Heat Exchange

by Shannon Stacey

  “This is my kind of first date,” he said, and she laughed.

  When the server brought the bill, Lydia didn’t bother making a show of reaching for her wallet. She knew Aidan and, while she could out-stubborn most people without breaking a sweat, she knew there was no way he’d let her pay for her half of the meal. Not this time, anyway.

  He stood when she did and held her hand while they walked to his truck. It was sweet, and she loved that he opened her door for her. And she knew this wasn’t a show for their so-called first date, either. Aidan was always polite and over the years, she’d seen him hold the door or pull out chairs for women all the time at the bar, whether they were with him or not. She liked that about him.

  Hell, she liked a lot of things about him.

  They rode back to her apartment in easy silence, listening to the radio. Once he’d pulled out onto the road, he’d reached over for her hand again and laced his fingers through hers. He seemed to enjoy touching her like that—holding her hand or rubbing her shoulder—and she never got the impression he was trying to put any moves on her. He simply liked touching her.

  When they got back to her place, Oscar came walking out of Shelly’s room to meow at her. He was presumably voicing his displeasure at being abandoned yet again, but she crouched down and rubbed the top of his head. After a few strokes, he decided he’d had enough and stalked over to Aidan.

  While the male human sat in one of the chairs at the kitchen table so the cat could jump on his lap and be the center of his attention, Lydia stopped into the bathroom and then plugged in their phones to charge. “I’m putting mine on Silent. Shelly’s probably missing Oscar badly by now and I wouldn’t put it past her to want me to video chat with him or something.”

  “You can put mine on Silent, too.”

  She looked over at him. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, I’m sure.” Still, she hesitated. “I promise I’m sure. Nobody needs to talk to me right now. And Cobb knows I’m not at my mother’s.”

  That surprised her. “He does? What did you tell him?”

  “I did not tell him I was running away with Tommy Kincaid’s daughter.” He winked at her. “I told him I needed some personal time and that I was telling the guys I’d be at my mom’s, but that I would actually be out of town so I can’t be called in, no matter how many alarms they strike.”

  “Oh. Okay, then.” She flipped the switch on the side of his phone and plugged it in next to hers.

  Oscar got bored and jumped down to twitch his tail at them before sauntering back into Shelly’s bedroom. Lydia watched him go, feeling the familiar mash-up of affection for this particular cat while wondering why people wanted to live with cats in general.

  “He was keeping my lap warm,” Aidan said. “He’s good at that, I guess. Like a furry, purring hot water bottle.”

  “Are your legs getting cold?”

  He leaned back and sighed, giving her a sad look. “So cold.”

  Lydia laughed and straddled his lap, bunching the front of his shirt in one hand. With the other hand, she ran her fingertip over his bottom lip. He tried to catch it between his teeth, but she snatched it away. Then she ran her hand up his neck and curled her fingers into his hair to pull his head back.

  Lydia kissed him, enjoying the sensation of having the upper hand, in a way. He was the one tipping his head back and she was in control. She dipped her tongue between his lips, running her nails over his scalp because it made him squirm.

  “One more kiss,” Aidan said, his voice low. His hands were on her hips and his fingertips pressed into her jeans to keep her from moving.

  “It’s the sheets, isn’t it?” she teased. “You’re dreading being naked on them.”

  He laughed. “I’d happily be naked on burlap or on a sandy beach if you’re naked with me.”

  Warmth flooded her, and she told herself it was simply physical desire. It wasn’t the way that, despite the laugh, she could see in his eyes that he meant that. And, even if she wouldn’t admit it, she felt the same.

  “One more kiss,” Lydia said. “And then we should go to bed.”

  He tugged her hips forward, seating her more snugly against his obvious erection. “I kind of like this chair. And the couch is closer.”

  “I wouldn’t mind the couch, but I’m not the one with dangling body parts that could be easily mistaken for cat toys.”

  “Oscar,” he hissed, looking around. “Damn cat. Where did he go?”

  “He’s hiding, waiting for you to drop your pants so he can pounce.”

  He grinned at her, shaking his head. “Burlap sheets or sand in the crack of my ass, I’m willing to risk for you. Castration by cat claw? A guy’s gotta draw a line somewhere.”

  “One more kiss,” she said just before she touched her lips to his.

  She kissed him until the ache between her legs was so intense, she caught herself grinding against him. Aidan caught her lower lip between his teeth, biting down until she sucked in a breath. His hands rocked her hips, sliding her back and forth along the length of his cock.

  “Let’s go get out of these jeans,” Lydia whispered against his mouth.

  “Don’t forget to close the door.”

  A few minutes later, her bedroom door was closed and she was naked on her scratchy sheets. Aidan, who’d stripped and put on a condom in record time, stretched his body over hers. Propping himself on an elbow, he smoothed her hair away from her face, tucking a few strands behind her ear.

  Lydia ran her hands across the smooth, hard planes of his chest. No matter how often she got to touch him, she never tired of exploring the muscles of his chest, shoulders and arms. She knew they had exercise equipment at the station, but his physique was the kind that came from a lifetime of doing physical work and she loved running her hands over his body.

