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“We’ve got time, Aly,” he says, reassuringly. “I’m going to help you find out exactly what happened last weekend and why it happened to you. And while I’m doing that, I’m also going to show you what you mean to me and how good we are together.” He stops to give me another gentle kiss. “Andthenwe’ll talk.”
* * *
For the rest of the weekend, Aiden and I talk through everything that happened with Barrett. He questions me like he would do with any other victim in an investigation. The difference this time is that he has a vested interest involved—me. I watch his reactions to my recollection, noting every time his jaw tenses and he grinds his teeth. Hedefinitelydoesn’t like hearing about Barrett’s visit to my hotel suite—both before the restaurant and again, when he tracked me down afterward.
By the time Aiden has to leave late Sunday night to go back home, I realize it’s the most we’ve ever spent together at one time and—funnily enough—the first time we’ve ever spent longer than a few hours together without ripping each other’s clothes off and losing ourselves between the sheets.
This time seems different. The intimacy between us is still there, but it's stronger and so much more intense. It's like Aiden has a new determination to show me he wants more than our casual hookups. If I'm being honest with myself, he has been trying to show me that every time. It’s just that now, I'm taking notice and realizing that I want it as much as he does. It's like I've been blind to something that's been right in front of me the whole damn time.
I know I'm still raw from Barrett and Gavin's deceit, and I'm not in any position to think clearly about taking things further with Aiden. That doesn't mean I didn't relish having him in my apartment and my bed for two whole days without interruption. When I'm with him, I feel safe and protected, and for the first time in a while, I don't feel like I have to be responsible for everything all by myself.
“You sure you don’t want to come home with me? You can stay at my house, use my office, work remotely,” he says as he holds me in his arms at SeaTac.
I look up at him and smile. “You can’t be solving crimes and saving lives if I’m distracting you.”
“You’re always a distraction, whether you’re near or far.”
My belly flutters and my body melts into his as I lean into his chest and place a soft kiss on the hollow of his neck. “Will you call me?” I ask, my voice surprisingly steady despite the swirling emotions bubbling up inside of me.
His hand dips under my chin and tilts my face up to his. “Every chance I get if you’ll answer.”
“Aiden . . .” I breathe. He gifts me a knowing grin before he lowers his mouth to mine and kisses me deep and long and probably inappropriate for an airport departure terminal.
When the call for his flight comes over the loudspeaker, we pull apart. I stand up on my toes to give him one final closed-mouth kiss. “You’ll call,” I say, definitively.
“And you’ll ring that private investigator I recommended.”
“I will,” I say with a nod. He tightens his arm around my waist, touching his lips to my forehead before finally pulling away. “I’ll be back in a month, beautiful. We’ll sort this all out, and then I’ll be doingmorethan kissing you.”
A wry smile curves my lips. “I’ll hold you to that, Detective.”
"I hope you do, Aly," he says as he walks back toward the security checkpoint and with one final wave, disappears from sight.
And he was true to his word. That night, while I’m sitting on my couch with a hot chocolate in hand and a sappy romantic comedy on the television, he calls me.
Two days later, I call him, and touching base every few days becomes our thing.
The following Friday, I meet with Harrison Jones—a private detective who used to work with Aiden. I talk him through what happened and explain what I need to find out, for both my Mom and my peace of mind. After discussing everything I know about Barrett and Gavin, I pay him a sizeable retainer and we go our separate ways with him promising to be in touch when he has news.
After that, I try to move on and put the whole thing out of my mind. I focus all of my time and energy on the company and the new magazine launch. I end my nights talking to Aiden on the phone, or video calling him, and for the first time since Vegas, I’m sleeping through the night and doing it with a smile. The feelings between us are growing deeper and stronger, and I’m more than looking forward to having him back in Seattle with me, even if it’s just for a weekend.
Two weeks after everything went down, I receive a surprise phone call from Mom while I’m knee deep in reviewing the company’s annual report.
“Hey, Mom. How are you?”
“I’mwonderful.How are you? I haven’t interrupted anything, have I?”
I lean back in my chair and swing my eyes to look out my high-rise window. “I’m good. Just burying myself in work and hoping I’ll be able to come up for air sometime before I’m forty,” I reply with a wry laugh.
“Baby girl, you need a holiday.”
“Wasn’t that what my trip to Vegas to see you was for?”
“Yes, but it was far too short.”Or maybe not short enough given what happened.
“I know, Mom. So to what do I owe the pleasure?”
“I have wonderful news for you,” she says, her voice jovial. She sounds happier than I’ve ever heard her. And given what I know, alarm bells start ringing.
