The cons were also easy. There was no denying that I didn’t really know anything about Aiden Hunter. That should have been enough to keep me away. He was sketchy about his work, which set off alarms in my head. Sales could mean anything. He was also scary-looking with all the tattoos and huge muscles. He was not my type.
However, I couldn’t get over the idea that I was being totally unfair to him. If I had been a police officer, I would have definitely been accused of profiling. It wouldn’t have been any different if he had been wearing a turban, and I had assumed he was a terrorist. I wasn’t like that. I didn’t discriminate against people because of how they looked.
Did I?
Maybe everyone does to some extent, but that didn’t mean I had to act on it. Deciding to avoid him would be exactly that. Would I think differently if he had been in a suit, covering up the artwork all over his body? Probably. How screwed up was that?
The fact was he hadn’t done anything wrong. He’d helped me out when I was too drunk to make any kind of rational decision, didn’t take advantage of me, and didn’t seem to be expecting any sort of repayment for his good deed. I, on the other hand, had spent most of my time judging him based on his appearance.
Who was the bad guy here?
Yes, he’d been a little dodgy on what he did for a living, but he might also just be a private person who didn’t want to divulge too much to someone he just met. I hadn’t told him much about what I did for a living, either. I wouldn’t even tell him where I lived.
Deciding I was just being silly, I took a deep breath, raised my hand, and knocked. The door opened immediately.
“I was wondering how long you were going to stand there.” Aiden’s boyish smile beamed down at me as he waved me into the apartment.
My heart fluttered when I looked at him.
“You knew I was out there?” I asked as my face heated up.
“I saw you drive up.” He pointed to the small window overlooking the parking lot. “Have a seat. I’m just finishing up my packing.”
He stepped to the side of the door, but his shoulders were so wide I still brushed up against him when I walked in. The brief encounter sent shivers down my arm where our skin touched.
I scuttled past, ignoring the way my skin tingled where we met, and sat on the single chair in the living area and looked around. The suitcase that had been open that morning was now closed and upright near the card table. Aiden disappeared into the bathroom and came back out with a black toiletry bag, which he shoved into the front pocket of the luggage. The sleeper sofa was folded back, and the apartment looked even emptier than it had before.
“I thought you were leaving tomorrow.”
“I am,” he said. “I just like to have everything together the day before.”
“You are very organized,” I commented. He grinned at me.
“Want something to drink?” Aiden asked. “I’ve got beer and some Sprite, I think.”
“No,” I replied, “thank you. I just wanted to return these.”
As I held the bag out to him, I tried not to meet his eyes as. Every time I seemed to look at them my brain turned to mush.
He laughed.
“In a grocery bag, huh? I guess you managed to get your shopping done.”
“I did.” I smiled sheepishly.
Aiden took the bag and crammed it into the top of the suitcase. He tossed in a few more items from the card table and zipped up the bag before sitting down on the couch and facing me.
“So, I was thinking,” Aiden said as he leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, “maybe we don’t have to wait until I get back. Maybe you could just come with me.”
I stared at him a minute, trying to figure out if there was some joke I was missing. I was probably distracted by the movement of the muscles in his forearms when he leaned on his legs, and I didn’t quite understand what he was trying to say.
“Come with you where?” I asked.
“To Miami,” he replied. “I still have another week off from work, and I think maybe a nice little vacation would be good for you.”
“Vacation?”
“Yeah—sunny Florida and all that. Have you been?”
“Of course I have,” I said. “We went to Disney when I was a kid.”
“Well, adult vacations have their own magic,” he said with a wink. “What do you think?”
I blinked a few times. Was he really suggesting I go to Florida with him? The very notion was ridiculous.
“I think you’re crazy,” I replied.
“Maybe a little.” He shrugged and looked down at his hands. “I just thought maybe…well, with what you were saying this morning…”
His voice trailed off and he looked out toward the window as I tried to figure out what I might have said that gave him the idea that I wanted to take a vacation at all, let alone with someone I had just met. I drew a complete blank.
“What did I say?”
“You said you never did anything spontaneously.” He looked into my eyes again. “I figured maybe you’d like to give it a try.”
I rubbed my hands on my jeans, annoyed with myself for whatever I had done to put such an insane idea in his head. At the same time, I envisioned myself lying on a beach with him at my side, half naked in the sand.
I shook my head to clear it.
“I don’t do that for a reason,” I said as I sat back in the chair and folded my arms. I needed to get a handle on my thoughts. “I have responsibilities here. I’m kind of expected at work on Monday.”
“Don’t you have vacation time?”
“Of course I do.”
“So use it!”
“To go to Florida? Now? With you?”
“Why not?”
I still couldn’t quite believe he was serious, but everything about him said he was. He was smiling but not in a joking manner. He was looking at me intently, waiting for my answer.
“Because I barely know you!”
“Perfect opportunity to get to know me better.”
I didn’t like the way he was using logic against me. I definitely didn’t like the part of me that was actually listening to it.
“That seems a little extreme for a first date,” I replied with a bit of a huff.
