Unexpected Chance

by Annalisa Nicole

  I quickly grab my book and set it in my lap, but I cannot for the life of me take my eyes off of Aiden. His black, heavy rimmed glasses sit perfectly on his nose, and they set off his out-of-this-world chiseled cheekbones. As he works, he rubs his hand over his rough stubble, then taps his pen to his lips. Oh, to be that pen on his lips. His brows knit together as he reads a file, then his lip quirks to the side like he’s trying to make a hard decision. He reaches forward into his briefcase and takes out a laptop, opens it, and turns it on. When he sits back, his eyes come to mine. I quickly dart my eyes to my book and start reading.

  “Are you alright?” he asks, studying my face.

  “Sure, right as rain, I’m just studying,” I say.

  “Your book is upside down,” he says with a smirk.

  “Well, that’s a relief. No wonder it all sounded like Chinese to me. I thought I was in big trouble, because I totally don’t understand this section,” I say, and turn the book right side up.

  He smiles, then turns his attention back to his laptop, and I go back to studying Aiden’s gorgeous features. I wasn’t joking though; the current section I’m supposed to be studying is so hard it’s like Chinese to me.

  After about an hour of working side by side, Aiden puts everything back into his briefcase except his glasses. Yippee! I love the glasses.

  “I could use a beer. Can I open you a bottle of wine?” he asks.

  “Actually, I’m good with a beer,” I say.

  “Really?” he asks.

  “Really. I prefer beer over wine, but don’t tell that to your sisters,” I say.

  He smiles at me, puts his hand on my knee, then goes into the kitchen. He comes back with a beer bottle and a beer poured in a frosty mug. He takes a swig from the bottle and holds out the mug for me.

  I stand, give him a sly smile, and take the bottle from him bringing it to my lips, and taking a long pull. His eyes instantly fill with lust and he swallows hard in his throat. I know how to read a man’s thoughts from years of working in a bar. Next comes the hand in the front pocket, or the pick at their crotch to readjust a growing hard on. Most of the time, men don’t even realize that they’re doing it. Aiden didn’t do that though. Not because I didn’t notice his growing hard on, because I certainly see that. But because he takes the bottle out of my hand, sets it and his mug on the coffee table, then his hand comes up and goes behind my head. He pulls me to him and plants his lips on mine. I kiss him back. I’m still in the, ‘I can dream, can’t I’ mode, so I go with it. He runs his hand through my hair, then his thumb comes to my temple and continues down my cheek to my neck, and then to my shoulder. His lips are hot on mine and I kiss him back with the same passion he’s kissing me with. He pulls my shoulders into his body, and then wraps his arm around my waist. His hand comes up my shirt, and that’s where the ‘I can dream, can’t I’ mode needs to end, and I pull away.

  “You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into,” I tell him, putting my forehead on his chin. “Good night,” I say, and head to the guest bedroom.

  I’ve never stopped a man before from kissing me. I’ve never liked a man to kiss me as much as I like the way Aiden kissed me. I’d give my left arm to keep kissing Aiden and for what would have ultimately come next. Men who gave me any kind of attention or kiss me, I was glad to give them what they wanted. It wasn’t about them. It didn’t matter that I was trash, and what I was giving them was trash. Aiden is different, this family is different. He deserves so much better than me.

  I strip out of my pants and panties and unhook my bra under my shirt. I pull the straps through the arm holes and crawl into bed in my t-shirt. If I were someone, anyone other than me and the way I was raised and the way I’ve lived my life, I could picture myself with a man like Aiden. I’m doing him a huge favor by not letting him get close to me. I wish someone would tell that to my heart, though. My heart wants what I can’t have. I eventually fall asleep crying.

