Her heart gave a little stutter when she turned it on and the screen filled up with flowers. She stared at that for a while, watching as new leaves and blossoms appeared and grew on top of the others, knowing that Aidan had chosen that just for her.
Eventually, though, she remembered her purpose and brought up Google, wondering what she should enter as search key words. She didn’t spend as much time on the Internet as many people did, preferring instead to curl up with an old-fashioned paperback, but she did know enough to function in today’s cyber-savvy world.
She opted for simple and obvious, and typed in Aidan Harrison Pine Ridge PA, then sat back and sipped her tea. She really wasn’t expecting much, so when her screen started filling up with page after page of hits, she was sure she had done something wrong.
She looked at the Images first. Literally hundreds appeared - and in every one of them was the man now sleeping peacefully in her bed. Aidan, in a charcoal gray suit, shaking hands with a U. S. Senator. Aidan, handing over a check for a million dollars to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Aidan, in a black tux with Lexi at the grand opening of the Celtic Goddess...
Mary clicked on one and found the same image attached to an article from the front page of the local newspaper and clicked on the link. Celtic Goddess Hosts Grand Opening Gala. She began reading the first line: Multimillionaire and CEO of the internationally heralded Celtic Goddess franchise, Aidan Harrison, arrived Sunday with master head chef and inspiration for the Goddess, Alexis Kattapoulos Callaghan, to officially open the doors to what will undoubtedly bring a much needed economic boost to the local economy...
Tea forgotten, Mary clicked link after link. She looked at photos, read articles, watched news clips and videos until her eyes were blurry. She didn’t even realize the sun had risen until she felt Max’s cold nose nudging her arm.
She turned around to find Aidan leaning in the doorway. Wearing only a pair of pajama bottoms slung low on his hips, his arms were crossed over his bare, muscled chest, and he was watching her with an unreadable expression.
*
From where he stood, he could clearly see the laptop screen over her shoulder. Knew that Mary had been researching him.
“This is you,” she said finally, her tone calmer than he would have expected.
“Yes.” He searched her face, her eyes, but Mary gave nothing away. There was no indication of what she was feeling, good or bad.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Probably for some of the same reasons you never told me a lot about you. It seemed irrelevant.”
“Irrelevant?” she asked, her eyes widening in disbelief. “You think that being a multi-millionaire and owning the Celtic Goddess is irrelevant?”
“I’d hoped it would be. Does it make a difference to you, Mary?”
“I – I don’t know,” she answered honestly. “It’s kind of a lot to process.”
Aidan wasn’t overly pleased with her answer, but he nodded. At least she was being honest. It wasn’t the resounding affirmation that his wealth and status didn’t matter he might have hoped for, but she wasn’t kicking him to the curb, either. For the first time, Aidan realized that his fortune might be a disadvantage where Mary was concerned. She wasn’t all about the glitz and glamour, nor was she the type to be impressed by it.
“Fair enough. But it doesn’t change who I am, Mary.”
*
Mary dozed off and on all morning, curled up on her big comfy sofa. Sleeping all day yesterday and being up half the night cyber-stalking Aidan was wreaking havoc on her sleeping patterns.
Aidan was never far away. He spent most of the day wherever she was, softly tapping away at the laptop. The few times he did get up and leave, she could hear the low rumble of his voice in the next room and knew that he was either phone or video conferencing with work.
Aidan was an important man. A very important man. Responsible for literally thousands of jobs and millions of dollars every day. The thought boggled her mind, yet Aidan seemed to take it all in stride. She guessed he was used to it. After all, according to some of the things she’d read, Aidan and Lexi came up with the idea a long time ago, and Pine Ridge was their fourth location.
It was almost surreal. The soft-spoken pretty blonde cooking in her kitchen and sharing confidences yesterday was a master chef. And the gorgeous man who had stolen her heart and was currently sitting on the floor rubbing Max’s belly was a multi-millionaire CEO.
“Still thinking?” he asked, turning around to find her watching him. Again.
“Yeah, but I still don’t get it.”
Aidan patted Max and eased back up on the sofa. He took one of her feet in his hands, tugged off her fuzzy sock, and began massaging just under the arches. “What don’t you get?”
“Ungh,” she said, closing her eyes in bliss.
He laughed. “Ungh? I’m afraid you’re going to have to be a little more specific than that.”
“God, Aidan, where did you learn how to do that? It’s almost as good as sex with you.”
One dark golden brow lifted. “In China, actually. They’re very big on acupressure.”