Page 121 of Shadow Blind

Her eyebrows flew up. She cocked her head quizzically. “You did it for yourself? How’s that work?”

His shoulders drew back. His face hardened. Even his stance squared.

This must be how he looks when he’s headed into battle.

“Yeah. I did it for me. I hated how stressed out you were because of the hospital bills. I hated how exhausted you were after waitressing at that cafe. I hated the way guys were constantly hitting on you while you were working. I was spinning up for a deployment and I needed to know you’d be safe before I left. I needed to know that you had the money to take care of your bills and still live comfortably. I knew I wouldn’t be able to focus on the mission if I was worried about you. So, I took care of things. End of story.”

Her lips twitched. Wow, he’d sure spun his kindness into selfishness.

“What about the condo?” she asked, curious how he was going to spin that extravagant generosity into an act of self-interest.

“I wanted you somewhere safe. Bonus points if you were close to Kait, so she could look after you while you were grieving. I knew you loved Kait’s condo, so I hired a realtor to find me a unit in Kait’s building.” Pure stubbornness sat on his face, like he knew she was amused by his explanations.

“I see.” She was tempted to thank him again to see his reaction, but bit her tongue against the impulse. He was just so damn determined to portray himself as the selfish asshole, when in reality he was a mushy ol’ sweetheart.

Eventually, his face softened and his battle-ready stance relaxed. “You’re not pissed?”

“Good lord, no. I’m surprised,” she admitted. “We didn’t even know each other well back then.”

His gaze dropped to her face, lingering on her lips. “I wasn’t lying the other night when I told you I fell in love with you years ago. Long before our friends with benefits arrangement. I fell in love with you the moment Kait introduced us, while you were still married to Donnie. I wrestled that love back, locked it down, because you were married and committed to him. But that didn’t make me love you any less.”

“Really?” It was hard to be skeptical after finding out what he’d done for her.

“Really.” His gaze warming, he stepped forward and cupped her cheeks. “The instant I saw you, I knew you were the only woman for me. It sucked that you weren’t free and didn’t feel the same way about me. Hell—you never even noticed me, but that didn’t lessen my feelings or my certainty.”

I knew you were the only woman for me.

His confession was very close to calling her his soulmate, and almost identical to what Livvy had said about Samuel.

Maybe there was something to this soulmate cliché, after all.

Chapter forty-eight

Day 23

Denali, Alaska

Her mouth was so close he could smell the strawberry balm glossing her lips and the scent of roses drifting up from her hair.

Roses.

The scent had saturated every erotic dream he’d had for years—long before he’d finally hooked up with her. From the day he’d met her, way back when she’d been married and off-limits, the smell of roses had haunted him. His cock had locked onto that sweet scent like Pavlov’s dog on the bell. It had taken him years to figure out why roses had become an aphrodisiac. Nine years, to be exact, which was how long it had been between their first meeting and their first lovemaking. That was when he’d realized Demi smelled like roses. Hell, every product she used, from shampoo to body lotion, was rose-scented.

His gut clenched beneath the sensual punch of roses and strawberries. Memories strobed through his mind like a string of flash grenades. The arch of her body beneath his thrusts…smooth, strong legs cinched around his waist…her fingernails digging into his back…the quake of her muscles and tremble of her skin beneath his mouth…and the scent of roses cocooning them.

Christ, he wanted to close the distance between their mouths and sip that strawberry sweetness from her lips, steep himself in the heady fragrance of roses.

But one taste would unravel him. He was balanced on the edge of need and hope, his control hanging by a thread. The feel of her lips, the taste of her mouth would set fire to that thread. If she wasn’t looking to get back together, kissing her would make it a thousand times harder to walk away.

He forced himself to pull back, even though every fiber in his body wanted to drag her into his arms, and from there to his bed. But he couldn’t. Not yet.

While he was almost certain now she’d come to his quarters to resume their relationship, she hadn’t brought that possibility up. And considering the serious complications she’d outlined earlier when she’d called it quits on them, problems that hadn’t been resolved, it was best not to make assumptions. Nor did he want to sexually manipulate her into a situation she hadn’t intended.

“Before things go further, I need to know whether you’ve changed your mind about us.” Aiden studied her face. His cock twitched, recognizing the flush to her cheeks and the haze in her eyes. Signs of arousal. Beneath her shirt and bra, her nipples would be peaked and pebbled, begging for his mouth. “Is this visit about rekindling things between us?”

Fuck. Please say yes.

The haze cleared from her eyes. A frown pleated her forehead.

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