Page 118 of My Irresistible Enemy

“Why would I think that?”

“Because of what I told you,” I said, stroking his arm. “About what happened to me. And here I am, liking it when you talk about me making you do things, bossing you around.”

“Oh.” He laughed. “It didn’t even cross my mind.”

“So you don’t think it makes me a terrible person?”

I kept my voice light, but Aiden must have noticed something in my tone, because he picked his head up and looked me in the eye.

“You’re the best person I’ve ever met.” Then he grinned. “I’d say that even if we weren’t mind-blowingly sexually compatible, though that part doesn’t hurt.”

I laughed, and he lay back down. After a moment, he added, “I mean it, you know.”

“Hmm?”

“You. Me meeting you. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. And when I say I’ll do whatever you want, I mean it on a larger scale too. Not just sex. If you want me to quit my job, or move to DC, or delete my CamFans account, I’ll do it. Whatever you want.”

I thought about that. Thought about my mom, and the conversations I needed to have with her. Thought about my old job, and how little I missed it. Thought about how these weeks on Summersea were the happiest I’d been in ages.

Granted, that was probably more due to Aiden than the location, though it was nice to be so close to my friends. With Aiden by my side, though, I could probably be happy anywhere.

He made me see possibilities, instead of limits. He made mewantto see what lay around the next bend in the road. Want to see it with him.

“What I want,” I said, “is to be wherever you are. Anything else is just icing on the cake.”

“The cake, huh?” Aiden lifted his head and looked at me again, wiggling his eyebrows.

“What?” I asked.

“Well, it’s just…” He shrugged. “If youwantto put it on a cake, that’s fine. But that seems like a waste of perfectly good icing to me.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, think about it. All gooey and white and dripping down everywhere. Making little puddles, getting things all slippery. Filling them up tight. I’m just saying, why waste icing on a cake when you could put it in so many more interesting places?”

“Pretty sure Ididjust put icing somewhere more interesting.”

“Really?” Aiden cocked his head to the side. “I’m having the strangest trouble remembering that. I might need you to do it again, just to remind me. You know, really fill my memory up.”

I laughed. “Are you sure yourmemorycan handle another infusion so soon?”

“We’ll never know unless we try. Come on, don’t you want to see how much icing I can take before it starts spurting out everywhere?”

“Spurting out of your memory?”

“Yes, exactly. Of course, if that does happen, you might have to find another hole to shove it into. Really make sure I internalize it.”

“This is by far the strangest, but also hottest, conversation I have ever had about baking.” I rolled him onto his back and brushed a kiss across his lips. “I’m game to try, but are you sure it’s not too soon?”

“Nolan, you don’t make it to the semi-finals of a baking competition without gaining a few skills. It might be a bit of a stretch, but…” Aiden grinned. “I think I’m up to the challenge.”

19

Aiden

“Wait, wait, wait,” Nora said, her eyes going wide. “You’re saying it was all a lie?”

I had to hand it to her, she was doing a great job of sounding surprised by something she’d known all along. But obviously, viewers weren’t supposed to realize that.

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