The Proposal (6 page)

She twisted her fingers into the hem of her top.
“Let’s not argue anymore, okay?” At his hopeful expression, she sighed. “Take
me to dinner.”

The corners of Aidan’s mouth turned up, and Emma
could tell he was suppressing a beaming smile.

When he pulled into a familiar parking lot, she
couldn’t help but gasp. “Here?” she squeaked at the flickering green and orange
neon O’Malley’s sign.

Aidan shrugged as he turned off the ignition. “It
was the first place I saw. Besides we both like the food here and atmosphere,
right?”

A rush of painful memories crashed against her like
ocean waves in a turbulent storm. “I suppose,” she murmured.

Ever the gentleman, he held the restaurant door open
for her. For a moment, she was thankful not to see Jenny at the hostess stand.
Then a piercing squeal caused her to snap her gaze toward the bar. “Emma!”
Jenny screeched. Her face lit up as she hopped off her stool so fast it crashed
to the ground.

After bounding over, Jenny threw her arms around
Emma’s neck. “Oh my God! I can’t believe it!”

Warmth filled Emma’s cheeks as well as her heart at
Jenny’s over the top enthusiasm. “It’s good to see you, too.”

Jenny pulled away. Her blue eyes flashed with
happiness as she took in Emma’s appearance. “You look absolutely stunning!” Her
gaze honed in on Emma’s protruding belly. “Man, I hope I look as hot as you do
when I’m pregnant!”

Emma laughed and placed a hand on her stomach.
“Thank you. I don’t exactly feel hot at the moment.”

“Trust me, you look it, sexy mama! Hell, you barely
look pregnant, and you’ve got to be what, like six months now?”

Emma nodded.

“Congratulations on it being a boy.”

“Thank you.”

Jenny turned her attention to the hostess. “Why
don’t you take Aidan on back to a booth? I want to hear more about the baby.”

With a nod, the hostess grabbed two menus and
motioned for Aidan. He reluctantly followed her. He even threw a few cautious
glances over his shoulder at Emma.

Jenny took Emma’s hands in hers. Her once jovial
expression faded into one of concern. “I just want you to know how worried
we’ve been about Aidan. That first week my dad had to drive him home a few
nights.” Shimmering tears pooled in her eyes. “We were afraid we were going to
lose him.”

Emma sucked in a breath. Before she could respond,
Jenny shook her head. “Look, I know he screwed up. I tried to warn him when he
had the audacity to bring that skank in here.”

“H-He brought her…”

Jenny bobbed her head. “Sometimes I wish I hadn’t
refused him a table. I think maybe if he had thought about it a little longer
he would have never taken her home.”

Over Jenny’s shoulder, Emma saw Aidan staring expectantly
at her. “I have to go.” She started to pull her hands away, but Jenny squeezed
them tight.

“I don’t know what I would do in your shoes. I hope
and pray I never have to. But I do know I’ve never seen a man more miserable
over screwing up in my entire life. He’s been so eaten with guilt and remorse
that we’ve been afraid it would consume him.”

Emma didn’t know what to say, so she merely jerked
her head in acknowledgement. On wobbly legs, she made her way over to Aidan.
Thankfully, the waitress hadn’t put them in the same section where they had
been before.

Aidan had already ordered their drinks. Since she
hadn’t had any caffeine so far, she didn’t ask for something different than the
Coke that was already on the table. After taking a sip, she started scouring
the menu. Glancing up, she asked, “What sounds good?”

Aidan shrugged. She could tell from the way he
twisted his bottom lip back and forth between his teeth that he was struggling
with something. She opened her mouth to question him when their waitress
returned. “What can I get for you?”

Emma peered at the menu. “Hmm, I’m having a hard
time deciding.” When she looked up, she met Aidan’s haunted eyes. She knew she
needed to do something to ease the tension a bit. “Are you paying?”

His brows furrowed. “I can. Why?”

She grinned. “Good. I was torn between ordering
something less expensive and then something more expensive. But if you’re
paying, I’ll treat myself.”

When she winked at him, a slow smile tugged at his
lips. “Order the whole damn menu. I don’t mind.”

“I think I’ll have the Ribeye, well-done, with the
steamed vegetables. And I’d like a salad too with honey mustard on the side.”

Nodding, the waitress scribbled down the order. She
then turned to Aidan. “And what about you?”

“Just the beer is fine for me,” Aidan replied.