  In the middle of the night, I wake up and get out of bed. I walk to Aiden’s open bedroom door and stand in the doorway. He’s facing me, lying on his side, and he looks so peaceful and handsome. The trees in the window dance shadows on his bare chest and arms. Have you ever been jealous of a tree’s shadow before? I wish it were me, caressing his skin. A sheet covers him from the waist down. His left knee is raised and his hand is resting in front of his face. I can’t help it, I sigh. I look down to my feet at the four-week-old chipped nail polish on my toes, and it reminds me of just who I am. I’m not a spa mani/pedi’s kind of girl. I’m lucky if I can afford cheap nail polish from the dollar store. I look up to take one more look at him before I go back to my own bed, but when I do, Aiden’s blue eyes are staring back at me. Without a word, he pulls the sheet back as an invitation to join him. I don’t hesitate. In my head, I see myself hop, skipping, and jumping, all the way there. But in reality, it was only a few steps. I slip into his bed and he pulls me into his warm body. He covers me with the sheet, and then he wraps his arm around my waist. This time when I fall asleep, it isn’t with tears of sadness, but tears of joy. I can live in denial of who I really am for the moment. I also realize that the, ‘I can dream, can’t I’ moments, are becoming something I can no longer control.

  The next morning, I’m woken up by the lightest touch of Aiden’s finger on my skin as he pulls the hair out of my face. He’s sitting on the bed next to me. He smells amazing and he’s clean shaven, wearing an expensive suit and a killer smile. Waking up in the morning to a sight like this should be illegal. Like, seriously someone needs to take me to jail, save me from myself, because I’m not a strong woman.

  “What time is it?” I ask, disoriented. Crapola, am I going to be late for class?

  “Almost eight, I need to be in the office at nine. What time do you have class this morning? I can drop you off?” he says.

  “My first class is at nine,” I tell him.

  “Good, that works out perfectly. You can shower in here,” he says, and leaves the room.

  Sitting on the chair in the corner of his room is my bag of clothes I packed yesterday. When did he bring those in here? I smile and stretch my limbs. I look out the door to make sure he’s gone, then grab his pillow and give it a smell. I need to register it in my memory banks, because being in Aiden’s bed can’t happen again. Then I peel the sheet off, grab my bag and head into his shower. You can bet your sweet ass I smelled all of his products in the shower, too. I may or may not have used some of his body wash somewhere on my body.

  When I walk into the kitchen, Aiden has two travel mugs filled with coffee. He smiles and hands me one. I feel like I need to pinch myself or something. Did I get hit by a car and I’m in a coma, dreaming about the perfect life that in reality, I’ll never have? He grabs my school bag and I follow him out to his car. It did not pass my keen sense for details that my clothes bag is still in his bedroom. On the way to school, he asks, “What time are you done with school?”

  “I’m done at three, then I usually study in the library until around five. I have a shift at the bar at six, but I can take the bus,” I tell him.

  “I’ll pick you up here at five,” he says. He comes to a stop, leans in and kisses me, which temporarily sends my brain cells scattering, because I nod in agreement. I get out of his car and walk to my first class with my bag and a cup of coffee.

  True to his word, at five o’clock he’s sitting in the exact same spot where he dropped me off this morning. I slip in his car; he offers a smile and asks, “How was school?”

  “Great, how was work?” I ask. Alright, someone needs to extract me from the Twilight Zone.

  “Great,” he replies, putting his hand on my knee.

  Seeing his black suit clad arm with an expensive white dress shirt, a black cuff link, and an expensive watch on his wrist on my bare knee just below the ripped hem of my jeans skirt, sends all the wrong signals to my brain. What the hell am I doing? Stop living in fairytale land, and get back into the land of, ‘it ain’t g
oing to happen for you, honey,’ land.

  Aiden doesn’t drive me straight to the bar. He drives to Jax’s restaurant where a table is already waiting, and food is brought out almost immediately after we sit down. He arranged all of this, for me. I’m a little off at dinner. I think I need to have a sit down with Aiden and tell him to open his eyes. Run! Get as far away from me as you can. But the words just don’t come out. The little devil on my shoulder keeps telling me to dream. After dinner, he drives me to the bar. He doesn’t just drop me off. He parks the car, takes my hand, and walks me into the bar and takes a seat on one of the open stools.

  “You don’t have to babysit me,” I tell him. “Gary is here, and he won’t let anything happen.”

