Chapter Twenty-One
AIDEN
SNUGGLING
My body felt warm. Relaxed. Most likely because I’d gotten the best sleep I’d had in months. Who would have thought sleeping on the floor would have given me such a restful night?
“So…what’s going on?” sang a voice from above me. Tammy’s voice.
“Go away. Why are you at my house so early?”
Then I realized I was holding someone in my arms. And that someone was trying to get out of my arms. Frantically.
Opening my eyes, I saw Emma attempting to get up.
Pulling her back against me, I snuggled my face into the back of her hair.
“Aiden, let me go,” she softly hissed.
Lifting my gaze, I saw both Tammy and Dalton were standing over us, both wearing smiles that went from ear to ear.
I smiled back and asked, “S’up guys?”
“Aiden!” Emma said, still trying to wriggle out of my arms.
“Where’s Hadley?” I asked, pulling Emma even closer. She stilled, and I instantly knew why.
Crap.
My current situation below the belt was pushing into her rear.
“Well, when we got here, Hadley was in the kitchen trying to make you and Emma breakfast. She told us the two of you were up here, still sleeping.” Dalton tilted his head and raised a brow. “Whatcha doing now?” he asked with another grin.
“Nothing,” Emma insisted, but this time she didn’t try to move. “I mean, we all slept up here, and when Hadley left, he moved closer.”
“I moved closer?” I asked, lifting my head to stare down at Emma.
Emma rolled onto her back with a sigh, clearly admitting defeat. She turned her head to look at me. I was hit so hard in the stomach by the sight in front of me that I couldn’t move. I wasn’t even sure I was breathing.
She was staring at me with one brow raised, her beautiful blue eyes sparkling and her lips twitching as she attempted not to smile.
My God. She is stunning.
Everything about her left me speechless.
“Yes, you moved closer. I’m clearly still on my side of the pillows.”
I still couldn’t talk. The only thing I could do was stare at her beautiful face.
Dalton waved his hand in front of my face. “Dude, you forget how to talk?”
Closing my eyes, I shook my head and finally sat up, keeping the blanket over my lap. Looking up at Dalton and Tammy, I said, “Nah, I’m good. Sorry, Emma.”
The second my friends shifted their attention to Emma, I stood and quickly left the loft. Making my way down the steps, I hurried toward my bedroom. I heard light footsteps behind me, and there was no denying it was Emma.
Stepping into my bedroom, I attempted to shut the door, but she put her hand out.
“No. You’re not running. No more running, Aiden.”
I could feel my face heating as I stood in the middle of my bedroom, Emma just a few inches from me. “I’m not running,” I managed to say.
She took a step closer. “If anyone should be running, it’s me.
I promised myself I would never open myself up to anyone hurting me again, but you managed to sneak your way in, Aiden.
Waking up this morning with your arms around me, it only made me realize that I’m truly falling in love with you.
I don’t want to pretend it didn’t happen. ”
“What about my…situation down below? That doesn’t make you angry?”
She grinned. “Because you woke up hard?”
All the air left my lungs at once. Good Lord, the woman was braver than I was.
“Okay, if we’re being blunt—I didn’t wake up like that because I had a morning woody. I liked the way you felt against me. Very much.”
Her hand went to my chest and it almost felt searing. “I liked it too. And that scares me as much as it scares you, but I’m tired of being afraid. Aren’t you?”
My eyes closed, and I dropped my head back before looking up at the ceiling. “Emma, you do things to me without even trying.”
“What do you mean?”
Fixing my gaze on hers, I let out a halfhearted laugh.
“Waking up relaxed, feeling like I’ve slept through the night for the first time in months.
Looking at you first thing in the morning with those stunning eyes and your beautiful face.
You’re like a dream, and I’m terrified I’m going to wake up any second and you’ll be gone. ”
Tears filled her eyes. “No one has…has ever…has ever said anything like that to me before.”
Cupping her face in my hands, I went in for a kiss, but she quickly turned away.
