walked over to the kitchen island, leaving him with just the memory of her sweet scent before she turned his way again and shrugged. “I did what I needed to do to get through the day.”

  He watched as she reached into her handbag and pulled out her cell, swiping at the screen, then smiling. For a moment he wondered if that smile was for a guy, but then he remembered the jerk that had gotten her into the situation and knew it wasn’t, but still, he was angry at himself for even speculating.

  “Is that all this is to you? Something you have to get through?” She pulled up short at that question but didn’t answer him. He let out a breath. He was doing this all wrong. “Look, I know you were mad at me over at the
gym today, but I want you to know I wasn’t laughing at you or somehow indulging in exploiting your fear. I wouldn’t do that.”

  He watched as her gaze softened, and he took a small bit of solace in that. It wasn’t much, but at least he got it out. But then her phone pinged again, and she looked down.

  “Sorry, but it’s been quite a day, and my phone’s been off,” she said. “I don’t mean to be rude.”

  “It’s no problem. I should be getting out of your way anyhow.” But Aidan watched as her indifferent expression changed to something else. At first her eyes widened, and then her full lips pulled together, thinning out before she gave her head a slight shake and put the phone back on the counter a touch too forcefully.

  She shook her head then. “No, well, yes.” Her eyes shifted back to the phone, and she crossed her arms, leveling him with a stare. “I mean, no, you’re not bothering me, and thanks for the apology. Besides, what does it matter to you as long as you got what you needed from me?”

  “I’m not here to get something from you, Eva. I’m hoping what I’m doing will actually help you too.”

  She seemed to physically recoil at that, and he held up his hands. “Touchy, huh? Hey, I’m sorry if I overstepped. But I’d appreciate it if you could possibly take me at my word on this one.”

  She rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. “Excuse me if I’m finding it just a little hard to believe you.”

  It was then that he noticed she looked more than peeved—in fact, beyond peeved to the point of flushed. Her color was higher on her cheeks, and her eyes were now slightly glassy, showing more distress than annoyance over just sparring with him. Without actually thinking it through, he walked over to her. Walked over, reached out, and took her hands in his. They were cold, and he noticed they had a slight tremor. He didn’t know which of them was more surprised. More than anything, he couldn’t believe she didn’t immediately pull away and out of his grasp.

  “What are you doing?” Her voice was a breathy whisper washing over him.

  He stilled. What was he doing? He should be on the way down to the garage and his own car. But he didn’t like seeing her this way. “What’s wrong? You were all right a moment ago. Was it the phone? The text?”

  She pulled away from him then and lengthened her body so she was taller, as she absentmindedly wiped the hands he had been holding on her skirt. Aidan stepped back and smiled at the nerve of her gesture. It tugged at the center of him to see her as vulnerable as she was. “Okay, princess. I see how it is. You do what you have to do. Go on, keep your tough, ‘I’m every woman and have got it all together’ thing going. If that’s what makes you feel better.”

  He moved back to the makeshift workstation, picked up his notebook, and shoved it into his bag before looking back up. She had her arms crossed and leaned on the counter, staring at him, no doubt waiting for him to leave.

  Fine. That he could do. He lifted his bag onto his shoulder, willing words not to come out of his mouth. Too bad willing doesn’t make it so, though. “But tell me this,” he started, already knowing it was the wrong move. “That was him, wasn’t it? Or something about him? Don’t worry, I know it all already. Sorry to say, but he’s moved on. Don’t you think you ought to too?”

  With that comment, her chin shot up, and her eyes sparked in just the way he knew or, dare he say, hoped they would. “You tell me: Is being a bastard part of your DNA?” she growled out.

  “I don’t know, could be. Have you met my father?” He joked. “Now you tell me: Is being completely inauthentic part of yours? I don’t know who you’re fooling, or trying to fool, but I can see right through you, lady. You weren’t all that into the asshole anyway, so why don’t you give up the wounded-bird act, at least when it’s just you and me? He was simply a prop to you. And worse, he was a prop that failed you, and in a strange twist, his failure brought out the only honest moment we’ve got of you on film: you having your meltdown and showing your true colors. Just admit it, he was nothing to you. A placeholder. There are no cameras on now. Nobody will know but us.”

  When he stopped talking, there was silence, which was surprising because he half expected her to scream her head off as she told him to get the hell out of her apartment. But no, she only stared. Stood and stared and looked gorgeous in her anger as she did it.

  When they’d come back to her place from the date, she’d changed into a slim black skirt and a lemon-yellow wrap top Mitzi had laid out for her. The lemon yellow was gorgeous against her smooth skin. She had put on her pearls again, and the little seeds rose and fell along with her heavy breathing. She was no longer distressed about whatever it was she saw on her phone; she was now good and heated over his rant about the asshole. The thought of it made a grin tug at the corners of his mouth.

