See Megan Run (12 page)

Aiden placed the plate in front of her, piled
with chips, and settled in the seat across from her. Not wanting to
show her discomfort, Megan took a bite from the sandwich—oh, God,
seduced by a tuna sandwich. "This is good."

"Thank you." Aiden took a bite of his
sandwich, looking satisfied. "Since you’ve been asking probing
questions, I’m going to ask a few."

She swallowed the food. "Shoot."

"Why a clothing store?" He smiled at her
obvious expression of relief.

"I always thought if you wore the right thing
it could make you feel beautiful. It could make people stop and
admire you. You wouldn’t be invisible." Megan shrugged.

Aiden frowned. "You don’t live by your own
philosophy?"

"What do you mean?"

"Since you’ve been here, you’ve worn one
dress. All the other times, you’ve worn jeans and a T-shirt." He
squinted his eyes. "The first day you were here, you had on a
business suit like you were about to go to war with big
business."

He’d noticed what she’d been wearing.
"Clothes tell a lot about a person."

"Bull."

She raised her brows. "Okay, outside of your
uniform, everything you wear is cotton. You like to be comfortable.
You like things that last but are low maintenance. No matter what
you have on, you never wear tennis shoes. Always boots." She
shrugged. "Not sure of their significance, but it still means
something."

"Impressed." He crossed his arms. "What does
your clothing say about you?"

The question caught her off guard. "That I
have incredible taste."

"Come on. If you saw yourself out on the
street, what would you think?"

She huffed out a breath and closed her eyes,
trying to think of how she looked this morning. "My hair is short,
which means I don’t have time to do a Marsha late at night. My
clothes fit me perfectly. So everything I wear is tailored, and the
fact I can afford a tailor means my clothes are expensive, yet I
keep them simple. No fuss and straight to the point, but I like to
be admired for how easily I make my ‘look’ work for me."

"You used the word admire." Aiden frowned.
"Who made you feel invisible?"

She glanced down at her glass. Apparently
she’d been drinking too much. Megan shrugged again. "Why isn’t
there a Mrs. Blake?"

"Looks like you don’t know what ‘subtle’ is,
either." Aiden pointed out.

Megan laughed before she took another bite of
sandwich. He leaned back in his chair, and for a moment she didn’t
think he would answer. Aiden finally said, "I never found the woman
I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, much less produce
children with."

But you asked me at one time
. She bit
back the comment because it was territory she wanted to avoid. They
were finally relaxed around each other. More importantly, she
wasn’t thinking about tearing off his clothes. Much.

"And to answer the question I’m sure you are
about to ask, there is no Mr. Hazley because work gets in the way
of dating, much less marriage."

"I’m surprised. Marriage crossed your
mind?"

"Ha." Yes, it did, especially on the nights
Megan was alone and her thoughts went back to Aiden. On the nights
she let her mind remember the promises he had made to her. The same
promises she’d walked away from. Sitting across from him now, she
knew they would have ended up divorced and unhappy.

They wanted different things then and they
wanted different things now. She wasn’t sure if he realized how
much he ached for a family of his own. And—like then—she wasn’t
going to stand in the way of his getting it. She glanced down at
her glass again. She was getting too reflective for her own good.
"Yeah, I think about it once every two years. It keeps me honest."
Megan said to lighten her own dour mood.

He gestured to her plate. "Done?"

She tried to clear her head while he took the
plates into the house. This spur-of-the-moment idea wasn’t going
according to plan. She’d wanted something breezy and fun, but right
now she was looking inward and having regrets she hadn’t allowed
herself to have for twelve years. She was also wishing for things
she couldn’t have.

Aiden came back outside. "Megan—" Then she
heard the rattle of the gate. She pulled him down to her and
pointed to the break in the fence. Mr. Samuel was making his way
across Aiden’s lawn. Thankfully, the lights on the back porch where
she sat had been left off. Still, if Mr. Samuel turned his head to
the right, he’d see them huddled on the porch. Megan bit her lip to
keep from laughing until Mr. Samuel disappeared on the other side
of the second gate.

