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“Um… most of it was true. But I intentionally left out things where I would have had to lie, I guess.”
“Are you from Texas?”
“That, I am. And I know now that you’re from North Carolina.” I giggle, remembering his random, one-line texts.
“Are your parents still there?”
I take a deep breath. “My mom died when I was ten,” I say as I bite on my lip.
“…and your dad?” he asks. I look down and act like I’m removing dirt from the blanket.
“He died in a car accident when I was one.” I look back up at him. He can’t know that Travis is my father, so I go with the story that I was told for more than half my life and hope he doesn’t figure out I’m lying. I hate lying. I’ve been lied to my whole life. I’ve always tried to be an honest person. His brows furrow, and I can tell that he’s thinking about what to say next. That’s usually what people do when I tell them.
“I’m sorry, Addison.” And there’s the typical response. He continues. “That had to be rough.”
“My life has definitely been a roller coaster. One hell of a ride. My aunt took me in and raised me. She’s wonderful and has done so much for me.” I fall to my back and stare at the sky. I hate seeing pity in people’s eyes when I talk about my mom.
“How did your mom die?” he quietly asks. I’ve never hidden that my mom was murdered, but I don’t think I should tell Aiden. He could easily start digging into my past and put two and two together, especially since Travis Stein was labeled a suspect in my mom’s murder at one point.
“Can we not talk about this right now. I’d hate to ruin our evening. Someday I’ll talk about it, but not today,” I say, still staring at the sky.
He puts his hand on my face and turns it to look right into his eyes. “I’m sorry. We don’t need to talk about it.” His thumb softly touches my cheeks before he leans down and kisses me. The kiss is a lot like our earlier kiss, soft and sweet. He leans his forehead against mine, and we stay silent for a minute.
I can hear the concert in the background. Darkness has surrounded us and streetlights illuminate the walkways. It’s a beautiful night, and I’m in the arms of a beautiful man. I’m not sure where we are headed, but I won’t ever regret this moment in time.
Aiden stands up. “Sweetheart, dance with me?”
He grabs my hands and pulls me up close to his body. His embrace is strong yet soft. Our bodies mold together. I wish we could stay like this forever. We sway to the music drifting through the breeze coming over the hill. Aiden hums the song. I listen to see what song is playing when he softly sings it in my ear. It’s “Die a Happy Man” by Thomas Rhett.
I glance up into those piercing, emerald green eyes and it’s just him and me. Everything else ceases to exist. We get lost in each other, and I’m not sure I want to find my way back. He slowly leans down and softly kisses the side of my lips.
His mouth takes mine in a heated embrace. I open for him and our tongues dance slowly. I can feel his growing hardness against my body. The heat spreads throughout my body down to my core. I sway my hips against him, my body taking over. My hands tangle in his hair, pulling him closer. One of his hands grabs my hair and yanks my head back, causing our kiss to end. I let out a silent moan at the loss of his lips. I feel him chuckle before his lips make their way down my neck and up to my ear. His other hand slides down my back as he tugs me closer to his hardness. Our bodies are still swaying. I’m not sure the music is still playing. The only thing I can hear is our heavy breathing and the beating of our hearts.
“Um… excuse me.”
“Hello there.”
I think someone is talking to us. I can’t let Aiden go, and he’s definitely not letting me go. Not right now. People, go away. Keep walking. Can’t you see we’re busy?
“Okay, you two are going to have to stop… now.”
What the hell? Who in the world. I look over to where the voice is coming from.
“Oh. Hi, Officer Marks.” I’m pretty sure I’m ten shades of red right now. I bury my face into Aiden’s chest. Aiden’s laughing but quickly adjusts himself. Seriously! I’m so embarrassed.
“Agent Roberts and Addison?” His eyes widen. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t recognize you while you were… Anyway… Um… You guys might want to take this to a not-so-public place,” he says, lowering his voice, looking around. Now he’s blushing. This is so awkward. I can’t bring myself to lift my face and apologize. I’ve worked with Ryan on numerous occasions.
“Sorry, Ryan. We were enjoying the music and dancing. We’ll behave.” Aiden flashes a huge grin.
“No problem, guys. Just trying to keep things PG here in the park…” he laughs “…but hey, I guess I know what your answer was to Aiden asking you out, Addison.” He is still laughing as he walks away.
“I can’t believe that happened! How am I going to work with that man and not be embarrassed?” I’m shaking my head that’s still buried in Aiden’s chest.
Chapter Thirty-four
Aiden
THANK GOD RYAN stopped us when he did. I’m not sure I would have had the willpower to stop on my own. Addison is going to ruin me. It’s hard to explain the feeling I have when she’s in my arms. I was truthful with her when I told her that I have never wanted something so badly in my life. Revenge has fueled most of my life’s path, but I could forget everything that has ever happened just to be with Addison.
