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"Hey," she says around a shiver as she steps into my house. My chest brushes against her arm and I inhale the scent of her as I close the door. "I didn't know it was supposed to get cold tonight."
I lift an eyebrow, my eyes raking down the length of her body before resting on her gaze again. She went out with Griffin in that dress. Irritation and jealousy mixes with lust. I want to take it off of her. "It's usually a few degrees colder here because of the water."
Aria nods and slips her feet out of her heels. Her toes are painted a soft pink. A sigh slips from her lips and she doesn't look as uncomfortable as she did when she first walked in. "I hate those things," she mutters, shaking her head.
"Come with me," I tell her as I begin to walk deeper into the house. Aria follows behind me, her bare feet padding against the hardwood floors. She follows me into the kitchen and leans against the counter of the island. Her eyes dance under the soft lighting above. Leaving her standing there, I walk into the living room and grab a blanket from the couch. Aria turns around, watching me as I walk back over to her.
Opening the blanket up, I step into her space and drape it around the back of her body, wrapping it around her shoulders. "I wasn't sure you were going to come."
She tilts her head to the side, her long hair falling down her back as I hold the blanket in front of her chest. "Should I not have?"
I shake my head, my tongue darting out to wet my lips as my gaze drops down to her mouth. "I'm glad you did."
"Me too."
My hands are still holding the ends of the blanket together by her chest. I look into her eyes and find her looking at my lips before her gaze collides with mine. Every molecule of oxygen is sucked from the room. My lungs burn, screaming for air, but my throat constricts. Aria Reed has a vise grip around my goddamn chest and all I can think is I want her to squeeze harder. Slowly lowering my face to hers, I feel her breath across my lips. My eyelids close and my lips are just about to touch hers, when there’s a loud crashing sound behind her.
Lifting my head, I see Penny falling off the counter, knocking over the surviving wineglass with her. “Shit! Penny! What the hell!”
Aria spins around to see what is going on as she grabs ahold of the blanket when I let go of it. Penny runs away with the hairs on her back raised, like she’s not the one who just did this. “Oh my,” Aria breathes as she walks over to me and sees all the glass on the floor.
Shit. My hand darts out to stop her from walking any closer. I whip my head to the side to look at her before making up my mind. Aria lets out an audible gasp as I lift her into the air and set her down on the counter. “What are you doing?”
“Your feet,” I tell her as I take a step back. “I don’t want you to step on any glass.”
Aria laughs quietly as she shakes her head. “I can sit on a chair like a normal person.”
“Don’t you dare move,” I warn her as I narrow my eyes at her. “I will be right back.”
Aria’s laughter follows me as I walk over to the closet and pull out a broom. She surprises me as she obeys me and stays seated on the counter. As she sits on the island, she studies me as I begin to sweep all the pieces of glass into a pile. She’s quiet as I clean it all up and throw it away. “Can I get down now?”
“If you must,” I tell her with a smirk as I reach into the cabinet and pull out two champagne flutes since the other wine glasses are in the dishwasher. I look for a bottle of wine, but all I have is sparkling and champagne left. I pull out a bottle of bubbles and pop the top off before pouring the clear liquid into the glasses. I hand one to her move to stand across from her as I lean back against the counter.
She takes a sip and gives me a small smile. Hesitation dances across her features before she speaks again. “Thanks for letting me come over.”
Something in her tone has my heart clenching. I want to reach out for her and pull her flush against my body as I wrap my arms around her.
I take a sip of my own champagne. “You’re always welcome here.”
Holding the blanket with one hand, she holds the stem of her glass with the other. “I went out to dinner with Griffin.” She pauses and lets out a breath. “I never should have agreed to it.”
My spine straightens and my body is suddenly on alert. If he did something to her…
“Did something happen?”
Aria frowns and looks at her glass for a moment. “You were right about him. He’s not a good guy.”
I swear to God, I will kill this man if he did anything to her.
I don’t bother trying to stop myself as I close the distance between us. My feet are right by hers. There isn’t much space left between us. My hand slides under her chin and I tilt her head back. Her gaze instantly finds mine.
“Did he touch you?”
She stares at me for a moment before shaking her head. “Thank God, no. He was under the assumption we were on a date and then he said some things I didn’t like.”
Relief washes over me as I realize I won’t have to remove his hands from his body. However, he said something to her that has her feeling unsettled. I don’t like it at all. My blood boils at the mere thought of someone making her feel uncomfortable.
“What did he say?”
