Driven to Temptation (13 page)

Chapter Twenty-Three

Aidan dug into the emergency tote bin he kept in the bed of his truck. He had a box of matches somewhere back here.

He searched past the bags of trail mix and bottles of water. Army training had taught him to be prepared, and while he hadn’t had to use any of the emergency stash he carried with him, this definitely constituted an emergency.

There. He grabbed up the matches and pocketed them before shoving the tote back and slamming the truck bed cover shut.

He looked around the parking lot and the smattering of vehicles as he headed toward the fire pit. Where was she?

He was so sure Delaney would be at Chinaman Hat, sure he’d find her and they could talk things out. But in the hour since he’d arrived, she hadn’t shown. It was a pretty fair bet that anyone here was making the climb, but she wouldn’t be one of them. At least, he hoped not.

He stopped at the observation deck, by the materials he’d left a moment ago, and gazed into the shallow fire pit. He knelt, arranged the kindling and firewood he’d gathered. This might be a dumb idea, but he didn’t care. If an offering was required to get Delaney back, he’d do it. A thousand times over, he’d do it.

The kindling lit, flames licking up its sides and through the stack to the firewood arranged on top. He took a deep breath, faced Chinaman Hat, and spoke. “Yang-Sing. Legend has it you will grant what’s in a man’s innermost heart.” He reached for Delaney’s pantsuit in a heap beside him, and ignored the part of his brain that told him it was stupid. Instead, Aidan clutched the outfit and continued. “I’m looking for someone. A young lady.” He searched his memory. What would she be wearing? He didn’t have a clue. Did it matter? “She has the most gorgeous red hair, with a personality to match. She can’t seem to sit still and probably has a bag of corn chips with her. Or cookies. Double chocolate chip. Her favorite.”

Behind him someone giggled. “Mommy, why’s that man talking to himself?”

“Never mind,” a woman’s voice said.

Aidan took another breath. “She loves Gatorade and lost dogs and fun. And I’m hoping to God she’ll have me back.” He closed his eyes, willed every ounce of feeling into his next words. “She means everything to me. I
need
her back.”

“Gatorade?”

He turned. Another young kid stood behind him, his eyes wide.

“Did you say Gatorade?” the kid asked.

“Gatorade. Did you see a lady with red hair and Gatorade?” As he waited for an answer, he heard his heart pound, felt the thumping like it’d spring out of his chest. The way hope now did.

The kid smiled, a row of upper teeth missing. “Nope,” he said. “I just like Gatorade.”

Aidan’s smile faded as dejection stabbed him long and slow and deep. Maybe he was wrong, maybe she wasn’t here, maybe his gut was way off base on this one.

“Sorry, mister.”

Aidan stood as the kid skipped away. So much for that. He turned so that he faced Chinaman Hat again. “Please,” he whispered, dropping the pantsuit into the flames. “Let me find her. Let me make it right.”

The wind whipped up again, but he barely heard it, barely felt it. Instead, he closed his eyes and willed every ounce of his being into Delaney, into finding where she might be at this very—

“Aidan?”

He froze, sure he heard her voice carried on the breeze. He forced himself to relax, forced himself to stand still and listen for the voice again.

“Aidan! What the hell are you doing?”

He opened his eyes and spun around.

Delaney raced forward, her green eyes wide and a look of disbelief on her face.

He blinked.

Holy shit.

It worked. It
really
worked.

“Aidan!” She stopped next to him and stared at the fire. “Why the hell did you do that?
I needed that suit!
”

“It was an offering,” he sputtered.

She stared at him. “An offering? An
offering
?” Her eyes widened. “I needed that suit,” she repeated. “And now it’s ruined.” She dropped her hands to her sides. “Unbelievable,” she muttered.

He glanced at the fire, at the flames that now engulfed the gray fabric. Yep, it was pretty much a goner. And it was worth it to have her standing here next to him.

He faced her fully. “Wait. You care about clothes when we’ve got bigger issues to get through? Why?”

She stared at him as he gently reached out and pried the bag of potato chips out of her hands. “Aunt Molly’s.” He reached into the bag and pulled out a couple, then shoved them in his mouth. He closed his eyes, savoring the crunchy, salty barbecue taste while saying good-bye to the past.

Her face crumpled. “You just burned my suit and all you care about are the damned chips? Did you forget what you spent on it?”

“Nope.” He kept grinning. Couldn’t stop it if he tried. “I’ll buy you a closet full of suits.”

“I don’t need a closet full of suits.” She blew out a deep breath. “I needed
that
suit. It’s my lucky suit.”

