Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Valerie
What the hell . . .
I couldn't even finish the thought, that was how badly my head was pounding. And it wasn't just my head that felt like something was wrong. My entire body was heavy like there was a boulder holding me down.
What the hell had I done last night?
"It's too early to be thinking that loud."
Aaron's statement hit me like a ton of bricks and suddenly what I thought just moments ago was a boulder, I realized was actually a person.
"Whyyy are . . . you . . . in myyy bed?"
Aaron chuckled against my neck as he nuzzled his face in closer. "Don't you mean my bed?"
Oh, no. No no no no no no no.
It was then that I finally forced my eyes open despite how heavy they felt and noticed the sheets I was lying on weren't the same ones that I had woken up to before. These were softer and a deep chocolate brown unlike the cream ones of the guest bedroom.
"Okay, why am I in your bed?" The more I woke up, the more things I started to notice.
Like the fact that Aaron was playing with something on my left hand.
I looked down to where our hands were joined and my heart practically stopped beating.
"What the hell is that?" I screeched so loud it made my head pound even more.
Aaron flipped us over so that he was leaning over me and, damn! Did he have to look so good in the morning? I didn't need a mirror to know my hair was a rat's nest from going to bed with it wet, and my breath stunk from the wine I drank.
Yes, some of my memories were slowly coming back to me, including the glasses of red wine I stupidly allowed myself to drink, despite knowing I couldn't hold my alcohol to save my life.
"You don't remember?"
"Clearly not if I'm asking." Some of my memories might be coming back, but the one about a certain ring on a certain finger definitely wasn't.
"Of course not." Aaron flopped back onto the bed and threw his arm over his eyes. "A proposal thirty years in the making and you don't remember it."
Thirty years!
A tinge of guilt hit me square in the chest at his words but I shoved it away. There was no time to feel guilty when I was lying in bed with the most perfect engagement ring on my finger and no clue how it got there.
Stupid wine.
Another reason to never drink again.
"Why did you propose?" And why the hell did I say yes?
Aaron dropped his arm and looked me right in the eye. "You really don't remember anything about last night?"
I flopped back and mimicked his position, except instead of looking at him, I stared up at the ceiling as I tried to piece together last night.
"I remember dinner. I remember agreeing to watch a movie and wanting to take a shower first. I remember the damn bat and coming back downstairs after my shower. I know I agreed to wine and popcorn. After that it gets a bit fuzzy."
Snippets were trying to break free but the picture as a whole was just out of reach. And what a shame that was. I've waited all these years to hear Aaron confess his love, and the one time he does, I can't remember it.
"Are you going to fill in the blanks for me?" I asked him. My mouth dropped open when he shook his head no. "What do you mean no?"
"It doesn't have the same meaning if I tell you what happened. There's a big difference between living it and hearing it."
"That might be true, but at the moment, I would take hearing it over not remembering at all."
Again, he shook his head no. He also grabbed my hand and started playing with the ring again.
"You didn't take it off and fling it at me."
Rolling onto my side, I propped my head up on my hand and looked down at him. "Is that what you expected me to do?"
Aaron mirrored my position so we were eye to eye. "Well, I didn't expect you not to remember. You only had two glasses of wine.”
I rotated my head with a groan so that I was facepalming myself. "I'm such a lightweight," I told him honestly.
"Had I known that, I would've stopped you after the first glass." Aaron laughed and I easily joined in with him because honestly, the situation was funny.
"It's fine. I'll probably remember after the pounding in my head goes away. Right now it hurts too much to think," I groaned. "I just need aspirin, a glass of water, and a hot shower. Maybe with you in it."
Aaron brushed his lips across my forehead and whispered, "I can help with two of those things.” I realized I said that last part out loud when he answered. “The third one will have to wait until after you remember."
"Does that mean . . .?" I took stock of my clothed body. It certainly didn't feel like I had sex for the first time in a decade and I did have clothes on but that didn’t mean anything. Granted, it had been so long since I used anything but my toys that I wasn't sure I would know what it felt like.
Aaron looked at me like he didn't understand what I was asking, so I waved my hand back and forth between the two of us. After a few seconds I could see the lightbulb go off behind Aaron's eyes.
"You mean did we celebrate our engagement once we got to bed?"
I wanted to wipe the smirk off his face. Instead, I growled out my answer. "Yes, that."
I knew I was in trouble when he leaned over and whispered across the shell of my ear sending a shiver throughout my whole body. "I can assure you if we had, there's no way you wouldn't remember."
My mouth fell open and I was left speechless as he climbed out of bed. "I'm going to go grab the aspirin and water. Then you can take a shower."
I watched Aaron walk away in nothing but a pair of boxer briefs and wondered how I didn't realize until that moment that he was practically naked in bed with me. I blamed it on the alcohol. There was no other explanation for my lack of attentiveness.
Closing my eyes, I waited for Aaron to come back with the medicine. I was just starting to fall back into slumber when I heard him clear his throat.
"I'm not sleeping,” I was quick to say.
Not exactly a convincing argument considering my eyes were closed. It took more effort than I cared to admit to open them the second time and was sad to see Aaron had found himself a shirt and gym shorts.
"Here you go." He placed a glass of water and two aspirin on the nightstand next to the bed. "I'm going to start making breakfast while you jump in the shower."
Two minutes ago that sounded like a solid plan, but now that I actually had to put the action into motion, I wasn't sure if it was such a good idea. Hiding under the covers was a much better plan.
"Come on, I'll help you up." Aaron reached down and grabbed both my arms and dragged me up. I didn't exactly resist but I wouldn't say I helped much in the process either. It was then that I realized what I was wearing. My brain had been too foggy to put two and two together before that.
"Is this your shirt?" Like a weirdo, I pulled the neck of it up and took a big whiff. Yup, definitely his. Sandalwood and citrus.
"It is," Aaron chuckled. "Why?"
I looked down once again at the worn material. "Because you're never getting it back." I didn't stick around to continue the discussion, but I figured there wasn't going to be much of one when I heard Aaron laughing behind me.
Once in the bathroom, I turned the shower on as hot as it would go and stripped out of Aaron's shirt.
I wasn't kidding when I said he wouldn't be getting that back.
The damn thing was softer than anything I owned.
I stepped under the spray and let the hot water melt away the pain and fogginess.
The longer I stood there, the more the picture of last night became clear.
"Will you marry me?"
There, in Aaron's hand, was the most gorgeous classic solitaire diamond engagement ring I had ever seen.
"Are you serious right now?"
"Like a heart attack. Although I’ve spent decades preparing the perfect speech and all I managed to do was blurt the question out when the time came."
I got down on the floor and knelt with him. "You can still say the speech if you want." Secretly I prayed he would. I wanted to hear how he felt from the bottom of his heart.
Aaron cleared his throat. "Valerie." Emotions appeared to choke him up and I had to squeeze his hand to encourage him to continue.
"I've known, since we were ten years old, that you were someone important to me.
I just didn't realize it would take until I left town to figure out just how important you were.
You aren't just my friend. You're the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with.
To make every dream come true. I love you with all my heart. Will you marry me?"
Water mixed with tears ran down my face. Aaron wasn't joking. Last night was the perfect proposal, and I was so glad I said yes.