Page 126 of Done with You

He’d come straight here from work. It was his first official day back on the force, and even though it felt weird returning to the station, and having to ride with a partner, Aiden didn’t let it get him down. His friends and co-workers welcomed him back with smiles and handshakes, and nobody seemed to look at him like the cop that lost his cool. Maybe that was also because during the last four months, he’d made a point of reaching out to everyone in his department and apologizing for his behavior and how it made the department look. He said he was doing the work to get better and looked forward to working with them all again.

That making amends stuff really was magical.

The cop he had to ride along with was a bit green around the gills, but he was also eager and very bright. Aiden felt less like he was being babysat and more like he was helping a new recruit not make the same stupid mistakes that he did. Paying it forward and all that jazz.

He changed out of his work clothes at work into jeans and a black, long-sleeve shirt, then jumped in his truck and drove across town to All or Nothing Dance Studio.

He and Oona talked on the phone regularly, and met for coffee usually once a week at least, but as far as dates went, there were none. No sex, handholding or even kissing.

And that was more on Aiden’s insistence than Oona’s. He wanted to prove to her that he was doing this for the right reasons and that he was going to see it through.

So they did what they said they were going to do, and got to know each other. They became friends. And she was a terrific friend. She introduced him to some of her friends, like Teal and Penelope, and he introduced her to a few of the cops that he hung out with off duty.

But now, he’d officially been given the green light by his therapist—who was fantastic—and the new anger management group he started going to in the new year was working wonders, too.

He was ready to show Oona that he was a changed man. A calmer, less judgmental, and more patient man. He would probably always hold a bit of a harder scrutiny toward drunk drivers, but at least now he knew to ask more questions, and get more answers before he jumped to conclusions.

Not all those driving reckless were drunk, and not all those who drink are going to drive.

The world is not black and white, but rather a million different shades of gray.

He pulled open the heavy glass door to the dance studio and was instantly greeted by a heart-pumping tune coming from one of the rooms down the hall.

Smiling at the front desk girl, he pointed down the hall. “Here to see Oona.”

“I know,” she grinned, batting thick fake lashes at him.

He nodded and headed toward the music.

Oona knew he was coming here, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want to watch her for a second while she was unaware. And thankfully, the door into the room she was in had a long glass panel running down the center of it, so he hung back in the shadows but close enough that he could see her on the pole.

She wasn’t wearing her performance costume, just an emerald-green sports bra that did all kinds of crazy criss-cross things in the back, and a pair of very short booty shorts. In fact, they were so short that the bottoms of her butt cheeks stuck out a little.

It was a good look.

She leaped up onto the pole and wrapped her legs around it, spinning backward, counter-clockwise, then she let go with her hands and continued to spin, holding on with just her legs. She did two revolutions hands-free, then gripped the pole again with her hands and spun herself upside down, doing the splits with her legs in the air.

He hadn’t watched her pole dance since that first night they met—besides her online videos—and he was realizing now just how much he missed it.

She’d taken on teaching another class once a week, so now she taught pole twice a week—two classes each on those days. A six o’clock and a seven o’clock, and one burlesque class a week. But today was her day off from teaching. She was here for herself. To work on her own routine and because, as she told him in a text—she missed freestyling on the pole. It was her happy place and where she could just let the outside world fade away.

So, to see her in her happy place, when she didn’t know that he was watching, as she allowed the outside world beyond the four walls around her to fade away, was a privilege he wasn’t going to take lightly. It was beautiful to witness her creativity and grace. As she did what just came to her mind in the moment. As she gave in to the spontaneity.

He watched her for another few moments, mesmerized by her strength and beauty. By Oona. Because even though he’d fallen for Luna and liked her very much, it was Oona who owned his heart. It was Oona who he was in love with, and wanted to be with.

The brilliant beauty with the heart of a warrior and a booty like two halves of a peach.

When she finally dropped to the floor and stepped off to the side to grab her water bottle, he opened the door. “Hello there.”

She spun around to face him and her eyes lit up like two gold-flecked orbs. Then she set the water bottle down and skipped toward him. He didn’t expect her to leap up into his arms, wrap her legs around his waist and kiss him.

But he wasn’t complaining about it, either.

He held her tight, feeling the last four months of torture that they’d both endured pouring out of her into him. She squeezed him with her thighs and wrapped her arms around his neck.

He kissed her back just as hard, loving the moans that roamed up from the depths of her chest.

Finally, breathless, they broke the kiss. “Big Lassie! What took you so long?”

---