All of Me? The Trust Me? Trilogy (30 page)

“Hey, you started it.”

He leans in to kiss me again, embracing me under the hot flowing water. He pulls out the body wash, lathers it up in his hands and then his hands are all over me. I smile at him when he reaches my folds. He moves in and gently washes, even though it’s still very sensitive to the touch, and I jolt a little making him chuckle.

I return the favor and wash him thoroughly. When we get out of the shower, both of us are wrinkled messes. We dry ourselves, get dressed, and then make our way to the kitchen for lunch. We head to the sofa to watch a marathon of
The Game of Thrones
while he massages my feet and I end up falling asleep on the sofa at his soothing touch.

Eventually I wake, and Aiden is still massaging my feet. I feel so lucky to have him in my life after everything we have been through together.

“Hi, baby, nice nap?” he asks then he kisses my big toe, making me laugh.

“Yes, it was awesome,” I take my feet from him and move so I’m cuddling into him.

“I have an idea,” he says out of the blue.

“Okay?”

“Come with me,” he says, standing up from the sofa. We walk out of the house to the Aston Martin and get in.

“So, where are we going?”

He looks at me and winks. “It’s a surprise.”

“Am I dressed appropriately?” I ask as I’m only wearing a little summer dress and some flip-flops.

“Doesn’t matter what you’re wearing. We can buy clothes when we get there.”

“Aiden, where are we going?”

“You’ll see,” he says. “Sit back and enjoy the ride.”

We drive for an hour or so until we reach the coast. We drive past a sign that says “Welcome to Valley Springs, Population 248.” We drive down a long windy road with wild flowers lining the sides. We pull up out the front and I see that the house is more of a modernized wooden cottage; it reminds me a lot of Nana’s café.

We step out of the car and I walk with Aiden to the front garden, which is covered in green and white lilacs. The air is sweet and there are no city noises. It’s peaceful.

“Aiden, this is amazing.”

“I see you still like to use
that
word,” he says. We walk around the side of the house facing the lake. The house has extended ceilings so it looks like a two story house from outside, but when I look through the full length windows it’s only one story, with a mezzanine.

We stand on the deck and peer out over the lake where ducks and their ducklings are swimming. This place is truly breathtaking. I’m so jealous of Blair.
How wonderful would it be to own a place like this?
We walk around to the front door, open it, and walk inside a very modern stylish home.

It is a three bedroomed home. In the main bedroom, there is a king sized bed with a white duvet with lots of fluffy pillows. In the en-suite, there is a big white spa bath. I walk back into the bedroom from the bathroom and I see Aiden sitting on the bed, gazing out the floor to ceiling window at the lake.

“This place is… I’m speechless, there are no words,” I say, sitting next to him on the bed.

“I was hoping you would like it, baby,” he says.

“Like it? I love it. I could spend forever here,” I say, falling back onto the bed, sinking in to the soft quilt.

“That’s good because when you were asleep, I bought it from Blair for you.”

“What? Are you kidding me?”

“No, it’s all yours.”

“Oh my God, Aiden. I’ve always wanted a lake house, and now we have one?”

“C’mon, let’s go and get a few things to tide us over,” he says, taking my hand and leading me to the front door. We drive into the small town.

“How long are we staying for?” I ask.

“I was thinking we’d head back Sunday night.”

“Three whole days sound fantastic. I know you’re busy at work, and you are sacrificing your time, but this is just what I need. Some alone time with you.”

I stare at the sun beaming through the window. We arrive in town and Aiden leads me to a small clothing shop first. He picks out some sexy lingerie and some other very intimate items of clothing. I pick out some jeans and a few tops. He carries my lingerie to the counter.

“Pervert,” I whisper to him. He smiles and kisses my cheek.

After he pays for the clothing, we purchase a few items from the grocery store, including strawberries and chocolate dipping sauce.
These will be handy for later.

We make our way back to the lake house, unpack and head outside with a glass of wine and sit on the deck. This is the most relaxing, peaceful place I’ve ever been, and I’m so glad it’s ours and that I’m here sitting on the lap of my soul mate and one true love.

Once the sun is down, we head inside and make dinner as soft instrumental music plays in the background. I take a seat on the sofa and Aiden sits next to me.

