Page 24 of His to Cherish
Aidan nodded in reply and moved back, retaking his spot at the bar right as the bartender asked him if he’d like a refill.
I heard him request water as I turned around and walked away.
When I reached my table, everyone’s eyes hit mine with expectant glee.
“You guys are insane. I didn’t proposition the man, I just said hello.”
“Looked like a lot more than hello to me.” Paige practically sang and it sounded horrible. The girl might have participated in beauty pageants all across the country until she went to college, but she couldn’t carry a tune to save her life. Couple her tone deafness with a pitcher of margaritas and it was a slurred mess.
“He’s taking me home.”
I gave them this, and watched as Camden shot a look his way and Suzanne arched a brow in caution toward me. Their looks said it all. Camden didn’t trust him, but she didn’t trust men in general. Suzanne was simply hopeful, yet wary.
“I like this,” Trina said. When I looked to her, I didn’t see any wariness or doubt in her eyes.
And it made me hope, too. Because out of all of us, she’d spent the most time with Aidan, ever since she got involved with Declan. She would know him better than any of my friends.
So I settled into my chair, reached for my margarita glass, and decided that whatever was going to happen in the future, I was no longer going to worry.
We’d either move forward at some point when the time was right, or we’d become friends. I couldn’t continue worrying about Aidan and questioning every single one of our conversations.
—
“You ready?”
Aidan spun his key chain around his thumb and waited. It was a move he did almost every night before he left my house. Sometimes I wondered if he even realized he did it.
I watched as Camden turned the corner toward her home. She lived only a couple of blocks away, and Latham Hills was safe enough for her to be walking home alone, but I always hated seeing her disappear around the turn. Paige and Suzanne had climbed into a taxi seconds ago, and it was already out of sight.
As Camden flashed me one last wave, signaling the coast was clear, I turned back to Aidan. “Yeah, I am.”
He lifted his hands in a gesture I assumed was silent man speak for “after you,” so I began walking toward his truck. When his hand hit my lower back, I jumped, startled by the contact.
We didn’t normally touch.
I fought back a grin. I liked the feel of his large hand on the small of my back, guiding me. I liked the kind of guy Aidan was. He was tall and strong and tough, but I also knew that, beneath his grief, he was kind.
He’s probably an amazing dad.
Was.I stumbled at the realization of what I’d just thought.
Aidan’s arm moved from my back to my elbow, catching me before I tumbled off the curb.
“You okay?” His hand on my elbow tightened slightly and I looked at him over my shoulder.
“Yeah.” I shook my head, clearing my thoughts. “I’m okay.”
“You had a lot to drink tonight.”
He opened the door to his truck and I braced myself against it before I lifted myself in.
“It happens on girls’ nights.” I smiled, but my lips felt numb and I sounded slightly slurred to my own ears.
By the look on Aidan’s face, I figured I sounded like I was speaking around a mouthful of cotton balls.
He shook his head, cracked that hint of a smile I was beginning to like so much, and shut my door, rocking the truck with the movement. My eyes followed him as he walked around the front and then climbed in on his side.
When he started the truck, I leaned my head back on the headrest and inhaled. The cab smelled like sweat and some sort of cologne or aftershave. I didn’t know what it was, but I liked it. Spicy. Manly.