She brushed her hands on her yoga pants. “How’d you get here so fast, anyway? The conference isn’t over until later tonight. Although I suppose you could always turn around and go back.”

He shook his head. “I’m not headed back.”

“But what about the presentation materials? The easels, the poster boards? There’s no way you could’ve loaded all that stuff up so fast.”

“It’s all still there. I’ve arranged for the hotel to pack it up and mail it to the office. Should be there by Monday.”

He saw the moment the words sank in, saw the way her frown lifted into understanding. “You did that? It’ll cost you a fortune in shipping fees alone. Not to mention the arm and leg the hotel will charge you to tear down the booth.”

“I know.” He grinned. “Money well spent.”

“Are you crazy?” She propped a hand on her hip in an adorable stance as she leaned toward him, looking from side to side. “Have you forgotten the price on the condom?” she whispered.

“Doesn’t matter.”

“It doesn’t?” Was her voice softer or had he imagined it?

“No, it doesn’t,” he said, taking a step toward her. “There’s more to life than taking the careful route through it, more to living than calculating, analyzing, and never getting too invested.”

Her eyes narrowed, and she folded her arms underneath her breasts. “Go on.”

He took a deep breath. It was time he followed his gut in this, too, time to take the chance he knew he had to take—or spend the rest of his life in regret. “Life is about opening up your heart, letting all the parts of it in and really experiencing it. Not planning every second so the joy of living gets lost in all the minutiae.”

“Oh.”

He knew he’d quoted her almost word for word. That had to mean something to her, right? He plunged ahead. “I’m so sorry about the whole suit thing. You were right. I
had
looked at it as a strategic move. I didn’t take your feelings into consideration. I didn’t take
you
into consideration. You deserve better than that. Please forgive me?”

Without hesitation, she smiled. “Of course. And I’m sorry I called you an unfeeling bastard, then walked away from you. That was wrong.”

He frowned. “You didn’t call me that.”

“No, but I was thinking it.”

“The thing is,” he started, “I know there’s still lots more for me to learn. Except, I don’t have a teacher.”

Her face fell, and she hung her head and shook it gently from side to side.

Uh-oh. That clearly wasn’t the right thing to say.

When she raised her head and met his gaze again, there was no way he could miss the sadness stamped there. “Is that what you’re proposing?” Her voice was soft, with the kind of hitch that tugged at his heart. “Private lessons or something? You’re nuts.”

“Yes, I’m nuts,” he agreed, his voice low. “I’m nuts about you. About us. Together.”

Something sparked in her eyes that reached out to him, tugged him even closer.

“
That
was the perfect thing to say.” This time her smile bloomed. She reached into the bag he held and pulled out a chip. “Because if you really mean that, then I still quit.” She popped a chip in her mouth and chewed, her gaze still pinned to his.

“What?” Alarm shot through him, ricocheted off the walls of his heart. “Why?”

“Because I’m starting my own company.” She placed a finger over his mouth when he started to say something. “Let me finish. You were onto something the other day, when I showed you the program I’d written for Ross and Associates. So I’m taking your advice. I’m starting a computer software company that specializes in building construction-engineering models. And I plan to sign Ross and Associates up as my first client.” She moved her finger aside. “Thoughts?”

“That means we won’t be working together.” He grinned slowly as realization smacked him upside the head.

“Which means we can actually
be
together. Maybe see where this thing with us might go.” Her face fell as she switched her gaze to the fire. “Only now I don’t have a pantsuit.”

Yeah… Okay…

“I’ll bite,” he said. “What does any of this have to do with the pantsuit?”

“That was more than a power suit. You were there, Aidan. Not just when I tried it on, but when I gave my presentation, too. With that suit I figured it was like you’d be with me when I meet potential clients, show them what I can do to help their businesses be successful. Only now—”

“I’ll buy you another one.”

“No.” She shook her head. “You don’t have to do that. I’ll buy myself one.”

“Are you kidding me? It worked, didn’t it?”

“What worked?”

“The offering. All I wanted was to find you again, and I was willing to do anything to bring you back to me.”

She shook her head, brushed her bangs back, a slight smile on her face. “By-the-book Aidan Ross burned a very expensive suit. I have to admit, it wasn’t what I expected.”

“I wanted you back,” he said simply. He hesitated. Should he tell her more? So far, all his explanations had backfired. What if this one did, too? But if he didn’t tell her, he ran the risk of losing out on one of the best things that’d ever happened to him.

Fuck that idea.

He took a deep breath. “I want to share my dreams with you, you’ll share yours with me, and we’ll work together to make them happen.” He traced a finger over the curve of her cheek as she reached for his hand, covering it with her own. “Sound good?”

