***
After a quick breakfast and no mention of the kiss, we are back on the road. Another eight hours of driving and we will be in Seattle. Ayden seems really happy this morning, I think I prefer him like this. It beats getting ordered around and getting your head snapped off.
“When we reach Seattle, how do you want to celebrate your birthday?” He looks over, grins and then looks back at the road.
Celebrate, I hadn't even thought of it. I guess I can't let the day go by without doing something.
“I thought we could stay at my place tonight, maybe hang out with some of my friends.”
“Your place?” I asked, stunned.
“Yes,” he laughs. “It just makes sense. Saves wasting money on hotels. Besides, I haven't seen my friends in a while and I think they would like you.”
“Do your friends know about your work?”
“No,” his voice hardens and his grip of the stirring wheel tightens that his knuckles turn white. “They know I am S.W.A.T officer, they don't know I am working undercover.” He lets out a deep breath. “This has got me thinking about you...”
“ME?” I yell surprised. “What about me?”
He gives a low throaty laugh, which send goose bumps all over my body and his lips slightly twitch. “They're going to ask questions about you and the most obvious answer is you're my girlfriend.”
My heart slams against my chest, his girlfriend... he wants me to pretend I am his girlfriend. Exactly what would that entail? My head feels giddy and I'm sure I am smiling too big. Wait! He said pretend as well in the sentence. It would be a cover up, to keep his job secret. The smile slowly drops. Once again this is about his work and not me. I can be so stupid sometimes, putting too much meaning into things that are simply very straight forward.
I slowly nod. “Yep, sounds like a good cover up story” I say, trying to make it sound like it isn't a big deal. My eyes look back out the window, although pretending doesn't sound that bad. There maybe some good points in it. I am dying for him to kiss me again. Maybe I could have my own fun, after all it’s my birthday and doesn't the birthday girl always get her own way. Oh yeah, let the game begin.
For the next hours of the drive I busy myself with listening to music, binging on chocolate and making Ayden play eye spy, which he is awful at, but had me in fits of laughter. The outline of Seattle’s tall buildings can be seen in the distance and I feel suddenly at home.
Ayden goes in the opposite direction and 20 minutes later we are parked outside some building complex. He cuts the engine and turns to me.
“Home sweet home” he sings, hand gesturing to the pure white building.
“Do you live alone?” It finally hits me. I am getting an insight to his actual real life. The one he lived before he started to pretend he was a high school student. This is him. Maybe I will get to discover who he actually is and see him in his true colours.
“No. I have a room mate, Tucker. He's a SWAT officer too, although he isn't undercover. You'll like him, he's funny.” He opens the door and turns to me before he gets out. “You ok with pretending to be my girlfriend?”
I want to scream 'YES', it’s all I have been thinking about. I just nod and get out of the car. I smooth out my sundress and check my reflection in the rear-view mirror. I do look like I have been sat in a car for hours. I comb my fingers through my hair and add a little lip-gloss to my lips.
I doubt very much that we can pull it off me being Ayden's girlfriend. I see look like a stupid innocent kid, which I would hoped changed the second I hit 18.
Ayden walks round the car and grabs hold of my hand. “We have to make it believable” he laughs, leading me off towards his building. As we begin to walk closer, the butterflies begin to flutter in the pit of my stomach. This is actually really exciting; we enter the hallway and stop outside the first door we get to.
“I have no idea what state this place will be in. Please, bear with me while I kick Tuckers ass.” He gives a dazzling smile, which warms his dark eyes. The door opens Ayden moves out of the way and hand gestures for me to enter.
My eyes swoop around the small space, a sofa is on one wall opposite a massive flat screen TV. A little kitchen is on the other side. It’s not much to look at, but it has a different atmosphere than his place in Summerton. This feels like a home, its light, colourful and I feel instantly relaxed.
“Come on” his voice is light. “I'll show you your quarters, my lady.” He grabs hold of my hand and drags me down a hallway. “Bathroom” he points to a door. “And this is my room.” He opens the door and we step in.
It’s just like the rest of the house, there is just a double bed and a bedside cabinet. I look over on the far wall and notice a pin broad. I walk closer. It’s full of pictures of people. In the corner is a picture of a pretty woman, my eyes are drawn to her big chocolate coloured eyes. There is no doubt about it, she is Ayden's mother.
“Is she?” I ask. I can feel him behind me and when his hands wrap round my waist I want to explode. I like him being this close, I inhale and his scent invades all my senses. The memory of last nights kiss fills my mind.
“Yes, that's my mother” he softly says against my hair, his grip of my waist tightens. “You smell amazing, Jen.” One of his hands moves my hair away from my neck. He lowers his lips and kisses the base of my neck. My legs turn to jelly and my head swoons. His lips carry on brushing against my skin and it tingles. I close my eyes and get lost in the sensation.
A door opens and then slams. “AYDEN!” Yells a voice.
He moves away from me. “That's Tucker, come and meet him.” I feel cold the second he moves away from me and leaves the room. My heart is racing and my skin feels flushed. Chase never made my body react that way. What is going on?
I make my way out of his room and head into the living area. Ayden is leaning against the kitchen side talking while his friend is filling up the fridge with beer.
His friend looks up and directly in my direction. He's taller than Ayden with shaven hair. He’s very broad which shows he must have some fitness addiction. As he is so broad his head looks rather small compared to the rest of his body. The thought pinhead comes to mind, I bite down on my lip to stop myself from laughing out loud.
“This must be Jennifer” he says, he has a strong Texas accent.
“Jen” I correct, still staring at his little head.
“Well, Jen” he closes the fridge door and walks over to me. “Very pleased to meet you.” His big chunky arms wrap round me and I am crushed against his body. I feel like am going to break with the focus he is holding me.
“Okay” Ayden laughs, pulling me out of Tucker's steel grip. He places his arm around my shoulder. “You will have to excuse Tucker. He can be a little too friendly sometimes.”
“Only when it comes down to pretty ladies” Tucker beams and then winks at me. “I can be a little too friendly.”
“Enough” Ayden said sternly, I know my cheeks are bright red from Tucker's words. I actually like him, he was forward but not in a cringy way. “Did you get everything I asked for?”
Tucker rolled his eyes and crossed his arms across his large chest. “Yes, what did you want all this stuff for?”
Ayden looked down at me and gave me that smile, the one that made my head spin. “We are having a party.”
“A party?” I choked out the words. “Are you sure that’s a good idea.”
“Hey” Tucker laughs. “He wants a party, give him a party. He is normally the one going to bed early every night. Its about time Ayden let his hair down.” He turned his attention back to Ayden. “What is this party for?”
“Its Jen's birthday today” he announced, his hand moved from around my shoulder to my waist and he moved his body closer to mine. “She's 21.”
I closed my eyes and immersed myself in the feeling of being this close to Ayden. I was waiting for Tucker to burst out laughing. There was no way it was believable that I was 21....