15. Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Fifteen
Aidan
Ican’t get that woman out of my mind.
It’s been a week since Maeve came to visit, and her words run on repeat over and over again, beating against my brain like a hammer.
No matter how much I wish her words didn’t matter, I’m a father before anything else, and when someone as sensible as Maeve chooses to share her thoughts with me about Katie, I’d be an arrogant bastard if I didn’t listen to them.
I didn’t expect it, but Maeve’s opinion matters more than it should.
She asks me questions I haven’t had to answer for many years, and she forces me to rethink aspects of my life I put into boxes a long time ago.
Now, she makes me wonder if they fit into them anymore, or if I should examine them again.
She doesn’t judge, but she doesn’t hold back.
She’s feisty and soft at the same time even when it shouldn’t be possible.
Perhaps that’s what I’ve been missing without even knowing it.
I’m going to have a long talk with Katie. Maybe it’s time I share a little bit more with her about her mother and the life we had before. Maybe the photos scattered around the farm aren’t enough anymore.
I’ve been so focused on keeping the hurt away that I never even considered that by not sharing it with Katie, I’ve been hurting her. It’s the last thing I ever want to be guilty of.
I toss more hay over the fence to the alpacas, glad to be alone with my thoughts this morning to mull things over.
I’ve learned over the years that the hardest part of being a single parent is making all the decisions alone.
You have no one to share the burdens with.
No one to lean on when the days demand more of you than you can take, and no one to laugh with on the good days.
I’m grateful for all the help and support from my parents, but it’s not the same as having a partner.
Someone who’ll lie next to you in bed each night, whispering softly as you’re cloaked in darkness. You know that you’re free to share your thoughts with her: the person who’ll guard all your secrets fiercely.
And someone to celebrate with when life is sweet, not sour.
I wipe sweat off my forehead and lean my arms on the fence, my eyes roaming the landscape in front of me.
I catch the thunderous, grey clouds in the distance, alerting me that there’s a storm on the way.
I wonder what Maeve’s up to today. If she’s on duty or home alone maybe reading another romance novel.
A rush of warmth slides through my body.
I memorised the book title after our meeting and picked up the audiobook the same evening.
To say I’ve been pretty caught up in the story since then would be an understatement, but knowing that Maeve is reading the same one has me curious.
I can’t help but wonder if she gets as worked up by certain scenes in the book as I do.
It’s not really the storyline that has me sporting a semi, even out here while working, though.
I shake my head. I should be spending the day looking through the account instead of being out here doing farmwork. Not to mention that I have to finalise the stalls for the village spring festival that’s only a few weeks away.
The sky rumbles, and I push back from the fence with my boot and grab my jacket.
There’ll be no more working in the fields today because the second I grab my jacket and turn my back on the paddock, a deafening roar fills the air, and rain starts pouring down.
I set off in a jog, and as the rain patters down on my back, I fill my lungs with the clear air.
Another resounding rumble explodes, and the air fizzes as if it’s filled with static.
I run towards home, not bothering to pull on my jacket now that I’m soaked through anyway.
The stable is closer to seek shelter from the storm, and it doesn’t take me long to reach it, but a shadow in the corner of my eye slows me down.
I peer through the thick curtain of rain.
The sight of a drenched Maeve in a jog throws me.
What the…?
“Maeve!” I yell.
She stops and turns, her arms raised to hold her coat over her head, and frowns at me. “Aidan?” she shouts back.
“Get your arse here now!” I point towards the sky. “It’s dangerous for you to be outside in this storm.”
She glances up, then left and right, and sets off in a sprint towards me. I leap out of her way and close the door when she’s passed me to shut out the noise. I turn towards her and drag a hand through my hair and away from my eyes.
“What the hell were you thinking, being outside in this weather?”
She shakes her coat and pushes back the wet strands of her hair from her face.
My eyes catch the droplets of water on her cheeks and chin, down her chest, and I have to take a deep breath to prevent myself from moving closer to her.
Despite her smeared mascara giving her raccoon eyes, her rosy cheeks and wet lips tempt me relentlessly.
I watch another drop of rain slide down the base of her neck, and when it rests against the hollow of her throat, I can’t stop staring at it.
