Wake Me Up (Love Knows No Boundaries) (5 page)

“You know you’re the best, right?”

“No, you’re the best,” she says warmly, “I want details. Email me the details.”

“I will. Thank you for you,” I say before cutting the call.

I’m worth it
. I’m a stunning person. Smile. Smile. Then I catch sight of myself in the mirror and I cringe. Yeah, let’s shower first before we try that speech again.

~*~

Chapter Four

Aiden~

I didn’t mean to fall asleep. It’s just
… she felt so good.

First she half
-stripped in the shower. That sight took just about every ounce of gentleman I had in my body not to shove her up against the wall and finish what we started in the car. Who knew she had all
that
under those clothes?

Ahh
… and then in the room. I had to go take a cold shower, and that was just because she reached for the clasp of her bra. 

I’m just
thankful she passed out, if she had made one more move on me I would not have stopped. There’s only so much gentleman in me, and then everything else takes over. But she was drunk, and that just didn’t sit well in my gut.

Like I said, I didn’t mean to fall asleep there
, but she drank the aspirin and slumped right down against me. It was nice holding someone, holding her.

The second she grabbed at me
, I woke up. Now, I’ve had nightmares and I’ve seen Zac have them after Laurie died, but this was something else.

She whimpered.
I mean she really whimpered.

Then the trembling
, like full-on trembling all over.

I was all ready to serve and protect, only there was nothing to protect her from. How do you protect someone from something you can’t
see? I tried waking her, but she wasn’t having any of that. When the talking started I went over into serving mode. I held her tighter, caressed her hair and back. I whispered I was there and she was safe, praying she’d hear me. She groaned the same thing over and over.

“I’m nothing without Mom. I won’t make it without Mom. Ever. Please hold me Mo
m. Don’t let me go.”

Now add whimpering, trembling and the look in her eyes
I’ve been trying to place the whole damn night, and I’m not so sure she meant those words in the way most would take them. I think I’m starting to get an understanding of why she did what she did last night.

~*~

I’ve only heard of the ‘boy meets girl’ and then BANG, scenario. I always thought it to be some stupid story. That was, until Zac and Laurie happened. They got married three weeks after they met, damn near gave Mom a heart attack eloping the way they did. But they stayed in love until Laurie passed on four years later, and it was their story that changed my point of view.

I broke it off with Megan
, because I knew she wasn’t the one, and there was just no point in wasting her time and mine. But now this? Emma Walker. I can’t let her leave until I’ve figured out why I don’t want her to leave. And that just sounds plain insane for someone that’s normally as level-headed as me.

M
y phone starts vibrating on the counter, and I leap for it. Please let it be Zac. I need my brother-in-law’s advice. I grin wide when I see his name on the screen.

“You’re a godsend.
”

I sink down i
nto one of the couches in the living room.

“I am? You haven’t sounded this ha
ppy to report back in some time.”

H
e sounds lazy, but then I don’t blame him. We’ve been at this case for far too long, and I’m sure he’s in a hurry to head on home.

“Actually
, I need your advice on women,” I start, and I hear something drop in the background.

“Hold on. I just kicked my coffee over,” he mumbles
. I hear him shuffle some things around. “Now say that again. You, Aiden Holden, need advice from me, on women? You do realize I’m the one stuck between four walls the whole day. You’re the one out there between them.” I can hear the laughter in his voice.

“Being surrounded by
them and takin’ an interest in one is two different things,” I say, a little too sharp, and I rub my face. “We’re workin’ a case. I’m not even a real damn student. But … she’s,” I stop to think how I’m going to word this. “She makes me want to fall. Did Laurie do that with you?”

There’s silence on the other end
, and for the longest second I think maybe it’s too soon. Maybe two years is still too soon for Zac.

“Yeah
, she made me fall so hard that I’m still fallin’.”

I take a breath
, regretting that I brought it up.

“Sorry, Zac. I shouldn’t have-
”

“No, i
f you can’t talk to me, who you gonna talk to? Besides, I’ll be falling till the day I see her again. The day I saw Laurie come up those stairs and I stopped her, telling her I was gonna marry her before I even knew her name, I meant it. I meant it because the second I saw her everyone else faded away. That’s when you know, Aiden, when everyone else fades away. That person wakes you up, rattles your cage and makes you fall all at once.” Zac sounds lost in his own words, but I know what he means.

“I have a fight tonight.” I change the subject
back to our case. “It’s getting close to the end of the year, so things should start heatin’ up.”

“Good, we need to bust this open and wrap
it up. Your roommate is coming tomorrow, right?”

I glance at
Emma’s closed door.

“She landed yesterday,” I say, keeping my voice neutral.

“She? What’s gone and happened to the he? I remember you clearly sayin’ it was a he.”

“He turned out to be a
very, very hot, British she.” I take a deep breath and lean back against the couch.

“I
s this where all the questions are coming from?” he asks, and I nod.

He c
an’t see me nodding like a dumbass, so I answer quickly, “Afraid so.”

“C
ould she help the case? If you played this right, she could make your cover more solid.”

I sta
rt shaking my head before he even finishes his sentence. But I’d be a hypocrite if I said I hadn’t thought of it myself.

“What
? I go up to her and ask her to play along, possibly put her life on the line. Hell no. Katia has already taken an interest in her. I’m not dragging her in deeper.”

As I say the words I close my eyes
, because I know Katia, and what Katia wants she goes after, unless…

“Then my advice to you is simple. Get a new roommate,” he states
, as if it will solve the problem.

