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The waitress set our food down and looked between me and Aiden before saying, “Enjoy your dinner!”
I smiled, but Aiden ignored her. It was clear Nancy had ruined his evening. The first half of the meal was spent with metrying to talk to Aiden, and him giving one-word answers, the closeness we’d experienced earlier in the evening clearly gone.
I finally lapsed into silence, and we stayed that way until he pulled up to his house.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
AIDEN - THIS CAN’T HAPPEN
My head poundedand the pain swimming around in my chest was hard to ignore.
Guilt. Confusion. Need. Desire. All of it swarmed together.
“Thanks for tonight,” Emma said when we were in front of the car, glancing at me with those beautiful blue eyes of hers.
I swallowed hard. Fighting the desire to lean down and kiss her, I took a step back and rubbed my neck. “No, this can’t happen.”
She looked at me with a confused expression. “What do you mean?”
Taking another step back, I replied, “Nothing is going to ever happen between us. I can’t…it just…it would only be sex.”
Her eyes widened in surprise, which quickly turned to hurt. I wanted to take back the words the moment they came out, but it was too late. The damage was done.
Emma lifted her chin and squared her shoulders before she forced a tight smile. “I never expected anything from you, Aiden. Of course, I hoped we could be friends. But if you thought foreven a moment that I would sleep with you just to have some cheap sex…”
Her voice trailed off, and she looked away for a second. Almost as if she was trying to find the strength to say more. She drew in a breath, but before she went on, I spoke.
“That’s not what I meant. It came out wrong?—”
A hand came up and stopped me. “It was a mistake to go out with you this evening. It won’t happen again.”
Her mouth twisted into the fakest smile I’d ever seen, but at least she gave it the effort. “Good night, Aiden. Thanks again for a lovely evening.”
Turning, Emma walked up the outside steps that led to her apartment. I watched as she slipped farther into the dark, every part of me wanted to call out for her. Ask her to wait, to let me explain my outburst.
The sound of a door shutting gently was more painful than if she’d slammed it, and I felt my body flinch.
What type of a man was I that I would willingly let her go? She was unlike any woman I’d ever known. She’d walked away with a smile on her face, gracious even after I’d insulted her. Hurt her.
Emma was a master at hiding her feelings. If she had an ex-husband who’d made it a habit of yelling and insulting her, she’d have grown used to masking her emotions.
I closed my eyes and dropped my head back. “And you just made her do the same thing, you damn idiot.”
After standing there for five long minutes, I turned and walked back to my truck. A whole new set of feelings hit me, all of them bad. I was a fool. A jerk. A complete and utter asshole.
Starting my vehicle, I pulled out of the driveaway and headed back into town.
I stared at the glass in front of me. I’d lost track of how many drinks I’d had. Despite Nancy’s inference, it had been months since I’d last gotten drunk, and even though I knew it was a mistake to do so now, I didn't care.
A slap on my back had me looking up to see my best friend standing there.
“Dalton! Dude, what are you doing here?” I slurred.
“I called him.”
I turned to Lynn, the bartender, and frowned. “Why?”
“Because you can’t drive like this. Plus, when you walked in here, you handed me your truck keys and told me to call Dalton when you’d had too much to drink. So…I did what you asked.”