Megan loosened her hold on Aiden. "The
best-known secret confirmed."

"You know, he runs the tool shop. I wonder if
I can blackmail him into giving me the Stetson tool set."

"Aiden?"

He grinned, and her breath caught in her
throat realizing how close they were. "Hey, it’s expensive." They
were close enough for her to see when he realized how close and
alone they were, and that he was practically standing between her
legs.

"Is this what you were talking about
earlier?" Megan leaned into him.

Aiden sighed, but kept his hand on her thigh.
"Yes." He hesitated, then moved her legs apart and settled in
between them. "The self-control part of me is telling me to take
you home."

She wrapped each leg on the backs of his
knees. He was hard against her in the dark. "So is my
self-control." She sucked in a breath. "You should back up." He
pressed himself closer and her insides twisted into a knot. "Aiden,
this is a very bad idea."

"Tell me about it." He hesitated again, then
kissed her.

This time the little zing had punch. She
gripped his shoulders as the world spun around them. He tasted of
scotch, hot and strong, overwhelming the self-control she’d been
holding onto. Who was she kidding? Underneath her façade of cool
she wanted him to touch her, tease her, make her want him until it
felt more like pain than pleasure.

And the quiet promise was there each time his
mouth took hers, each time he nibbled on her bottom lip, each time
his tongue entered her mouth and tasted her. Megan wanted to know
everything he could do to her now. So when Aiden lifted Megan’s
shirt and unclasped her bra she didn’t stop him. She took his hands
and placed them over her breasts. He brushed his palms across her
nipples.

She let herself get lost in what he was doing
and how easily he turned her body into a live wire by just his
touch. And still he pressed closer to her as if their bodies
weren’t close enough. She craved for a release only he could give
her. "Naked. Now."

*****

The words came out as moans, and Aiden sank
his teeth into the soft flesh of her neck, understanding the
reasons for her urgency. He wanted to plunge deep inside her until
she took all of him. He wanted to feel her hot and wet around him,
pulling him, squeezing him tighter until he gave over to the
demands of her body. Now.

But the selfish side of him wanted her aching
for him and only him, first and last. He cupped her breasts in his
hands, feeling how much more of a woman she’d grown into. He pulled
back long enough to take off her shirt, and then he tasted her
again. He felt drunk from the taste of her. He took her nipple
gently between his teeth, teasing, tasting, filling his mouth with
her again and again, until she ground against him, reminding him
how perilously close he was to coming.

"Now," she pleaded.

"Not yet," Aiden murmured before he brought
his lips back to hers while unzipping her pants.

"Finally." She said against his mouth as he
lifted her out of the chair. "Sit down."

He started to protest, but her mouth was back
on his. How easily she turned the tables, biting his bottom lip
like he’d done hers. Before he could get control of the situation,
he filled her warm and deft hands. This he hadn’t expected. In his
mind, their being together like this had played out in different
scenarios. Megan always wanting him, and he giving her pleasure
she’d never known before or ever would know again. He’d filled
those empty places inside himself with her. But he’d be a dumb man
to complain. Since he wasn’t, he let Megan stroke him until he was
pleading, "Now."

Megan straddled him and started to lower
herself on him. He closed his eyes letting his head rest on the
back of the chair until he felt her nestled against him. She was
wetter, hotter, tighter than he’d imagined. He took hold of Megan’s
hips and lifted her, then dropped her back down. Aiden wasn’t sure
if it was a moan or gasp she made, but he repeated the motion just
to hear the sound again.

"Hello? Aiden?"

He froze at the male voice coming over the
fence.

Chapter 11

"Uh, yes, it’s me," Aiden said, and Megan
could have killed him.

She punched him in his shoulder. "You’re
going to make them come over here," she said in a harsh
whisper.

"What the hell else am I supposed to do? They
heard us," he whispered back. With some regret, she stood up,
grabbed the few clothes she could find and ran into the house. She
found the bathroom and turned on the cold water.

What had she been thinking?

Sex on a porch.