“Are you happy?” he asks.

“The only time I’ve been happier is when you asked me to marry you,” I say as he wraps his arm around me.

“Which time?”

“Which time what?” I ask.

“Which proposal made you the happiest?”

“Both babe, they both have a special place in my heart.”

We lie together on the sofa kissing like teenagers until the oven timer lets us know our dinner is ready.

“I don’t think we’ve had a make out session like that before,” he says, making me laugh.

“No, I think that was officially our first. Normally we can’t keep our hands off each other and it always ends up with us being naked.”

He stands up from the sofa, lifting me in his arms. He takes me to the table where we eat our first meal at our lake house.

CHAPTER 26

I look out the window at the ducks swimming on the lake.

“Morning, beautiful. I wasn’t sure you were awake; I’ve been laying here just watching you. You are the most beautiful woman, and I’m the luckiest guy in the world.”

“I’m awake. Thanks, I feel the same. I still can’t believe this place is really ours.”

“All ours, baby,” he says while he continues to kiss my cheek repeatedly.

“Feel like a morning dip?” he asks, pulling the covers off his legs and dangling them over the side of the bed.

I look at him warily. “Wouldn’t it be freezing out there now?”

“You’d be surprised. C’mon,” he says, standing from the bed to make his way out to the deck.

“I don’t have a swim suit here,” I say coyly. He looks at me amused.

“It’s our own personal lake, you don’t need a swimsuit.”

We walk down the stairs to the edge of the lake, and I dip my toe in to see how cold the water is. It’s surprisingly refreshing. I look at Aiden who grins at me mischievously.

“Aiden, don’t you dare.” I say to him.

He bends down, picks me up over his shoulder, and runs with me. I squeal all the way into the water.

“Aiden,” I call out as we fall into the cool, invigorating crystal blue water. I move my head under to wet my hair, as I come up Aiden kisses my wet face. I kiss his lips and I move in so our bodies are touching. He kisses me back passionately while gentle waves caress our bodies.

His hand moves to my hair, he grabs hold and pulls my face closer to his, as we entangle in a passionate kiss. Aiden slowly pulls away from the kiss and leans back; I look at him confused as he quickly moves away from me. An evil grin crosses his face as he swims back and splashes me with water. I wipe the water from my eyes and I give him the pretending to be angry look, which only makes him grin wider. He splashes me again and laughs; two can play at this game.

I splash him back, and it’s on, a full on splash fest. Of course he’s winning, so I decide to go all out. I lift my legs to the surface and kick, splashing even more water in his face. He laughs and dives under the water. I laugh and stop splashing while I wait for him to surface. I search for him, trying to spot him under the water, but I can’t see him anywhere.

“Aiden?” I call out, but he remains under the surface.

“Aiden, you can come up now,” I call out again, hoping he’ll hear me. I look around and wait for him.

“Aiden, this isn’t funny anymore,” I say. Panic sets in so I decide to go under the water to search for him. I take a deep breath, and I feel something on my leg. I shake it off and turn around.

“Aiden,” I call out desperately. I look frantically for him as I hear a splash. I turn around to see Aiden coming out of the water behind me with a gigantic grin plastered all over his face. I frown at him and he wades towards me.

“What the hell, Aiden?”

He looks at my panicked face, and I splash him as he comes toward me.

“I’m sorry, didn’t mean to upset you,” he says honestly.

“What were you thinking? I’d be happy that you drowned?” I ask, splashing him angrily again.

He wades closer to me, wiping the water from his eyes.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking.”

“Damn straight you weren’t thinking, Aiden. Stop smiling, this isn’t funny. Aiden, I’m serious,” I say as he reaches for me. He takes me by my shoulders, and I splash him once more.

“I’m sorry. It was a stupid joke. I really am sorry,” he says, grinning mischievously.

“Well, don’t do it again it was an immature thi—”

He stops me mid-sentence and kisses me forcefully. I relax in his arms and wrap mine around his neck.

“Forgiven?” he whispers into my lips.

“Yes, but please don’t do it again,” I say. He leans in and kisses me passionately without pause.

“You. Are. Trouble, Mr. O’Connell.”

