“I'm better than fine,” I assured him. I could have been bleeding from every orifice and not have cared. Being around him was intoxicating and wonderful. “You keep rescuing me.”
“I didn't know carrying books counted as a rescue,” he replied. I blushed harder.
“It did that day.” I looked into his hazel eyes and found them just as mesmerizing as I did the first time. They had actually gotten even better. “I can't believe you're here. Are you with one of the law firms?”
Confusion crossed his handsome face for a second, but he quickly replaced it with an easy smile. “I'm with Travel, Inc.”
“Oh, that makes sense.” I hoped I didn't sound as ditzy as I felt. He had the ability to completely take logical thought straight out of my brain just by standing there. The fact that his shirtless chest was soaking up the sun right in front of me certainly wasn't helping my brainpower any either. I just wanted to stare at his body and drool. “It was really nice of them to have the meeting here.”
He nodded, and started making his way up the beach. I followed like a happy puppy. “This way the vacation counts as a business expense. Everyone but the accountants are happy.”
I laughed far too hard at his lame joke. “So what do you do at Travel, Inc. then?”
He stumbled on some sand, but recovered quickly. I smiled nervously. I didn't want him to get nervous and run off. Not after I had been thinking of him for so long.
“Not much, really,” he said smoothly, as if he had never been caught off guard. “I just help out my brother.”
“You mean Ben?” I asked innocently, remembering the man from before.
“What about Ben?” He glanced away from the beach and up toward the resort buildings as if he expected Ben to jump out at him.
At that moment, I stepped directly on something sharp and let out a shriek of pain. All questions about Ben were forgotten as I hopped up and down, cradling my foot and balancing on the other.
“Are you okay?” Aiden asked, anxiously, holding his arms out to steady me. I gave sincere thought to falling just so that he'd have to catch me, but decided against it. I didn't want to be a complete ditz.
“Yeah,” I answered. The pain was fading, but it still hurt. “I just stepped on something sharp.”
Aiden dropped to his knees a took my foot in his hand. His gentle fingers probed my flesh and I had to put my hand on his shoulder for balance because he was making my world spin with want.
“You're barefoot again,” he chastised gently. “It doesn't look like you broke the skin, though. You have something against shoes?”
“You're just as barefoot as I am,” I informed him. “Besides, who goes swimming with shoes?”
He chuckled and set my foot back on the sand. “You sure you're okay?”
I nodded. “It doesn't even hurt any more. You must be magic.”
He rose in a smooth motion to his full height, looking down at me with those amazing eyes. I still had my hand on his shoulder and I caught the scent of his soap again. All I could think about was kissing him. His lips were so close and perfect, and there wasn't an elevator to interrupt us this time. I closed my eyes, ready to have my fantasy become a reality.
“Aiden?” A deep voice called. At his name, he turned and once again the spell was broken. My hand dropped to my side. I was beginning to think I was cursed when it came to kissing him. Ben, wearing khakis and a polo shirt and looking very professional was was looking down at us from the path back to the resort. “I heard a shriek. Everything okay down there?”
“Everything's fine,” Aiden assured him. I smiled at Ben, but I really just wanted to hit him. This was the second time he had interrupted a kiss.
“It's three-o'clock. We're supposed to be in a meeting,” Ben reminded him.
“Dammit!” Aiden put his hand to his head and clenched his jaw, before turning to face me. “I have to go. It was really nice to see you again.”
“Likewise,” I replied lamely. I wasn't sure what else to say. Everything felt cliché at this point. I wanted to ask him what his plans were for later, but I knew I was too chicken to actually do it.
He turned and took two steps before pausing. I could almost hear the internal debate in his head as he stopped and then turned back around. “Would you be interested in having dinner with me tonight?”
I grinned and my heart threatened to thump out of my chest. “Only if you come with the food this time.”
A blinding smile filled his features. “Excellent. I'll come pick you up at seven.” He turned and hurried up the path toward his waiting boss.
“I'm in room 2172B,” I called out. He looked back and flashed me that knee-melting grin again. I watched him walk away, totally checking out his ass in his swim shorts. I was going to have to call Darcie. Mashed potato guy was back!
Chapter 10
“Wear the silver dangling earrings. They look better with the dress,” Darcie told me. I held them up to the computer screen and she nodded. Ever the saint, she helped me get ready from thousands of miles away via my laptop's web-cam. It perched up on the dresser so she could see the full ensemble.
I wore a pale blue sundress with a lace overlay. I had loved it from the moment I saw it in Raoul's selection of dresses. It was flirty, sexy, and elegant all at the same time: all the things I wanted to be for tonight. I put the earrings in and stood back so Darcie could see.
“Stunning,” she informed me with a smile. “You have some cute shoes, right?”
“Of course I have cute shoes,” I exclaimed, putting my hands on my hips. She raised her eyebrows and popped a potato chip into her mouth. She knew me well enough to know that shoes were not my thing. “They're silver and strappy and it doesn't matter that Kathryn bought them. I still have them, okay?”
A knock on the door took my thoughts off shoes.
“He's here!” I whispered to the computer. My stomach was suddenly doing the meringue, mambo, and cha-cha-cha. Aiden was here.
“Then you should probably go answer the door,” Darcie advised me with a straight face. “Have fun! Do whatever you think I would if I were single!”
I stuck out my tongue at her and closed the laptop screen. There was a second knock, and I scrambled to get to the door, nearly tripping on my shoes laying on the floor in the process. I threw it open and did my best to look nonchalant instead of nervous and flushed.
“Hi.” I opened the door wider and motioned him in. He looked good enough to eat. He was wearing dark gray pants with a crisp button-up shirt, much like the outfit he had worn the day we met. I wasn't sure if he had done it on purpose, or if that just happened to be the nicest clothes he owned. Either way, he looked great.