Page 79 of This Heart
“Aurora, take a breath.”
“I am breathing.”
Smiling, he said, “You’re panicking. I can see it on your face. Take a deep breath.”
I tried to act as if nothing was bothering me and laughed off his concern, but I ended up choking instead.
“Rora okay?” Winnie asked as she attempted to look around the stroller at me, clearly wide awake now.
“You okay?” Liam asked, bending down some to look into my eyes.
All I could do was nod. When I finally got myself under control, we started back for his house. Once inside, I quickly volunteered to help get Winnie ready for bed.
I had planned to drag it out for as long as I could, so when Winnie picked her third book for me to read, I agreed. What I wasn’t planning on was falling asleep while reading the third book. And what Ireallywasn’t planning on was what happened after Liam woke me up.
Liam
I’d gone up thirty minutes ago, and Winnie had begged for one more book. I knew Aurora was giving in to her because she was stalling. This quiet dance we were playing needed to stop and I got that she was nervous. I was nervous as well.
But now it was so quiet I was beginning to wonder if Aurora had snuck out of the house.
Heading upstairs, I tried repeating what I was going to say to her. It was going to be upfront and direct because we’ve danced around this for longer than I cared to admit.
I turned the corner and stopped at Winnie’s door. My heart slammed against my chest when I saw Winnie lying across Aurora’s lap. Both of them were sound asleep, and lying at the bottom of the bed was the kitten. Aurora’s head was leaning back against Winnie’s headboard, one hand holding the book still and the other on Winnie’s back, where I knew she had been rubbing it. It was Winnie’s favorite thing and usually helped her fall asleep quickly. The sight before me was something I hadn’t been prepared for. I knew I had feelings for Aurora, that wasn’t new to me, but seeing her with Winnie like this made my chest ache with a want I had never experienced before in my entire life. A need to make Aurora mine for once and for all swept over me and latched on. I wasn’t letting her leave this house until we had told each other exactly how we felt.
“Holy shit,” I whispered. “This woman is going to kill me.”
Seeing Aurora like that with my daughter made me instantly want to take her into my arms and kiss her. She not only loved my daughter, but she also cared about her happiness and safety, and that was the most endearing thing I had ever seen.
I walked into the room and gently touched Aurora on the shoulder to wake her. She opened her eyes and smiled when she saw me. I swore that smile lit up the entire room.
Lifting Winnie, I rolled her off Aurora and covered her up. The kitten got up, stretched and curled up next to Winnie.
“You both fell asleep.”
Slipping carefully out of bed, Aurora stretched and then placed the book she had been reading to Winnie back on the shelf.
She walked over, kissed Winnie on the forehead, swept up the kitten, and quickly turned to head out the door. I followed her and closed Winnie’s door halfway.
Aurora was already nearly down the steps. Once she was at the bottom, she set the kitten down. “I should go now.”
Reaching for her hand, I whispered her name. “Aurora, please wait.”
She smiled. “Okay. Thank you for dinner. The meatloaf was amazing, and I think the kitten really likes her setup.”
Sighing, I drew her to me, cupped her face in my hands and said, “For the love of everything good, stop talking.”
Her eyes went wide, and I couldn’t resist it any longer. I leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips. When she let out a little moan, I ran my tongue along her lower lip, causing her to gasp. Our tongues moved lightly together until I deepened the kiss. The feel of Aurora’s hands sliding up my chest nearly had me coming undone. The countless times I had dreamed of kissing her were nothing like the real thing. She tasted like honey and licorice, which was crazy because she hadn’t eaten either of them. But that’s what she tasted like. Just like she smelled like licorice all the time. It was fucking intoxicating.
She slowly broke away from the kiss, and I leaned my forehead against hers.
“I’ve waited so long to kiss you.”
Drawing back to look at me, I saw the confusion in her eyes.
I smiled. “We need to talk.”
Her mouth opened to say something, and I placed my finger on her lips. “What I meant to say is I need to talk to you, and I need you to listen.”
