Beyond Doubt (15 page)

I felt Aaron’s gaze on me as I watched Gabby and Jason interact. Embarrassed, l looked away and started toward the house.

“Why don’t you show Aaron around,” Jason stopped me. “And Gabby can show me the grounds.”

“Sure,” I said, realizing Gabby had absolutely no clue, which put me at ease.

“That’d be nice,” Aaron said, walking up behind me. Feeling the familiar tingle between us made my stomach twist as I remembered what I was missing.

He gently placed his hand on my waist, sending a jolt up my spine. I turned to look at him, a complete mistake. His eyes connected with mine, and yearning spilled between us as the space diminished.

“It’s nice to see you,” I said softly, my voice catching.

“Is it?” he asked. “I wasn’t sure it would be.”

“Just testing out the waters?” I teased.

We climbed up the steps, and I turned around to face him. Seeing Gabby and Jason off in the distance laughing and teasing one another, made me realize I needed to stop the complexities between Aaron and myself.

“It is. And I’m sorry I’ve sent such crazy signals. I didn’t want to hurt the one person who’d always been there for me.”

He nodded, placing his hand on my shoulder.

“I know. And I should’ve respected that. But I couldn’t.” He lightly caressed my cheek and grinned. “You haven’t been easy to forget.”

“You haven’t either,” I said quietly. “And I tried.”

“I bet,” he laughed a deep-throaty laugh, and dropped his hand.

I could sense that he was trying really hard to be reserved and respect the time and space between us, but I wasn’t sure that’s what I wanted any longer.

I turned back to the front door and swung it open. Ayden was sitting near one of the card tables they had unfolded for some friendly rounds of nightly poker.

“Hey, knucklehead,” Ayden said, standing up quickly.

My cheeks reddened, and I wanted to run a fist into the side of my brother. It felt like high school all over again.

Before I even had a chance to take a step forward, Ayden was in front of us extending a hand toward Aaron.

“I’m Brandy’s brother and you must be?” Ayden was one of the few people who could match Aaron in size and demeanor.

“Aaron. Aaron Sullivan. I came with Jason. I think Cole’s floating around here too?” He nodded and gave a firm shake to Ayden.

“Oh, the famous Aaron. Gabby’s brother, Aaron?” Ayden raised a brow and glanced at me, smirking.

“Famous or infamous?” Aaron joked.

“Good catch,” Ayden said. “Yeah, I think Cole’s coming up tomorrow.”

“Ugh,” I groaned. “I was hoping he wasn’t going to show up.”

“Nasty breakup?” Aaron teased.

“Would you please inform our visitor that I never dated Cole, regardless of what Cole’s been telling people?” I crossed my arms in front of me and waited for Ayden to say something.

“It’s true. He’s tried hard to get her over the years, but I think she’d rather join a convent. And I don’t blame her. He’s a bit rough around the edges.”

“Anyway, I wanted to show Aaron around so that he can use the inside bathrooms rather than the outhouses.”

“Wow. First class treatment,” Aaron joked.

“Only if you’re nice to me.” I smiled.

“You must be higher on her list than I thought,” Ayden said. “This is the first year we took measures to stop people from disturbing the princess. She likes order and our parties aren’t generally very orderly.”

I scowled at my brother. “I’m not that bad.”

“Yeah. You are,” Ayden said, as he walked by us to go outside. “If you’re into poker, the game starts at midnight.”

“Thanks, man,” Aaron said.

Ayden closed the door softly and the house was left quiet. I wondered if anyone else was inside.

“So this is the main room. There’s a bathroom over here,” I said, motioning for him to follow me. We walked down the hallway toward the kitchen.

“It’s only a powder room so if you want a shower, you’ll need to go upstairs. This is the kitchen. Would you like a beer or anything?” I was talking nonstop as my nerves ramped up.

Aaron took a step closer and wrapped his arms around my waist, sending a frisson of delight up my spine.

“Don’t be nervous,” his voice was low as his eyes locked on mine. “There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

“I’m not afraid. I’m…” my voice trailed off.

“You’re what?” he asked, his voice gentle.

“Okay. I’m terrified.”

“Don’t be.” His arms dropped from my waist, and his familiar smirk surfaced as he took a step back. I couldn’t help but laugh as I shook my head.

“So about that beer?” I asked, opening the fridge. “There’s Redhook ESB, Pyramid Hefeweizen, and Elysians Dragonstooth. Or we could wander off to one of the kegs floating around…”

“The ESB’s fine,” he said laughing.

“That’s what I’ll have too.” I pulled two bottles out and sprung the caps off.

Taking a swig, I hoped the liquid would calm me down, but I was certain it would take more than one bottle. My emotions were running wild having Aaron here.

“So what’s up with the caution tape over there on the stairs? Is this place safe to be in?” he laughed.

“That’s what my brother was talking about. They put up caution tape to stop people from going up there. I’ll show you around. Not to worry.”

Aaron walked with me toward the staircase, and I ducked under the tape. He unpinned the tape and reattached it rather than use my technique.

“This is a really great piece of property,” Aaron said.

“Yeah. It’s pretty cool. My brothers started saving for a cabin right out of high school. They bought it together, and it’s been a party pad ever since. Although, I think my mom’s hoping that someday it will become a nice place for their families to come up to. However, that would involve them settling down, and I don’t see that happening anytime soon.”

