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“One is for you.”
“Nice of you.”
I found his bottle opener in the second drawer I tried and popped both tops. When he took it out of my hand, our fingers brushed.Sparks. I drank from mine, feeling the first flutter of nerves in a while. It was finally going to happen. Years of fantasies were about to become reality.
Aiden drank from his, and our eyes locked over the bottles.
“How long ago did you move in?” I asked. Now that it was finally here, I found I wanted to drag out the moments. Linger over them.
“Two years.”
I almost choked on my beer. “Twoyears?”
Aiden raised an eyebrow, like he had no idea what was so surprising about that.
I looked around the kitchen at the bare counters. The refrigerator shelves had been as scantily clad as mine had the day I moved in. Uninvited, I wandered back into the living room and looked at it more closely. The coasters on the cardboard boxes that were currently serving as end tables were the only indication they might be permanent fixtures.
“What are you doing?” Aiden asked, following me.
“You’ve lived here two years and you haven’t unpacked your books?”
He shrugged. “I haven’t had much time to read.”
I walked in the direction of the short hallway, off which were three doors. The one at the end was the bathroom. The one to the left was a room with a desk and more unpacked boxes. I hesitated before opening the door on the right.
“You can go in,” Aiden said. His voice was strained now. His gaze veiled. He was gripping the neck of his beer like he wanted to strangle it.
I walked in and saw a room that could have been ripped right out off the webpage of some fancy, minimalistic hotel. And I didn’t mean that in a good way. If you looked at my room, you knew I loved black and white photography and the color purple. Looking at Aiden’s room told me absolutely nothing about him. It was so nondescript it almost felt intentional. Like he might have to sublet it at any moment, and who could object to beige walls, a navy-blue comforter, and wood furniture?
“I have trouble getting too comfortable,” he explained, reading my mind. “Anywhere.”
I turned around to face him. I felt like he’d just told me paragraphs about himself in those six words. There was enough subtext to fill in some of the blank spaces in my mind. My heart simultaneously swelled and broke. He was so successful, but it was like he thought it could all be taken at any minute. It was why he worked so hard. Why he treated his employees like family. Why he didn’t have a single personal item on the surface of his nightstand.
Unable to stop myself, I crossed the room and stood right in front of him. “What about with me?”
Aiden’s gaze dipped. “I’m too comfortable with you. It’s a mistake.”
“Why is it a mistake?”
“Because I can’t have you.”
I set my beer on his barren dresser and put my hands on his shoulders. I’d barely had half of it, but I didn’t need liquid courage. Not for this. “I think you can.”
Aiden’s eyes were hot, but he didn’t make a move to touch me, even as I felt his muscles tense. His voice was low and scratchy when he said, “I can’t keep you.”
There it was again. That conviction that nothing could last. That nothing was really his. I slid my hands up to his face and pulled it gently down. Our foreheads brushed, and his eyes were glittering with need, but he still didn’t move. I wanted to kiss him so badly that my lips were tingling, but I had brought us this far. He had to meet me halfway.
“You can keep me tonight,” I whispered.
I saw the last of his resistance collapse, and his lips came down on mine. Triumph swelled in my chest, then was brushed away by overwhelming lust.
I kissed him back fiercely, pulling his face down to mine and wrapping my arms around his neck. I could feel every inch of his tall, rigid body pressed against mine. I’d already lost my equilibrium, but now I melted completely against him. My soft breasts were pressed against the topography of his muscled chest, rock hard torso, and long lean thighs, and our bodies fit together perfectly.
Aiden was kissing me, our mouths meeting and fusing, tongues intertwining. I was kissing him back frantically, still trying to pull him closer. One broad hand was sliding under the back of my t-shirt. His rough, splayed fingers spanned the expanse of my back, pressing me so closely against him that I could barely breathe. It felt good, but I wanted his hands somewhere else.
Without breaking the kiss, I pulled back just enough to get my hands in between us. I dragged my fingernails over the topography of his chest, feeling the hard muscle.
Aiden sucked in his breath and bit down on my lower lip. “Don’t forget all the reasons this could blow up in our faces,” he whispered, his voice a regretful warning.
