AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Aidan frowned and kept walking, tugging her along with him. Clearly, she’d chosen to ignore everything he’d said to her. To give her the benefit of the doubt, given the stress she was under, he didn’t bite.
“Not going anywhere, Lily.”
They walked through the doors that led out to the atrium and tugged their coats around them. Snow fell on the glass roof and the fake grass and concrete block seats looked deceitfully appealing.
Still, they sat on them anyway and shivered together.
“This is a far cry from Hawaii,” Aidan said, sipping his coffee.
“Yeah.” Lily shot him a small smile. Then she turned to him. “My dad wanted to meet you.”
He pulled back. “Me?”
She nodded, a small smile on her lips.
“I told him all about you. Well, not all of it, obviously.”
Aidan’s lips stretched into a smile. Lily had told her dying father about him. That was a big deal. Did she realize that or not?
“You explained how charming and good-looking I was, right?”
Lily shook her head at him, and little pink splotches appeared on her cheeks.
“Mom did that,” she said, then leaned her head on his arm. “There were some complications this afternoon, and then we had about two hours with him before he drifted into a coma.”
Jesus.
“He said he wanted to meet you, to make sure you knew how lucky you were to have me.”
Aidan put his coffee down and wrapped his arm around her. Lily slid hers around his waist and gripped a handful of his coat. His heart swelled despite the bittersweet moment.
“I wish I could’ve met him. I would’ve told him I know I’m lucky, and that I can see the doubt in his beautiful daughter’s eyes, but I’m going to fight like hell to win her heart.”
She was quiet.
“You don’t believe me. I realize that. But you will.”
Her face lifted to his. Aidan lowered his mouth to hers, feeling her tremble against him. Was it her grief, the cold, or the way he made her feel?
Because his own heart was thumping, like crazy.
“I wish I could wrap you up in my arms and steal you away from all this pain,” he said, caressing her lips.
“Why me?” Lily asked.
“I don’t know. Why me?” he challenged back.
“Aidan. You have women throwing themselves at you. You’re gorgeous, wealthy, successful.”
True, but when it came to Lily, it was irrelevant. Aidan knew she wanted an answer. One he didn’t have, because while he’d never searched for love, he also wouldn’t have putrich chickon his search criteria.
He liked to think he had a bit more soul than that. Plus... well, he had enough fucking money. What he wanted, when he thought about it, was someone who made him think, made him smile, made him hot as hell.
Lily was the winner in all those regards.
Was he going to tell her that right now?
Fuck no. She’d likely run a mile.
