Chapter 18 Nora
Chapter 18 NORA
H ow long had it been since Aiden’s last words? One thousand years? One millisecond? Time had stopped and also sped up.
Her heart raced, like it did every time they talked about them , as if “them” was a thing. As if they had a bed that could be made or unmade, as if they shared anything at all. The only thing they shared was that moment.
When Nora finally found the courage to glance over at him, he turned away and reached for his wine. What was this habit of his to tease her, to make her think they’d had a special moment, only to avoid her eyes when she looked at him?
For the hundredth time that night, the air felt heavy. After their dance, Nora could smell Aiden’s cologne with her every breath—maybe it was in her clothes now, too. Aiden’s lips touched the rim of the cup, and Nora’s chest expanded as she inhaled deeply.
A bed, for the two of them, unmade every night. Judging by how soft Aiden’s fingers felt against her lower back when they danced, sleeping with him would be amazing, if it ever happened. Nora pictured herself taking off her clothes and she’d do it gladly. What was this man doing to her?
“If you’re waiting for me to read the next question and break the rules, forget it. I refuse to do it!”
Aiden’s playful words interrupted Nora’s daydream, and she looked at him, startled. Those thoughts had ignited a flame within her, one she seemed incapable of putting out. Nora’s breathing grew heavier, her insides clenching more each second Aiden stared at her.
“Nora, are you quite all right?”
To hell with my rules.
“I’m about to be,” Nora said and, with a swift movement, she cradled his face in her hands, bringing his lips to hers. Aiden seemed shocked at first, his body and lips paralyzed, but soon his mouth opened to receive hers and he deepened the kiss, arms encircling her waist.
Aiden pulled her closer. Nora’s fingers caressed his hair—delicately at first but tugging at it increasingly harder as her desire grew stronger. His hands traveled along the uncharted territory of her body.
Aiden’s touch added fuel to her fire. He grasped the backs of her thighs with delicate yet strong fingers, then slowly moved up to give her backside a delicious, assertive squeeze. Nora wanted more of him—closer, stronger, deeper. She found it when his lips proceeded to her neck, his skillful tongue dancing against her skin, and she found even more when her legs—on their own accord—straddled his hips. Aiden smiled against her mouth as one of his hands slowly made its way up beneath her t-shirt, leaving a trail of fire against her stomach, until it reached the side of her breast. He gave it a gentle, tentative stroke, as if waiting for her reaction. She answered by pressing herself against his hand—and then there was nothing else tentative about his actions, as he sought her skin under her lacy bra, cupping her breast in full, his thumb grazing against her hard nipple, almost causing her to fall apart.
No, his touch was not as expected. It was better.
Nora moaned. The sound startled her, and a memory—a most unwelcome memory—intruded. Hm, yes, Yeong , her own voice echoed in her head. Her moans with Yeong were fake—because everything about that night had been wrong.
“No, stop,” she said to Yeong in her head.
Aiden jerked back and his eyebrows shot high up his forehead. “I’m so sorry, Nora. I didn’t mean to—”
Oh, God. Had she said “No, stop” out loud?
“No. I meant... I didn’t...” Nora winced. How could she explain she was thinking about someone else while making out with him?
Aiden ran his fingers through his hair, concern in his eyes. “Have I done something wrong? Are you all right?”
He’d done nothing wrong. She was the problem.
“I-I... I’m sorry. It’s nothing with you. I’ve just had this bad experience and I...” Nora said as she un-straddled him, moving back to her side of the couch.
“You’re not ready,” he continued the sentence she couldn’t finish. Nora nodded, and he gave her a tentative pat on the shoulder. “Please, it’s okay. Forgive me. I shouldn’t have started it.”
Nora’s desire receded until it turned into shame. She wanted Aiden—God, she wanted him so much it hurt—but the perfect moment they’d just shared was now ruined for good, as Aiden’s awkward pat on her shoulder had made clear. No point in trying to mend it. Maybe it was for the best.
Nora was far from ready for another one-night stand.
“I started it, Aiden. I’m sorry.”
Aiden scooted away from her and grinned as he said, “Started what?”
It took Nora a moment to realize that he meant to ignore their kiss to make her at ease.
