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“Exactly. That’s what she’s counting on, too.” He blows out his cheeks. “But if the baby is yours, we’ll deal with that. Together,” I say, linking my fingers through his.
“Together,” he repeats. Our eyes hold, and I search for the confident man I know in the depths of his green eyes. He’s in there. Aiden raises a brow, asking if I’ve found what I’m looking for. Not yet. He winks at me before breaking our connection. I watch his hand dig into his pocket and pull out his phone. When his eyes find mine again, he flashes a hesitant smile. “Dance with me?”
“Always,” I respond. It kills me that he’s questioning if I want to. He usually demands it, doesn’t wait for me to say yes. I want him to pick me up, throw me over his shoulder, and take what he wants. Take, not ask.
He looks down to his phone, avoiding my pleading eyes, and searches for a song. “In Case You Didn’t Know” by Brett Young fills the terrace space. I look around for the speakers, but they’re hidden. Aiden stands, grabbing my hand on the way up, and draws me to his chest. I wrap my arm around his neck, and he brings my other hand up to his heart. I can feel the beating of his heart under my hand. The constant rhythmic vibration is like Morse code, and he’s telling me that he’s here with me.
Our bodies sway to the music and the deep timbre of his voice sings to me, telling me so much more than what the words say. I wrap my hand around his and place it on my heart. I want him to feel what he does to me, to never doubt that again. My heart races and I want to scream “only you can make me feel this way.” Instead, I stay quiet and let our hearts do all the talking.
After the song ends, Aiden tightens his hold on me. “Jesus, Addison. I want you so bad.”
“Why are you talking, then?” I bite my lip. Take, don’t ask.
“Because I can’t do that to you.” I pull my head back and look up with a questioning expression. “I can’t make love to you while I’m wondering if I’m having a baby with another woman.” He looks away and sighs. Is it wrong that I don’t care?
“I’m pretty sure you won’t be thinking about anything except me if we make love.” My lips curl into a smile. He softly chuckles and shakes his head. “You know I can change your mind.” My hand starts to move down his chest. He stops me with a pained look.
“I know you can. Please, don’t, sweetheart.” The sting of his rejection hurts. My hand tightens, gripping his shirt. “I’m just trying to do the right thing here,” he pleads.
My brow furrows. “Right for who? Me? Because it’s not right. It’s. Wrong. So…so wrong.” I dig my head into his chest so I can’t see his regret. I feel his chest shake. I jerk my head up and he purses his lips to stop himself from laughing. I smack him on the chest. “It’s not funny. You can’t sing to me, tell me that you love me and that you want me, only to reject me. ‘Come here, little girl, I have some candy for you’,” I say sarcastically and roll my eyes.
He can’t hold back his laughter anymore. I shake my head. I can’t believe he thinks this is funny. He leans over and gives me a chaste kiss on the lips but pulls back quickly. “I promise I’ll make it up to you.”
“I’ll hold you to that. Next time, I’m not stopping,” I warn. I am not too proud to beg.
“I love you, Addison. With every part of me. Please, don’t ever question that.”
I exhale, releasing my hurt feelings. I’m being selfish. I don’t know why I’m so petrified he’ll forget about me. Maybe because I’ve been burned by Fate before. More than once. Aiden wraps his hand around my neck. His thumb runs along my jaw.
“You’re beautiful,” he whispers and pulls me to his lips. My lips part and I let out a small moan. He deepens the kiss. Our tongues dance to their own music, a passionate, slow song.
“Well, it looks like you took my advice.” I gasp at the sound of a man’s voice behind me. I whip my head around and an older man stands there, staring at us with a huge grin. Aiden chuckles. His hand falls from my neck, and he strolls over to the man. The gentleman is dressed in black slacks with a white, button-up shirt. A tie hangs loose around his neck, like he just got off work. I tilt my head, looking at him a little harder. He looks familiar.
“Hey, Mack, what are you doing back so early?” Aiden asks while he shakes hands with him. Why does he look…oh, shit! My eyes widen in surprise.
Mack Livingston, Texas billionaire oil tycoon, is standing a few feet in front of me. I blush thinking about what he just walked in on. I bite my lip and spin around in embarrassment. I run my hands down my dress, take a deep breath, and turn to face him. My steps are light as I walk up and stand by Aiden’s side. He reaches for my hand, interlocking our fingers. Mack’s smile reaches his eyes when he looks over at me. The soft lines around his sparkling blue eyes reflect years of wisdom and life. His white hair is styled perfectly, not a hair out of place.
“I assume you’re Addison?” he asks, holding his hand out for me to shake. I release Aiden’s hand and shake the hand of the older man standing in front of me. His handshake is welcoming, yet powerful. Just like him.
“I am,” I say, returning his smile. “It’s an honor to meet you.” I remember doing a report on him in high school for my economics class. I can regurgitate his life history back to him, but I stand here, not knowing what to say. He’s a freaking billionaire.
He waves his hand around. “The honor is mine. I was sick of seeing Aiden mope around the last couple of weeks.” I look over at Aiden, and he rolls his eyes. “I’m glad he pulled his head out of his ass and finally called you.”
“Well, it didn’t go quite that way,” I tease.
“No, she used Lexi to guilt me.”
“Good,” he boasts. “Your priorities should be Addison and Lexi right now.” My smile grows when I hear him talk about Lexi like he knows who she is. It means Aiden must talk about her. “You know how many women have accused me of being the father of their child?” He throws his hands out. I don’t know the answer to that, but I know how many kids he has. Zero. He can’t. When he was a child, he had an infection that made him unable to have children of his own. It’s public knowledge so I’m surprised any woman is stupid enough to try to pass a child off as his.
He claps and points at me. “Aww, you already know,” he says, grinning. I nod. “There are some really desperate women out there and it sounds like one finally caught up with this guy.” He jerks his head in Aiden’s direction. Finally? It sounds like they’ve known each other for a while.
“Watch it, old man. Addison doesn’t need to hear about any of my past indiscretions. She’s had to deal with one too many.”
“It’s good to see you happy, Aiden,” he says. His endearing tone surprises me. He and Aiden must be close. “I’m going to leave you to your woman now before I say something that’ll put you in the dog house.” He reaches over and pats Aiden on the back.
“That’s probably a good idea. How long are you in town?”
“Mack, I’m getting lonely,” a woman’s high-pitched voice rings out. I glance over to the terrace door at a petite blonde wearing a silk robe and five-inch stripper heels. I can tell by her perky nipples that she’s not wearing anything under it. She can’t be much older than thirty. My mouth is agape for a few seconds before I catch myself gawking and snap it shut.
