Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 28686 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 143(@200wpm)___ 115(@250wpm)___ 96(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 28686 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 143(@200wpm)___ 115(@250wpm)___ 96(@300wpm)
I hear him get in, and I look up.
Aidan pulls his door shut and turns to me.
Oh God.
He hauls me to his lap without a word, and his chair falls back as our mouths meet in a deep, drugging kiss that have both of us panting in seconds.
I've never felt this kind of passion before.
Never craved to be this close to a man before.
Never until Aidan.
And I just wish...
I have to wish it wasn't so.
Chapter Six
Aidan brings me to the town's one and only steakhouse, and I can't help fussing over my hair, having just realized that we're about to be seen by his friends again.
"Are you sure I look okay?" I ask one last time.
"You already know the answer to that."
I can't help making a face at this, and Aidan grins.
"Telling me I'm beautiful over and over can't actually make it true, you know."
But Aidan being Aidan, he only smiles and takes my hand. "Let's go in. I'm starving."
The place is only half full, and while it's obvious everyone knows everyone, it's just as obvious Hartland's townsfolk are keen to give us space, with the way they smile and nod at Aidan and me without attempting to engage us in small talk.
"I feel like something's going on," I tell Aidan as he helps me to my seat.
"There is," Aidan confirms easily as he takes his seat across me. "I put the word out that it's our first date tonight—-"
I nearly choke on my glass of water.
"—-and that I'd appreciate some privacy while I do my wooing and dining."
Okay, make that I'm officially choking now, and Wyoming Keanu here even has the gall to act like a knight coming to my rescue as he asks, "Are you alright?" He leans forward and takes a napkin to gently pat my mouth dry.
He leans back. "All good now."
"It is not all good!" I'm aghast and mortified, but more than anything else, I'm in despair at how my lips are still tingling at his touch. This man has such a gift for driving me crazy and making me want to swoon all at the same time.
"You can't do things like that in public," I hiss under my breath. "You know about Jack—-"
It's my first time to see Aidan's lip curl. "If you feel guilty about him, don't be. He'll get over you—-"
"Thanks a lot." I'm hurt and more than a little stunned that he can say something so crass.
"It's only natural," Aidan says patiently.
And the blows just keep coming. Why does he even bother saying I'm beautiful in one breath—-
"He doesn't need you the way I do."
Only to make me feel like I'm so worthless no man will pine—-what did he just say?
Aidan catches me staring at him. "What is it?"
I hastily shake my head and manage a smile. "I was just lost in my thoughts, sorry."
"As long as it's not another man you're thinking about..."
The grimness of his tone makes me bite my lip hard against the urge to laugh...and cry. Aidan's actually jealous. It's written all over his beautiful face, and he isn't making any attempt to hide it either.
Aidan.
Jealous over me.
Me!
I lower my hands to my lap, and my fingers automatically clench.
Just make the most out of this, Raffi.
Aidan suddenly cups my chin, and my gaze automatically lifts to his. "Are you sure everything's alright?"
I nod quickly, and with my soul clinging to that one thought, I don't need to force myself to smile. My lips are already curving on its own, and when I see his own lips soften...
"You're so handsome."
This time, the words are something I consciously choose to say, and my heart leapfrogs in dazzled excitement at the rich, sexy sound of Aidan's chuckle.
The rest of the evening is easily one of the most magical moments in my life. The food is fabulous, the music is lovely, and the ambience of the place romantic. Everything's perfect, but it's not what makes each moment magical.
The magic is all in the man looking at me across the table.
The way his dark gaze pierces my soul is magical. The way his words make love to my ears. The way his every touch etches a promise on my skin.
Everything about Aidan Blackwood is sweet, beautiful magic, and I just don't understand why it has to be me.
It should be another girl he's pulling out the chair for. A more deserving girl whose hand he should be holding, a more deserving girl he should be opening doors for. All the perfectly magical things Aidan's doing now...he should be doing them for any girl but me, and I feel my heart breaking as I watch him climb into the pick-up and pull his door shut, and even those things, dammit...every little thing he does is executed with such seamless grace it almost makes me want to cry. And maybe...ask God if he's playing favorites?