Aiden cleared his throat, and his tone changed. “Nora, please confess,” he said, looking deep into her eyes, and she held her breath, waiting for his words. “Are you still reflecting on what you wished you had someone to share with? It’s all right if your true answer is the bank account. I suppose, being a Capricorn, it would make sense.”
At first, she was relieved at the change in subject, but then she narrowed her eyes. “And how do you know I’m a Capricorn?”
“You said you were born in mid-January.”
“You’re into horoscopes? That’s something I’d never guess about you.”
“I’d gladly tell you what little I know about horoscopes, but I can’t, not when this harsh light makes me feel like I’m on a talk show,” Aiden said, hand on his forehead to make a shadow.
“It’s hurting my eyes, too. Should we turn it off?”
He nodded, and the words that followed were both reassuring and sad. “I won’t do anything untoward, I promise.”
Aiden stood up and switched the lights off, and they were back to candlelight.
“Much better,” he said, now back under the blanket. “I had this girlfriend about a year ago, and she was a zodiac maniac. She didn’t introduce me to her family until she was sure our birth charts matched, and she’d refuse to see me if the horoscope said we were prone to fighting that day. So, unwittingly, I picked up a thing or two.”
Nora couldn’t ignore her jealousy. She tried to say something light-hearted. “Did you guys meet on a yoga retreat or what?”
He glared at her, the green of his eyes flashing with the candlelight. Then he relaxed. “We met at work. Marcie and I—”
“Marcie Jameson?” Nora interrupted his story, absent-mindedly reverting to the game she played with Dipa. Samuel from their favorite bookstore? L. Jackson. Diana from the belly dance class? Ross. This Aiden? McKenzie. Marcie from Aiden’s past? Jameson. That was the only Marcie she knew, anyway—famous or otherwise—thanks to Jay’s obsession with her. Such a beautiful woman. Dipa would be proud of Nora for remembering Marcie Jameson—she constantly complained about Nora not knowing anything about current celebrities. That world wasn’t one Nora was particularly interested in.
Aiden seemed taken aback by her question. “Yes. Marcie Jameson was my girlfriend.”
It was his straight face that did it. Nora let out a boisterous laugh. “Yeah, right! And Idris Elba was my boyfriend! Pierce Brosnan also tried to pursue me, but I’m not an easy catch.” A momentary silence fell upon them, and—to Nora’s surprise—Aiden’s laughter never came. “Wait. You don’t mean the Marcie Jameson, Hollywood actress, do you?”
Aiden leaned back in his seat. His jaw twitched in a mesmerizing way, and a crooked smile appeared on his lips. “What do you think?”
The gleam in his eyes, his body posture, or perhaps the way his long fingers tapped on his thigh while his gaze was fixed on Nora—something told her she was being a fool. He was joking, of course.
She let out a nervous cough. “Oof, what a relief. For a moment, I thought... Never mind. You were saying, about the Marcie-not-Jameson?”
Aiden’s jaw twitched again. “We...” He cleared his throat. “Marcie and I hit it off pretty fast. And we also hit a wall pretty fast, but it was quite good while it lasted. Even with the zodiac mania.”
It was quite good while it lasted , a little voice said inside Nora. “Please don’t tell me she broke up with you because the horoscope said so.”
“Oh no, but she almost broke up with me once because she dreamed I was cheating on her. Before you ask, I must say I have my fair share of unsavory qualities, but cheating is not one of them. We ended up parting ways because we were barely seeing each other—you can blame the horoscope, work, conflicting schedules. To be honest, I guess we just didn’t enjoy each other’s company enough to try to make it work. Last I heard, she was dating another coworker, whom she met during a new project while we were still together. One I’d thought was my friend.”
“So much for the bro-code, huh?”
“Really, Nora, do you give any credit to these sexist things?”
“Well, I believe in sorority, women sticking up for each other. It may be na?ve on my part, but I do. Anyway, do you think she cheated on you?”
He shrugged. “Who knows? Doesn’t matter anymore. At least I learned a lesson from it. Since then, I try to avoid getting involved with people from work.”
“Amen to that,” Nora said, and by the way Aiden looked at her, she knew he could tell there was a story behind her sudden outburst. But she wasn’t willing to share it.
