My eyes widened. “You said you didn’t receive my text.”
He slowly blinked. “I lied.”
My mouth opened and closed, trying to figure out the words to express my bemusement. “You lied and then got mad at me because youchoseto leave a work meeting only because you didn’t want me taking the subway in this weather?” I waited for an answer to my question, but it never came. Instead, the stopping of the car, followed by Aaron getting out and holding the door open for me, ensued. I took his hand and exited the car, to see we were in front of my apartment complex. “I thought we had dinner plans?”
“I changed them,” he informed me.
With my hand in his, I followed as he guided us to the door’s entrance and punched in the newly installed code for the front door. I’d given him the code weeks ago. We made it up the three flights to my apartment door in silence.
“Food will be here in fifteen minutes,” Aaron stated as he shut my apartment door behind us.
Angrily, I placed my hand on my hip. “What if I wanted to eat out?”
“You don’t.”
“How do you know?”
His scowl deepened. “Because I said so.”
“What the hell are you so angry about? I didn’t do anything to you. I told you where I was going and that I’d meet you at the restaurant. You chose to leave your meeting needlessly!”
“I did!” he roared, shocking me.
I took a step back.
“I left averyimportant meeting that my company has been preparing for, for weeks! My father has been away for a month and all of this going well rested on me to pull off, successfully. And it did, but I still left early. For you! Because I didn’t want you walking in the damn snow by yourself!” He breathed harshly, chest rising and falling quickly, nostrils flaring.
I wanted to lash out at him. Wanted to kick him out of my apartment and tell him to go to hell. But I couldn’t do it. I could see what he so obviously didn’t want to reveal. Behind the scowl and the harsh glare in his eyes, I could see it. I sawhim.
Foolishly, instead of turning away, I walked up to him, closing the space between us. I curled my fingers around his forearm. He glanced from my hand on his arm to my face, the anger ebbing just a little bit.
“You want to talk about it?” I questioned.
His brows deepened.
“Work? The deal you’re working on? You don’t have to give me the details you can’t share but it might help to talk to a non-employee about the pressure.”
His eyes went back to where my hand rested on his arm. He examined it slowly, before covering it with his free hand. He looked back at me, his scowl released and my heart nearly stopped. He was so damn gorgeous. I’d never seen anyone’s eyes shine as they looked at me until then.
He led me to the couch and instead of letting me sit next to him, he brought me to his lap. A new level of intimacy in our relationship. I laid my head on his shoulder as he began talking about Townsend Industries’ merger with a natural gas company that would grow their company’s marketplace by a third. It was a risky venture, and one his father had let him take lead on. Success in this merger would guarantee Aaron a shot as CEO once Robert Townsend retired.
Even after the food arrived, Aaron continued talking and I kept on listening, hearing the range of emotions in his voice. They were all there —the excitement, anticipation, thrill, and yes, doubt and fear, though he did his best to mask those two. Well after midnight, we sat on the couch talking. He wrapped his arm around my waist tightly, and I couldn’t take it anymore. I sat up, peering down at him. I let my eyes fall to his lips and I licked my own. Lowering my head, I readied myself to feel his lips, but I was stopped. My chin was caught between his thumb and forefinger.
I looked him in the eyes. His had darkened to an unrecognizable shade. He shook his head slightly. It was a cautioning, of what, I didn’t know, but I heeded it…that night. I moved off of his lap and positioned myself at his side, laying my head into his chest, letting our breathing slow until we both fell asleep right there.
****
Patience
I came back from my memory to find Aaron’s eyes on me. I ducked my head, hoping my facial expression hadn’t revealed the memories I had been reliving. When I dared to raise my eyes again, I found his still stuck on me, even as Kennedy talked his ear off, as he tucked her into bed.
“G’night, Daddy. I love you.”
My heart squeezed at the same time Aaron turned to Kennedy, face in shock. I didn’t wait for his reply. I hurried out of the room, wiping the tear that tried to escape from my eye as I went into Kyle’s room. Aaron had already tucked Kyle in, and now it was my turn to say goodnight to our son.
“Hey, baby,” I cooed, going to Kyle’s side at his Spiderman decorated bed.
He grinned at me. “Mommy, did you know, my cousin, Diego, has the same video game as me?”
