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“Will you play something else?”
With a chuckle, I asked, “Like what?”
“What do you know?”
“Well, I’m classically trained, so I really know all the classical music best. Chopin, Beethoven, Mozart.”
“Pick one.”
Grinning, I tilted my head and regarded him. “I wouldn’t have taken you for a classical music fan, Aiden.”
It was his turn to shrug. “There’s a reason I have a piano in my home, Emma.”
I straightened. “Do you play? Alice said the piano had only ever been used by Lisa.”
He shook his head. “No, I don’t play, but I love the sound of a piano, especially at Christmastime. My mother knows a few Christmas songs and always plays them on Christmas Eve. Hadley shares my love for music and likes to mess around on the piano when my mother’s here. I was going to sign her up for lessons, but maybe you could teach her.”
The urge to bounce up and down with excitement over him wanting me to teach Hadley caused me to sit on my own hands. “I would love to teach her!”
One of the first things I grew excited about when I’d learned I was carrying a child was the idea of teaching them how to play the piano?—
My mood plummeted at the thought of her. Or him. I’d never know the gender of the baby I’d carried. Ben had taken that away from me.
“How about Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight Sonata’?” I asked belatedly, noting Aiden was watching me closely.
He nodded.
The music filled the room as I played. The song was brooding and slow, a sense of sadness mingled in with the notes. Aiden stood there, his eyes moving from the piano keys to my face,then back to the keys. Our eyes locked at one point, and it felt as if we were the only two people in the world. I had the feeling he could see into my soul as easily as I could peer into his. Where I had emptiness, he had sadness. Fear. And something else I couldn’t read.
I looked back down at the keys and focused on them. Aiden slowly moved closer, then sat on the bench. The warmth of his body next to mine overwhelmed me at first, and I stumbled over the keys before stopping abruptly.
The only thing I could hear in the room was the sound of our breathing.
Neither of us moved for a good two minutes, then I stood. “I wasn’t sure if you were staying home or not, but I made you a few snacks if you wanted to watch that show you’ve been bingeing.”
He smiled, and my breath caught. It was that elusive smile that reached his eyes. My favorite one.
Oh gosh. Don’t do this, Emma. Do not do this.
“Want to watch it with me?”
“You’re not going out?” I asked.
Aiden stood and laughed. “Nah, I’m staying home.”
I buried my face in my hands after he walked out of the room.You are not attracted to him, Emma.
Ugh. Why did he have to be so handsome? Why did he seem to sometimes look at me as if he wanted to kiss me?
“No!” I harshly whispered to myself, pacing the room.
“No? You don’t want to watch it?” he called from the kitchen.
I stopped moving around—then I did the one thing my brain was telling menotto do. I caved.
“Sure, I’ll watch it with you.”
Slapping my forehead, I headed into the kitchen.
