Chapter 3
Hazel
His sister???
Feeling tired and dejected, my confidant stance disappears and my shoulders slump. Of course he doesn’t want me here. It’s just the latest in a long line of failures. I was stupid to think this might work out. I was stupid to think I was being brave. It’s laughable how I told myself I was finally taking charge of my life.
And all that time, those messages, it was his sister I was talking to?
His sister?? I feel like the butt of some joke. Everything that has happened. I finally decided to take charge of my life. I drove up this damn mountain in the rain. I waited, pacing on his porch both scared and excited and not knowing what to do. And then, when he turned up, looking so much bigger than he had in his picture. And oh so handsome.
I had been thrilled just at finally feeling something for a man. Feeling that instant heat in all the right places like they talk about in the books. I thought maybe I had done the right thing. When I saw the armchair by the fire just as I had imagined… I thought… I felt…hopeful?
But to have it all dashed. Anger and hurt boils in my chest. That life can be so unfair makes me lash out. I pin Aidan with a glare.
“So it was all a joke? I come all the way up here. No come in, have a cup of coffee. That’s it. Just you can’t stay here?”
“I can take you into town. You can stay with my sister.” He pauses. “Except that the storm is picking up.”
“Fine. I’ll go stay with your sister.”
“Hazel, stop. You can’t drive in these conditions.” Aidan’s voice is strong and sharp. I’m getting a little tired of being told what to do. To come so close to chasing a dream, only to have it dashed. If he thinks I’m going to hang around here where I’m not wanted…
“It will be fine.” My words just as sharp as his.
“You can not drive.”
“Well then I’ll walk!” I’m being childish, I know it. But I just want to get away and think about my next move. I yank open the door.
At that moment an icy cold blast of wind and rain crashes over me. Chilling me to the bone. The wind that has cut through me rushes into the room picking up and scattering papers everywhere.
“Oh, no!” I run after papers that flip up into the air out of reach. Aidan and I both drop to our knees desperately trying to hold down the piles. Like a game of twister, I try to cover as much as I can with my body and limbs. My hand reaches out to grab a folder threatening to spill its contents. Aidan has seen the same thing and his hand lands at almost the same time covering mine. His warm touch. The roughness of his skin on mine. A zing of hot electricity passes between us as, wind forgotten, we end up just staring into each other's eyes.
A stray piece of paper smacks me in the face as even more flip by us. We both look at the door that is still wide open.
Stupid, Hazel, he must think I’m such an idiot.
We both run for the door and slam it shut against the forceful wind. Collapsing against the door to catch my breath, I glance up at Aidan. He smiles and we both laugh.
“So, you’re staying then?” He asks with humor in his voice.
I grin. “I guess I am.”
He latches the door and walks into the mess. “Won’t you come in, have a seat, I’ll get us some coffee.”
I start to pick up papers as I make my way further into Aidan’s house. “What is all this stuff?”
“It’s my research.”
“Oh yes. Your profile said you watch trees grow.”
His lips turn up at one side as he shakes his head. “I study the ecological effect of changes in climate in different species of plants and trees.”
I nod, trying to look knowledgeable while reading titles of articles with words I couldn’t even try to pronounce.
“Do you want to see some of my work?”
I nod and follow him through a door into a long greenhouse connected to the side of the house. It’s nice and warm despite the rain beating down against the windows. My feet crunch along the gravel path as he points out different plants in the raised garden bed. Swiss chard, pineapples, tomatoes, avocados and citrus fruit trees. I watch in fascination as he leans in to check a thermometer attached to a tree.
His look of concentration softens his features. If I could, just once, have a man look at me the way Aidan examines this tree, then I would be a happy woman. He touches the leaves with tender care. I don’t know what he is looking for but he is careful and gentle in his examination.
There must be something in the air in this greenhouse because suddenly I am wondering what it would be like to be kissed by this man. To feel his lips on mine. Those big, strong hands gently explore my body. To be held by him. Wanted by him.
He straightens up and holds out a tomato towards me.
“Try this. I promise you that you won’t find anything better anywhere.”
I take the tomato and, trying to ignore all the feeling this man is stirring in me, I take a big bite.
The juices explode in my mouth and while I’ve never really liked tomatoes, this thing is delicious.
I look up and grin at Aidan, only to see a strange look in his gaze. He reaches out a finger and wipes away some tomato juice running down my chin. With that simple touch I am held spellbound by his eyes. My pulse races fast and I feel warm all over.
This is crazy. I have just met this guy and now I’m thinking …what? About sex? I’ve never been very interested in sex. I’m just not any good at it. I thought this guy was a nice, safe, scientist. I was looking forward to reading books by the fire, not getting caught up in sexy eye contact.
I put down the tomato and back up towards the door to the house. It’s too hot in here. We are too close for me to think straight. Back in the house I walk around the piles of paper. I need a distraction. Something to do.
Turning I look at Aidan who is leaning against the greenhouse door.
“I could help you organise this place. I worked as a research assistant through college. I’d love to help, if you’d let me?”
“Really?”
“Sure. I used to want to be an archaeologist and to me, this is sort of like a cave of undiscovered treasure to be sorted.”
“Like Indiana Jones?” He asks with a grin.
“Exactly. Give me the hat and a whip and I’m in my element.”
He gets that dark look in his eyes again as if he is imagining me with the hat and whip and it’s as if he likes what he sees. But then with a mental shake and a nod.
“Okay, you can help sort through papers. But I need quiet while I work.”
“Hey, I worked in a museum. I can be quiet.”