“Mmm!” Noah grunted between them.
Aidan laughed as he gazed down at his son. “What Little Man? Are you jealous that I’m giving mommy some loving?”
Noah grinned and waved his fist. Aidan lifted him up to blow raspberries on his tummy. Noah giggled and kicked his legs. Bringing Noah back down to face him, Aidan quirked his brows at his son. “You know, Little Man, if I hadn’t given mommy some loving, you wouldn’t be here.”
“Aidan!” Emma admonished, a red flush filling her cheeks.
He laughed. “It’s the truth.” With a wink to Emma, he added, “And I plan on giving her lots of loving after you’re in bed.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re impossible," she huffed.
“Mmm, and you’re the sexiest woman in the entire world when you’re flustered.”
Emma’s eyes stayed locked on his while her chest rose and fell in harsh pants. “W-We need to pick a c-costume,” she stammered.
Aidan shook his head. “That can wait. Let’s give Noah a bath and get him ready for bed.”
A shudder ran through Emma’s body, causing Aidan to shift in his chair. “If you insist,” she said, with a teasing lilt in her voice.
“Oh yes, I do.”
As she rose out of her chair, she pinned him with a look. “I guess this means I’ll pick the costume, and you’ll go along for the ride?”
“Oh, I’ll give you a real good ride—”
Emma shook her head. “Say it. I pick the costumes, and you’ll go along with it.”
Aidan held up his right hand as if he were swearing an oath. “Yeah. Fine. Whatever.”
“Good, I’m glad to hear it.” She reached and took Noah out of his arms. Glancing at him over her shoulder, she then proceeded to walk towards the stairs with an extra bounce and swish in her hips. When she threw him an expectant glance over her shoulder, he scrambled out of his seat and hurried to her side.
Aidan was just putting the finishing touches on a proposal when his buddy, Mike, stuck his head in the door. “Hey man. Wanna grab a beer at O’Malley’s?”
“Uh, no, I gotta get home.”
A knowing look came over Mike’s face. “Oh yeah, Trick or Treating with Noah, huh?”
“Something like that,” Aidan grumbled.
Mike gave him a mischievous grin. “Have fun. I’ll make sure to drink a beer or two in your absence.”
“Thanks a lot.”
With a laugh, Mike closed the office door back. Knowing that Emma was expecting him home a little earlier than usual, Aidan saved his documents and then turned off the computer. He put the pedal to the metal on the way home and managed to get home with time to spare. The sun was just beginning to set, and he knew it wouldn’t be long until the doorbell began ringing with candy seekers.
When Aidan trudged down the hallway, he found Beau lying outside the bedroom door. He sucked in a pained breath. Beau was outfitted in a Tin Man’s costume complete with tin cup hat on his furry, black head.
“Not you too, buddy?”
Beau appeared to be resigned to his fate and wasn’t trying to chew off the costume. Instead, he just gazed up at Aidan with an expression like, What was I going to do? I love her, and for reasons my doggy brain can’t comprehend, this shit makes her happy, so there.
Bending over, Aidan patted Beau. “You’re a damn good dog, you know that?”
Beau thumped his tail in response. With a sigh, Aidan stepped over Beau to walk into the bedroom. Dread washed over him at the sight of the Scarecrow’s costume that was draped over the bed. Somehow among all the choices, Emma had decided on The Wizard of Oz since it was her favorite movie since she was a kid. She’d even played Dorothy in a high school production. And while there were worse things she could have picked, making him the scarecrow? Honestly.
“Aidan is that you?” Emma questioned from the bathroom.
“Yeah,” he mumbled.
She stepped to the doorway with Noah in her arms. Aidan’s heart melted at the sight of Noah’s Cowardly Lion costume. While most of the body was golden brown, the mane was varying shades of dark and light. A puffy tail trailed down Emma’s leg. Noah’s face peeked out from the mane to grin at him. “Looks like he’s enjoying his costume,” Aidan mused.
