Page 69 of Between the Lines

I chuckle weakly into his shoulder. The panic is gone, and it’s been replaced with a different kind of excitement.

We hadn’t kissed since Utah.

I’d forgotten how he kisses. The slow, steady movement of his lips. There’s no rush with Aiden. It’s not a race. He takes his time to learn my lips, to spark the fire inside me. No one has ever kissed me like that before him.

It’s always been rushed. At a bar, in a hookup situation. Stolen kisses in rare situationships with only one destination. Bed.

Aiden doesn’t kiss like that. He kisses me like he could do it forever. For the rest of his life.

“Charlotte,” he urges, and that’s when I finally hear the concern in his voice. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

I shake my head a little and pull back. Blake and his party had been moving toward the terrace, passing dangerously close to us. They should be gone now.

But I’m not taking any chances.

“Can you take me home?”

His eyes darken at the words. But he nods, and his hand slides down to grip mine again. He’s held it often tonight. Almost like he can’t stop himself. “Yes. Come.”

I stop him with my palm on his chest. “Wait,” I murmur and run a thumb over his lower lip. “You look like you’ve been mauled.”

His eyes dip to my mouth. “Good. So do you.”

“We can’t walk around like that.”

“With your mark on me?” His hand tightens around mine, and he pulls me along to the exit. “I’d be proud to, Chaos.”

We make it to the car and I gladly slump against the seat. The evening has been long—the day has been even longer—and I feel wrung out. Stretched too thin, my skin taut. Too aware of Aiden. It’s keeping my nerves on a permanent high.

“Who was it?” Aiden asks. His voice comes out low, and, while I think he’s concerned, he sounds angry, too.

I blow out a breath. “Not someone I want to talk about.”

“You looked scared, Chaos.”

My eyes close against the shame. Blake should not have that power over me. Not anymore. But I hadn’t seen him in almost a decade, and I didn’t want… couldn’t stand it if Aiden had seen us together. If the puzzle pieces slid into place.

If Aiden would have looked at me like the whole world did back then.

“It was someone from my past. Someone I thought I’d never run into again.” My voice comes out weaker than I intended, and I clear my throat. “Thank you for… hiding me.”

The silence is absolute from the man beside me. I take a few more deep breaths before turning to look at him. His face is drawn tight, jaw tense.

“Aiden,” I say. “I know the way you think. Please don’t try to analyze or figure out who or what it might be. Please… I’m asking you.”

He looks at me for another tense moment before sighing. “All right,” he says, and his hand finds mine again. Lying on the empty middle seat between us. “I won’t.”

No one to see us now. No one to perform for.

“Promise me.”

It takes him a moment, and I can see what it costs him. But then he nods. “I promise, Charlotte.”

CHAPTER 26

AIDEN

The next night, it’s far too late when I finally head home.

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