CHAPTER ELEVEN
Emma’s mind raged war on herself the entire elevator ride back down to her floor. You’re breaking all your rules going to his house! Remember your ‘get in, do the deed, and get out’ mantra? Agreeing to let him cook for you and try to console you is sure as hell not a part of that. You’re going to regret this! She had become her own worst enemy.
“Enough!” she shouted just as the elevator doors opened. The two women waiting to get on gave her a strange look. She ducked her head and then power walked to her office. Grabbing up her purse and bag, she slammed and then locked the door.
Once she got downstairs, she paced around the lobby. Just when she thought about bailing on Aidan to preserve her own sanity, he appeared before her. “Sorry I kept you waiting.”
“Um, no, it’s fine.”
She followed him out the side door to the parking deck. When the keyless entry in his hands flashed the lights of a coal black Mercedes convertible, she gave a low whistle. “Nice car, Mr. Fitzgerald.”
Aidan chuckled. “Thank you, Miss Harrison.”
“I’m impressed I get to be escorted in such style.”
He shook his head. “There you go with that mouth again.”
Emma tossed her bag on the floorboard and then slid across the leather seat. Besides the fact it cost twice as much as her Honda, it was impeccably clean on the inside. Not a crumb or spec of dust could be found while in her car a small village could have been fed by leftover food of grabbing breakfast or dinner on the run.
“Mind if I put the top down?”
“No, please do. It’s beautiful out today.”
Aidan hit a button on the console, and the roof started to retract. As they exited the parking deck, Emma dug in her purse for a clip. After sweeping her long hair back, she closed her eyes and let breeze wash over her.
“Don’t tell me I’m so boring you’re going to sleep on me?”
Emma giggled. “I’m sorry. I was just resting my eyes for a minute.”
They weren’t on the interstate long before Aidan got off on an exit. When he pulled into an older, established neighborhood, Emma turned to him in surprise. “You live here?”
He chuckled. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I saw you living in a sleek and trendy apartment building with a swinging bachelor pad.”
“Well, if you want the truth, I used to live in, as you say, a sleek and trendy apartment building, downtown. But then my sister, Angie, who is a real estate agent, convinced me that I needed to stop throwing money away renting and make an investment in some property. Somehow she smooth talked me into to buying in our other sister, Becky’s, neighborhood.” He glanced over at her and grinned. “I think it was more on the pretense of them being able to keep tabs on me, but it evens out because I get a lot of free meals.” He pointed to the left at an enormous two-story colonial with a wrap around front porch. “That’s Becky’s.”
“It’s beautiful.”
“Thanks,” Aidan replied, making another turn. “She needs a big house to keep the monsters in.”
“Monsters?”
“My three nephews.”
Emma giggled. “I see.”
Aidan eased into the driveway of a two-story brick house with white columns. Emma’s jaw dropped at how typically un-Aidan the house appeared. All that was lacking was a white picket fence with toys strewn about, and he would look like a regular suburban husband and father.
After Emma got out of the car, she walked out of the garage and widened her eyes at the emerald green grass and multicolored flowers. “Wow, did you do all this?” she asked, motioning to the immaculately kept lawn.
Aidan snorted. “Oh God no. I can’t grow anything but a little mold in my refrigerator. My dad is the one with the green thumb. Not only that, but he’s retired, so it’s his mission in life to do yard-work for his kids.”
“That’s really sweet of him.” She followed Aidan up the front porch steps and into the house. He punched in the code for the alarm when it started beeping. She tried not to show her surprise as she took in the wide-open floor plan of the living room. Floor to ceiling windows bathed the room in light, and high wooden beams crisscrossed over the ceiling. Considering what she had first thought of him, she expected furniture that was functional, modern, yet cold. Nothing like the warm overstuffed chair and love seat or the antique quilt swept over a couch. “Did you have a decorator?” she asked as she trailed behind him into the kitchen.
“No, I did it all myself. Well, my sisters helped of course. They take it upon themselves to spoil me in all domestic areas.” He turned around and surveyed her expression. “So you like it?”
“Like it? I love it. You’ve gone above and beyond just investing in some property. This is a home anyone would be proud of.”
A slow smile spread across his face. “Thank you. Coming from someone like you, that means a lot.”
“Someone like me?”
He raked his fingers through his hair, stopping to tug at the strands at the nape of his neck. “Oh you know, someone who is real—someone who appreciates a home over a house.”
Emma opened her mouth to respond, but a loud thump interrupted them.
Aidan rolled his eyes. “I should probably warn you about Beau.”
“You have a roommate?”