We reached the top of the stairs, and I pointed to the main washroom and to the linen closet. “That’s where you can shower.”

“Thanks.” I could tell he wasn’t really paying attention to the grand tour. Instead his gaze fell to mine and a faint smile traced his lips.

“My brothers set up a tent for Gabby and Jason. Since I didn’t know you were coming I—”

“I brought a small tent. It’s on the bike,” he interrupted. “I’m set. I don’t want to be an imposition.”

“I doubt you’d ever be an imposition,” I said, walking toward the master bedroom to finish the tour.

He followed me, his stride matching mine as the proximity between our bodies closed quickly. I stopped in front of the door and turned to face Aaron. He was only inches away, and the reaction he caused inside of me was explosive. Every nerve in my body was buzzing with electricity as my eyes fell to his lips. His hands quickly clasped my face, tracing his thumbs along my mouth. My breath hitched as he ran his fingers through my hair. Bringing my head back, he lowered his mouth to my neck, gently guiding his lips down my skin. His breathing changed as he brought his lips up to mine, pressing the weight of his body against me. I felt the need growing inside of him as our hearts pounded together.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, feeling the softness of his kisses turn more determined as the craving between us grew. Slowly, he moved his hands down my spine as his mouth dove deeper into mine. My body stiffened with the realization that I couldn’t stop the feelings pulsing through me. Whatever this was between us was unstoppable. My mind and body was completely at his mercy as I reached under his shirt. My hands skated across his firm chest, and I allowed the warmth of his skin to direct me as my body desired so much more than this one kiss.

His lips broke free of mine as he bumped us up against the door, his mouth falling along my jawbone, bringing his mouth close to my ear. A parade of chills ran over my skin as his breath danced lightly off my flesh. He parted his lips, gradually bringing his mouth to my ear, his teeth softly catching my lobe, sending a wave of pleasure all the way though to my bones. I gasped as his lips continued down my neck, his tongue sliding over my skin, going dangerously low.

“You smell so good,” he whispered, resting his fingers on the zipper of my hoodie.

“You feel so good,” I whispered, allowing the strength of his body to hold me up.

He began softly kissing me once more when I heard Lily’s voice shout my name from the hall. She was upstairs. No!

My body went rigid and my mind emptied. What was I doing? Aaron smiled and took a step back, dropping his arms to his side.

“Later?” his voice low.

I nodded unable to speak from the flood of emotions crashing down on me.

The intense morning sunlight sprayed onto my skin, warming it only slightly as the chill of the outdoors awoke me. My head was pounding, and I quickly scanned my surroundings. I gasped feeling the slick material of a sleeping bag wrapped around me, along with another pair of legs. I shot up and out of the sleeping bag, trying to regain some sense of reality. The sunlight filtered in through the canvas of the tent, and my heart began pounding to match my head as I looked to my right and saw Aaron sleeping next to me. The light danced off his bronzed, bare skin as I slowly brought my hand up to my mouth. What had I done?

His eyes slowly opened, and a slight curl of lips appeared as he watched my reaction. I grabbed my portion of the sleeping bag and tugged it to my chest when I realized I was without my hoodie and sweatpants. At least I had my bikini on.

“Hey, gorgeous,” he said, his eyes combing over my bare shoulders.

“Are we…did we?” I asked, completely mortified that I couldn’t remember anything from the night before.

“Believe me when I tell you that if we did…you’d remember.”

I rolled my eyes and laughed, completely relieved. “Sure about that, huh?”

His eyes flashed a mix of mischief and wonderment as his grin grew wider.

“Absolutely,” his voice was low and sent a burst of shivers through me.

I ran my hand through my hair, combing the strands as best as possible. My hair was a tangled mess and my headache wasn’t letting up.

“So how did we wind up in your one-person tent?” I asked.

“You really don’t remember?”

I shook my head.

“You really were in bad shape.”

“I think we can make that present tense,” I confessed.

And then the memory of his kiss crashed into my mind, his hands skating up my body as his mouth traced along my flesh, but I could remember nothing beyond being upstairs with him. So how did I get here and where did my evening go?

“We kissed,” I whispered.

“We did.” Aaron sat up slowly, trying not to knock the condensation off the tent.

I rubbed my temples and sighed.

“Are you okay?” he asked, his voice tender. “I think the kiss was what sent you over the edge, actually.”

“Of course you do. But yeah, I’m fine…just utterly confused. Should we tell Gabby?”

“What’s there to tell? We kissed and then you made it absolutely clear that we can’t be anything but friends.” His eyes watched mine for a reaction. “And you were even on the fence about that.”

“I did?” I cringed.

He nodded.

I bit my lip, trying to grab hold of the memories from the night before. Only none came.

“I should probably get showered, and I desperately need to brush my teeth,” I relayed, suddenly self-conscious.

He reached over and tugged on the tent zipper, opening the flap.

“I expect to hold you to your promise,” he said, as I attempted to crawl out of our shared sleeping bag.

“And what was that?” I asked, turning to face him.

He looked absolutely amazing in the morning, a grizzled shadow appearing along his jawline and his dark hair a mess.

“You promised you would go on a Jet Ski with me.”

“No way. Absolutely not. Anything I said wasn’t binding. I was drunk.”

He started laughing a deep, masculine laugh and began zipping the tent back up as he muttered something I couldn’t hear.