Finding Sunshine (18 page)

“Good mornin’,” she breathes against my lips, ending her sweet assault.

I chuckle into her neck, blowing raspberries against her delicate skin. She laughs and squirms against me.

“Good mornin’, Sunshine. I’ve got to say, as much as I love hearing your voice over the phone in the morning, being inside of you was a much better way to start the day.” Rolling onto my back, I take my woman with me to lay her head back on my chest.

“It sure was.” She giggles into my chest and wraps her arm tighter across my stomach as we lapse into a comfortable, sated silence.

“Where’s Russell?” I ask, finally realizing that he’s not jumping on the bed, demanding that I get up and feed him his breakfast.

“I let him upstairs earlier,” she replies into my neck. “I didn’t want an audience.” Kissing the top of her head, I grin into her hair, happy in the knowledge that I do know my Sunshine.

~ Nina ~

“You have a beautiful home,” I comment, picking up the remaining breakfast dishes off the table and carrying them towards the sink where Sarah is beginning to clean up. Aaron has taken Russell outside for his morning walk and brought an energetic Harry with him.

It’s Friday, and these past couple of days have flown by. The storm has long since blown over, and the plows came yesterday to dig us out, but I’m still here with Aaron’s family.
Not that I mind.
I’ve really enjoyed—
maybe too much
—this uninterrupted time spent with Aaron, and of course getting to know Sarah and Harry.

Aaron’s sister may be blunt and says what’s on her mind, but nothing she said to me came off as mean-spirited. She is actually very sweet, and it’s obvious that she adores her older brother. Their relationship is full of gentle teasing, and you can tell there is a lot of love there. It makes me jealous that I don’t have any siblings—well, that I know about anyway.
Who knows how many other children my father has left in his wake?

“Thank you.” Sarah says smiling, and then adds in a melancholy tone, “This was our parents’ house.”

“Really? You and Aaron grew up here?” I ask, intrigued. “He never mentioned that.”

It seams strange that Aaron wouldn’t have said anything about that.
I wonder why?
It seems like pretty important information, but it’s also just another one of the seemingly endless things that I don’t yet know about the man.

“Yes. After they died, Aaron and I couldn’t part with the place. We did almost anything to keep it,” Sarah says with a sad smile. “We’ve slowly gone room by room, making changes over the years. The garage is filled with shit for when Aaron finally decides to settle down.”

Golly, I hope that will be with me!

Wait.

What?

Where did that come from?

Goddess, I’m in trouble.

“It seems ridiculous, but somehow living here makes me feel closer to them. Like they’re only on vacation and will be back at any time,” she continues as she rinses the plates off in the sink.

“I can understand that,” I say smiling over at her, before asking quietly, “Can I-I ask how they died? Aaron never mentioned how.”

“He wouldn’t. He doesn’t like to talk about it,” Sarah says, loading the dishes into the dishwasher and the slamming it shut. “It was carbon monoxide poisoning. There was a snowstorm and they lost power. We’ll never know if it was the generator or the fireplace that caused the problem, but most likely a combination of the two. The next day, Aaron came over to help shovel them out and found them.”

Oh. My. Goddess.

“I’m so sorry, no wonder Aaron never said anything,” I say feeling suddenly awkward, twisting the dishtowel in my hands.

“No. It’s not something he likes to discuss. I probably shouldn’t have been the one to tell you, but you asked,” she replies, turning to face me. “Don’t say anything about it to him. Let him tell you the whole story when he’s ready.”

“Okay. But now that I know, I can take care.” I fold the towel in my hand and slip it over the handle of the dishwasher.

“Thank you.” Sarah then begins putting the boxes of cereal away in the cabinet before turning and asking, “Do you have any siblings?”

“Not that I know of,” I reply, and then seeing her confused face, I add, “I haven’t seen my father since I was four. So I could have half-siblings out there somewhere and not know. But my Mom and Stepfather never had any other kids of their own.”

“Men can be real fuckin’ assholes, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. My stepfather is my Dad. I honestly can’t remember a time when he wasn’t. Mom and I lucked out when we found him, although he likes to argue that he found us,” I end with a laugh.

