Page 36 of Heat Exchange
“I’m sorry.”
He arched an eyebrow at her. “Hell of an apology.”
“It’s not easy being sincere when you’re not wearing any pants.”
“At least I don’t go commando. But really, I don’t feel like I’m obligated to make this easier for you.”
She blew out a breath. “Can we sit down, at least? It feels so awkward and confrontational, standing here facing each other like this.”
Deciding against the couch, because sitting next to her while in his boxer briefs would feel odd, he gestured to his tiny kitchen table. “You want something to drink?”
“Water would be great, thanks.”
He filled a couple of glasses from the ice and water dispenser in his fridge, and then set them on the table. She took a sip of hers while he sat down in the chair across from her.
“I’m sorry I called you a reckless kid with a God complex,” she said, all traces of annoyance with him gone. “I was losing control and it scared me, what I was willing to do with you in the storage closet of my dad’s bar. I needed you to walk away.”
“You could have tried telling me to walk away.”
“I panicked.” She ran a fingertip through the condensation on her glass. “I don’t believe what I said, you know. I don’t always like your job, but I respect it. You’re so easygoing most of the time and you let things roll off you, so I went straight for the cheap shot and I’m very, very sorry.”
He wasn’t sure how he’d feel if it was somebody else who’d said it, but this was Lydia. She had her own issues with firefighting, including having been married to a guy who’d been ill-suited for the job because hehadbeen somewhat reckless and gotten off on being a hero. Knowing the insult came from her life experiences and not her opinion of him made it a lot easier to forgive.
“Thank you,” he said. “I accept your apology.”
“Just like that?”
He met her gaze across the table and gave her a warm smile. “Yeah, just like that. I’d rather not wallow in it or hold a grudge. That’s not really my thing.”
The smile she gave him made the bad mood he’d been carrying around since he left her in the storage room disappear. “I’m glad. Beating myself up wasn’t a pleasant way to spend the day, so I’d rather not keep on doing it.”
“You could have called anytime.”
“I never know when you’re busy. And there was disagreement on whether I should apologize to you over the phone—which didn’t seem good enough—or in person, which might lead to...another moment of weakness, if you know what I mean.”
Aidan did know what she meant, but those weren’t the words that really caught his attention, as intriguing as they were. “Disagreement? Who was disagreeing?”
Maybe she had a habit of talking to herself and it had escalated into a full-scale argument. He’d never seen her having a solo conversation before that he could remember, but maybe she saved that for when she was alone.
“Courtney—who I don’t think you know—thought I should apologize to you in person, but Ashley said the phone would be better.”
“Ashley.” His fingers tightened around his glass. “So Danny Walsh’s wife knows what happened between us.”
She tilted her head. “My sister does, yes.”
“Yeah, your sister who’s married to my lieutenant.”
“She won’t say anything to him. I get it, Aidan. Danny’s her husband and wives tell their husbands things. But not stuff like this. She’s my sister and she’s not going to share my secretsordo anything that might set Scotty off. I promise.”
It still made him nervous. But Lydia knew what was at stake and if she trusted Ashley, he didn’t really have a choice but to trust her, too. “I guess if I show up at the house one day and Scotty kicks my ass, I’ll know why.”
She looked startled for a moment, but he smiled and, after a few seconds, she returned it. “What a mess.”
“I’m glad you listened to Courtney, whoever she is, and came in person.”
“So you could see me squirm?”
“I don’t know about the squirming part, but I’m glad to see you.”
