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Aiden was pulling the lasagna out of the fridge. “I’m going to heat this up, since you’re staying for dinner.”
My mouth opened to argue, but nothing came out. At least, not until I internally kicked myself. “Oh, I wasn’t going to stay for dinner. I mean, I just assumed… If you want to be alone tonight, I totally understand.”
Aiden stopped what he was doing and looked directly at me. “I don’t want to be alone tonight.”
My stomach fluttered, and I knew I was making another terrible decision, but instead of listening to my brain, I followed my heart.
Or maybe it was my stomach because the lasagna looked amazing.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
EMMA - THIS ISN’T A DATE.
Aiden putthe lasagna in the oven as I ran up to my apartment to change clothes. Standing at the mirror, I lectured myself. Why was I making everything so hard? It was dinner andSuits. What was the big deal?
“Um, he’s your boss, Emma,” I whispered to myself in the mirror.
My boss.
Was he really just my boss, though? It felt like we were becoming friends as well, and that was a good thing, right? Friends were what I wanted. Friends were good. There was nothing wrong with having dinner and watching a show with a friend.
“You’re thinking about this too much, Emma. My goodness, put on sweatpants and a T-shirt.”
Pulling my top off and tossing it onto the bed, I pulled open my dresser and found the long-sleeve T-shirt I’d bought the other day. The giant moose on the front was too cute to pass up. Plus, it saidWhat Moose I Do Today. I laughed at myselfas I pulled off my skinny jeans and replaced them with comfy sweatpants. I bent over and gathered my hair and pulled it into a pony that was half in, half out, to make a messy bun.
With a final look at myself, I nodded. “This isn’t a date, so why go all out?”
With a deep breath, I made my way out onto the balcony—and stopped in my tracks when I saw Aiden. Two glasses of wine sat on the table, and he stood a few feet away, looking into the telescope. My heart started to beat rapidly in my chest.
This isn’t a date.
“Hey, I was beginning to think you fell asleep in there.” He laughed and turned to face me. His eyes roamed over my body slowly before they stopped on what looked like my lips. Clearly, I was still reading into everything.
He’s probably thinking you look like something the dog would drag home.
Maybe I should have put a little bit of effort into looking decent. I sighed inwardly.
He walked to the table and grabbed both glasses of wine, handing me one when I approached. “You do drink wine, right?”
I took it and lifted my glass in a little salute. “Let’s just say I’ve never turned down a glass when offered to me.”
Aiden smiled widely, and my throat bobbed as I tried to swallow and failed. He had a dimple. Oh, my goodness,howhad I not noticed the dimple in his right cheek? That dimple, those blue eyes against his black hair…a woman could get lost so easily looking at this man.
I cleared my throat.Not you though, Emma. He’s just a friend.
I broke eye contact and looked out at the view. “It’s so beautiful here, I still can’t get over it. What were you looking at?”
He motioned with the hand that held the glass of wine for me to look through the telescope. “Elk are beginning to come down from the tree lines into the meadows.”
“Oh my gosh! Really?” I set my glass of wine down and rushed to the telescope. I searched but couldn’t find any. “Where? I don’t see them.”
Aiden’s heat covered my back and everything stilled except for my heart. It went into double time as he leaned over and aimed the telescope up a bit.
The herd suddenly came into view, and I gasped. “Oh, my gosh. How many are out there?”
“A lot. That bull has been working overtime for his girls.”
I straightened and faced him. Before I could respond, I heard the bugle of an elk across the meadow. The bull I’d just been looking at bugled back. Aiden and I both grinned.