He chuckled. “Not unless you consider an eighty pound black Lab who eats me out of house and home and snores louder than a bear a roommate.”
“Oh you have a dog!” Emma squealed.
He gave her an odd look. “Damn, I didn’t think you’d be that excited about my old smelly Lab.”
She grinned. “You don’t know how much I love dogs! I’ve wanted to get one for so long, but my schedule has been so crazy I was afraid it would be alone too much.”
“I understand. I actually take Beau to Doggy Daycare a couple days a week.”
“You do?” she asked, fighting to keep the corners of her lips from turning up in a smile.
With a scowl, he replied, “Yeah, yeah, I’m a total p-ssy.”
Emma stood up on her tiptoes to ruffle Aidan’s hair playfully. “Aw, actually I think it’s sweet you do that for Beau.” Then she moved her hand down to his chest. “And it just goes to show what I really believed all along—you actually have a heart in there.”
“I’m glad to hear I’m coming up a little in your esteem. I would hate to have our future child scarred because his mother thought his dad was a heartless, sex-fiend a*shole.”
Her face crumpled as she snatched her hand away from his chest. Aidan gave her a sheepish look. “I didn’t mean to upset you by mentioning the baby.”
“It’s okay. I’m way too emotional today.”
He cupped her chin and gave her a reassuring smile. “It will happen, Emma. It may be next month or next year, but you’re going to get pregnant.”
Tears pricked her eyes. “Thank you.”
“Even if we die trying, we’ll make it happen.”
She laughed. “Somehow I think you would enjoy the death by sex part.”
His eyes closed in exaggerated bliss. “I can’t imagine a better way to go.”
They were interrupted by a low, keening howl at the basement door. “Guess I better let Beau out before he has a nervous breakdown,” Aidan said. He turned the knob, and Beau came lunging out. He immediately tackled Emma to her knees, but she just laughed good-naturedly. “Down Beau! No jumping!” Aidan bellowed.
“It’s okay,” she said, as Beau slurped his pink tongue over her cheek. “He’s just glad to see somebody.”
“He’s an obedience school flunkie,” Aidan muttered.
“Aw, I’m sure he’s really the bestest boy in the whole wide world! Aren’t you sweetheart?” Emma said, her voice raising an octave. Beau wiggled all over at her attention, his tail thawping against Aidan’s leg. He went into doggie heaven when she started scratching behind his ears, making grunting noises and finally sitting stock still.
“Okay, boy, time to go outside.”
Beau refused to budge from Emma. Aidan rolled his eyes in exasperation. “Outside. Now!”
Emma kissed the top of Beau’s head and then rose to her feet. “You better go on outside before you get us both in trouble,” she said, pointing to the backdoor.
Beau reluctantly started across the kitchen, his claws tapping across the hardwood floors. Aidan opened the door and let him out into the backyard. He shook his head as Beau frolicked after a butterfly. “Great. He’s already totally whipped by you.”
“I can’t help that everyone, even animals, love me,” Emma joked.
Aidan turned back to her and grinned. “Someone is cocky tonight.” His eyes widened at the sight of her legs. “Oh shit, I’m sorry.”
Emma glanced down to see the ragged holes where Beau’s claws had snagged her stockings. “It’s no big deal.”
“You want something to change into?”
She bobbed her head. “That would be great, thanks.”
“Follow me.”
Emma fell in step behind Aidan as they started down the hallway. She wasn’t too thrilled at the prospect of following him into the master bedroom, so she stopped in front of a wall of pictures. “Are these all of your family?”
Aidan turned back and then nodded. “Yeah, Angie, did that for me. She got all the pictures together and then arranged them for me as a house warming present.”
“She did a great job.” As Aidan dipped back inside the bedroom, Emma continued gazing at the photographs. Aidan was the spitting image of his late mother. Several of the pictures were of his parents when they were younger and older. “I love this one of your parent’s at their 50th Wedding Anniversary. Your mother was so beautiful,” she called.
“Thanks.”
“And your dad is handsome, too.”
“I told you I’d bring some attractive genes to the table!”
She rolled her eyes at his cockiness. “Your dad looks like a really sweet and nice man.”
Aidan poked his head out of the bedroom door. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Emma shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I had this impression of your dad being like Hugh Hefner, and you following in his footsteps.”
Aidan laughed as he handed her a pair of navy sweat pants and a white t-shirt. “Trust me, my dad is the farthest thing from Hef. My parents were high school sweethearts. I’m not sure if he ever slept with anyone but Mom. She’s been gone five years, and he’s barely dated at all.”
“That’s so romantic,” Emma gushed.
