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"Eyes only for one man?" she said, arching a brow.
Melissa laughed. "Hardly."
"Are you sure?" Kaitlyn added.
"Is this an inquisition?" Melissa asked, only half serious. She'd love to be able to talk frankly about Aidan with another woman. But these women were his sisters, and she was afraid they'd be biased on his side.
"Aidan is a complete ass at times," Shannon said.
Okay, maybe there was no bias. She certainly couldn't disagree with Shannon's assessment of Aidan.
"Not really an ass," Kaitlyn corrected. "More like a man who wants something desperately, but doesn't realize yet what it is."
Shannon waved her hand. "You're too nice. He's an idiot. His destiny could be staring him straight in the face and he'd be completely oblivious to all the signs."
Melissa caught Kaitlyn's elbow nudging Shannon's ribs.
"Hey," Shannon protested, then looked at Melissa and back over at her sister and nodded.
Wondering what that was about, but too afraid to ask, Melissa said, "And what about the two of you? I don't see any guys hanging around."
Kaitlyn shrugged. "It's not time yet for me. When it is, I'll know."
"Famous last words," Shannon said sullenly into her drink.
Lifting her chin, Kaitlyn said, "Just because you got burned once doesn't mean that's the way it always will be, Shannon. Besides, none of us saw that coming. Not even Mom."
Melissa had no idea what they were talking about and decided it was best not to ask. Pain etched furrows at the corners of Shannon's eyes, as if she'd just remembered something she'd rather have forgotten.
Kaitlyn put her arm around her sister's shoulders. The room seemed to quiet around them, the air conditioner toned down its frosty breeze, and the darkness seemed to lift as if a glow surrounded their table.
Then just as quickly as it changed, Melissa blinked and everything was as it was before.
She stared down into her now empty drink and figured her next glass should be regular iced tea.
"What about you, Melissa?" Shannon asked. "Ever had your heart broken?"
"Once. A few years ago. I thought I had found this great guy, only it turned out he was more interested in business than in me."
Shannon snorted. "Been there, done that, sister." She lifted her glass and clinked it against Melissa's.
"You, too?"
"Yeah. Stupid of me, really. I should have known better. What I thought was the man of my dreams climbing all over me turned out to be my biggest nightmare using me as a stepping stone to claw his way to the top of the hotel business."
"Ouch." Melissa felt Shannon's pain.
"You said it."
A tall, dark-haired man approached the table. Melissa had noticed him earlier. He couldn't seem to take his eyes off Kaitlyn.
"Katie?" he said, and Kaitlyn looked up and smiled.
"Jimmy!" she said, bounding out of her chair and throwing her arms around the man. "Where have you been?"
"Chicago. Three months."
"No wonder. Let's dance and catch up."
Kaitlyn slipped her arm through his and wandered onto the dance floor.
"They look nice together," Melissa commented.
Shannon shrugged. "They've known each other forever. Kaitlyn has more guy friends than any woman I know. And they all love her to death, but like a sister. I don't understand it."
"Me either. She's gorgeous."
"That she is. But she doesn't put out signals that guys see as invitation. She's every man's best friend, but no man's lover."
"What's she waiting for?"
"She's waiting for the one," Shannon explained with a roll of her eyes.
"The one?" Melissa waved at the waitress and ordered an iced tea. This time without the Long Island in it. She could already feel the dizzying effects of the alcohol-laden cocktails she'd consumed.
Shannon waved her hand. "Long story. Boring, actually. Let's talk about you and Aidan instead."
Melissa stared ahead at Kaitlyn's quickly disappearing form into the throng of dancing bodies undulating on the square stage. "Nothing to discuss."
"C'mon, Lissa. I know better. You and Aidan have something."
She turned to gaze at Shannon, surprised she used the same nickname Aidan gave her. "What do you know?"
A sly smile curved Shannon's lips. "Nothing, really. I have eyes. I see the way you two look at each other."
They looked at each other a certain way? She had no idea. "Your brother's an attractive man. Can't blame me for looking."
Shannon wrinkled her nose. "Well, ick on me thinking my brother is attractive, but he obviously thinks you're pretty special."
"I think you're off base here. He avoids me like the plague."
"Exactly my point. If he didn't care about you, he'd be trying to get your panties off in two seconds flat. If he thinks you have the potential to hurt him, he'll ignore you until he can't ignore you any longer, because he feels something."
"Really?"
"Really." Shannon grinned. "Besides, we're all pretty close. We know when something's up with one of us."
Melissa nursed her drink and pondered what Shannon said.
"So? What are you going to do about it?" Shannon asked.
"Do about it? Nothing, I suppose. I told you, he's avoiding me."
"Then I guess it's up to you, isn't it?"
She swallowed, her throat dry. Time to be honest. "I've tried, believe me. He's not interested."
"What have you tried?"
Explaining her seduction techniques to Aidan's sister was going to be more than a little embarrassing. "Seduction. Dressing sexy, brushing against him, little suggestive comments."
Shannon's brows lifted. "Really? And he didn't respond?"
"No."
"He's got it bad, then," Shannon replied, then laughed. "Oh yeah, he's got it real bad for you, cher. You'd better go over there and pounce on him before he blows apart."
Kaitlyn came back and flounced into her chair, downing her drink in a few gulps. "That was fun!" She fanned herself, sweat beading on her forehead. She looked at both Melissa and Shannon, and asked, "What's up? What did I miss?"
"Aidan has the hots big time for Melissa," Shannon announced.
Melissa wondered if anyone would notice if she crawled under the table.
Kaitlyn's dark eyes widened and she grinned. "Really? How do we know this?"
"He's avoiding her."
"Avoiding her? Wow. It's even stronger than I felt...er, imagined." Kaitlyn reached for Melissa's hand and squeezed. "That's wonderful. So, what are you doing here with us when you should be knocking some sense into our thick-headed brother?"
"You mean, go to his house?"
Kaitlyn nodded. "Of course."
"I...I can't. I wouldn't know what to do, where to start." She couldn't believe she was even considering going to Aidan's house and offering herself up like a sacrificial virgin.
"He won't." Shannon's confident air didn't do much for Melissa's self-doubt.
"Go on, Lissa. Tell Aidan what you want," Kaitlyn said, already grabbing Melissa's purse and pushing it toward her. "Trust us on this--he won't turn you away."
Her heart pounded louder than the staccato beat of the top forty hit blasting out the speakers in the club. Kaitlyn scribbled down Aidan's address and shoved the paper into her hand. Reluctantly, she stood and hugged Shannon and Kaitlyn, certain they had no idea how Aidan really felt about her, certain she was headed to a man's house who would ultimately laugh in her face.
She hailed a taxi and pondered the stormy clouds above. What was she afraid of? She was no coward. In business she was fearless, always in control. Nothing frightened her.
But this did--the idea of facing Aidan and telling him that she wanted him scared the bejeebers out of her.
As the taxi took off she tried some deep breaths to help her gain control over her shaky emotions. For too long she'd held back, unable to grab what she wanted for fear some other man would hurt her like before.
No more. It was time for her to put everything out on the table and find out where things were headed between them. At least after tonight she'd know for sure. She was either going to have wild sex with Aidan, or she'd spend the remainder of the month in prime frustration, releasing her pent up sexual tension with her own hand.
Not like she hadn't done that more times than she cared to count.
The taxi pulled up in front of a complex of condominiums. Modern and garden like, tall birch trees waved in the scattering winds across the threshold of the main gated entrance.
Melissa found Aidan's condo and stepped to the door, suddenly more nervous than she'd ever been before.
