Page 76 of Wicked Grumpy Heart Doc

She shrugged. “Just curious. I didn’t know if you came from money and had been tying them since elementary school.”

He chuckled again. “No, I grew up as middle-class as they come. My mom was a secretary and my dad was a plumber, so there weren’t a lot of important events from my childhood that required more than a collared shirt and a pair of dress slacks. What about you?”

“Same. My parents owned a few drycleaners in town, so while I never wanted for anything, it rarely was the best quality. Which was probably a good thing I wasn’t used to that because after I had Chloe,everythingI owned came from the thrift shop.”

His hold on her tightened, and he kissed her shoulder, then asked, “Your parents didn’t help you?”

“They took care of her when I was at school or work. But I wouldn’t take money from them, although they offered. Especially when they saw the dump I moved into. But I decided if I was going to have a baby, I needed to act like a grownup.”

“And Chloe’s dad?”

“Not in the picture.”

“So you did it all on your own,” he murmured, his lips still on her shoulder.

“Not all on my own. I really don’t know what I would have done without my family. My mom and siblings doted on Chloe, so I never had to worry about her safety or happiness. And my dad was her male role model; I’m so fortunate he taught her how a man should treat a woman. She married a good man.” She decided to be cheeky and tease him. “Plus, I had my spirit guides. So, I knew everything would work out in the end.”

That part was a lie. When she turned twelve, she’d tried to close that part of herself off. It made her different from everyone else and all she’d desperately wanted to do at that age was fit in.

When she got pregnant, Craig promised her that he’d be there for her and the baby. Almost from the start, she had a continuing vision of him abandoning them but chose to chalk it up to being afraid. And when he really did, she went into survival mode. She was too broken at that point to get anything from the Universe.

That was until she was working at her first job after finishing school and a woman came in for a massage. The minute Dakota touched her, she felt a jolt, and the woman—face still in the cradle—told her to stop denying her gift.

That’s all she said, but the entire hour working on the woman had been life changing. She opened herself back up to receiving from the Cosmos, and it was like her world went from black and white to color.

Aiden brought her back to the present when he nipped her shoulder with his teeth and dragged his hand up her belly to cup her boob.

“And what are the spirit guides telling you about me?”

He’s the one.

She heard it as clear as day in her head, then another vision of him walking away in a suit, leaving her crying popped in her mind.

Mixed messages much, Universe?

“They’re saying to keep it casual.”

He kissed her shoulders again while murmuring, “That’s good advice.”

She needed to remember that so they were on the same page.

****

Aiden

He’d told her keeping it casual was a good idea, but that was fucking bullshit. All he wanted to do was consume her. And not just sexually—although that was on tonight’s agenda.

He wanted all of her—her time, her attention, her calming effect on him, her laughter, her moans. It was a strange feeling. He couldn’t remember a time when he’d felt like this before; not even with the frantic young love he’d had with Susan in the beginning.

It made no sense; he and Dakota couldn’t be more opposite. But he’d taken a weekend off when he didn’t have the girls just to spend time with her. Aiden was normally the one covering other people’s shifts, not the one requesting them off. He’d been looking forward to tonight’s event ever since he found out about it, even though he’d had to wear a tux. He’d chuckled when he decided to take the whole weekend off without even knowing if she’d be available, saying—only in his head, of course—that the Universe had his back; she’d be available.

And now she was.

He didn’t know what kind of cosmic fuckery was at work, but she was in her underwear, on his lap, with her schedule suddenly cleared. There was no way he was going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Running his fingers up and down her spine, he murmured low in her ear, “You have two choices, Sunshine. Hurry up and get changed and pack a bag so we can go back to my place where I can have my way with you all weekend.”

A side of her mouth hitched as she pulled away to look at him. “And what’s my other choice?”

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