Page 36 of Beneath the Quiet

“So, bye?”

“Goodbye.” He turns on his heel but then whirls back, his movements so quick that he almost gives me whiplash. “I almost forgot the other thing.”

I wait for a beat. “The other thing?” I prompt.

He clears his throat and nods. “Yes, the reason I stopped by this morning. Katie asked me to ask you if you’d like to come by the farm on Sunday.” He rolls his eyes, making my lips twitch with amusement despite my earlier irritation.

“Sunday?”

“Yes. She’d like to show it to you. And I’d like for you to see it as well.”

I hesitate, my resolve weakening with each second he keeps his eyes on mine.

“I have the early shift at work.” I should turn him down. I really should. His smile dims, and as if I’m a glutton for punishment, I give in. “But I can come by after lunch.”

His eyes light up, and my heart skip a beat.

“Great. I’ll see you then. Unless, of course, you’re going to stop by Holly’s pub on Friday evening?”

“Quiz night, was it?”

“That it is.”

I scrunch my nose. “We’ll see.”

“Right, okay, now I do need to get going. Try not to stumble on anything else today, Detective. I won’t be there to rescue you.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “I don’t need saving.”

His smile turns soft. “I know you don’t.”

Then he’s gone, leaving me even more befuddled than I was when he got here.

“I’m in so much trouble,” I whisper. I lift my hand to check my watch and mutter a soft curse. I’m going to be late for work. Determined to push Aidan to the far recesses of my mind, at least for the rest of the day, I grab my handbag and keys and rush out the door.

Chapter Eleven

Aidan

I’m such a bloody fool.

A bloody fool who can’t seem to wipe the stupid grin off my lips as I drive home.

What the hell am I doing, asking my sweet, new addiction to come by for a visit? It’s bad enough that I get hard each time she dazzles me with those fiery eyes or blinding smile. I can’t let her rope me in like that, and I definitely can’t let Katie get even the slightest hint that I’m interested in someone.

I know my daughter. I know what it would mean to her.

But I can’t. I won’t risk it, not even for Katie.

The thought of Katie does the trick because no sooner has the thought of her entered my mind than my smile dims, and my mood shifts. I know it’s not fair to Katie to deprive her of a loving relationship with an adult woman who’ll know what to do and say when I feel like I’m swimming against the current. That Katie will need something more than I can give her as she grows older.

I wait for the ache in my chest, but it doesn’t strike me as hard as it usually does.

What the hell does it mean?

By the time I pull into my car park, I’m not smiling at all. I still can’t pinpoint exactly what it is about Maeve that has me so intrigued, but I do know that I can’t act on my hunger for her. Not when she lives here, so close that I can see the faint light of the lanterns in her cottage at a distance every night.

I have rules.