  “You get this look on your face when you do that,” he said. “It’s hard to describe, but it makes me feel like the hottest guy on the planet.”

  “I like touching you.”

  When he grasped her behind her knees and opened her legs, she sighed with sweet anticipation. But then he slid into her with exasperating slowness, obviously trying to torture her. Every time she tried to lift her hips, he pulled back the same amount. But she could see by the way he was clenching his jaw that he was tormenting himself just as much as he was her.

  “Are you in a hurry?” he teased, but the husky rasp of his voice told her he was suffering. She put her hands on his ass and pressed her fingernails into his skin, just enough to give him a nudge, but he resisted.

  “No, I’m not in a hurry,” she said, changing tack. She tucked her hands under her head, as if she was totally relaxed. “Take your time.”

  He looked down and grinned. “That makes your boobs look amazing.”

  That made her laugh. “I’ll keep that in mind if I ever pose for naked photos.”

  “No.” His expression turned fierce and she put her hands back on his body, running them over his shoulders and biceps before stroking his back. “I don’t want anybody else seeing you naked.”

  Aidan drove into her, burying his cock so deep within her she almost came immediately. She cried out, but he covered her mouth with his. The muscles of his back worked as he fucked her slowly and with long, deliberate strokes—almost pulling out completely before burying himself deep again. When she moaned his name, hovering on the brink, he quickened his pace.

  “Come for me,” he said, his voice raspy.

  And she did. Her muscles spasmed, tightening and releasing as he drove into her, not letting up until her fingernails bit into his back and they were both breathless and trembling from their release.

  After a minute, he rolled to his side and kissed her shoulder. Then he went into the bathroom for a minute and Lydia rolled onto her stomach, stretching muscle
s that were still deliciously warm. She couldn’t help remembering the possessive look that had taken over his face when she joked about having naked photos taken, and she smiled.

  “That kind of smile’s good for a man’s ego,” Aidan said as he slid back into bed. He pulled the sheet and blanket up over them and then lay on his side so he could throw his arm over her back.

  “I don’t think your ego’s in any need of fluffing,” she said, and then she giggled when he slapped her on the ass through the covers.

  Then she rolled onto her side so he could spoon her, and her smile changed to one of contentment. It was nice, she thought, curling up with Aidan with no thought of anybody or anything else lurking like a shadow elephant in the room.

  Tomorrow they’d go back to Boston and those elephants would start closing in again, but for now she was content to nestle against Aidan’s body and feel his breath in her hair.

  Chapter Fifteen

  AFTER DROPPING LYDIA off at her sister’s and making a quick stop at his place, Aidan made his monthly trek to his parents’ house in East Cambridge for a family dinner. The rest of them were there every Sunday, but he’d managed to convince his mother that his work schedule only allowed for one Sunday with the family per month.

  During football season, that Sunday usually happened to coincide with the Patriots having the early game, so he could see the whole thing before suffering through the meal. And sometimes he was able to stretch it to six weeks or even two months, though he was expected monthly.

  Unfortunately, everybody was already seated around the big dining room table when he walked in, though nobody had food on their plates yet. His father sat at the head of the table and Bryan was at his left, both of them in crisp dress shirts and ties. Bryan’s wife, Deborah, sat next to her husband, looking very put together and vaguely unhappy to be there. Aidan’s sister, Sarah, was on his father’s right, and his mom sat at the foot of the table. The empty chair between Sarah and his mom was for him.

  “I’m sorry I’m late, everybody,” he said, bending down to kiss his mother’s cheek.

  She wrinkled her nose. “You smell like gas. And your shirt is smudged. Is that dirt?”

  Aidan looked down at sleeve and saw that, yes, there was a small smudge of dirt on it. “I stopped to help a woman who was out of gas, and I must have rubbed against the car trying to get the gas can nozzle into it. I’ll go wash up.”

  “And unroll your sleeves and button the cuffs properly while you’re in there,” his mother said.

  “Honestly, Aidan,” his father said, “just once you could keep driving past, you know. Let somebody else stop and help for a change.”

  It was probably a good thing his old man couldn’t be bothered to look up at him, since Aidan figured his expression was probably something like are you fucking kidding me right now?

  “Helping people is what I do, Dad.”

  “Yes, we know. Higher calling and all that. But gas delivery boy is stretching it a bit, don’t you think?”

  Aidan bit down on whatever words might come out of his mouth should he open it and instead walked in silence to the guest bathroom. His old man was pretty damn dismissive for a guy who’d had his head split open by colliding with a tractor trailer and laid in the middle of the road while his wife sat by the guardrail in shock.

  And whether he’d grown up to be a firefighter or an investment advisor, Aidan liked to think he was the kind of guy who wouldn’t drive by a woman broken down on the side of the road with her kids.

  Maybe he shouldn’t hold it against his dad. He’d been raised by a family with some money and he’d made even more for himself. John Hunt wouldn’t know which end of a wrench to use, and he’d never even changed his own tire. He wouldn’t have the slightest idea how to help somebody in trouble, unless it was a financial issue. Aidan knew that. What he found hard to forgive, though, was the implication his father found him somehow lesser because of his job.