Thankfully he didn’t press for details—hopefully he wasn’t reminiscing about the “quite good times” he’d had with his ex—so she moved on to the next question. “Question twenty-seven: ‘If you were going to become a close friend with your partner, please share what would be important for him or her to know.’”
“If I were to be your close friend...” Aiden said, emphasizing the word “friend.” Was he trying to even the score with her for starting the make out session and then stopping it? “Okay, here goes the Manual for Aiden’s Close Friends . I’m very affectionate, as you might have noticed. I won’t be checking in every day, but you can count on me anytime you need. Any time. In the middle of the night, early on a Sunday morning, during my holiday. I tell bad jokes and laugh at every single one of them, and will pester you until you laugh, too. I am not ticklish, so don’t waste your time trying.”
Nora smiled, picturing herself tickling Aiden, and forced herself to erase the image. She had to keep her distance.
He went on. “I love sports and won’t shut up when my favorite team wins. I will also sulk for days whenever they lose a match; be warned. I am competitive and will never let you win on purpose. I may or may not laugh in your face when you lose to me. I will drag you along shopping with me, so you can help me look nice for the ladies. I will hate all your boyfriends, unless they cheer for the same teams I do.”
Look nice for the ladies. All your boyfriends.
Was he trying to make a point?
Aiden continued. “It also says in the Manual : I will tell you the truth when the hairdresser screws up your hair, and then, if you want, I will help you seek revenge. You will have to put up with my other close friends, and I can’t make any promises when it comes to their behavior. And now I see your terrified face and will shut up before you kick me out.”
Nora was terrified, yes, but not for the reasons he thought. “Do you know how cute everything you said is?” Yes. Cute was distant. Cute was safe. Cute was definitely not implying smoldering sexy hot—
“I wasn’t quite aiming for cute, but I’m glad to hear it. So, what’s important for me to know about you? I mean, if we were to be just close friends,” he said, this time emphasizing “just.”
If we were was good. If we were was out of the friend-zone.
“That I will steal your food all the time and I won’t be ashamed about it.”
He kept his head low and his eyes on her as he said, “As long as it’s not the only thing you steal.”
Nora’s heart raced. She moved closer to him, and unconsciously licked her lips. “What else would you want me to steal?”
He reflected for a moment and gave her a lopsided smile. “My drinks, perhaps. To pair with your stolen food.”
“Fine, I can steal your drinks,” she said and moved even closer on impulse, her face passing so near his it made his breathing hitch. When her hand reached for his plastic cup, she sipped from it and leaned back in her original position.
Aiden bit his lip, smiling and exhaling sharply all at once, while confusion, arousal, and questions clearly played all over his face.
Why am I doing this to him? To me? Nora wondered as thunder crashed outside and she was struck with self-consciousness.
When his eyes rose to meet hers, Nora shivered, longing pooling in her lower belly. Then he playfully tried to take the magazine from her hand. The moment was gone.
The wind whistled in a high-pitched cry outside.
“I’ll ask the next question,” Nora said, trying her best to hide her disappointment—at him? At herself? She didn’t know.
Aiden cocked a brow. “And break the rules? What happened to the woman who scolded me for not following them?”
“I teach you how to follow the rules, you teach me how to break them. It’s all about balance in The Force,” she said. Aiden shook his head, smiling, and motioned for her to proceed. “Twenty-eight. ‘Tell your partner what you like about them; be very honest this time, saying things you might not say to someone you’ve just met.’”
“Didn’t we just answer a question much like this one?” Aiden asked. “When you paid me a most special compliment.” Despite his straight face, Nora knew, by Aiden’s reddened cheeks, that the subject was as sensitive to him as it was to her. She didn’t call a man “hot” straight to his face every day. “Also, be very honest this time? What kind of instruction is this? ‘Oh, it’s okay if you lied before.’ It destroys the whole point of this questionnaire, don’t you think? Well, I meant everything I said so far.”
I meant it, too , Nora thought, but decided not to say it. She dried her sweaty hands on her jeans. “Maybe it means we should speak without filters.”
“I’m not sure if that would be a good idea. I might offend you, or scare you, or make an utter fool of myself. Again.”
“Oh, please, I’m no porcelain doll. I can take anything you say about me,” Nora said, and grinned. She was ready to hear what he liked about her. So ready.
