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Lord, this was a nightmare! How was she ever going to face Aiden after this? Guilt came anew, soiling her memory of the best sex, or nonsex, of her life. No one had ever come close to making her feel the way Aiden did, and it was all him, whether he’d ever believe that or not was debatable. She didn’t care about his fame or that infamous Disco persona he wore like a coat of arms. She cared about Aiden the man—the lawyer turned fighter who just wanted to be left alone so he could live his dream—until she came along and ruined it all.
In all honesty, she deserved his anger. In the last week, she’d lied to him, manipulated him, drugged him, and what had he given her in return?—earth-shattering pleasure. Oh, yeah, and he’d saved her life.
She was a horrible person. How he must hate her, especially now after she’d led him to believe she was using him for an orgasm. She inhaled a stuttering breath and tugged the blankets up to her chin. Something snagged on her foot. She kicked at the tangled bedding and when it didn’t come loose, she reached down to pull it free just as the shower shut off. Her hand closed around the soft cotton bundle and realization made her stomach clench with dread. Oh, no . . . she had Aiden’s underwear!
God help her if he came out of that bathroom naked.
A few minutes later, the door opened, shooting a beam of ambient light across the foot of the bed. Not wanting to get caught holding his drawers, she tossed them into the chair across the room and dropped back down on her pillow. Turning away from him, she rolled onto her shoulder and pulled the covers high, burrowing beneath them, and pretended to be asleep.
The light clicked off, ensconcing the room into darkness once again. She held her breath, waiting for him to enter. Silence. Where was he? She didn’t want to look and risk wrecking her ruse. Focus, Rya
Maybe he hadn’t heard her? It was a hopeful thought, until the covers behind her lifted and the mattress caved beneath Aiden’s weight. The unforgiving mattress was already starting to make her shoulder ache. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could lie like this. Was Aiden naked beneath these covers? Of course he would be. What else would he wear?
She winced as another hitching breath gave her away.
“Are you . . . crying?”
Aiden’s husky voice was far too close. His hand touched her shoulder and it took all her willpower not to tense, flinch, or move as those strong, callused fingers closed over her arm, his palm resting solidly on her shoulder. Slow and easy breaths, just like she was sleeping. If she didn’t respond, then eventually he’d go away, right? The heat of his presumably naked body warmed her back. She could smell the mint of toothpaste on his breath as it teased the errant tendrils of hair at her temple.
She wasn’t ready to face him, not yet—not after . . . Rya
No, she couldn’t face him now, and there was a strong possibility she might not ever be able to look him in the eyes again. Lord, Manhattan couldn’t be close enough for her. And to make matters worse, they were stuck in God knew where, for God knew how long, waiting for the police to give them the okay to leave.
Aiden waited another minute for her to respond. When she said nothing, he exhaled a sigh that could have spoken a thousand words. If she were a better woman, she would have given up her ruse and faced whatever this was between them. Did he regret what happened as much as she did? It wasn’t their intimacy, experiencing her first orgasm, that she regretted. Hell, who in their right mind could feel remorse over that? No, it was their disco
When he moved his hand, she thought it was to turn away. But instead, he slowly slid his hand down her arm—up and down, a slow gentle caress. More tenderly than she’d been expecting and certainly more than she deserved. Up and down. She couldn’t hold back the shudder that ripped through her at his gentle touch, threatening to give her away. Slow, easy breaths, she reminded herself again. But that was easier said than done, especially when the back of his knuckles gently brushed against her cheek—a whispered touch, light and fleeting as a butterfly kiss.
When he tensed behind her, she knew he’d discovered the dampness on her skin. His muttered oath confirmed it, growled so quietly, she nearly missed the self-damning curse.
Sighing as if the weight of the world rested upon his shoulders, he lifted a lock of hair that had fallen into her face. Slowly, he let it sift through his fingers as he posed the question that must have been weighing so heavily on his mind. “What am I going to do with you, Rya
What indeed . . . Tears filled her eyes anew and she squeezed them tight, forbidding even one more drop to fall for this man.
CHAPTER
16
Bzzz . . . bzzz . . . bzzz . . . What in the hell was that buzzing? It took Aiden a moment to clear his head and orient himself to date, time, place, and situation: Tuesday, who the hell knew, bumfucknowhere, and in bed—with Rya
He was just about to grab her cell off the nightstand, which just happened to be on his side of the bed, and give his mother the ass chewing she deserved, when Rya
He pondered the question until the early crack of dawn broke the eastern horizon. Then the answer eventually settled solidly in his gut, and it didn’t sit well. Rya