Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
Aiden
I checked my phone again. She’d seen the snow photo but hadn’t responded.
Maybe beards weren’t a good look for me.
I was working in her kitchen, Chaucer at my heels.
He had been lying down watching me prepare food before he realized that, unlike Kate, I drop food all the time.
Ever since that revelation, he’d been tripping me up, trying to get as close to the potential floor food as possible.
Yes. Technically, I was breaking and entering, but I wanted to make her dinner, and I honestly wasn’t positive the appliances in my sad galley kitchen worked. Plus, my apartment was kind of depressing. I hadn’t noticed that before.
I’d stopped at the market and picked up steaks, potatoes, and a bag of salad.
Since I was hungry, I also picked up chips and salsa, cheese and crackers, and a package of thinly sliced Italian meats.
As soon as I pulled the meat from the shopping bag, Chaucer sat down at my side, expectant.
I knew I probably wasn’t supposed to give him any, but how could I resist that face? “Just don’t tell her, okay?”
I held out two pieces of meat, which Chaucer took slowly and gently from my fingers, then swallowed whole in one second flat. “Are there any doggy breath mints around here? We need to cover up your salami breath before Katie gets home.”
I walked over to the pantry and stuck my head in.
“ Organic dog biscuits? Yeah, we’re going to need to keep this salami thing under wraps, okay?
” Chaucer sat near doggy-treat Valhalla, waiting to see if I’d do him a solid.
I flipped a biscuit and watched him jump up and snap it out of the air.
“I think I just figured out how we’re going to kill time waiting for your mommy. ”
After finishing a quick run downtown to pick up a grill—who the hell doesn’t own a grill?
—Chaucer and I were hanging out on the porch, me sitting with my feet up on the rail, him running around, catching flying biscuits, when I heard a vehicle pull up.
Chaucer tore off around the corner. No barking, so it must have been Katie.
I started jogging around the corner myself. But when I realized I was acting like her overexcited dog, I slowed to a stop and watched her get out of her car. My heart lurched. My woman was coming home, and I was here to meet her. This felt right. Hell, it felt perfect.
“What are you doing out here?” She looked at the front door.
“Holy crap, did I leave the back door open? And you stayed here, waiting for me?” She leaned over, hugging Chaucer.
“You’re the best boy ever! Hey, why do you smell like biscuits?
” She stood up and looked around, spotting me leaning against the corner of the house.
She stared at me for a moment before a slow smile spread across her face.
Thank God. That could have been awkward.
“Breaking into my house and bribing my dog, huh?” She walked up the steps toward me and I waited, content to watch.
“Call a cop.”
She stopped right in front of me, reached out, and grabbed my T-shirt, yanking me toward her. “Help, police, help.”
I leaned in, my lips hovering over hers.
“What’s your emergency?” I grinned. “Ma’am.
” I watched her eyes go from soft and hazy to sharp and annoyed.
I swooped in to take her mouth before she could protest. I ran my hands beneath her coat, gliding over her hips and down to her perfect ass.
I considered writing sonnets to the perfection of her ass as I grabbed the back of her legs and picked her up, hitching her around my waist.
I walked us back around the side of the house, stepped through the open dining room door, and then kicked it closed. I’d intended to start cooking dinner when she arrived, but that wasn’t happening, not for a while. I took the stairs to her room two at a time.
Kate
Afterward, Aiden and I lay in bed, our legs tangled, our faces inches apart on the same pillow, as we breathed each other’s air and whispered the contents of our hearts. I reached up and traced his lips with my fingertips.
“No secrets, okay?” Aiden said softly. “No hiding, not from ourselves, not from each other. Up-front and honest. I can’t take more lies.”
I felt myself drawing back. “I never lied to?—”
He reached for my hand and pulled it to his chest. “Not you.” He shook his head. “You’ve been remarkably honest. Alarmingly so, really.”
I pushed against his chest. “Funny guy.”
He pretended to bite my hand but then kissed it instead. “I’ve been a miserable bastard for the past year.” His hand settled possessively on my hip. “But then this crazy wind blew through town, clearing my head. You make me happy, Katie.”
“Was it bad?” We were already wrapped around each other, but the look on his face made me want to hold him closer.
His eyes drifted toward the window. “Wedding, ring, tux, church, offer on a little house across town, the whole nine yards.”
“Sounds perfect.”
“Perfect.” He popped the p sound, lengthening the word. “She dumped me the day before the wedding. A richer, more powerful guy waited in the wings.”
My body tensed, remembering what that kind of shame and betrayal felt like. “Who is this brain-dead moron, and where can I find her? I’m good with a golf club. Seriously, I could mess her up for you.”
He grinned. “Settle down, tiger. I’m not putting a contract out on her, but thanks for the offer of assault.” He shook his head, his hand on my back, pulling me imperceptibly closer. “If I’d married her, I wouldn’t be here with you.”
I nodded. “Good point.” My body relaxed into the idea. “Good riddance to people who don’t recognize what they have.”
He pressed a soft kiss on my nose. “Hear, hear.”
