Chapter Forty-Six
MORGAN
“Ididn’t realize how beautiful your house was last time I was here,” I tell him as he slides my coat off my shoulders in his entryway. The living room has nearly floor-to-ceiling windows along the front that overlook the tree-lined street, and an exposed-brick wall runs along one side from the front of the brownstone all the way to the back. The living room, with its big white couch and smaller patterned chairs, opens to the dining room with a huge round table under a gorgeous chandelier and flanked by eight fabric chairs. Beyond that, it’s open to the kitchen with wood cabinets, and beautiful marble countertops and backsplash. It’s the perfect blend of old-world charm and modern function.
“You were too busy throwing up,” he says, pressing a kiss to the top of my head before turning to hang my coat.
I sit on the bench in the entryway to remove my knee-high boots, and set them aside so I don’t track snow all over his house. The walk home was beautiful, but slippery with the falling snow. And after we trudged up his stone steps to his big front door, he gently brushed the snow off my face and leaned in to kiss me.
“Did you decorate this place?”
His loud bark of laughter rings out in the quiet space. “No. I bought it fully furnished from a couple who had extremely good taste. But I don’t know, sometimes it still feels kind of...sterile?”
I think about how lived-in my condo feels, with blankets and pillows and candles, not to mention all the photos framed on the walls and sitting on tables and bookshelves. Aidan’s place looks like a photographer might show up at any minute to take pictures for a magazine. “It could use some... personal touches to make it feel more homey.”
“I think,” he says, putting his hands on my hips to turn me back toward him, “it would feel a lot more homey if you were here more often.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. You’re the only woman who’s ever been in my house, and it’s felt lonely since you left.”
“Last time I was here, I spent two days throwing up.”
“Yes, but you werehere. I’d take cleaning puke off you over not having you here, any day.”
I can’t help but chuckle when I say, “That’s kind of gross and oddly sweet at the same time. You’re such a goner for me.”
I’m teasing, but I’m not. He’s shown me for months how he felt about me, despite the lies he was telling himself, and me as well. And now that his words and his actions align, I have no doubt of his feelings. Still, I’m cautious about moving too quickly given my own track record with giving second chances and getting burned.
“I really am, and I always will be. There’s literally no way you’re getting rid of me. Prepare for me to be clingy as hell, because now that I have you back, I don’t want to be apart from you for even a second.”
When he dips his head to kiss me, I rise up on my toes to meet him. My arms circle his neck and his grip tightenspossessively on my hips as he pulls me against him. And when my lips part for him, he invades my mouth, our tongues tangling with desperate need.
My entire body is on fire for him, the flames coursing through my veins as I lift one of my legs, curling it around the back of his thighs and pulling him even tighter against me. But because of our height difference, I’m not getting the friction I’m looking for. He must realize this because his hands snake around the back of my legs and push between my thighs, scooping me up so I can wrap my legs around his waist. Then he spins me toward the wall, leaning my back into it so he can press his hips up and slide along my core.
I moan into his mouth and I swear the sound sets him off, because suddenly he’s running his hard dick along my center, hitting my clit every single time, until we’re both wild and feral and clawing at each other. But then he pulls back from our kiss, resting his forehead against mine as he holds my hips still, and I whimper with the need to feel him moving against me.
“Holy fuck, Morgan. If you don’t stop making those sounds, I’m going to come in my pants. It’s been too long since I've touched you and I’m not sure I can hold back.”
“I don’t see the problem with that,” I say, bringing my hand to his face and running my thumb along the line of his cheekbone. His beard is neatly trimmed, and I’m so used to seeing him with facial hair now that I almost can’t remember what he looked like without it.
“I haven’t been with you in weeks, and the first time I come is going to be inside of you, not in my damn boxers.”
“Please, Aidan,” I nearly whimper with need. “I need you.”
“I’ll give you everything you want, I promise. But I’m not rushing this.” He pulls his hips away from me and as my legs fall, he scoops an arm under them so he’s cradling me againsthis chest. Then he carries me up the stairs and down the hall. He pauses at one half-open door and presses it open with his foot.
“This can be your office. We’ll set it up with whatever you need.”
I’m so shocked by that statement that I can’t even form the words to respond. What the hell is he talking about? Then he turns and climbs the stairs at the far end of the hall, and when we reach the top, he pushes another door open. We step into a small, empty room, and he tells me, “We can make this room into a walk-in closet for you, if you don’t want to share mine.”
“I just agreed to give you a second chance like an hour ago, and you’re already planning for me to move in here with you? You’re out of your mind.” I let out a small, uncomfortable laugh.
“No, I think I’m finally in my right mind. I’ve been thinking about a future with you since the first night in Bermuda,” he says as he turns and starts walking down the hall. “And now, I’m done fighting myself. I’m done sabotaging my own happiness. I meant what I said earlier, you’re not getting rid of me.”
“I don’t want to get rid of you,” I remind him as he heads down the hallway.
“What if I don’t get another contract with Boston?” There’s a deep insecurity in his question, and I want to reassure him, but it’s still early in this relationship.