While we finish cleaning the kitchen, we move onto lighter topics, such as Aaron’s collection of old street signs that fills a corner of the garage, and funny stories of their obviously happy childhood and growing up in the house.

Once our task is complete, we brew another pot of coffee. Then, gathering up our mugs and laptops, we head into the living room. There I find a comfortable spot in the corner of the sofa, while Sarah commandeers one of the Lazy Boys. I’m sipping my coffee, and laughing at stories of Aaron’s antics as a pimple faced teenager, when we hear the backdoor open and the sounds of Aaron, Harry, and Russell returning.

“What are you two laughing about?” Aaron asks, walking slowly into the room, holding onto Harry’s hand and making sure that he doesn’t fall. Russell trots in and lays down with an exhausted
humph
onto his bed.

Sarah and I look at each other, and then simultaneous say, “Nothing!” before we burst out laughing again.

“I’m not sure introducing you two was a good idea,” he comments glumly, guiding Harry over to Sarah, who climbs up happily into her lap.

“Did you have fun outside with Uncle Aaron?” Sarah pulls her son into her arms, kissing his cold, red cheeks and rocking him gently.

“We had a great time, didn’t we buddy?” Aaron walks over and flops down onto the sofa next to me. “We made some snow angels. Maybe later, Nina will come out and help us make a nice big snowman.”

“That sounds like fun,” I reply, reaching out to run my hand along his firm, denim-clad thigh. I feel his muscles contract under my palm. Giving me a heated look, he picks up my hand with his large chilled one and kisses it sweetly.

Waking up in Aaron’s protective arms these past two mornings has been better than I ever imagined.
Goddess
, I’m not sure how I am ever going to go back to waking up cold and alone when I go back to my apartment. However, Aaron has made no indication that he wants me to leave, only mentioning that he has plans to watch some basketball game with Richard and Arthur tomorrow afternoon.

For some reason, the embarrassment I felt yesterday morning, when I attempted to give him a really
good
morning, has only made me feel more connected to Aaron—beyond my obvious desire for him.

I’ve never felt as safe with a man as I do with Aaron. Not just physically, but also with what I say and how I feel—emotionally.

He woke me this morning with his large warm hand sneaking into my pajama bottoms and his thick fingers slipping into my already wet, aching sex. The orgasm that quickly followed left me needing more, which he happily gave me. I knew sex with Aaron would be good—great, even—but I had no idea that it would be as amazing as it is.

Golly, I could climax just remembering the feel of him moving inside of me.

“What were you two laughing about?” Aaron disrupts my heated thoughts, inching his way closer towards me.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” I laugh at the scowl that’s on his face. Reaching up, I attempt to smooth the frown lines on his forehead and tuck several hairs, which had gotten loose from his ponytail, behind his ears.

“Yes.” He leans over, caging me in, and leaves several sucking kisses on my neck before nipping my ear and whispering, “
Maybe we should go downstairs, so I can persuade you properly
.”

I can only moan my answer, as his hand moves up from my thigh to cup my breast, his thumb firmly swiping my already aching nipple. We’re the only two people in the world as I wind my arms around his neck and pull his lips onto mine.

“This is a G-rated room. You’re going to scar some of us for life,” Sarah says loudly. I can’t help but giggle, when I look past Aaron to see that her nose is scrunched up in disgust.

“Sorry, Harry. Didn’t mean to traumatize you, buddy,” Aaron chuckles, leaning back into the sofa and pulling my legs up to lay across his lap, positioning our bodies as close as possible.
Heaven.

“What about me?” Sarah asks. Then with a devilish smile, she adds, “I’ve walked in on you enough times in this room to last a lifetime.”

I scrunch up my nose in disgust, wrap my arm around Aaron’s stomach, and tuck my face into his neck. Wanting to hide from the very idea of him being with someone else. Typically I’m not a violent person, but the thought of
my man
with another woman makes me –
stabby
.

“Is that what you two were laughing about?” he asks. Taking Sarah’s laughter as confirmation, he defends himself asserting, “No one was supposed to be home for hours, and I didn’t have a TV in my room. How else was I supposed to watch the video?”

