Terms of Agreement

33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33

Aiden

T he walk back to our apartments was almost as quiet as the walk to the pub. The only difference was that we were now holding hands. Yup. We’d been holding hands since we’d said goodbye to Susan and Gabe over a block ago. I chanced a glance in Charlotte’s direction. She was looking resolutely ahead of her, chewing contemplatively on her lower lip. Her lower lip that I’d kissed not too long ago. I shook my head and returned my gaze to the quiet road ahead of us.

I’d been more than a little apprehensive when Charlotte first agreed to come tonight. It had nothing to do with Charlotte, not really. It had more to do with the fact that a double date was more intense than a wedding, the conversation would be less superficial and the attention would be squarely on us. A double-date didn’t have the luxury of distraction—not even in the form of a pub quiz.

I’d been expecting her nerves, waiting for the moment her fingers would start twitching in her lap. I’d kept her well within reach—it was playing the part, sure. But I wanted to be close enough to her that I could hold her hand if she needed me to. I couldn’t very well spend the entire night looking at her lap—I wasn’t a pervert, so I opted for the next best thing. I laid a hand on her thigh, thinking that this way I’d be, if not in the way of her worrying, at least close enough to feel it start.

What I hadn’t expected, was her soft intake of breath when my fingers landed on the thin nylon of her stockings, or how every movement of her legs, every flex, every shift, every tremor, would send my mind whirring and all the blood to my cock. I blamed it on the fact that I was exhausted and the fact that my cock hadn’t seen any action other than that provided by my own hand for months, but deep down, I knew it was her.

I’d spent the entire evening watching her grow more and more comfortable with the others—just like she had with Louise and my parents. She was still quiet. Still thoughtful. Still Charlotte. But she hadn’t needed me to swoop in and save her. With every passing round’s question, Charlotte engaged more and more, asking follow-up questions to every anecdote or tale and even offering up little bits of information about herself and her life. I’d never seen her this relaxed and open, not even at the wedding. A proud sort of contentment ballooned in my chest when she relaxed into my side, reaching an arm across her body and laying her hand over my forearm.

I was so focused on the tingling sensation of her touch on my bare forearm that I completely missed the final question. I could only watch as Charlotte leant across the table to whisper her answer to Susan, who immediately flung up her hand to call it out. Charlotte waited with both elbows on the table, completely oblivious to the fact that her new position had pushed my hand up her thigh and my thumb was now grazing the hem of her skirt. The surrounding noise was muted to a dull buzz as my blood thrummed in my ears.

A loud squeal from across the table brought the world back into focus, and I looked up from our laps in time for Charlotte to throw her arms around my neck. Excitement splashed across her delicate features. But before I’d even had the chance to return her embrace, she’d jumped back in her seat, clasping her hands in her lap as a flush of embarrassment worked its way up her neck. Without thinking, I leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to her rosy cheek.

As I withdrew, Charlotte raised a hand to her cheek, a puzzled expression dimming the excitement in her eyes.

‘Come on, Aiden,’ Susan teased from her spot across the table. ‘Your girl just gave us the winning answer. She’s earned a proper kiss!’

I turned from her laughing eyes to Charlotte’s questioning green ones. Aside from that brief conversation before the wedding, we’d not spoken about kissing, and right now I couldn’t tell what she was thinking. I raised a brow in question, my eyes locked on Charlotte’s face.

For a while, she didn’t move. There was only the smallest shadow of curiosity that twisted her mouth. I was on the verge of making up some excuse, prepared to blame bad breath if I had to, when Charlotte gave a nearly imperceptible nod. My eyes widened as a shy smile spread across her face. And it was to the sound of polite applause and Susan’s gloating cheers I’d pressed my lips to hers.

A quiet chuckle pulled me back to the present, the ghost of our kiss still alive on my lips.

‘What’s so funny?’ I asked, turning my head to look at Charlotte.

‘I was just thinking,’ Charlotte said, her breath coming out in soft puffs of smoke in the chilly night air, ‘about Susan arguing with that big guy at the table across from ours.’ I frowned, trying to remember. ‘Over that question about the first winner of Bake Off.’,

‘Oh yeah.’ Her polite nudging did the trick, and I let out a low laugh. ‘I’d never have pegged that guy as a Mary Berry fan.’

‘Well,’ Charlotte laughed, smiling up at me. ‘It just goes to show. We really shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.’

I nodded in agreement, using my free hand to swipe my key fob and open the door to the building. ‘Did you have fun?’

‘I did,’ she smiled, pressing the button for the elevator. ‘Your friends are lovely.’

‘They liked you.’ They’d made a point of telling me so when Charlotte had gone to the loo.

‘They did?’ Charlotte turned to face me, disbelief weighing down her brow.

‘What’s not to like?’ I shrugged, stepping into the elevator and doing my best to ignore the overwhelming desire to pull her into my arms and dispel her doubts.

For once, I didn’t mind the pathetically slow pull of the elevator as it fought gravity in its less than valiant attempt to rise. All too soon, it reached my floor, the compartment bobbing to a stop as the doors scraped open to reveal the empty hallway. Charlotte fidgeted at my side, shifting from one foot to the other when I didn’t move from my place beside her.

‘Aren’t you getting out?’ She asked, tilting her head toward the hallway, eyeing me expectantly.

‘I’ll see you up.’ A needless diversion, but something settled within my chest the minute I committed to it. I’d been feeling apprehensive ever since we left the pub and something about seeing Charlotte to her door soothed that restlessness within me.

‘Aiden, you don’t need to do that.’ Charlotte smiled at me politely, her fingers loosening around mine. The movement drew my gaze. I hadn’t even realised that we were still holding hands. My fingers tightened around hers all the same.

‘I—uh,’ I cleared my throat. ‘I wanted to make sure you were alright.’ I glanced away from where I’d been pretending to read the communal notice to find the corners of her eyes crinkled with confusion. ‘After the kiss,’ I clarified as the elevator wobbled to a stop on the third floor. ‘I know we didn’t really discuss any of it beforehand and I’m sorry if you felt…’ I paused, searching for the words, ‘pressured into the situation in any way.’

Charlotte cast a reassuring smile as she made her way towards her apartment, digging in her coat pocket with her free hand. ‘Don’t worry about it.’

‘Are you sure?’ Kissing Charlotte had been something I’d thought about ever since she’d first showed up at my door with an icing moustache, but I didn’t like the idea of being the cause of her discomfort or anxiety. I hadn’t anticipated the kiss tonight. Stupid and short-sighted, given the fact that we were out with Susan, who was about as tenacious as a chihuahua at your ankle, but—

‘The kiss was fine.’

I let go of Charlotte’s hand, coming to a stop just behind her as she covered the last few feet to her front door. ‘It was… fine?’ I frowned at the way my pitch rose on that last word. I mean, I was out of practice, sure. But it had felt a little better than fine to me.

‘Yeah.’ Charlotte nodded, twisting her key in the lock and pushing her door open.

My mind played back the moment of our kiss, the softness of her lips beneath mine. It had only lasted a few seconds, but even just the memory of it was enough to send desire shooting through my veins. ‘Just… fine?’

‘Well, yeah,’ she shrugged, turning to look at me. My eyes dropped to her lips. ‘What else could it have been?’

I’d never been overly competitive, I’d never had a need for it, not with my sister and friends around to offer their enthusiastic encouragement. But there was something about the casual shrug of her shoulders that turned the heat up on that simmering pot of desire that I’d been trying to keep a lid on for the past few weeks. And when her soft pink tongue darted across her lower lips, the tether on my restraint finally snapped.