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There was the kitchen with cabinets in a light, knotty wood and gray-green granite countertops. The main sitting area clustered around the large woodburning fireplace, with red leather couch and chairs, and a plush, gray-and-white rug. A spiral staircase up to a loft, holding his king-size bed and built-in bookcases full to bursting. And of course, the single chair where she sat, tucked into the corner by the window, two additional bookcases against the wall behind her.
Aiden set the plates on the breakfast bar and gave her an uncertain look. As if he wasn’t sure she even wanted to dine with him. As confused and unfocused as she’d been, she couldn’t blame him.
Goddamnit, she’d royally fucked things up.
A plan quickly forming in her head, she tried to rise from the chair in one fluid, lithe movement. Unfortunately, those two words had never been associated with her before, and that sure wasn’t changing now. Not with the way she lurched out of the chair like Frankenstein’s fucking monster.
Fighting back an embarrassed grimace, she tried to walk across the room in a sexy, seductive way, swaying her hips, looking up at him through her eyelashes. It was hard to tell from his expression whether it was working. His only indication he noticed anything different was a slight lift of a single eyebrow.
I can do this, she told herself, redoubling her efforts. What if he thought she was getting bored with him? Or perhaps that she’d already emotionally shut down, since she was leaving in the morning. She had to do whatever she could to show him he was everything to her—
A plan that fell completely to pieces when she ran into the sofa and toppled sideways.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” she muttered as she hit the floor. Giving up completely, she stayed on the ground, covering her eyes with her hands.
The floor vibrated beneath her as Aiden’s footsteps thundered across the room. “Are you okay?” She didn’t have to look at him to know he was struggling not to laugh. It was obvious as all hell.
“I’m fine,” she said, groaning, certain she was blushing from head to toe. “Go eat your dinner and leave me to die in peace.”
Losing his battle with politeness at last, he laughed out loud. “You’re not going to die,” he said, still chuckling as he pried her hands away from her face. “Come on. Let me get a look at you.” Despite her struggles and objections, he hauled her to her feet, holding her out in front of him at arm’s length. He turned her this way and that, making a show of checking her for injuries, her blush deepening all the while. “There doesn’t appear to be any permanent damage.”
Yeah, not to her body. Her ego was well and truly eviscerated, though.
“All right, you ridiculous creature,” he said, tucking two fingers under her chin and gently lifting until she finally looked at him. “Why don’t you tell me what on earth that was?”
She mumbled her answer, too mortified to speak at a volume humans could hear.
“Want to try that again in English?” he said, one corner of his mouth quirking up.
Knowing it was a lost cause, she screwed her eyes shut and blurted, “I was trying to be sexy for you, okay?” Aaaand now she was crying. Good lord, could this get any more embarrassing? “And apparently I suck at it, because even before I collided with the furniture, you obviously had no idea what I was doing. So yay me.”
“Oh, Liv.” He gathered her to his chest, resting his chin against the top of her head. “I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t tease you. It’s just, you’re the sexiest woman I’ve ever met in my life. You’re the only thing I’ve thought about from the moment I started reading your application six months ago. And then when I finally saw you in person...fuck me, I was done for. You have to know that by now.”
Breathing in the subtle scent of his cologne, she forced some of the tension out of her body. “I’m sorry,” she said, wrapping her arms around his waist. “I know I’m screwing everything up. I was trying to fix it, but I screwed that up, too.”
“You’re not screwing anything up.” He sounded like he genuinely meant it, though she couldn’t imagine how. “This is a hard night for both of us.”
Olivia pulled away, looking up into his eyes. “Is it really?” She was almost afraid to hear his answer.
Frowning, he asked, “Is it really what?”
“Hard for both of us.”
Hurt flashed through his gorgeous brown eyes, there one second and hidden the next. If she’d blinked, she would’ve missed it. “I’m not sure what you mean,” he said, voice now neutral.
Fuck.She hadn’t meant to hurt his feelings. But sheneededto know the truth. What was real, and what was merely part of his act? This was his job, after all. If they met again someday, would he be stiffly telling her he didn’t feel the same connection she did, like he’d told Stacey? Or was it possible that maybe, just maybe, this all meant as much to him as it did to her?
“You must’ve done this dozens of times,” she said, talking a little too fast, her heart pounding against her ribs. “I figured maybe you were used to it by now? The goodbye part, I mean.”
His lips formed a silent O. Reaching up, he cupped her face between his hands. “It’s never been difficult before. This is the first time I haven’t wanted the week to end.” And then he was kissing her. Slowly at first, his soft lips so gentle against hers, his stubble only brushing faintly against her skin.
Olivia didn’t know who deepened the kiss, him or her. All she knew was they were suddenly clinging to one another, mouths moving frantically, clothes being shoved out of the way.
Dinner completely forgotten, he lifted her so she was perched on the back of the couch, her legs circling his waist, arms wrapped around his neck. “Please don’t be gentle,” Olivia said, digging her heels into his firm ass, forcing him closer to her.
Aiden began to fuck her with long, intense strokes, the thumb of one hand gently brushing over her clit, teasing her, driving her wild. The back of the couch was hard and unforgiving beneath her, digging into her bruised and tortured flesh without reprieve. When Aiden slid his free hand down, gripping her ass possessively, the dual sensations were a sweet ecstasy of pain.
“Don’t cry, Liv.”