I pull up my legs to wrap around his waist as I float with him in the water. He holds onto me tightly and twirls me around.

“You’re my world. You’re my everything, you know that?”

“I know, and you’re mine.”

Eventually we get wrinkled enough and go back inside to take a shower. Aiden makes us some French toast and we sit at the breakfast bar chatting.

I can tell how much he loves me, just by looking at him. And for once, I feel loved, unconditional and unwavering love from Aiden, and it’s exactly how I feel about him.

After breakfast, he walks with me in hand over to the sofa. Without saying a word he lowers me onto the sofa and silently lies beside me. He leans over me and kisses me, and I can tell he wants another make out session. His kiss is soft and loving as he leans his chest down onto mine. His hand strokes my cheek and his other arm props him up so he’s leaning over me.

My hand finds his hair and he moves his leg over the top of mine. We lie on the sofa, lost in each other’s kiss for hours. Eventually when we do come up for air, I realize my stomach is growling. Aiden is playing with my hair.

“Hungry, baby?” he asks, and I nod my head

We grill up some steaks and then watch the sun go down. I sit on the deck looking over the lake at the ducklings swimming behind their mother.
This would be a great place to bring our children one day
.

The rest of the weekend is spent together. It’s like we’re a new couple and can’t get enough of each other.

It comes time for us to head back, unfortunately, to reality and much to my disgust. We stand out on the deck overlooking the lake one last time before we leave. Aiden stands behind me, holding me tightly around my waist, and I rest my arms on his. Aiden kisses my cheek.

“Ready?” he asks.

I sigh and nod my head as he lets me go.

We walk to the car and drive back to Mornington Vale.

***

Aiden has his arms wrapped tightly around me as we lay in bed together. I move my arm to turn off the alarm, and I roll in the bed to face him. He slowly wakes up.

“Back to work today, for both of us,” he says, and then he kisses my forehead.

I yawn as he loosens his grip around me, and then I stretch. I sit up in the bed and move my head from side to side, stretching the sore muscles in my neck. Aiden sits up and starts to massage my neck for me.

“Oh, that’s amazing. Thank you,” I say, enjoying his firm touch. After a few minutes, he releases my neck from his gentle hands.

“Better get ready for work,” he says, kissing my neck.

When we arrive we find Brielle and Benjamin waiting in the foyer.

“Good morning, Mr. President,” Brielle says as we walk past.

“Good morning, Miss Vice President,” he says, and walks into his office.

The day is spent getting back into a routine with Benjamin out at the front at the desk with me, and Aiden and Bree in their offices. It’s weird not having Bree to talk to, but Benjamin is just as good and even funny at times. Everyone settles in nicely and finally the office is a fantastic place to work. Aiden seamlessly slips into the president position. He’s firm but nice unlike Alistair who was firm but down right mean.

***

The days fill into weeks, the weeks into months, and before I know it, it’s September and only a few days before our wedding. Aiden walks into the bedroom with a glass of water and some pain killers. I’m still resting in the bed from last night’s bachelorette party. He chuckles and sits on the bed next to me, rubbing my back. He puts the water and pills on the side table.

“Morning, beautiful. Well, technically, it’s afternoon,” he says.

My head is pounding. “Morning,” I say.

“How’s your head?” He hands me the water and pills.

“I need those badly.”

“I hear Sarah and Mel were quite the party animals last night? And Sarah wasn’t even drunk, well obviously,” he asks amused.

“Oh? I can’t remember.” I take the tablets and wash them down with the icy cool water. Aiden is looking at me with an amused grin on his face, obviously laughing at my state of disarray, so I slump back down into our bed. Aiden lays down beside me so I can cuddle into him.

“I really can’t remember parts of last night.”

Aiden chuckles. “Luckily Sarah caught it all on video for you.”

“Really?”

“Yes. The part where you and Brielle sing The Goo Goo Dolls “Iris” together, and then cry at the end is quite amusing.”

“We did not,” I say matter-of-factly.

Aiden laughs and pulls out his cell, showing me the clip of us singing very badly.

“Why did she have to die at the end of that movie,” Brielle calls out into the microphone as the entire audience laughs at us.