“Is that how you see it?” he asked. He raised one eyebrow and tilted his head to the side.
“Well, I…um…” His bluntness had caught me off guard, and I had no idea how to respond. Had I been presumptuous? I had just assumed he would see it as an intimate trip, but now I wasn’t so sure. “It’s just that, well, we kissed, and um…”
Aiden’s smile grew.
“I’d love for it to be an extended date,” he said, “but it wouldn’t have to be if that made you uncomfortable. I just don’t have anyone else traveling with me, and it gets kind of boring. It seems like you could benefit from a little excitement in your life.”
“You think I’m boring?” I asked.
“I think you’re bored,” Aiden corrected.
“And that’s a good reason to pack up and head to Florida?” I shook my head. Normal, rational people didn’t do these kinds of things.
“It’s not a bad reason,” he replied.
I realized I was staring at him again and quickly looked away. I had no idea how to handle this. I couldn’t possibly go on a trip with him on such short notice. He had to realize that, didn’t he?
“I haven’t budgeted for a trip,” I said.
“My treat.”
I glared at him, wondering if he was just teasing me, but again, he seemed absolutely serious.
“I couldn’t let you do that.”
“Why not?”
“It’s just not…not proper.” I glanced around at the sparse surroundings, wondering how he could afford a trip for one, let alone a trip for two. “I don’t even know you.”
He laughed.
“Fuck that,” he said with a wide grin. “I don’t care if it’s proper or not. You’re just making excuses. Come on,
Chloe, why not take a chance?”
What was the worst that could happen? Did I really think he was going to kidnap me and sell me into slavery or something? That’s the sort of thing that only happened on television. Besides, he was obviously stronger than I, and if he wanted to haul me off somewhere, I wouldn’t have been able to stop him.
This was ridiculous. I had work. I had to help Mare pick out wedding flowers. I had told Gabe I’d go car shopping with him this week. People were counting on me to be here. I couldn’t just pack up and leave with some strange, tattooed man, irrespective of how gorgeous he may be.
“No,” I said, this time with more conviction. “I’m not going to Florida with you.”
Aiden looked at me for a long moment, smiled slightly, and nodded. I noticed right away that his eyes didn’t light up this time, and I immediately felt bad for rejecting him.
“All right,” he said. “You can’t blame me for trying.”
“I don’t,” I said quietly as I stood up to leave. “I’m just not sure doing something like that on such short notice is in me.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Aiden replied. He stood up in front of me and placed his hand on the side of my face. “I think it’s in there somewhere.”
“Unlikely,” I said as I tried to smile. I was keenly aware of how close he was to me, and again my body reacted. My skin tingled as he bent slightly to place his lips on the side of my neck. I closed my eyes and held my breath as he moved his hand to the back of my head.
“You can still change your mind,” he whispered as his nose dragged along my cheek, making me shiver. “My fight was delayed, so I won’t be leaving until almost noon tomorrow. You have some time to think about it.”
Aiden pulled away abruptly and headed over to the kitchen area. He scribbled in a small notepad that had been sitting on the counter, tore off the page, and handed it to me. It had flight information and a phone number on it.
“Text me if you change your mind,” he said.
“I’m not going to change my mind.” I glanced at the paper as I headed for the door. My heart was pounding again, and I needed to get out of there before I said or did something crazy. I didn’t seem to think clearly in his presence. All those muscles and his intense eyes kept me off guard. I needed to get out of there and back to the safety of my condo.
“Text me anyway.”
I nodded, thinking it was better to let him believe I would contact him later even when I was pretty sure that was not in the cards. He took my hands in his and pulled me in close, brushed his lips against the corner of my mouth, and then opened the door.
I drove home slowly, replaying the entire conversation in my head. Go to Florida with him? He had to be nuts.
Monday morning I would have to explain the project cancellation to the team though they’d likely all heard about it by now anyway. I had to reassign resources, meet with accounting, and figure out where the budget for the server upgrade would land, now that it wasn’t going to happen. I had to change contractor assignments, reallocate technical resources, and update the project plans. Mare needed a florist. Gabe needed a new car. The very idea of jaunting off with some stranger with no notice was ridiculous.
And exciting.
I pulled into my parking space and went inside my condo. I could have sworn Buffy was glaring at me.
“For all I know, he’s a vampire,” I told her.
As I looked away from Buffy, I caught sight of my father’s picture on the other side of the bookshelf. His smiling eyes looked into the camera, and I reached out to stroke the frame.
“I have a pretty good idea what you would think of all this,” I said to the picture. “Stay away from dangerous situations. The unknown is often dangerous.”
After blowing Dad a quick kiss, I picked up the stack of papers on the desk and opened up all the bills. I sat down and logged into my bank account to pay the electric and cable bills that were due. Once I had all that paperwork cleared up, I began to file the papers. As I placed the last one in the appropriate folder, a piece of lined paper dropped to the floor.
Aiden’s phone number and flight information.
I sighed and picked it up. He had seemed very disappointed at my refusal, and I supposed I should at least text him and wish him a safe flight. Maybe we could make plans to have coffee or something when he returned. That was safe enough, wasn’t it?