  “I’m not babysitting you. I’m going to enjoy a cold beer after a hard day at work before I head to the auto parts store.”

  My heart sinks at the mention of the parts store. I give him the evil eye, but don’t have time to argue with him. I put on my apron and get to work. Aiden watches from the end of the bar, and passes quite a few angry looks at the men who take a little too long of a look at me. I just roll my eyes and ignore him; the way I look is how I get the bigger tips. The bigger the tips, the faster I can pay Aiden back for the parts for Ruby.

  About a half an hour into my shift, Willow, Shay, Amelia, Ava, and Chloe walk into the bar. I could think of about a million jokes about that, but my eyes immediately go to Aiden. The girls take a seat at an open table. Aiden gets up from his stool and walks over to them.

  Seriously, this is going way too far. I don’t need babysitters. I’ve taken care of myself since I was ten. I walk over to the table and stand there tapping my foot, looking from pairs of eyeballs to pairs of eyeballs.

  “Don’t you have somewhere to be, Aiden?” Willow asks.

  Funny. I was just thinking that about every single person sitting at this table, including Aiden, because Aiden is standing not sitting.

  “Yeah, I have a parts store to get to and a car to tend to. Hey, Chloe. Do you think I can borrow a defibrillator from you?” he says, with a chuckle.

  That is so not funny. Ruby does not need a defibrillator!

  “See you later. Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out,” Amelia teases.

  “Sit down,” Shay demands, pointing to the one empty chair.

  “I really can’t. I just started my shift,” I tell them. “What can I bring you ladies to drink?” I can get them a drink, then hopefully they’ll all leave.

  “Yo, Gary! Savvy’s taking a break, a long break. You don’t mind, do you?” Willow asks, snapping her fingers in his direction. “Bring us a round of Tequila Sunrise’s, and a club soda for me,” she continues.

  My eyes go big and I look at Gary, shaking my head back and forth. I silently send him subliminal messages to ignore every word she just said. Not only did she just tell my boss that I’m taking a long break, but she barked drink orders at him. I need this job. If I get fired from here, I’ll have no way of paying Ava rent or buying food. And I like food. Gary looks at the girls, then he looks at Willow and waves his hand at us. Did Gary just say I could take a very long break after only being on shift for thirty minutes?

  “Sit,” Ava demands, pulling me down into a chair.

  “Look, I really appreciate what you’re all trying to do, but I can’t lose this job,” I tell everyone. God, I need some gum. Forget about buying dollar nail polish, I need gum, like stat.

  “You can always have your job back at Max’s PI firm,” Chloe says.

  That was an amazing job. I wish I could have it back. I can’t involve anyone I love in my crap until I know this Reno shit is for sure over.

  “So, let’s not waste any of your time, then. You’re screwed,” Willow says bluntly.

  “What?” I ask nervously. Tingles race up my cheeks and I start to feel a little light headed.

  Gary brings over our drink orders on a tray; he sets the whole tray on the table with more force than necessary, then says, “On me, pass them out yourselves,” then he turns around and leaves.

  I look at Gary because he’s just now entered the Twilight Zone with me. I stand and pass out the drinks. Ava pulls me down in my seat again.

  “Woman, stop pulling me in my seat,” I say, then immediately regret saying it. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that,” I tell her.

  She smiles at me, nods her head and says, “There’s some of that spunk I love so much.”

  “I see the way Aiden looks at you. It’s the same way all the rest of the Wellington men look at their women. You’re screwed, and I say that in the nicest possible way. Once one of them boys gets that look in their eyes, there’s nothing you can do. You should just count yourself one of the luckiest women in the world and surrender,” Willow says.

  Tears fill my eyes, because I’d like nothing more than to give into the fantasy of being Aiden’s woman. “I’m not like any of you,” I tell them.

  “Like any of us? Just what do you mean by that?” Amelia asks.

  Shit, now I’ve pissed her off. “Please don’t take it the wrong way. You all are so . . . beautiful and amazingly talented and look like you belong. I look like last week’s trash,” I tell them.