“What if I really do drive you nuts? What if we drive each other nuts?”

“So what if we do? We’ll figure it out.”

She chewed on her lower lip, her brow furrowed. Why was she hesitating?

Somehow, Aidan had to convince her. “I know we have strong personalities and everything—”

She crushed the bag of Aunt Molly’s chips when she squeezed him in a hug. “It’s not that.” She pulled away and shot him a mischievous grin. “We’ll have the best make-up sex ever.”

“Every single time?” He raised an eyebrow. “That’s a lot of sex.”

“Thank God.” She traced a hand over his jaw. “I can have it all, Aidan. The awesome career, the sexiest man, the kind of life I’d always wanted.”

His chest swelled as if his heart, too, had been touched by it. Maybe the Ice King had thawed even more than he’d imagined. “That works for me.”

“Then it’s perfect,” she whispered. “Because, you know we’ve only known each other for three days, and as crazy as it sounds, I think I’m falling for you.”

“I
know
I’m falling for you.” Every fiber of his being ached for Delaney.

Only Delaney.

He’d gladly spend a lifetime in the kind of warmth that flowed through him now, touching and thawing every part of his being.

Epilogue

Six months later…

Delaney climbed into the truck’s passenger seat, excitement bubbling inside her. This was their first road trip to Seattle since last summer. And her new company’s first trade show.

She’d written a stellar software program, one that would no doubt quickly gain new clients for her growing business. Soon, she’d hire her first female software engineer.

Delaney smiled. Leaving Ross and Associates had been a great move for her, both professionally and personally. She glanced out the window as Aidan locked the front door of their new home. He strode toward the truck, his gaze locked on hers, and a shot of adrenaline bolted through her.

“Better make it quick,” she said as he settled into the driver’s seat. “Or we won’t beat Portland traffic.”

“Maybe not, but we’ve got everything that matters.”

Aidan’s smile reached across the cab, touching her heart, touching her soul. How could anything be this pure, this perfect?

“Did you bring the pitch for the City of Raleigh?”

“In my briefcase.” He fastened his seat belt. “Now that there’s a new city manager, it looks like Ross and Associates is going to top the preferred vendor list. And all thanks to you.”

“Oh, c’mon. You’ve got the best geotechnical team in the Pacific Northwest.” While she’d written some cutting-edge software for Ross and Associates, it was Aidan and his team who had eventually won city officials over.

“Either way, life’s looking pretty good.” He reached for her hand, brought it to his lips, and kissed the diamond on her ring finger.

Tingles of awareness danced up her arm from where they touched. Contrary to the Ice King moniker once bestowed on him, Aidan was anything but. He was full of warmth. He was full of life. And he was hers.

He let her hand go and reached for the key in the ignition.

“Yeah,” she agreed as she fastened her seat belt. “Life’s looking pretty good.”

All five of her brothers and their families had shown up at the housewarming party last weekend. Her parents had cut their Hawaii plans short and flown home to attend. Even Grant Phillips, Aidan’s foster brother, popped in. To her surprise, the boisterous bunch got along great.

Aidan turned the key, and the Silverado’s engine roared to life. “I brought enough supplies for us to take a side trip or two along the way.”

“Like a stop at Chinaman Hat?”

He nodded. “We might as well decide where we want to hold the wedding ceremony and reception.”

It seemed only fitting to marry at the base of Chinaman Hat. Her mother had definitely approved, and was already dropping hints about wanting a grandchild right away. She’d even offered to give up next year’s Hawaii trip so she could babysit.

Not that Aidan and Delaney had any plans to start a family anytime soon, but watching the way her mother had helped organize and plan the housewarming party gave Delaney a new appreciation for the kind of woman who took care of her home and family. That her mother believed Delaney could have both an incredible career and a family felt amazing.

Delaney tilted her head to one side. “Aunt Molly’s barbecue potato chips?”

“Check.”

“Corn chips?”

“Check.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Chocolate chip cookies?”

“
Double
chocolate chip cookies. Check.” He faced her with a grin. “I even brought extra.”

“Extra?” She smiled at him. “You know I love you, right?”

“I like to think so.” He reached across the cab, traced a finger over the curve of her cheek. “Guess what else I brought?”

“Gatorade.”

He nodded, pulled his hand back, and pointed at the truck’s control panel. “And I mapped out every rest area on the way. Even what’s not on the nav system.”

God, she really did love this man. “Careful. I could end up spoiled.”

“Baby,” he whispered softly, his face serious, “I love you. It’d be my privilege to spoil you for any other man.”

And that, Delaney knew, was something he’d already done.

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