Page 21 of Wreck Me
The short ride back to his house was quiet, punctuated with sniffles here and there from the passenger seat.
The lost look on her face as she gazed around his house nearly did him in. He didn’t want to get caught up with this woman. Any woman for that matter. But definitely not this one who seemed to pull at his protective streak and his baser instincts simultaneously.
His phone pinged in his pocket and Megan spun around. “Is that your cousin?” Her hands were under her chin like she was begging. Maybe she was at this point.
He’d sent his cousin Emma a text while he waited for Megan at the Mountain Lodge. Emma and her fiancé owned a bed and breakfast in Madison Ridge that was connected to her fiancé’s winery. His company had bought her family’s old house, and they’d renovated it back to its former glory. But he also knew they’d been booked up with weddings since September.
Emma: Hey, Aid. We’re booked solid through the end of the year. I wish I could help.
Well, shit. Aidan sighed and started typing.
Aidan: Well, that’s great news about business.I appreciate your help. Can you let me know if you have any cancellations?
Emma: Absolutely.
Aidan: Okay. Tell Shane I said hello.
Emma: Will do.
“Well? What did she say?” Megan walked up to him, hope blooming in her hazel eyes.
Aidan slid his phone back into his pocket and looked down at her. “They’re booked solid through the holidays just like I thought.”
She blew out a breath and walked away. “Damn it.” She paced his living room, swiping tears from her eyes. She mumbled under her breath before she finally said aloud, “What the hell am I going to do for a month? I can’t afford anywhere around here even if they had a place to stay. Hell, I can’t even sleep in my damn car!”
She plopped down on the couch and leaned back, staring into space.
He pulled on the back of his neck. Shit, this was a bad idea. No good could come of it. A night or two was one thing. But a month?
And yet he walked over to the couch and sat down next to her. And couldn’t believe the words that came out of his mouth for the second time in as many days.
“You can stay with me.”
Seven
Thai and Pie
Megan blinkedat the sunbeams dancing across the ceiling of Aidan’s bedroom.
Not the inn guest room that was part of her original plan.
Her skin flushed when she thought back to the way Aidan’s eyes had darkened when he’d said she could stay with him. That raspy, deep voice that held a twinge of southern drawl had danced across her skin, giving her goosebumps even now. The electricity in the air crackled between them.
Or so she’d thought.
But then he’d said he would talk to his mother and sisters to see if they knew anyone that had a room for her. Like a pin to a balloon, the spell she’d started to fall under popped, leaving her mortified.
Instead of answering him, she’d feigned a headache and fled to the bedroom. A glance at her phone on the nightstand told her that had been hours ago.
She ran both hands through her hair, holding it away from her face, and blew out a breath. Outside the window across the room, leaves colored the golds and oranges of the season blew around the backyard that stretched out behind the house. Aidan’s house.
Once again, the man put up with her when she knew he’d prefer to be alone. Not that he’d been rude to her. In fact, he’d been nothing but gracious—even patient. But something in his mannerisms told Megan that Aidan preferred the solitude and quiet compared to her somewhat chatty ways and games of twenty questions.
The fact was, she didn’t want to feel indebted to him. She didn’t want to be indebted to anyone. She’d gotten a nasty taste of that medicine when she was married to her ex. The way his family was always involved in everything they did—from the type of house they bought and where they bought it, to the kind of clothes they should wear, and the schools their future kids would attend all so that they could “maintain” the family name.
Megan often wondered if she’d married into the royal family and didn’t know it.
Although the shit that had gone down surrounding her divorce was ugly, Megan was relieved to be out of there. Even if it meant she was starting over nearly penniless. It was bad enough that her brother had given her moneyanda job. But he was her brother. It was easier to take from him. She was grateful, but she wanted to be like she once was—independent. Her own woman.
