“I’m fine,” I repeated for the umpteenth time that morning. After taking a few days off work, I was ready to get back to it. Sure, I was still saddened by the loss of my father, mostly the loss of what could’ve been, of the relationship we’d only just begun building, but that was life. I had children to take care of, a job to get back to, and an extremely demanding and busy husband.
“You said you were fine four days ago.”
I pushed out a deep breath. “Aaron.”
His eyes squinted. “You know there’s a whole story behind the way you say my name.” His voice deepened. He moved in closer, our bodies just barely touching.
I shuddered at the way his eyes darkened just slightly.
“When you say it with a little hilt at the end, I can tell you’re preparing to ask me a question you know I won’t like. When you say it on a sigh as air escapes your lungs, you want me to make you come until you can’t see straight. And when you call my name in the middle of the night while sleeping–”
“I don’t call out your name while I’m asleep.”
“You do…just as you did last night.” He ran his pointer finger over my cheek and moving down to outline my jaw. “When you say my name with panic, as you did last night, you want me to protect you.”
I lowered my gaze to the floor, needing to avoid his eye contact. I’d had one of those dreams the night before. The one of me being chased but I refused to tell him that. I needed to leave the past where it belonged.
He lifted my face with his hand. “What’re you running from, sweetness?” Though he used the term of endearment, gone was the sensual Aaron, replaced by the dark, brooding Aaron that would rip anyone or anything apart that got in his way. The expression on his face was enough to scare a man ten times his size.
“Nothing,” I lied.
His eyes darkened, not in that sexy way, but in a way that warned of danger.
I had to turn away when he silently observed me too long. Thankfully, I was spared anymore of his inquisition when the children came stampeding back into the kitchen after having retrieved their book bags from their rooms.
Aaron took a step back, but just barely. I turned my attention on Kyle and Kennedy, ensuring their school uniforms were on neatly. I could still feel his attention on me.
“Daddy, we’re getting our Halloween costumes today!” Kennedy cheered.
Aaron finally moved his gaze from me to our daughter. “I remember,” he affirmed.
“Yeah, I’m gonna be Spiderman!” Kyle shouted, right before he started his imitation of Spiderman, shooting imaginary webbing from his wrists. “Diego’s going to be Aquaman,” Kyle continued, obviously excited.
We had plans to go Halloween shopping with Michelle and Diego after work that day.
“That sounds fun,” Aaron commented. “And what about you, munchkin?” he asked, picking Kennedy up.
She giggled as she always did when he used that nickname. “I don’t know yet,” she stated, tapping her chin.
“You’ll have to send Daddy a picture so I can approve of your choice.”
“Mommy will do it,” she agreed for me.
I rolled my eyes. As if I didn’t have a say in the matter. I’d only been picking out their Halloween attire since their first Halloween at nine months old.
After a round of kisses and getting the kids settled into the car, Aaron pulled me by the arm, giving me a stern look.
“Our conversation isn’t over.”
I went to reply by telling him it was most definitely over but he already had my lips surrendered to his by the time the retort formed in my head.
He watched and waited to get in his own vehicle until the children and I were pulling off.
It was a busy day at work. We’d gotten a ton of new books that needed to be catalogued and then put away on the shelves. I also busied myself in making preparation for the library’s Halloween celebration that was to be hosted there. It was only the beginning of October but the sooner we planned these things out the better.
By the time I looked up, it was three o’clock and time for me to head over to the school to pick up the twins and Diego. I was picking up all three since we were waiting until five when Michelle got off to go shopping. I was grateful to have the hours that I could work while the children were at school and be there to pick them up afterwards. Since it was still pretty warm out, I opted to take the children to the Williamsport City Park to burn off some extra energy while we waited.
I watched as Kyle and Kennedy laughed and ran after the bubbles being blown by their older cousin. I stopped and bought them two soft pretzels to split between the four of us, since those things were huge. About an hour and a half into our waiting, I really needed to use the restroom. Glancing around, I spotted the women’s bathroom. Not wanting to leave the children unsupervised, I waved for Daniel to come over and asked if he could keep an eye on them while I went to relieve myself. He agreed and I went.