  “It’s kind of funny, really.”

  He saw her hands tighten to fists. “What is?” She ground out.

  “Your on-air declaration. The fact that you even think you could trade one man for another. Obviously, you’ve never encountered the right man, or you’d never have made such a statement.”

  She laughed at that. A pretty, throw your head back, diva-esque, in your face kind of laugh. The kind made to make the one laughed at feel all of two inches tall. When she met his eyes again, it was with a straight-on glare. “And what? I suppose you think you’re the right kind of man? I highly doubt that.” Her statement was both a dare and a declaration.

  And the way she stated it threw the ball into his court. The woman had guts, he had to give her that. At times she showed the type of toughness that would make a warlord squirm. Aidan dropped his bag down onto the floor and walked back over into her space, pinning her in against the counter with his hands on either side of her body. Her intoxicating scent wafted up to his nose immediately, sweet and heady, producing an instant, primal reaction that had a strong sensual heat flaring throughout his body, threatening to burn him from the inside out.

  She looked up at him, her eyes sharp and full of flame, nose flaring, lips a tight line.

  He leaned down close to her ear, so near the lobe that if he stuck out his tongue the tiniest bit, he’d get a taste of her sweet, diamond-ornamented skin. “Well, you’re right about that, princess. I’m definitely not the right man, and I don’t think for a moment I ever will be. Though that doesn’t stop you from wanting me now, does it?”

  He was rewarded with a satisfying shudder that about did him in, and it was all he could do to pull back before things went way too far for both of them.

  Aidan leaned back, about to shove off, when she stopped him, her hand reaching out to clutch the hem of his shirt. He looked down in shock, then back up into her eyes.

  “Wait,” she started, her voice a breathless whisper tickling the edge of his throat and sending ripples down to his center. “If not the right man, what about you being my Mr. Right Now Man?”

  Chapter 11

  What in all that holy hell was she thinking, Mister Right Now Man?

  Could she have come up with a cheesier pickup line? And really, what was she doing coming up with a pickup line at all? How ridiculously tacky. Though she could have sworn she heard Cori cheering from across the globe.

  Best friend’s cheers or not, Eva was panicking, or at least that’s what she thought she was doing, or maybe she was just hysterical and having a flat-out, full-on breakdown after all she’d been through. What else could it be? It was probably a reaction to the text about asshole Kevin and his new chick. Well, new old chick, because based on that pic, there was no way he and she were brand-new. That affair had probably been going on for quite a while.

  Eva felt her fists tighten as her heart rate sped up when the deliciously masculine scent of an oh-so-close Aidan Walker hit her nostrils. Who the hell was she fooling? She knew she was making excuses. She could put on a mask and lie to her friends, the public, the cameras, and even the barista at Starbucks, but what was the use of lying to herself? She was hot for freaking Aidan Walker. So hot the FDNY would
have a problem putting her out right about now.

  She looked down at her freshly re-manicured hand, which was twisted tightly into Aidan’s shirt. Lord, since when was she a shirt twister? Her other hand was placed center on one of his rock-hard pecs, and for the life of her, she knew she didn’t want to remove either. All she wanted to do was pull him in closer. Pull him in and let him surround her with all his raw masculinity. Let him take her and make her forget all her silly outside problems and let herself go.

  Let go. For once and for good. This whole conversation, fight, whatever it was—she now knew it was an excuse to keep him there, to keep him arguing, because for some reason, when she was bantering back and forth with him, she’d never felt more alive.

  It was as if she’d spent the years with Kevin—and, truth be told, the years before him—running on a slowly dying battery. But it seemed like every time Aidan was somewhere in her vicinity, a spark ignited. Like some sort of sexual—and, God, she hoped not—emotional jumper cables were being applied to her very essence. Around him, her engines finally revved, and she could feel herself coming to life. He was her high octane. But it had to be dangerous to run on that type of fuel when she’d been coasting on regular for so long.

  But still, part of her didn’t get it. Everything about Aidan Walker went against her well-trained nature. She wasn’t the arguing, caught-up, emotional type. She never had been. With her parents and their volatile highs and lows before her father ended up kicking it, literally, with his secretary, she’d always been the quiet peacemaker of their family. The play-it-by-the-book girl.

  She had learned early the power of the word yes, learned how it made her parents happy, how it brought them peace and, miraculously, a quiet sense of family calm inside their outwardly picture-perfect home. And it was what she relied on to achieve the picture-perfect life she truly wanted for herself.