Page 5 of Stealing It
Chapter Two
Magnolia
ADEMON HAS POSSESSEDmy body. A wanton, sex hungry she-devil with no morals, and a fire between her legs. I’m embarrassed at my rash decision to leave the restaurant with Aidan, but I don’t care enough to stop myself from getting into his car. It’s a quick ride to his condo situated on the water. I texted Jenny and told her my plans and all she texted back was the eggplant emoji and the peach. She obviously cares little about my wellbeing. My pink dress is probably inhibiting oxygen to her brain.
Aidan pulls his car into the small lot adjacent to his building and parks his car. A very nice, meticulously clean coupe that still has that new car leather scent. When you live at the beach, you realize how much of a rarity that scent is. My truck is filled with sand and somehow sticky with salt water at the same time. His complex is a newer building with only a few units. Aidan puts the car in park and looks over at me vibrating in the passenger seat. “Just because you come inside doesn’t mean you’re going to leave ready to birth another child in nine months,” he says.
“That’s not funny, Aidan.”
He holds up his hands. “Sorry. Was trying to lighten the mood. Casual sex is actually pretty fun. I can assure you that you’ll leave feeling better than you have in years.” I glance his way again, and his profile takes me off guard. He is stunning. Truly. His boyish good looks are made more severe by the wolfish way he carries himself. Not only is he aware of that, he also owns it. It’s why I have to take this opportunity. It may never happen again in my lifetime, surely not before a man like this still finds me attractive. My best years are behind me. This is the stuff of legends. Surely, no one would fault me one night of poor decisions.
“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” I reply. “Let’s go in before I change my mind and lose my nerve.”
“Nerve has nothing to do with this,” Aidan says, sliding his hand over the center console and onto my upper thigh, over my skirt. My breath catches and I cough to hide it. He doesn’t miss the cover; his grin tells me so. “Magnolia, the second I get my hands on you, you’ll forget everything else. I promise.”
“That’s a bold promise,” I whisper, warmness flooding between my legs.
“I don’t make promises I can’t keep. That’s the first thing you should know about me.”
“What else should I know about you?” I ask, rubbing my thighs together. There’s no denying I’m not leaving this place without him extinguishing the desire. Call it a want. A need. Whatever you want. It’s mine. I’ll let myself feel guilt for my traitorous body tomorrow.
“Only that I’m about to rock your world.”
I nod. That’s all I really need to know for something like this, right? People have hooked up with each other knowing less. Much less. Then, why do I feel the need to ask him about his family and his career? Why do I want to pick his brain and find out if there’s a good person lodged beneath the muscle and charm? My mind is spinning in all directions as I step out of his car and follow him to his front door. He peers over his shoulder a few times, gauging my mood or guessing at what I’m going to say next. Probably taking bets on how fast I’m going to change my mind.
The summer sun hasn’t set, and his condo is lit orange by the floor to ceiling windows that span the width of the room. There is a stairway right in front of us that leads up to the main living area. It’s even brighter up here. “Doesn’t it get hot in here?” I ask, glancing to all of the windows that would have curtains, blackout curtains if I lived here. “You’d bake in here midday.”
He rounds an island to the fridge. “I’m not here too much during the day,” he explains. “Something to drink? I have everything.”
“Wine,” I say, a shiver running up my spine. “Red or white. Whatever you have open.” What that really means is whatever the woman who was here before me liked best.
Aidan opens a new bottle of red and while he pours, he says, “My bedroom is in the back and I have curtains in there. The windows here in the living space have a tint.” I’m listening to him speak while looking over the bay. It is a beautiful view. He extends the wine to me, his hand coming into my peripheral vision. “For you,” he adds.
I thank him as I grab the glass, immediately taking a long sip. “It is quite nice at sunset, isn’t it?”
“The best,” he replies, opening his own beer. “There are so few of these units we had to fight for them. Some of the other housing options needed to be remodeled and worked on. That’s not my thing at all.” Aidan swallows down some beer and sinks down into a sleek loveseat that faces the windowed wall. His arm is perched along the back, open, an invitation.
Curiosity gets the better of me, and I sit down, my leg pressed against his. “What is your thing then? Outside of work and whatever that entails.” Asking questions is easy when I’m not looking at his face, and when I have liquid courage sliding down my throat, and a burning need flaming to life after what I thought would be eternal dormancy.
The arm behind me slips onto my shoulders, and when I turn my head up to glimpse his face, he’s smirking. My stomach flips. “Ironically my work is sort of my outside of work hobby as well. All the things I have to be good at for my job, are the things I enjoy. I don’t particularly like wasting time on things that won’t serve me well.”
Something about the last sentence doesn’t sit well with me. “Like relationships?” I shouldn’t care, shouldn’t have asked, but the maturity motherhood has bestowed upon me will always win out.
“I’ve had relationships. A couple of them. My deployment and work up schedules typically don’t allow for much else.”
“But now you’re able to…use the app,” I reply, unable to explain more eloquently when he’s looking at me with that dimple firing at my core.
Aidan grins, white teeth on display. “It does. I have more free time now. Bronze Bay isn’t exactly a hotbed for terrorists.” At the reminder of the war that raged our country for years, a chill prickles my skin, and my mood diminishes. It was years of terror attacks, fighting war on American soil, sleepless nights, and heart in your throat days when all you could do was watch the news and pray there weren’t any bad guys hiding in your neighborhood—in plain sight. That’s why there are so many new military bases scattered throughout the U.S. It’s why the SEALs came to Bronze Bay, Florida.
I remember watching the news as they announced all the new cities around America that would house special operations forces. That was years ago and a new way of life, of being on alert, is the new norm. “It must be a good change of pace then,” I say, trying to keep my mind off the horror of the past and the memories that will be burned into my mind for the rest of time.
“It is,” Aidan remarks. “What about you? Tell me about yourself.”
Facing the water, I keep my gaze off him and on the horizon. “My house is right over there,” I say, distracting myself and hopefully him. “See those lights?” I point to an outlet on the other side of the bay.
He nods.
“That’s my neighbor’s yard. You could probably get to my house quicker by boat than car,” I joke.
