Page 47 of Crossed Up

He perks up with a small smile at my words and throws his deceptively strong arms around my neck, squeezing so tight I have to remind him to let me breathe.

Aidan finally approaches, his eyes a little glassy, and drops down to the bench next to us with a soft smile as he runs his large hand over his son’s back.

“Hey, you two. I was wondering where y’all ran off to.” His gaze roams over where Crew is snuggled into my arms and the glossiness increases a fraction, just shy of actual tears gathering on his lower lashes. “I’m pretty tired. What do you say we head home and have a movie night? We can get pizza?”

At the mere mention of a movie night, Crew gets a second wind and hops off my lap to do hot laps around the small table. “Yes, a sleepover! Daddy, can we do another fort? Pleeease? I promise I’ll help Lyly clean it all up tomorrow!”

The handsome man next to me snickers at his son with a fond smile, raking a hand through his messy hair. “Of course we can, raptor. And I think we should just leave the fort up, since you like it so much.”

Crew stops to stare at his father in awe. “Really? We can leave it up all the time?”

Aidan glances at me for confirmation, but I just shrug with a smile. It’s not my house.

“We sure can, raptor. Now, let’s get a move on so we can swing by Joe’s and get some pizza before they get busy.”

As we’re making our way to the truck, I lean into my boss just the slightest bit and lower my voice, keeping my words just for him. “You’re a really good dad, Aidan. I don’t know many parents who would willingly let their six-year-old indefinitely take over their living room with a blanket fort just to make them happy.”

He tosses an arm over my shoulders but keeps his eyes on Crew as he answers me. “I did it for you, too, angel. I saw the way your eyes lit up whenever y’all were in the fort. If it makes the two most important people in my life happy, then who gives a hoot if it’s a little messy?”

I melt into a puddle on the cement at his sweet words. “The two most important people, huh?”

Aidan peeks at me from the corner of his eyes with a smirk. “Yep. Sometime during the last five weeks, this sweet woman I hired as a nanny wormed her way into my heart. A place no other woman has been before.” He grabs my hand and pulls me to stop next to the passenger door of his truck.

Just before I go to climb in, he rests a hand on my hip and leans down to murmur next to my ear. “And if I have it my way, a place no other woman but her will ever be again.” Checking on Crew, who’s happily chattering away in the backseat, he smacks my ass before lifting me into the passenger seat, earning a squeak from me.

His smirk is sinful and promises wicked things but his next words knock me off kilter. He picks up the seatbelt, reaches across me to fasten it, and takes the opportunity to nip at my ear. “Unless, of course, that sweet woman of mine lets me knock her up, and we have a daughter.”

This man is insane. Absolutely off his damn rocker. We’ve barely known each other a month, and here he is talking about wanting to knock me up.

Goddamnit. Why does that turn me on? It’s the ‘Daddy’ thing all over again.

Maybe that’s it. I’ve dreamed of being a mom since I was a little girl, so maybe seeing Aidan being such an amazing dad is triggering both my daddy issues and my desire to be a parent and rolling them all into one big amalgamation of confusing attraction. It’s probably the same thing for him. Just biological impulses triggered by seeing me care for his son.

The fact that we’ve now had unprotected sex should freak me out, but I trust Aidan. He’s proven time and time again that I can rely on him for just about anything. Even so, I’m still not sure I’m ready to take that final leap into a relationship with him. There’s too much up in the air with Sebastian, and this case the FBI is supposedly building against the Pennington family.

I don’t even realize I’ve zoned out until a soft hand on my shoulder startles me out of my thoughts, and I see Aidan staring at me, concern darkening his pale blue irises. The car is off, and we’re parked in the center spot of the three-car garage. He always parks here so I can park in the spot closest to the door with the SUV.

“Hey, gorgeous. You okay? You checked out again.”

Feeling guilty for worrying him, my smile feels more like a grimace as I lay my hand over top of his. “I’m fine, just thinking.”

He nods in understanding, his eyes tracking over my face, trying to detect any hint that I’m not okay. “Lyla, I think?—”

“Daddy! Lyly! Hurry up, I wanna watch Tinker Bell!” Crew’s voice interrupts whatever Aidan was about to say, and I breathe a sigh of relief. At least until I notice him track the movement and narrow his eyes.

“We need to have a conversation soon, Lyla. I know you’re worried about things with your ex, but if that’s the only thing holding you back, it’s a nonissue. There’s an entire team of guys willing and able to help us at the drop of a hat if it comes down to that, and from the sounds of it, Copeland already has things well in hand on the legal end.”

His sigh is loud in the quiet of the truck’s cab, and guilt slithers through my belly at the disappointment on his face. “But if there’s something else, another reason you aren’t ready to give us a chance beyond sex, then I need to know now before I get more invested, before Crew sees something he shouldn’t and gets his hopes up even more than they already are. Because that little boy in there is in love with you, and losing you would devastate him just as much, if not more, than it would devastate me.”

“Our original deal still stands, Ly. If you don’t want this, that’s okay. No harm, no foul. You can stay on for Crew, and I’ll be completely professional. We can still be friends if you’re open to it. Or I can help you find another job, either with someone on the team or another family who’ll be almost as grateful to have you as we have been. The ball is in your court, sugar.”

Without waiting for a response, he gets out of the truck and heads into the house, his face instantly transforming the second he walks through the door. From this angle, I can see how his cheeks bunch with his wide grin and the little crinkles in the corners of his eyes prove his smile is genuine.

Aidan has a point. I need to figure out where my head is at and what I want before any of us fall deeper into this family dynamic we’ve blended into so seamlessly. Choosing to remain in my seat for just a bit longer, I pull out my phone and text Wren.

Me

Hey, you busy? I could use one of your famous heart-to-heart chats right about now

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