Page 39 of If You Could Only Imagine
Disconnecting the call, I walked over to the door, and peering out the peephole, I almost had a heart attack. It wasn’t Kelly with some much-needed liquor.
Nope.
It was one of those goddamn Buchanan Twins. Only, I didn’t know which one.
I swung the door open and looked up into the face of one of the most stunning men walking the planet. The fucker smiled and all I could do was shake my head at the little twerp. “What are you doing here, and which one are you?” It was a wonder I could string two words together.
His smile deepened and my eyes nearly went cross-eyed. “Awe, come on, Dibtab,” he purred, his voice smooth and playful. “Don’t be like that. I’m way better looking than Gabriel and you know it.”
Michael Buchanan.
Goddamn Michael Fucking Buchanan.
How could one person be so stunningly breathtaking?
I stepped back, letting him into my apartment. My place wasn’t fancy, but it was nice enough. I watched as Michael looked around, his gaze falling on all the little things that made my home uniquely mine. “How may I help you, Michael?”
He turned back towards me and smiled again.
The little shit.
“I just came to catch up,” he teased. “You know, just want to keep up on current events and all.”
I placed my hands on my hips, and tried to stare the little jerk down, but it was hard when the kid towered over me. “Current events, such as…?”
“My brother loves you,” he said, diving straight into the deep end-no lifejacket. “Now, once upon a time, I would have said…‘Aiden? Nah, not Aiden’…because, you see, Aiden loves women-”
I threw my hands up in the air and looked at the kid wide-eyed. “Are you kidding me? You came here to tell me how much Aiden loves women?”
The ass chuckled. “No, of course not,” he snorted. “I’m here to tell you that you have nothing to feel guilty about and you need to understand that Aiden’s actions reflect more on him than they do you.”
I needed a drink for this. “Do you want a beer or something?” I didn’t wait for his answer as I headed into the kitchen to grab a beer out of the refrigerator.
“I’m good,” he replied, cheekily. And when I turned around, I saw that he had made himself at home on the couch.
I cracked open my beer and went back into the living room to join him. “Okay, Michael,” I said, giving him the floor. “Lay it on me.”
“Dibtab, we all have our…strengths and weaknesses,” he stated. It was like he was giving a university lecture. “Mason’s used to be that he was a disconnected sociopath, but now his weakness is Shane. Gabe’s is his unwavering loyalty. And mine is my temper when it…uh, shines.” He leaned forward and made sure he had my absolute attention. “Aiden’s has always been women.” He stopped me before I could say something snarky. “And not in the way you think. Aiden’s doesn’t jump around from bed to bed, Denise.” Oh, shit. He called me Denise. That’s when I knew he was being real with me. “Aiden feels as if there is nothing more sacred on this earth than a woman. He believes in their strength, their ability to give life, and their fortitude to take whatever comes their way.”
“Wow,” I whispered, taken aback a little.
Michael nodded. “Aiden would have defended you against our father, no matter what. And he’ll always defend you against anyone or anything in the future. But, for Aiden, it goes a little beyond defending the woman he loves. Aiden will do jail time in a heartbeat if he comes across a woman being mistreated,” he explained. “You’re just a super, over the top dose of that for him. He would have kicked my dad’s ass for insultinganywoman, Denise. Do not blame yourself or…let your mind conjure up issues that aren’t there as an excuse to keep Aiden at arm’s length.”
I couldn’t hide how his words affected me emotionally. “Michael, it’s more than just the color of my skin,” I argued. “I’m older than he is. I have nowhere near his…your wealth. I don’t know what to do if I’m presented with more than one fork. I…he was myboss,Michael. And, even if I do work for Shane now, I was sleeping with the boss. It’s reeks of sleaze.”
He cocked his head at me and pierced me with those green lasers of his. “Age is just a number. He’d drain his bank account for you if money is a real big issue for you. He’s color blind, as we all are, except for my prick of a father-who I’d be glad to murder, if you wish it. And as for being your boss, it might not have been ideal, but who cares what people think when you’re in love?”
I ignored his casual comment about murdering his father and asked, “How do you know I’m in love with your brother?” Hell, I wasn’t even sure of how I felt about Aiden.
The fucker snorted again. “Because, Aiden’s the best man out of all of us,” he said, unknowingly repeating what Mason had said. “He’d be hard not to fall in love with.”
“Oh, really?” I said, injecting just enough sass in my voice to let him know I was teasing.
The corner of his lip lifted, popping out one of those goddamn dimples. “I know you love him because you walked into work this morning to being the gossip on everyone’s lips, having to bare your humiliation to HR, being the cause of an actual fistfight, having to meet Mason…basically having the most craptastic day of your BI career, and what do you do? You go find Aiden, full of concern, and let the man mount you on his desk.” I should have been shocked that he knew such details, but for some reason I wasn’t. “If that’s not love, it’s close enough, Dibtab.”
Well, shit.
Chapter 22