My cock hardens at the sight. I want to lick the drop away with my tongue, then take a bite, marking her in the most primal way.
“It caught me by surprise.”
My gaze jumps up to meet hers, but my glasses fog, and I push them up to the top of my head so I can see her better, but the second I do, my vision turns blurry.
“Feck it,” I curse on a soft exhale. If I want to keep seeing her clearly, I have no choice but to get closer to her.
I take three steps towards her, and my heart speeds up from the flare of fire in her eyes. They look so much darker now in the dimness of the stable, but they’re not so dark that I can’t see her shooting daggers at me.
“Care to explain why you yelled at me?” she huffs.
“I didn’t yell.”
But I know I did.
She narrows her eyes and goes toe to toe with me. “I don’t appreciate your tone, Aidan.”
I clench my teeth and watch in fascination as her hair drips. I’m having the hardest time focusing on our conversation when most of her upper body is practically naked.
I soften my tone, though it costs me. “I didn’t mean to yell. But it’s dangerous being out in such a storm, and you could’ve gotten hurt.”
She taps her foot, neck craned back to keep our eyes locked. “I was about to knock on your door, anyway.”
“Why?”
“To ask if I could wait it out, of course.” She furrows her brows and crosses her arms. “Why do you think?”
My already quickening breath falls even faster, but I try to slow my breathing.
It’s so bloody difficult, though, especially when my gaze trails down her chest that’s pushed up by her arms. I can see her bra through her wet, buttoned-up frilly shirt.
It’s another lacy thing that barely covers the swell of her breasts, and I can hardly suppress a groan.
Sweet Mary, Mother of God, she’s going to wreck me, and she doesn’t even know it.
I wrench my eyes away from her seductive body and raise my eyebrows.
“Just curious.”
It’s true, I am curious, but not for the reason she thinks.
Maeve purses her lips. “You look weird.”
Her words are just the right amount of funny to break the tension.
“Weird how?” I take a step back, but not so far that my vision will blur again. “I just have a lot on my mind.” I clear my throat at the sound of my scratchy voice.
She tilts her head at me, waiting.
“The spring festival is just around the corner, and we’ve fallen a little behind on the schedule, but we’ll make it.” I grin down at her. “We always do.”
“I didn’t know you had a stall at the festival?”
I nod, glad to be back on solid ground. “Yeah, it’s a grand week that ends with a bonfire at the beach as well as a concert on the Saturday with some out-of-towners and local musicians.
It’s hard work, sure, but tourist season starts soon, and they’ll bring in a lot of business to the village.
The festival signifies the beginning of summer, prosperity, and the harvest.”
Her lips twitch. “You sound like a schoolmistress rattling off a page from a book she’s learned by heart.”
Laughter erupts, and I shake my head at her comparison. “Fuck, Detective. Don’t hurt my feelings like that.”
She shrugs. “Sorry, but you did.”
How does she do it? One minute, I’m strung out with wanting her, barely holding it together, and the next she makes me laugh like a lunatic. It should be impossible.
“Well, I’ve probably said the same thing to lots of people over the years.”
She tilts her head at me. “You really love your village, and your farm, don’t you?”
I jam my hands into my pockets. “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.
I belong here. The farm is my legacy, and I hope Katie will feel the same one day, but if she doesn’t, it won’t be the end of the world.
” I think over my next words carefully. “I’ll adapt.
Farmers do it all the time. But I try not to think about it too hard.
The future isn’t set in stone yet. Not for any of us. ”
Silence settles between us, warm instead of awkward.
It’s the kind of silence that feels natural even through the lingering tug of lust I feel whenever she’s nearby.
The one where I have to stop myself from touching her.
Where I have to remember that we agreed to keep the boundaries clear between us and not to give in to whatever my parents or even the villagers think.
She turns in a circle and pushes back her hair in a high ponytail, revealing her slender neck, and I press my lips tightly together.
I groan inwardly when the image of my wanking off to the thought of her flashes through my mind. It must’ve been much longer since a woman made me come than I remember, because it’s the only thing I can think of to explain the perpetual state of horniness I’m in.