Page 77 of Beneath the Quiet

I open my mouth, but before I get a word out, a loud mooo sounds from behind us, and the three of us turn to face the beast at the same time.

Aidan shakes his head. “I’m having the strangest sense of déjà vu right now.”

I snort and grin up at him. “You’re not the only one. But at least you don’t have to pull me off the ground this time.”

He steps a fraction closer to me, our shoulders almost touching. “I don’t mind rescuing damsels in distress.”

I huff. “You didn’t rescue me.”

He raises his hand and tips it back and forth. “Hmm, that’s not how I remember it, but if you say so...”

“I do.”

“Right.”

“I didn’t know the two of you knew each other.”

Mrs. McCarthy’s voice almost makes me jump. Aidan being here made me lose my focus. I was so lost in sparring with him that I forgot where we are.

And that we’re not alone.

The realisation is sobering, and I take a step away from him. I open my mouth, but I really don’t have a clue what to tell her.

Especially not since the images that immediately spring to mind are ones of when we got each other off.

Thankfully, Aidan recovers sooner than I do.

“We’ve met a few times, Mrs. McCarthy. I’d say we’re fast becoming friends.”

Aidan coming to my rescue unfreezes me from the spot, and I move slightly to the side, angling my body to stand between the two of them instead of only next to him.

“Friends, yeah?” Mrs. McCarthy looks at me, then back at him. “That’s nice, pet.” She purses her lips, and how I wish I knew how to read minds, because the wheels are turning in hers.

“Actually,” I try to steer the conversation back on safer ground, “we’re waiting for Harry’s owner to come get him out of here.”

He furrows his brows. “Murdoch is coming here? Voluntarily?”

I bore my toe into the ground. “Words of caution about what would happen if he didn’t might have been said.”

He huffs out a laugh. “Really?”

“You know I can’t go into details.” I can’t stop the wide grin from slipping into place. “Shouldn’t you get going?”

Mrs. Murdoch puts her hand on my arm. “Ah, not yet. I’ll go fetch the tea for you, Aidan.”

“Thank you, Mrs. McCarthy.”

I watch her retreating back until she’s behind her closed door before I give Aidan my undivided attention. The longer he stares back at me, the more butterflies take flight inside me.

“You shouldn’t be here.”

“Why?”

I want to slap him, then kiss him. Maybe do both at the same time, but, more importantly, I need him gone before Murdoch gets here.

“Because…”

I search for the right words and narrow my eyes when he chuckles.