Page 73 of Silver Fox's Baby

“I told you, I get it.” I keep my eyes on the road in front of us. I can’t look at him. If I do, I’ll break down and humiliate myself. Beg him. Demand to know why he can’t fall in love with me now. Because as much as I want to think this is just lust, truth is, I fell in love with him somewhere along the way.

And that is what kills me.

“Look, I might not know how relationships work, but apparently, the new thing is that they’re not exclusive. And I getit. This is not what we are about and I’m way too inexperienced for you. So, like I said, it’s okay.” Tears fight to fall, but I don’t let them.

Aiden takes a long breath, and I find myself holding mine, waiting for him to say something.Anything.

As he merges onto the highway, he says, “I don’t know who you’ve been talking to, but I don’t get involved with multiple women at once. I don’t even think...” He pauses for a moment, glancing over to me, his knuckles whitening as they squeeze the steering wheel. “I can’t think about anyone but you, Mel. You haunt my dreams while I’m asleep and my thoughts while I’m awake. You’re all I think about. All I want.”

He shakes his head. “Look. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but that doesn’t mean that I’m out there trying to find someone else. I’m not. I already found something I didn’t even know I was looking for.” His eyes find mine, and there are so many emotions there. But the next second, he looks away, his eyes back on the road.

His words bring me some peace, but there’s still a part of me that wishes we could be...normal.

“Okay,” I whisper, my eyes taking in the glow of the city lights. “I guess we’ll just see what happens, then.” My tone betrays my attempt at coming across as being unbothered by it all.

“It’ll work itself out. We’ve only been together for about a week. I don’t want to jump to anything. It just leads to getting hurt, and I don’t want that for either of us.”

Of course, he doesn’t.

I breathe in deeply as he turns off onto the road that leads to my modest neighborhood. It’s nothing compared to his magnificent, luxurious mansion, but the disparity feels more evident than ever as my junker comes into view parked in my driveway.

“This is a nice place.”

I fight the urge to roll my eyes. “It’s my parents’ home. It’s the only thing we were able to get when they passed. Everything else went to pay for debt. It’s not much, and I’ve considered selling it to help pay for Dorian, but I can’t afford rent for us in a decent place. Well, I couldn’t before.”

“I understand. I do.” He squeezes my hand. “You work really hard for Dorian, and I wouldneverwant anything between us to mess up your future plans. I want to see you succeed in life, and I just... I don’t know. I’m forty, Melody.”

I tug my hand from his. “What does that have to do withanything?It’s not youragethat’s keeping us from being together. Not to me, at least. It’s the dynamic between us. The college.”

“One that you need to finish.” His voice is strained again. “I would never want something to prevent you from finishing.”

“It won’t.” I shake my head. Frustration is pooling in my chest.

Doesn’t he get it? Can’t we talk about this in a way that at least hints at a future between us?

I bite down on my lip and open the door, letting the cold air sweep through the car.

Maybe it’s too soon.

And I know I’m hurt, but maybe I’m being unfair as well.

I have Dorian to think about and he has Connor and, from what he says, some problem with his ex to deal with. Maybe that’s where all of this is coming from with him.

The way things are, we don’t even know how tomorrow will be let alone next week or next month.

Maybe I should just accept that there might not be a future between us and just appreciate this for what it is. A beautiful experience that will most likely break my heart if I let it.

“Melody.” Aiden’s hand touches my arm as I go to slide out of the seat.

“Yes?” I choke out, turning back to look at him.

He unbuckles, leans across the console, and threads his fingers through my hair, pulling me to him, taking my mouth in a heady kiss, his tongue entangling mine.

I get lost in the kiss for a few beats, and then break us apart.

“Don’t give this up just yet, okay? We’ll figure all this out.”

I force a smile. “Okay.”

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