“Morning breath!”
With a laugh that came from the very depths of my soul, I placed my finger on her chin and brought her mouth back to mine.
“Kiss me, Emma,” I whispered as I rubbed my nose against hers.
Her smile nearly made my legs buckle out from under me. Reaching up on her toes, she kissed me softly on the lips.
“Good morning,” she said against my tingling lips. I groaned internally. What did this woman do to me?
Wrapping my arms around her, I lifted her up and made her giggle. “Good morning,” I replied.
Her finger tracked along my unshaven jawline. “I promise you; I’m not leaving you and Hadley.”
My forehead leaned against hers. “I promise I won’t run.”
“Good,” she whispered. “Let’s go see what your daughter has made for breakfast.”
I laughed and hugged her again, loving the way she felt in my arms before I let her go and we made our way to the kitchen.
Breakfast was insane. Hadley and Jennifer had made toast, yogurt with what I hoped was granola, and Lucky Charms cereal that I guessed was at least a year old.
“This is so yummy!” Tammy said, forcing herself to swallow the yogurt.
Dalton nodded and took a bite of toast. It appeared to be the only safe food item on our plates.
“Girls, would you like me to make French toast?” Emma asked Jennifer and Hadley.
Everyone shouted yes, and by everyone, I mean the adults too. Laughing, Emma stood and got to work.
Dalton tapped me on the arm and motioned for me to meet him in my office. Slipping off the stool, I peeked over to see Emma watching us. She flashed me a grin and went back to getting everything ready for the French toast.
The moment my office door shut, Dalton gave me a knowing smile. “So?”
“So?” I asked back.
“Dude! Tammy and I show up and you and Emma are looking awfully cozy.”
I rolled my eyes. “Hadley slept between us all night.”
“Yes, and when she left, you just happened to find yourself up against Emma?”
With a shrug, I attempted not to smile. “If I did anything, it was in my sleep.”
He laughed. “Okay, so then why the freak-out?”
I decided not to mention the situation below my belt and stuck to all things emotional and mental. “For a moment, I let my old fears take over. Guilt, panic about hurting Hadley and myself.”
Dalton leaned against my desk as I took a seat on the small sofa. “Emma certainly wasn’t letting you walk away.”
The left side of my mouth rose in a slight grin. “No, she wasn’t. She’s freaking amazing, Dalton. I’ve never met a woman like her.”
He nodded. “She seems to make you and Hadley happy.”
Leaning forward, I groaned. “Oh, man. It feels like a dream that’s happening both too fast and too slow. I don’t even know. What I do know is, when I kissed her, it was like I suddenly needed her very existence just to breathe.”
Dalton’s brows shot up. “Kissed her? When did you kiss her?”
“Last night and this morning.”
A wide grin moved over my best friend’s face. “Dude, it’s about time. You deserve happiness.”
“We still need to work out some things, but I want to see where it goes.”
“And Emma does as well?”
“Yeah. I mean, she’s scared too. Probably even a little more than she’s letting on. I don’t want to push her, but at some point, I hope she opens up to me about her ex. I told her everything about Lisa and Nancy.”
He looked surprised. “You told her about Nancy?”
I nodded. “I don’t want anything between us. My entire marriage to Lisa, there seemed to always be something unsaid between us. I just hope she feels safe enough to tell me about her ex.”
“Tammy said they’ve been hoping she would open up as well in their ladies’ group.”
My hand rubbed the back of my neck. “I guess she will when she’s ready.”
He nodded as a knock at the door had me jumping up and quickly answering.
“Emma is the master at French toast, and if you don’t get out there, the girls are going to eat it all,” Tammy stated.
Dalton shoved me out of the way to get to the kitchen. As I walked by Tammy, she reached for my arm to stop me.
Looking around almost nervously, she lowered her voice. “I have to know her secret ingredient for that French toast.”
Laughing, I replied, “I’ll try my best, Tammy.”