Pulling my phone from my purse, I added Aiden Hunter into my contact list and hit the “send message” button to create a text. I stared at the blank screen for a moment before typing “Have a good flight!”
I didn’t hit send.
Instead, I deleted the text and stared at the blank message screen again. Maybe I shouldn’t send him anything. Maybe I should keep our brief encounter just that—brief. Sending him a message would give him my phone number, and doing that wasn’t the safe way to go. I still didn’t know much of anything about him.
He’s probably a drug dealer.
I shook my head. The thought wasn’t fair, and I knew it.
Fair or not, the logical and safe thing to do was to forget all about my weekend with the handsome, tall, and muscled stranger. I wasn’t a love-struck child, and I wasn’t a character in a romance novel. Real life just didn’t work that way.
I woke early the next morning, and my very first thought was of Aiden. There were fleeting images of him in my head, walking along a sandy beach with waves crashing around his tattooed feet.
Had I been dreaming about him?
Unable to go back to sleep, I gave up and made coffee. It was still dark outside, and I wasn’t hungry yet. I flipped on the television, which was tuned to one of those home and garden channels and showing one of those house-hunting programs. Coincidentally enough, the couple on the show was looking for a house in Miami.
“Figures,” I mumbled as I stared at the screen. The realtor was discussing all the wonderful sights in the area, the beautiful beaches and fantastic restaurants within a ten-minute walk of the million-dollar condo in question.
Did Aiden live in a pricey complex like that?
“Not going to happen,” I mumbled out loud. I tossed my phone onto the coffee table and hauled out my laptop to check my work emails. There were usually a few I could get out of my inbox before Monday morning, and I liked to have those taken care of before getting into work the next day. Along with a few notices about a weekend upgrade that had apparently gone horribly wrong, there was a meeting request from my boss to discuss project initiatives for the next year.
The meeting was set to last for three hours.
Not only did it double-book me for two of the hours, it also ran through lunchtime. There was no mention of bringing lunch in, and my schedule for the rest of the afternoon wouldn’t even leave me time to run to the refrigerator to grab a packed lunch.
“Bastard.”
It would be the sixth time he’d done the same thing to me since he’d started working there. He would schedule half-day meetings with no break and then expect everyone to just deal with missing lunch. Word at the water cooler was that he was watching for people who left early, too. It pissed me off, but of course I hadn’t said anything. I’d fantasized about rubbing tar into his perfectly ridiculous hairstyle, but I hadn’t said anything.
“You know what? Fuck him.” The harsh word felt strange coming out of my mouth, but I didn’t care. I opened up a new email and quickly typed up a message to Chia Head saying I was taking the week off. I clenched my teeth as I hovered the cursor over the send button.
I couldn’t do it. I just couldn’t.
Why not take the chance?
It was Aiden’s voice, not my own, in my head. I looked at the clock and then again checked the piece of paper Aiden had given me. He said his flight didn’t leave until noon, and it was only a little after nine o’clock now.
Up on the shelf, Wonder Woman seemed to be leaning forward, urging me to do it. If I squinted my eyes, I might have imagined Princess Leia nodding. Buffy co
uld have been thinking about sharpening some new stakes, just in case.
“I could get fired,” I said to the girls, then rolled my eyes at myself before they had the chance. I wouldn’t get fired for such a thing. It seemed to take a major act of God to fire the idiots who didn’t get any work done at all, and I always had great reviews.
I picked up my phone and stared at it for a moment before I typed another message.
I’ve decided to go with you.
Again, I did not hit the send button. It didn’t matter if I wanted to go; I couldn’t. The very thought was insane.
Wasn’t it?
I did have vacation time to use. Though I’d gone to visit my mom and usually took off a few days around the holidays, I hadn’t been on a real vacation in years. The project team had plenty of work to keep them busy for the next week, and the idea of having yet another marathon meeting with my asshole boss was stomach-churning.
I gripped the phone in my hand, hard enough to make my knuckles go white. My finger shook slightly over the send button on the display as I bit into my lower lip and felt my chest tighten.
Even if the trip was a disaster, it couldn’t be worse than a week of meetings with Kevin. Nothing was worse than that.
I hit the send key.
“Oh, crap. What did I just do?”
A response came immediately.
Awesome! Can you be here in 30 min? I’ll meet you at the Delta ticket counter.
The airport was twenty minutes away. I’d have ten minutes to pack.
Sure. See you then.
I hit send again. There was no turning back now. I sent Kevin my email notice of vacation and jumped up to pack a bag.
And with that, I decided I had lost my mind.
FIVE
“I’m really glad you decided to come,” Aiden said as he handed me a boarding pass. “Do you want to check your bag?”
“No, it’s okay,” I replied. “It should fit in the bins. I didn’t have a lot of time to pack.”
“Decided at the last minute, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, pretty much.” I was sure my face reddened as I glanced at him. He was dressed in a grey T-shirt and camo shorts that reached his knees, showing off the tattoos on his calves. I was starting to wonder if there was any part of him unmarked. The same red cap was on his head—backward, of course.