Page 30 of Seduced in Ink

“Fine, I’m not sorry. Though I don’t think kissing you was the most appropriate action.”

“I think of all the things that happened tonight, that was probably the most appropriate.”

“Aaron?”

“I think we should keep doing this. If we’re going to keep up this charade, I think I want to keep kissing you.”

It was a mistake, a horrible one. Something that would hurt them both in the end. Part of him hoped that she’d say no. That she’d push him away and laugh it off.

But when she rose to her toes again and brushed her lips against his once more, he was lost.

So fucking lost.

And, honestly, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to find his way out again. Ever.

Chapter 7

Aaron leaned against the deck railing and looked at the forest beyond. They were at Liam’s cabin in the woods, although hopefully without the horror stories. He inhaled the sweet scent of nature and food, the smoker and grill working overtime behind him.

He was exhausted after not being able to sleep well the night before. Worry and stress over what the fuck he was going to do with Madison had kept him awake. As well as the fact that he’d had sex dream after sex dream about her.

He was going to hell, a fiery one that wouldn’t smell as good as this. And it was all his fault.

Given that Madison’s cousin, the person most likely to send himtothat hell, stood a mere two feet away, his nerves were stretched tight.

“You want to talk about it?” Lincoln asked, lifting the beer to his lips to sip quietly.

Aaron shook his head. “Talk about what?”

Aaron wanted to talk about many things, and he was usually the talker of the group. Ethan might speak at a faster pace, but Aaron was often the one with random topics.

It was just…he wasn’t sure what to say today.

“How about the fact that I hear you’re an engaged man?” Benjamin said from behind him. Aaron turned to see his cousin walking towards him.

Benjamin was one of his family from Fort Collins. Sadly, he didn’t see him often.

Even though they didn’t live that far away, between work, family, and life, the two sets of cousins rarely saw one another beyond video conferences and stolen weekends.

Aaron liked Benjamin and was happy that his cousin had been able to make his way to the mountains.

“That’s me, engaged,” Aaron said, taking a sip of his beer.

“We heard it was fake,” Ronin said. Ronin was a friend of Marcus’s and new to the group.

This evening was a guys’ night, one where they’d have meat, maybe a vegetable or two, and drink a whole shit ton of beer. There were enough rooms in Liam’s cabin—considering that it was basically a log mansion in the woods—so nobody even had to bunk together.

None of them had to worry about driving home, so they were going to drink too much, overeat, and likely snore.

Ethan and Lincoln would be sharing a room, of course, and Aaron was grateful that his room was on the other side of the cabin. He was pretty sure those two wouldn’t stay quiet all night.

And some things a brother just did not need to hear. Ever.

“Are we telling everybody that it’s fake?” Aaron asked, giving Marcus a disappointed glare.

“I only told Ronin about ten minutes ago, and it was because he asked and sounded excited. I’m not going to lie to my friends. Sorry.”

Aaron frowned. “Fine. But nobody else.”

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