“Yeah, but he’s lonely. If he’s not hounding one of my sisters, he’s calling me, guilting me to come visit. I know he’d like someone to be there with him all the time, but he just can’t seem to let go of Mom. I keep telling him to move on, but he just refuses.”
Emma grew exasperated at his tone. “Maybe he’s not ready yet. Maybe a love as strong as theirs isn’t so easy to get over as you think,” she countered.
“I guess. But Jesus, he needs to lighten up on the expectations that I should always be at his beck and call.”
Emma threw her hands up in exasperation, unable to hold her temper any longer. “Has he been a good father to you or not?”
“Yeah, of course he has.”
“Then he shouldn’t have to call you to beg you to come by. You should be the one calling him and checking to see how he’s doing. Maybe paying him back for some of the sacrifices he made while you were growing up.”
“I know, it’s just—”
“Trust me when I say this Aidan, he won’t be here forever. I did everything I could for my mother while she was alive, and sometimes guilt still consumes me. I wouldn’t ever want you to be haunted by regrets.”
“Damn, Em, you make me feel like a real a*shole.”
With her anger evaporating, she suddenly felt embarrassed for going off on him. She ducked her head. “I’m sorry. I just know you have a really good heart, that’s all.”
“Then if you believe in me that much, I’ll do better, okay?”
She peeked up at him through her lashes and smiled. “Okay.”
He cleared his throat and motioned across the hall. “You can go change in the bathroom.”
“Thanks. I probably need to wash my face too after my crying tirade. I’m probably a mess.”
“Would you like to take a shower while I fix dinner?”
“Are you insinuating I stink?” she asked, with a grin.
Aidan chuckled. “No, I just thought it might make you feel better. If you want, you can soak in the Jacuzzi tub.”
Emma closed her eyes and sighed. “That would be fabulous.”
“Come on then.”
She followed him into the bedroom. With its light blue walls and white trim, it had an airy, cozy feel. She fought the urge to giggle at what she had imagined of his bedroom—silk sheets, a mirror over the bed, and black or red walls.
It was quite the opposite. An enormous four-poster bed sat in the middle of the room. The only thing that stood out to her was how neat and organized everything was. “You must pay a fortune to your cleaning lady,” she mused.
“I don’t have one.”
“You do all this yourself?”
Yeah, I like cleaning.”
After peeking in the bathroom, Emma mused, “Looks like you’re kind of a neat freak, huh?”
“I might be just a little anal retentive about everything being in order.”
“Hmm.”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?” he asked, sweeping his hands to his hips.
“Nothing.”
“Let me guess. You took a few psych courses in college, and the experts say that most often obsessively clean people are trying to put order into a life of emotional chaos?”
“I didn’t say that.”
He snorted. “You didn’t have to, Dr. Phil. Now if you’re through analyzing me, I’ll let you go and take your bath.”
“I appreciate it.”
After she closed the door behind Aidan, she turned on the water. Slipping out of her clothes, she tried stripping herself of the day’s stress. Once the tub filled up, she turned on the jets. She eased down into the bubbling water and sighed with contentment. She had just laid her head back when the door burst open.
With a shriek, she rushed to cover her breasts with her hands. Aidan chuckled. “Jesus, Em, there’s no need to panic. I’ve seen everything you’ve got, remember?”
Warmth rushed to her cheeks. “I know. You surprised me, that’s all.”
He held up her purse. “You left this in the kitchen, and I thought you might need it.”
She nodded. “Thank you.”
Aidan sat the purse on the vanity. “Okay, I’m really going this time, and I promise to leave you in peace.”
Emma giggled and then eased back into the tub after he closed the door. She probably could have stayed in for hours, but when her fingers started pruning and wonderful aromas started wafting back to her, she figured it was time to get out.
After drying off, she pulled on Aidan’s clothes and swept her hair back into a ponytail. When she grabbed her purse, her phone buzzed. She had missed a text from Casey. Haven’t seen you since lunch. Hope you’re okay.
Emma fought the desperate sobs that threatened to overtake her. With trembling fingers, she texted Casey. Got my period. I’m at Aidan’s. Call u tomorrow.
It only took a second for Casey to reply. So, so sorry, babe. I’m here for you. Love ya.
Emma couldn’t help feeling surprised at Casey’s reaction. She had expected her to demand to know what the hell she was doing at Aidan’s rather than throwing back margaritas with her. At the very least, Emma thought she would have discouraged her for spending any time with Aidan that didn’t involve baby-making.
With a sigh, she stuffed her phone back in her purse and then started out of the bedroom.