Page 121 of Phishing for Love
I smirk at the pulse beating visibly in his throat. “Nervous?”
“Justifiably so. You’re unpredictable.”
“Just the way you like me.”
“Your cat is staring at me.”
“I like to stare at you too. We both appreciate a fine male form.” I hold his gaze as I tug at his tie and throw it to the floor. Ash immediately pounces on it.
Aaron winces. “That’s an expensive tie.”
“We’ll put it to good use later.”
“Okay, that’s enough of your teasing.” He pushes me against the wall and crushes his mouth to mine, kissing me senseless until our verbal exchange is only a wisp of a memory. Now I’m the one all hot and bothered and achy.
He lifts his head and reaches to take his glasses off, but I bat his hand aside with a grin. “The glasses stay.”
His answering grin is wicked. “So, they do it for you?”
“You have no idea.”
By the time Friday arrives, pretty much everyone knows Aaron and I are seeing one another. They all seem to have accepted it and moved on. Calvin was a little taken aback at first, but Dana soon made him aware that an employer can in no way ban their staff from having a relationship with a colleague. I suspect Calvin’s secretly hoping Aaron will somehow keep me in line.
All I know is, Aaron is my drug. I’m high on the deep timbre of his laugh, the sensation of his oh-so-talented fingers feathering a path across my skin, the way his slow smile ignites a fire deep inside me. The more time I spend with him, the more I crave him. If anything, my addiction is growing, not easing.
Friday night, we’re all in Kelly’s for after-work drinks. The jokes are flowing along with the alcohol. The bar is so packed it’s standing room only. Aaron has his arm around my waist and his hand occasionally drifts up my back to play with the nape of my neck. I love how at ease he is with my friends. While Kenzie is still a little tongue-tied around him, Sofia seems to delight in engaging with Aaron and their back-and-forth banter is entertaining. I sip my drink and let myself enjoy the company of some of my favorite people.
Three-quarters through my first drink, I excuse myself to head to the restroom. As usual, the line outside is long. On the way back, I stop in a dark alcove to adjust my bra. I’m just about to leave when I make out two voices having a heated conversation. I feel a jolt of adrenaline when I recognize the voices as belonging to Aaron and Nathan.
“You and Tess, huh?” I can tell by the way Nathan’s slurring his words he’s had a little too much to drink. “You won’t last. You’ll make the same mistake I did.”
This is the moment I should either slip away or awkwardly announce my presence, but I do neither. I stay silent and listen, helpless not to, my heart thumping.
“I won’t make your mistake,” Aaron tells him in a steely voice.
“So, Mister Perfect, you think you’re above any mistakes?”
“I’m sure I’ll make many of them,” Aaron replies. “But sleeping with another woman is not a mistake. You were dumb enough to throw her away. I’m not that dumb.”
I draw in a silent, thrilled breath.
“Tess wants serious, man. That’s what she said to me.”
Shut up, Nathan, I think, digging my nails into my palm.Shut up,shut up.
“I wasn’t ready to get serious with her,” Nathan continues, because the universe is not merciful enough to drop a ceiling slab on his head. “Or at least I thought I wasn’t. But what about you? You ready and willing to get serious with her?”
I’m holding my breath, waiting for Aaron to say something, but when there’s only silence from him, my stomach dips painfully.
“Thought so.” Even from where I’m standing, I can hear the sneer in Nathan’s voice.
That’s what you get for eavesdropping, Tess Miller.
I don’t wait to hear anymore. I return to my friends and when Aaron rejoins us and smiles at me, I smile back and say nothing of what I overheard. And when, sometime later, the ghost of some emotion drifts across his face, casting a shadow over his features, I take another swallow of my drink and I tell myself he’ll change his mind. It’s not lost on me that I had the exact same assumption about Nathan.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
It’s Aaron’s first family lunch at my parents’ house as my...I’m not certain what to call him. Date? Boyfriend? He seems to be resisting any sort of label.