With Aiden.

She doused her face with cold water, hoping
common sense would leak back in. She smelled like him. The
automatic, savoring, deep breath told her common sense had left at
the moment his lips touched hers. She looked at the face of the
woman in the mirror. Who was this woman with flushed cheeks, wide
almond eyes, and wearing—Megan looked closer—yes, a
shit-eating-grin on her face?

"No, no."

She had to get out of here. Megan jumped at
the knock on the door. "Hold on." She rushed to put on her clothes,
even though he’d seen it all, he’d touched it all. 
No, no,
no. What have I done
?

"Megan?"

She opened the door. Aiden handed Megan her
bra and underwear. Ah, yes, that’s what she’d done. "Thank
you."

"Come on. Let me take you home."

She’d expected him to talk her into his bed.
Technically, the damage had been done. "Uh, okay." She balled her
undergarments in her hands and followed him out to the car. She
counted the awkward minutes filled with silence on the way home,
three of them, and finally she breathed easy when he parked in the
drive—until Aiden spoke.

"I’m sorry about that. I didn’t mean for
things to get out of hand."

It took her a minute to process the apology
and the reason for it. Now she knew what the term "doused with cold
water" really meant.

"Apology accepted. At least now we know not
to let it happen again." Megan knew how cold she sounded. Then
again, how else was she supposed to sound when the man who just
blew her mind was apologizing for it? "I’ll talk to Jane about the
party and let you know."

He frowned. Good. The bastard. "Okay."

Megan stepped out of the car, doing her best
to stuff the underwear and bra into her pocket. She walked toward
the house and her steps faltered when she saw Jane standing at the
door. Since she’d gotten a look in the mirror, Megan knew her bangs
were askew, her breasts kowtowing to gravity, but thank God a
grimace had replaced the grin.

"I saved you a plate." Jane glanced at the
bulge in her pocket. Megan made a mental note to ask Jane much
later about catering the party.

*****

He was a very sick, sick man, Aiden admitted
to himself the next morning. He sipped the hot coffee, squinting at
the Crime Dog. The damn thing seemed to be pointing at him. He
hadn’t committed a crime, per se. Now if Mr. Samuel hadn’t called
out first and had walked out into the yard, go ahead and add
indecent exposure to the list of dumb things he’d done yesterday.
Things had been fine. They had kept their heads—until they touched
each other. Might as well have dropped a lit match on a pool of
gasoline.

Then he’d bungled it at the end. Sick and
dumb, that was Aiden, but that didn’t stop the smile from crossing
his face.

"That smile ain’t got nothing to do with the
strange noises coming from your backyard last night, I hope?"

He hissed when the hot coffee splashed on his
hand. "You can’t creep up on people like that, Shep."

Shep stalked over to his desk. "Are you slow?
Because I’m really starting to wonder if you have anything in
between those big ears of yours."

"No, I’m not slow. What’s crawled up your
butt?" Shep popped him in the head. "Hey."

"You leave that girl alone. Nicole is putting
enough pressure on her as it is, and she doesn’t need you trying to
tie her down to a place she’d rather leave."

"I’m not trying to do any of that."

"And what about those flowers sitting on your
desk?"

Admitting who he bought them for, and how and
why she left them at his house, might get him another knock on his
head, given the gossip already spreading, which he was sure Shep
knew. "Have you forgotten I’m a grown man?"

"Then start acting like one. Leave Megan
alone. If she wants to stay here, then she will. Don’t go buying
her flowers or having her making any noises in your backyard."

Aiden rubbed the side of his head. "What do
you expect me to do?"

"Use the space between your ears, not what’s
between your legs, for a start. Make sure you don’t run her off.
She loves that house more than anything. If she doesn’t stay until
the wedding, she won’t get it. Do you have an idea what you’re
supposed to do now?" Shep turned without waiting for an answer and
started to move to the back of the precinct.

"Yeah, have sex out of town."

"What did you say?" Shep poked his head from
behind the door.

Aiden grabbed his coffee. "I’m going out," he
said through clenched teeth.