“Dude, you weren’t
just
watching,” Sarah exclaims, and I can’t help but laugh. “It was some freaky—” she then mouths,
shit
over Harry’s head, “too.”

“It was not,” Aaron groans, rolling his eyes in annoyance.

He then wraps his arm around my shoulder and pulls me in closer. I shift my body, to whisper into his ear, “I wouldn’t mind walking in on you.”

At my omission a large hand smacks my bottom and squeezes it tightly, as Aaron growls, “Behave.”

Just then my cell phone tones, alerting me that Jordan has sent me a text. Still laughing, I disentangle myself from Aaron and reach down onto the floor where I’d placed it earlier.

Jordan: Where r u?

I quickly type out my reply, and press send.

Nina: @ Aaron’s. Y?

“Who is it?” Aaron asks, pulling me back into his arms and settling us comfortably on the sofa.

“Jordan,” I answer, just as her quick reply comes through.

Jordan: When r u coming home?

Putting the phone in my lap, I turn my head to look up at Aaron. Unsure of what to say, or how to ask the question she and I are both wondering.
When does Aaron want me to go home?
Not that I’m in any hurry or want to leave.

“She wants to know when I’m coming home.” I hope he’ll take the hint and give me an answer.

“Never,” he whispers, kissing the top of my head and cuddling me closer.

Never.

Golly, I like the sound of that
—
way too much!

Ignoring the sudden pounding in my chest at his words, I ask, “Aaron, really. You said you’re having a guys’ night tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah. But, I’m taking you to the museum first, and then if you want, I can drop you off at the apartment before I go to Richard’s. Unless you wanna come and hang out with Rebecca.”

“Becca won’t be home, she has her monthly dinner with coworkers. So I’ll go home and do my laundry.”

I turn my attention back to my phone and type out a response to Jordan, telling her my plans.

Nina: 2morrow afternoon

As I’m pushing send, Aaron’s cellphone begins rings in his pocket and he gently slides me off his lap in order to retrieve it.

I hear him grumble as he looks at the screen before he stands up and answers it gruffly, “Masters.”

~:~:~:~:~

“Russell buddy, how are you? Did they leave you home all alone?” I hear an unknown man’s voice coming from the back hall, talking to Russell, who had been laying on the rug by the door, moping since Aaron left several hours earlier.

I jump to my feet and quickly pick Harry up from the floor, where we’ve been playing for the past half an hour. Building towers with his blocks, kicking them over, laughing as they fall, and then repeating the process. I stand and tentatively call back, “Hello?”

A tall, handsome man dressed in a tailored suit and wearing black horn-rimmed glasses walks into the living room. Upon seeing him, Harry instantly begins screeching “Dada!” and squirming in my arms, reaching out towards the man.

“You must be Bennett,” I say smiling, handing over the excited Harry.

“Yes. And you are?” he asks, holding his son securely in his arms and giving me a hard, scrutinizing look.

“I’m Nina,” I say, sticking my hand out in greeting. Bennett gives it a quick firm shake.

“Not to be rude, but who are you, and why are you here with my son?” he asks, his voice low with authority. “Where is Sarah?”

“Oh. Sorry. Aaron went to go check out a burst pipe at the shelter, and then Sarah got some wedding emergency call. Since I was here, I offered to watch Harry,” I ramble on.

“Oh! You’re
Aaron’s
Nina,” he says brightly, his face changing quickly into a warm, welcoming smile. Making him,
if at all possible
, even more handsome.

“Yes.” I say, smiling.

‘Aaron’s Nina.’ Golly, I like the sound of that!

“I was supposed to come home tomorrow, but thought I’d surprise Sarah and come back early,” he says brightly, tickling a squirming, laughing Harry. “Do you know when she’ll be home?”

“She just texted and said she should be back in about an hour.” I tell him, reaching down and patting Russell, who is now rubbing up against my legs, wagging his tail happily.

“Good. Thank you for watching this little monster.” He play-tosses Harry through the air, which vibrates with his shrieking laughter.

“Not a problem, I’ve enjoyed being here.”

I honestly don’t know when I’ve had more fun than simply being snowed in with Aaron and his family.