  It was a matter of respect, and his dad not only disrespected him, but pretty much everybody he cared about. It was tough to swallow sometimes, but he washed his hands with the flowery soap and, after a few futile swipes at the dirty streak, fixed his shirt sleeves. He could get through dinner and then he’d be off the hook for another month.

  After taking his seat between his mom and Sarah, they started passing the serving dishes. The food, at least, would be amazing. He considered it his consolation prize for doing his duty as a son once a month. Today it was roast beef with garlic mashed potatoes and roasted asparagus, which happened to be one of his favorites of his mother’s meals.

  “So, Aidan, are you dating anybody?” his mother asked, once they’d all begun eating. She usually held up the bulk of the conversation since his father rarely knew what to say to him. They didn’t have a lot in common and neither went out of his way to find something.

  Whether or not he was dating anybody was a complicated question, but he suspected it was asked more to be polite and offer expected conversation than out of genuine interest. “I’ve been seeing somebody lately, but it’s very casual and I haven’t been seeing her for very long.”

  “Oh, that’s nice. Deborah has a lovely friend I’d thought perhaps you might like, but it seems I’m too late.”

  Aidan glanced at his brother’s wife and she gave him a tight smile. He suspected she was mentally sighing in relief, though. She didn’t look thrilled about the idea of hooking one of her friends up with a guy like him.

  Conversation continued around the table, but Aidan didn’t pay a lot of attention. And they wouldn’t even notice. Once, when he was about thirteen, he’d gone through his father’s office and his mother’s closet, certain he’d find adoption papers. At the time, it had seemed the only possible explanation for why he not only didn’t fit in, but seemed to be actively disappointing to his parents. As he’d aged, though, the resemblance to his father had become unmistakable, and his brother looked like them both.

  And this feeling of being the odd man out at the dinner table was exactly why Tommy Kincaid meant so much to him. The man “got” him, and he’d taken Aidan under his wing and taught him everything he knew. The guilt hit him again, harder this time, and put a damper on his appetite.

  Aidan wasn’t so old-fashioned that he believed he was dishonoring Tommy’s daughter. She was a grown woman and she was entitled to a sex life, and none of that was her father’s business. It was the lying that ate at him. He was lying to Tommy and to Scott, and that was a betrayal in itself.

  “Aidan?” He realized his mother had spoken to him and looked up. She was looking at him intently. “Are you feeling all right?”

  “I guess. Why?”

  “You look a little flushed and you’re pushing your food around on your plate.”

  “I’m fine. Maybe not as hungry as I thought, though.”

  “I hope you’re not sick. I have to fly to South Carolina in two days for business and I’d rather not fly sick,” his father said. “It’s bad enough you smell like gasoline, but germs, too?”

  Aidan took a deep breath. One of these days he was just going to get up and walk out and not come back. There were a whole lot of people who liked and accepted him just the way he was. Why he cared about people who did nothing but judge him and find him wanting just because they shared DNA was beyond him.

  But today wouldn’t be that day. He knew if he did that, it would be a long time before he saw his family again, especially since they’d blame him without taking a look at their own possible shortcomings. And, even though there were countless reasons why it shouldn’t matter to him, he couldn’t quite bring himself to cut ties completely.

  He made it through dessert, which was carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. Just like the meal, it was one of his favorites, and it went a long way toward making him feel better. She might not be any better than her hu
sband at making him feel like a valued member of the family, but this wasn’t a coincidence. Maryanne Hunt had little ways of making her son feel loved, even if she wasn’t good at the words.

  After an hour of listening to his dad and Bryan recount their recent business triumphs, though, he’d had enough. “I have the night shift, so I should get home and get ready for work.”

  It was a lie. He wasn’t assigned the night tour, but he did want to get home. Not only because he was tired of investment talk, but because Kincaid’s Pub closed at nine on Sundays—except when the Patriots had a Sunday Night Football game—so he’d have an extra couple of hours to spend with Lydia tonight.

  “Honestly, Aidan, I think it’s barbaric the way they just flip from day to night at will like that.”

  “It’s not that bad, Mom. There’s usually enough time between the changes and you just sort of get used to it. We learn to sleep when we need to sleep, for the most part, whether it’s day or night.”

  “Be careful,” she whispered, squeezing his hand when he bent down to kiss her cheek.

  “Always.”

  He kissed Sarah on the cheek, wishing they were closer. He’d tried over the years, partly because he envied the relationship Scott had with Lydia and Ashley, but his sister had the personality of a wet paper bag and absolutely no desire to return the effort. Then he said goodbye to Deborah and Bryan from across the room, stiffly shook his father’s hand and got the hell out of there.

  * * *

  LYDIA WASN’T SURE what to expect when she showed up at Aidan’s after he got back from his parents’ house. She knew he had a contentious relationship with his family and his father had a way of putting him in a bad mood.

  When she’d texted him to let him know she’d thrown his phone charger in her bag and then forgotten about it and offered to drop it off, she’d expected him to tell her not to worry about it. He probably had more than one, and he could get it another time.

  If you don’t mind bringing it by, I’d like to see you.