CHAPTER 8
Eve
I held my breath when Aiden dipped his head and brushed his mouth over my ear. Then he made a sound that sent goosebumps racing up and down my body. His growl was low and menacing against my neck but it trailed into something softer, almost a purr. I pressed my hands against his chest, maybe to push him away, but once I felt the heat of his skin, I changed my mind.
Aiden slowly pulled his head back and met my gaze. Our mouths were too close together, too drawn to each other. He swore, gripped the back of my head, and slid his lips over mine. I arched into him and ran my hands up his chest to cling to his wide shoulders. He swept his tongue into my mouth and the sweet taste of sugar exploded through my senses.
He ran his hand down my side to grip my hip and tug me even closer while he tilted his head to deepen our kiss. He dominated my mouth and controlled the kiss with ease. My head bumped the wall behind me but I barely noticed. He’d shifted his grip in my hair to rest just under my chin and the feeling of being at his mercy filled me with an eagerness I’d never experienced. I wanted him to control me but I also wanted to make him work harder.
“What the hell is going on here?!”
I shoved Aiden away from me with a surprising amount of power at the sound of Grandpa’s voice. I spun to face the front of the cabin and quickly wiped my mouth, just to find Grandpa standing with his hands on his hips, frowning at us. Behind him, Nash and Tate palmed their faces like little boys who just got caught.
“Grandpa! You’re here!” I almost stomped on my laptop as I took a step forward but Aiden’s arm shot out and stopped me. I looked down and saw that I must’ve dropped it at some point. Swearing under my breath, I grabbed it and clutched it to my chest again. “Um. What are you doing home so early?”
“Living my damn life, Evie. What exactly are you doing?” He leaned on his cane and stared at me through bushy white eyebrows I needed to help him trim.
“I was just…talking to Aiden about my work.” I put my laptop down on the island and fluttered around him, taking his wallet and keys to put on the counter. “Did you have a good night out?”
He huffed and puffed when I took his elbow and led him to his recliner. “Dammit, Evie, I can walk by myself.”
“And you can walk with my help, too.” I eased him into his chair and put my hands on my hips as I looked him over. My brain was fluttering after kissing my second neighbor in as many days but I was fighting hard to focus on Grandpa. “Do you need anything? If you’re hungry I can throw something together.”
Aiden gently cupped my arm and tugged me a few feet away from Grandpa. “Sheriff Hank.”
“Aiden.” Grandpa nodded his head at Aiden and then at Nash and Tate. “One of you boys want to tell me why my cabin door was busted and why my granddaughter looks like she rubbed her face all over a rough carpet?”
I held my hands up and shook my head. “No. No, we’re not talking about that second thing because it didn’t happen. As for the door… A moose ran into it.”
Tate choked on a laugh and Aiden didn’t bother hiding his larger than life laugh. Nash came up behind me and rested a hand on my shoulder. He shot me a look of disbelief before shaking his head and smiling at Grandpa. “We thought we heard screaming in here. The door was locked and we did what we had to. We’ll make sure it’s better than new before we leave.”
Grandpa looked between the four of us and I felt just like a teenager again. I shifted from foot-to-foot and looked up at him through my lashes. “Sorry, Grandpa.”
He waved me off. “We needed to fix that door up anyway. If you’re going to lie, though, honey, you have to be better than that. We don’t have moose here.”
I groaned. “Good to know.”
“Well?” He looked at the three men standing around me. “Get back to work. Unless someone else wants to kiss my granddaughter?”
I let out a high-pitched laugh and shook my head. “Funny, Grandpa. Are you going to tell me if you want food or not?”
“No. I ate in town.” He looked away and I got the feeling he was hiding something, but I was hiding things, too, so I didn’t want to delve into it too hard. “How was Ray’s?”
“Ray’s?”
I frowned. “Didn’t you stay at Ray’s?”
“Oh! Oh, yeah. Ray’s was fine.” Grandpa looked up at Nash. “You want to show Evie how to build?”
I held up my hands and grabbed my laptop. “No, Grandpa. I have work to do. I’ll finish in my room unless you need something.”
He smirked at me. “Nope.”
I shot him a look I hoped conveyed we were going to discuss his behavior later, but he didn’t look bothered. I hurried toward my room, not daring to look back at my neighbors, especially because I was afraid of what I’d see on Tate’s face after he’d probably watched me kiss his best friend.
I locked myself in my room and forced myself to work until my eyes were blurry and my stomach ached from hunger. Still, I lingered in my room, too scared to go out and chance facing my neighbors. I also wasn’t ready to have a real conversation with Grandpa about what I was doing with said neighbors. It was all too much.
Through sheer will and determination, I managed to avoid the male species until the next night when Billie came over. Even then, I only caught a glimpse of Nash standing next to his motorcycle while ushering Billie inside. Grandpa was already asleep in his recliner when Billie and I grabbed a bottle of whiskey and snuck into my room like we were kids again.
We spent a few hours getting drunk and complaining about the opposite sex. I slipped her a new pile of romance novels I’d gotten and had already devoured. We even talked in detail about Aliengate. It was fun to let go of my worry for a while.
When I woke the next morning, Billie was gone and I was back to hiding. I had plenty of work to keep me busy but eventually I was going to have to leave the cabin and I had a bad feeling my neighbors weren’t done with me.
Three nights, several shots, and an attempted strip tease from Billie later, I knew I’d been right.