  “Last week’s trash! Don’t make me pull you out of your chair and slap some sense into you,” Ava says.

  “Oh, honey. You just don’t have a clue, do you? You need to take another look at yourself in the mirror. You are beautiful and you have one of the kindest hearts I’ve ever seen. Do I need to tell everyone the story you told me in that coffee house about why you want to become a hospice nurse?” Chloe asks?

  “No! Please don’t do that,” I say, standing. I look at Ava, then quickly sit back down before she plants my ass in the chair again and breaks one of Gary’s chairs. Gary would for sure take it out of my tip money.

  “What story? I want to hear it,” Shay says.

  “I want to hear it, too,” Amelia says.

  “I’ll tell you all on the way home,” Chloe says, winking at me.

  “Look, the point here is, Aiden has it bad for you. These men don’t mess around. When they see what they want, they take it and run. You need to grab hold of whatever it is that’s closest to you, and hang on for dear life. It’s a hell of a ride,” Shay says, with a wicked smile.

  “That’s putting it mildly. It’s a fan-fucking-tastic hell of a ride,” Chloe says, with the same wicked smile.

  “Honey, I’ll bet you the baby in my belly, you will become the next Wellington right along with the rest of us.” Willow says.

  “Wait, I’m not a Wellington anymore,” Amelia says.

  “I’m not either,” Ava says.

  “I never was,” Chloe pouts.

  “Girls! You’re missing the point. We are all Wellington’s, either now, or by maiden name, or by reason of, I just said so,” Willow says with attitude, looking at Chloe. “I’m telling you, Savvy, hold on to your knickers, you’re one of us.”

  I didn’t have anything to say to that. I know all of their stories and I know what a whirlwind they are. Every single one of their relationships was in hyper warp drive, and before anyone could turn around they were all married and spitting out babies left and right. No joke. I’d like nothing more than to believe that’s true, and to believe that I’m the type of girl Aiden would want. Aiden is the man of my dreams, and that’s just it, in my dreams. I’m just not what they think I am.

  Chapter 4

  Aiden

  I leave the bar and head to the auto parts store, then straight home to work on Savvy’s car. She gets off at midnight, so I have plenty of time to get this thing running. I replace the battery, the starter, spark plugs and several other parts, then have a seat behind the wheel and give the key a turn. She roars to life and purrs like a kitten. I smile at myself, turn her off, and head in to take a shower to wash all the grease off before I pick up Savvy.

  At eleven forty-five, I get in Ruby—shit, now I’m calling it by her name—and I drive her
to the bar just to make sure she’s running good. Right when I pull up outside the bar, the heavy wooden door opens and Savvy’s face instantly lights up.

  “Ruby!” she screams. She runs to her car and gives the hood a hug. “She’s alive! Oh my God, you’re a ding-dang-dong mechanic whisperer,” she says, as I get out of the car and walk over to her.

  I stop in my tracks, grab my gut, and roar laughing. She lunges at my arms and squeezes so tight she almost takes my breath away. On second thought, that’s the feeling I get every time she’s in my arms. I wrap my arms around her and bury my nose in the crook of her neck. She starts jumping up and down in my arms, squealing.

  “Can I drive her? Oh, I’ve missed her so much,” she says, backing away looking in my eyes.

  I nod my head and lead her over to the driver side door. She gets in and I close the door. I walk around to the passenger side and get in shaking my head at her excitement. As nasty and rusty as the outside of this car is, the inside is well taken care of for a thirty-five year old car.

  “How did it go with my sisters in the bar?” I ask, as she pulls away from the curb.

  “Your sisters and your sisters-in-law scare the living crap out of me. I think Ava wants to whack me. But the scariest of them all is Willow. All of them together are like hornets chasing a wet dog. Did you know they were coming to the bar tonight?” she asks.

  “Total surprise to me,” I tell her truthfully. I also don’t tell her that Willow scares me, too. They all do, and when they all get together, which is on a weekly basis, the men are always on their best behavior.

  Savvy pulls up to the curb on the street in front of my house and I give her a strange look. She reaches into her front pocket and pulls out a small wad of cash.