Page 125 of Beneath the Quiet

ME: Be decent when the delivery bloke knocks on your door. Can’t give him a heart attack if you open it wearing next to nothing.

WILDFIRE: I don’t take orders, remember? But I’m famished, so I’ll let it go.

ME: Smart woman. It’ll be with you in twenty minutes.

WILDFIRE: Thank you.

ME: Happy to feed you, my good girl.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Maeve

Ishouldn’t have let Aidan buy me dinner the other night. I really shouldn’t.

I don’t care what he said: he’s blurring the lines.

I was just too weak to turn him down.

But I have to hand it to him: the fish and chips were some of the best I’ve ever had, so a part of me is glad that I accepted it. The larger part, though, is still worried that we’re getting ourselves tangled up in more than we’re willing to own up to, and the last thing I need right now is more heartbreak.

I rest my hands on the sink and stare out the kitchen window.

What am I going to do with him?

Tell him that we need to take a step back?

Make the rules much clearer?

Stop seeing him?

A sharp pang settles in the centre of my chest, the fierce ache too close to my heart for comfort. I wipe my hands on the towel next to me and narrow my eyes, trying to decipher my feelings as if they’re letters scattered here and there in a crossword puzzle.

When did I start caring so much for Aidan?

My heart stutters, making me catch my breath whenever I think about the things we get up to. It shouldn’t be so effortless to be friends with him and use him for a mutual satisfaction at the same time. I’ve never had that kind of relationship with a man.

I’ve never known that I could let myself fall so blatantly under such a sexually charged spell. I just know that he brings out every wicked side of me that I never knew existed, and I’m not ready to stop exploring it.

I’m not ready to stop exploring him.

I’m so lost in my daydreaming that the cheery knock on my front door makes me jump, and I look down to check that I haven’t dropped any mayo or jam on my yoga clothes before I start for the front door. While I don’t really feel up for any visitors, I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m getting a touch of cabin fever now that I haven’t been around people for almost a week.

I remove the latch on the door, and the moment I open it, the warm scents of cinnamon and sugar waft in the air, and I groan. Roísin smiles as she dangles a brown paper bag under my nose.

“Let me guess.” I breathe deeply and make a grab for it. “Cinnamon buns?”

“Yup. And a mini rhubarb crumble for one. Maybe two?” She cranes her neck, her smile falling from her lips. “Are you alone?”

“Don’t sound so disappointed.” I take a step back and jerk my head, showing her to come inside. “But yes, of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I just thought that maybe Aidan had stopped by to check on you, that’s all.”

I give her a look.

“You know things aren’t like that with us.”

She follows me through my little hallway and enters the kitchen. I round the marble kitchen island and put the bag of her baked goods on it. She hangs her coat on the back of the barstool and tilts her head at me.