Emma laughed. “He is. I thought he might pitch a Fitzgerald fit when I got him inside it, but he’s been perfectly fine.” Gazing down at her son with a beaming smile, Emma said in a sing-song voice, “He’s Mommy’s sweetest and best tempered boy in the whole wide world. Aren’t you Noah?”
At that moment, Aidan’s gaze left Noah’s to take in his wife’s appearance. Damn, she even made a Dorothy costume sexy. Her long, auburn hair was swept back in the identical hair style of Judy Garland’s. Her blue and white checked dress pulled tight across her breasts, making Aidan’s mouth run dry. While the dress came down a little longer than he would have preferred, he still got an eye-full of her fabulous legs down to where the ruby slippers glittered on her feet.
“Like what you see?” she teased.
His gaze snapped to meet hers. He gave her a seductive smile. “Yes, I do.” He took a step towards them. “I know what treat I want tonight.”
She giggled. “You’re impossible.” Leaning in, she bestowed a kiss on his lips. When she pulled away, she cocked her head, surmising him. “If you make it through tonight with whining or having that bored borderline pissed off expression of yours, I promise to come to bed tonight wearing nothing but these heels.”
Aidan snaked one of his arms around Emma’s waist. “Mmm, I’ll make sure to keep saying in my mind, ‘There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home!”
First and foremost thanks goes to God for all of his amazing blessing in my life the past year.
To Karleigh Brewster: Thank you so much for all of your ER medical expertise. I appreciate you going through several different scenarios with me to make sure the scene turned out right. *While she lay the foundation, I took on the story-telling, so if there are issues with poetic license that is all me.*
To my readers: I cannot thank you enough for your support and your love of my books. You are the most amazing blessing I have had in this business. Big, big hugs and love from me!
To Marion Archer—editor and plot magician extraordinaire—I couldn’t make it without you. You bring so much to my books and make me a better writer and story-teller.
To Marilyn Medina: Your “eagle eyes” know no bounds, and I’m so thankful for getting to work with you, as well as your friendship. Golden Girls 4-Ever!
To Kim Bias: I can’t thank you enough for talking me down from the ledge as well as making my books the best they can be. Thanks for the plot/blurb sessions. You do rock my socks!
To Shannon Fuhrman, Tamara Debbaut, Jen Gerchick, Jen Oreto, and Brandi Money: Thank you so much for being my “sluts” and working so hard to promote and support me. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.
To my street team, Ashley’s Angels, thank you so much for your support of me and my books.
To Raine Miller and RK Lilley: SCOLS 4-EVER! Thanks for your unfailing love and support in all areas personally and professionally. I couldn’t ask for better friends and travel partners!
To the ladies of the Hot Ones: Karen Lawson, Amy Lineaweaver, Marion Archer, and Merci Arellano, thank you all for the laughter, the friendship, and the support. You’re all amazing!!
Katie Ashley is the New York Times, USA Today, and Amazon Best-Selling author of The Proposition. She lives outside of Atlanta, Georgia with her two very spoiled dogs and one outnumbered cat. She has a slight obsession with Pinterest, The Golden Girls, Harry Potter, Shakespeare, Supernatural, Designing Women, and Scooby-Doo.
She spent 11 1/2 years educating the Youth of America aka teaching MS and HS English until she left to write full time in December 2012.
She also writes Young Adult fiction under the name Krista Ashe.
Follow Katie Ashley
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Other Works of Katie Ashley
The Proposition | The Proposal | The Party
Music of the Heart | Beat of the Heart | Music of the Soul
Search Me | Don’t Hate the Player…Hate the Game
Nets and Lies | Jules, the Bounty Hunter
The Guardians | Testament
* * *
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
Vicious Cycle Synopsis
Deleted Baby Shower Scene with Aidan & Emma
Easter with the Fitzgeralds
Halloween with The Fitzgeralds
About the Author
Katie Ashley, The Pairing
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