“Don’t be a dumbass,” I snap. “I can protect her better if she’s here. Let’s see what Katia and C
olton do. If they go for her I’ll consider it. Let’s just see first.”

I’ll consider what exactly?

“It’s your call. Let me know how tonight goes down.”

I c
an hear him smiling. I know he’s smiling because I’m using this case as an excuse to let myself get to know Emma.

I set out two mugs for
coffee after I’m done with the call. Not sure how she takes hers, I decide to test the waters.

I knock three times
, but I get no answer. Easing the door open, I step in halfway.

“
Emma,” I call, but there’s still no answer.

I
walk in, and glance at her phone buzzing on the bed. She has the phone on silent and it goes to voicemail, and then I see it. Eight missed calls, just before a little envelope pops up, nineteen messages.

She is either ignoring someone
, or someone is desperately trying to get a hold of her. The phone starts to buzz again, flashing
mum.

“Aiden?”

My head snaps up to where she’s standing, steam filling the bathroom behind her. My mouth dries right up and I force my eyes to hers. She’s gripping the towel real hard, and I try not to think that she’s wearing absolutely nothing under the towel.

“Coffee,” I manage to get the one word ou
t. “I wanted to know if you’d like some coffee. I’m making some.” I have to stop right there.

The
phone starts buzzing next to me again, and I glance down. It’s
mum
again.

“You should take that call. It’s been going at it for a while.” I’m not going to mention I know who it is, that might come across as stalker-ish.

“Coffee will be nice. I’ll be out in a second.” She sounds tense.

I go tense in places I shouldn’t when she walks toward me. She stops next to me
and picks up the phone, then turns it off. I frown, but this is none of my business. I should leave it and walk away. But I don’t, because it’s in my nature to ask questions, to dig until every piece of the puzzle is solved.

“You’re not
going to answer?”

“No.” She doesn’t give me anything more to work with.

“Coffee it is, then,” I say, and let it go, for now. “How do you take it?” I remember to ask what I actually came to find out.

“White coffee
… um.” Her cheeks flush slightly. “One sugar, and milk, or cream, or none, depending on what you have here. I’ll run to the shop later … the market.” She looks uncomfortable and I’m not sure why.

It could be because she’s standing in a towel and I’m taking forever to leave. I should leave now.
Leave, Aiden!
I turn around before she can see the dumbass grin on my face. She comes out not even five minutes later. Given her hair is still wet, it’s got to be some kinda record. And she looks great in those shorts and t-shirt.

It’s the longest
I’ve ever taken to make coffee, but I didn’t want it to get cold. I place her mug a few inches from me. This way she has to come closer.

“I’ll take you
shopping,” I offer, when she steps in close to take the mug. “It will save you from trying to figure out where to go.”

“Thank you.”
She takes a sip and smiles. “It’s really daft. I actually Googled what you call things here before coming over, and now I can’t remember any of them.” She doesn’t make eye contact as she admits this, which only makes this admission of vulnerability somehow even more adorable.

“Just say it as you know it and we’ll figure it out between the two of u
s. It’s not like you’re speakin’ another language,” I try to encourage her.

She glances u
p. “A chemist? I need to go to a chemist.” She pulls the most adorable face, but I think I spoke too soon.

“Chemist,” I repeat. All I’m thinking now is chemistry
, and I don’t think that’s what she means. “What do you need from there? Maybe it will narrow down the place.” I’m grinning, stupidly.

She flushes and looks down at her bare feet
, and I’m back to thinking chemistry right here on the kitchen counter. Then she looks up and she’s all smiles. Dammit, she has a beautiful smile. Yeah, there’s more chemistry flashing through my mind, the kind we had in the car.

“Where you go for medicine.” She sounds relieved that she found a way to explain it.

“You mean a pharmacy? Y’all call it a chemist?” Okay, another language it is then.

“I think I’ll G
oogle it again and write them all down. I don’t want to have to explain rumpy pumpy and French letter to you.”

The second she says it her eyes widen
slightly. She turns her body half away from me, taking big gulps of her coffee. This should be a very interesting learning experience.

“Now you have to explain.
”

Last night she was intox
icated, now it’s different story. If last night is anything to go by, then she’s definitely feeling the attraction between us. It is something I’d like to explore.

I
lean in against the counter, so I’m facing her and it places me inches from her. The flowery scent is stronger, maybe the soap she uses, or body wash. I’m back at the shower scene, which is hardening muscles that shouldn’t be hardening right about now.

She shakes her head. “Nope, no way of that ever happening.”

“Then we Google.”

I lean even closer to
her, reaching for my phone. I get close enough that my shirt brushes against her knuckles. Her eyes dart from my chest to my face, to my hand taking hold of the phone.

“Google?” she whispers, looking torn between embarrassment and desire.
It’s so easy to read her, which is refreshing for a change. I don’t have to try and figure out some hidden meaning.

“Google,” I
murmur.

I activate the search engine on my
phone. She sets the mug down and takes hold of the counter, gripping it tightly. Wouldn’t mind if she grabbed hold of me right now.

My smile widens
on my face, as I type in ‘British words’ and it brings up a few sites to look at. I keep glancing at her and she starts to chew on the inside of her bottom lip, drawing it into her mouth, and I almost abandon my mission to find out the meaning of the words.

She glances up
at me, and my eyes jump between her mouth and darkened green eyes. She’s without a doubt on the same page as me. But I want to make this last, so I scroll down the long list of words, taking in a few as I look for “French letter” and then I laugh.