“Do you miss her?” I held my breath, afraid of the answer.
“I did. At first. But mostly, I was so damn angry. Eventually the anger took up so much space that I didn’t have room for missing.
I was full yet weirdly hollow. I felt like a clueless sap for believing she ever loved me.
I refused to allow myself to miss her.” His thumb brushed back and forth over my ribs.
I felt unaccountably blessed that we’d found each other and were willing to try again. I needed to change the subject, though, to get that hurt out of his eyes. “Have you lived in Bar Harbor all these years?”
“Nah.” His finger slid along my jaw and down my throat. “I went to college in Boston, then joined their police force. That was where I met Brian, our friendly neighborhood hacker.”
I shivered at his touch. “Did you like it there?”
He nodded. “Mmm-hmm. I loved Boston, but Maureen was getting married and Pops was getting older. Mom’s arthritis was getting worse.” He gave a small shrug. “My thoughts were more often in this town. It seemed stupid to stay there when the people I loved lived here.”
“I bet they were happy to get you back.”
He grinned. “That’d probably depend on which day you asked them.”
I let my hand settle on his heart, content to feel it beat. “Police work here is probably different.”
He let out a short chuff of amusement. “You could say that. Very few mob-related crimes or gun deaths in Bar Harbor. Unless you count accidental stray bullets during hunting season, and that hasn’t resulted in a death in almost a decade.
” His hand spread on my hip and he pulled me a few inches closer.
“What about you? This is a bigger transition for the Cali girl with no family here.” His hand slid up to my waist. “How are you doing?”
“First of all, it’s always California , never Cali .”
His hand slid over my hip and down my leg, pulling it more securely over his body. “I’ll try to keep that in mind.”
“See that you do.” I felt myself blushing and thanked the darkness he wouldn’t notice. “I’m doing well. Now.”
He leaned in and kissed me. “I’m glad.”
“I didn’t know where else to go, what to do. After... Well, I just needed to get away, to find a home for Chaucer and me. I loved my summers here, and I needed to feel near Gran.”
He pulled me even closer, his warm breath fanned across my chilled skin. I shivered and he pulled the comforter around my shoulders. “I’m glad you came home.”
I placed my hand on his scruffy cheek and then pulled his shoulder toward me. He rolled over on top of me, kissing me deep and long. He drew back and stared at me while pulling open my nightstand drawer, indicating the vast collection of condoms. “Now you may explain.”
My hands flew to my face, covering the top half. “Do I hafta?” I felt his lips touch my hands.
“Nope. It just seemed like an interesting story.” He kissed my lips. “And secrets make me crazy, as you know. I obsess over the whys and hows. It makes me a good cop but an annoying partner.” He paused.
His girl, his partner. Did he mean it? I still wasn’t looking at him, relying on that universal truth that if I couldn’t see him, he couldn’t see me. He kissed me, so I may have been misled about the effectiveness of this strategy.
He nuzzled my arm. “You have a latex deficiency and the doctor prescribed more condoms.”
I smiled but didn’t say anything.
He ran his lips along my other arm. “You planned to attend an orgy on your drive east but weren’t sure of the colors and sizes necessary to properly cover all your partners.”
“That totally happened. I had to restock afterward.”
“Please tell me these are not the same condoms you threw off the Fourth of July float fifteen years ago. Because if so, we’re in a lot of trouble.”
“They’re fresh!”
“Thank God. You lost a bet and?—”
I slapped my hands over his mouth. We could see each other now.
I moved one hand over his eyes and kept the other over his mouth.
I felt him kiss my palm. I took a deep breath.
“When I found out Justin had been cheating, I panicked. Aside from how incredibly crappy and betrayed I was feeling, I was also terrified he’d given me an STD.
I made an appointment at a clinic to get screened. ”
I shook my head, recalling the experience.
“It was fairly horrible. I’d never had to get tested before.
I felt so dirty.” I felt Aiden trying to say something, so I clamped my hand down tighter.
“I know. I know. It’s the mature, responsible thing to do, but that’s the way I felt.
Justin’s the only person I’ve ever slept with—huh, I guess I can’t say that anymore. ” I felt another palm kiss.
“Anyway, the doctor was totally nice and understanding. I was freaking out and told him everything, but he was gentle and calming. When I was leaving, he picked up the bowl of condoms they kept on the counter and tipped it into my handbag. He said, ‘Don’t let embarrassment make you unsafe.’”
I let my hands drop, gauging his reaction. “I’m negative. I wouldn’t have slept with you otherwise.”
He leaned down and kissed me softly. “It sucks, doesn’t it?
I did the same thing when she left.” He cringed.
“But in the interest of full disclosure and no secrets, I went on a tear after she dumped me. I slept with quite a few women in a short amount of time. Not too proud of that, but there you go. And, yes, I’ve been tested since. Still STI-free.”
He kissed my neck and said, “How long before you think we’ll need to replenish the drawer?”
I glanced over at the pile of shiny wrappers. “Probably a week.”
He laughed. “That’s my girl.”