An instrumental tune played on the radio. Nora interlaced her hands, bracing for impact.
“Fine. You brought this on yourself. Here it goes. Remember, in normal circumstances, I would never say these things to someone I’ve just met,” he huffed, maybe to gather his courage. “I like how you look straight into my eyes. I like how you’re not trying to impress me by pretending to be someone you’re not. I like how you took care of me tonight. I like how your body felt against mine when we danced. I like your scent and what it does to me. I like how you bite your lips without noticing. I like how full, supple, and round your—”
“Okay, okay, I think that’s enough!” Nora hid her face behind her once-again sweaty palms. She wanted to look at him, right into his eyes, the way he liked; she wanted him to continue and hear what else he’d say. Nonetheless, she couldn’t. She wasn’t used to having someone be so open with her. Nora was usually the overly honest one. Now she knew how it felt. It was... disconcerting. “I guess I indeed brought this on myself. Thanks for the... uh... honesty.”
He grinned. “You are very welcome. Now, I believe you won’t have any problems in being as honest as I was. Or even more honest, if you wish. I’d like that.”
“Okay, give me a second to think.” Nora closed her eyes for a moment and breathed deeply, trying to narrow down the things she liked most about him. The list was quite extensive.
“I like how gallant you are, flirty yet respectful. I like how words come out of your mouth in your charming accent.” He chuckled at that. “I like how this one stubborn lock of hair keeps falling to your forehead and points to your eyes, which I also like. I like the part of you that is boyish, and I like the part of you that is a very serious man, and I like even more the combination of these two parts. I like how vulnerable you looked when you cut your hand and how you almost melted into my arms when I offered to help you. And I like that you weren’t ashamed of it. I like your hands. It may sound weird, I know, but you have beautiful hands. And I also like some other things I will not mention because you will not take my comments as well as I took yours.”
He roared with laughter. “That was you taking my comments well?”
“Yes, of course.”
“You didn’t even let me finish,” Aiden said.
“Only because I think we should save something for a next time,” Nora said, although it wasn’t true. She just wasn’t ready to listen to compliments about her body without letting those compliments affect her in a very physical way.
The look he gave her sent a series of pulses down her spine, which only proved her right. “Believe me, I could keep giving answers to this question for a long time.”
“So could I,” she said in a hoarse voice.
He grinned. “Next time, then.”
“Okay, next time.”
Nora handed Aiden the magazine so he could read the next question. He smiled widely as he did.
“Twenty-ninth: ‘Share with your partner an embarrassing moment in your life.’ Ha, finally!”
Nora lifted a hand to her forehead, as she recounted her most embarrassing moment. “Damn! I was in Florida, on vacation with my belly dance group. I was with Dipa pretty much all the time, and she was always the one who remembered our room number. We had a couple of drinks by the pool, and she started chatting with a girl. Not wanting to be the third wheel, I went to our room—it was too hot outside, anyway, and I was craving some air-con. But it was a big resort, and I got confused and... well, I walked into the wrong room. The door was unlocked, and the couple was... having an intimate moment, let’s say.” They had invited her to join them, but this part of the story she would bring to her grave.
Aiden didn’t laugh, as she expected, which was intriguing. “My story is quite like yours, only worse,” he said. “It seems I’m the master of embarrassing moments.” Nora tittered. “Right, I told you my mum loses it if she can’t reach me. So one Sunday morning, after calling me eight times with no answer, she stormed into my flat to make sure I was still alive. Turns out I was fast asleep and didn’t hear my phone. A lady was involved, clothes were not. You can imagine the sheer awkwardness of the entire scene.”
Nora’s hand covered her mouth, her eyebrows high on her forehead. “Mother of God.”
She was supposed to laugh; he was probably expecting it. But Nora didn’t feel like it, now that she had that image in her head—Aiden, minus clothes, plus a woman. A woman who was not her. Maybe it was a gorgeous thin ginger with luscious curls. Maybe a blue-eyed, dark-skinned, white-smiled bombshell. Maybe he didn’t even remember her features. An ugly feeling overtook her, but she dismissed it—she would not be jealous of an unknown woman from the distant past of a man she barely knew. Not at all.
So she clenched her jaw and hid it behind her hand, pretending she was trying her best not to laugh.