The waitress started to leave for the kitchen, but
Emma banged her fist on the table. “Oh no, you don’t! You’re not just going to
sit there and drink like a fish. You better order something and do it right
now! That was part of the deal, remember?”

“Em, I don’t want—”

She swung her hostile gaze from him over to the
waitress who had paled a little at the growing tension. “He’ll have the
Porterhouse steak, medium rare, with a loaded baked potato. You can also bring
him a side of the garlic mashed potatoes because he’s is addicted to carbs and
potatoes. He’ll also have a salad, but make his Caesar. And can you please
bring a loaf of bread with lots of butter as soon as you can?” She cocked her
head at Aidan. “He loves your bread so much he could make his meal just eating
that.”

He stared at her in shock. The waitress’s pen
hovered over the pad until Aidan bobbed his head in agreement. “Okay then. I’ll
put your order in and bring the bread.”

“Thank you,” Emma replied, handing her the menus.
After taking a sip of Coke, she found Aidan staring at her. “What?”

“You remembered what I like,” he murmured.

She slammed her glass down harder than she meant to.
“Of course I do. The only thing predicable besides your outrageous libido is
your stomach. You ordered the same thing each and every time we came here.”

A ghost of a flirtatious smile played at Aidan’s
lips. “If I don’t clean my plate, are you going to spank me, Mommy?”

Emma crossed her arms over her chest. “No, but I
will force feed you myself like the damn petulant toddler you insist on acting
like!”

He brought a hand to his chest. “Ouch, Em.”

“Don’t start with me, Aidan. You look like hell, and
you need more nourishment than alcohol all the time.”

He plopped his elbows on the table and leaned
forward. “Doesn’t seem fair, does it?”

“What?”

“That I look like such hell, yet you look so fucking
beautiful.” A pained sound came from deep in the back of his throat as he eyed
her green maternity top. “And you’re wearing green just like the first night I
ever saw you.” One of his hands reached out to brush against hers. “God, you
were and still are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

She blew out a frustrated puff of air.  “I don’t
want or need any of your pick-up lines or compliments, thank you very much!”

He shot her a wounded look. “Can’t I tell the mother
of my child how beautiful she looks? How pregnancy has made her blossom into an
even more breathtakingly sexy woman.”

Emma’s heart stilled and then restarted at both his
words and the passion in which he delivered them. The gleam in his eyes
elicited a response between her thighs as well. She wanted to smack her
traitorous body as well as the pregnancy hormones pumping through her.

“What I need more than compliments is for you to
shape up, Aidan,” she said, softly.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he demanded.

The waitress, armed with a basket of bread, hovered
in front of the table. “Erm, here you go.” She practically threw it at them
before sprinting away.

Ignoring his question, Emma cut a piece of bread.
After slathering it with enough butter to raise anyone’s cholesterol level, she
held it out for Aidan. He didn’t protest. Instead, he took the slice from her,
letting his fingers linger on hers longer than they should. After he swallowed
the bread almost whole, she grinned triumphantly at him. “I knew you were
hungry,” she noted, as she fixed him another piece.

“Hungry for your company,” he replied, in an
agonized voice.

Closing her eyes, she shook her head. “Please
don’t.”

“Look at me,” he commanded.

Reluctantly, she opened her eyes to stare into his
blazing baby blues. “It’s the truth dammit! You don’t know the hell I’ve been
through because you wouldn’t talk to me! You wouldn’t let me apologize or talk
this through. You fucking cut me off.” He shuddered. “I’ve been dead inside the
last three weeks. But now that I’m with you…”

“Let me guess. Now that you’re back in my presence,
you’re like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon?” she snapped sarcastically.

“Keep talking that way to me, and I’ll quit eating.”

She gritted her teeth. “I’m glad to see you’re still
impossible.”

He winked at her as he finished off his third piece
of bread. She twisted her napkin furiously in her lap. “You act like you’re the
only one who’s been suffering.”

Aidan’s face perked up. “You mean, you’ve missed
me?” he asked, his voice vibrating with emotion.

“Of course I have! How could you even ask such a
thing?”

His shoulders sagged. “I just figured when you
wouldn’t talk to me that your hate won out over anything else you felt for me.”

“My hatred for you does fuel a lot of my emotions.”

“Touche,” he replied, tipping his beer up.

“Somehow you forget that what should have been one
of the happiest days of my life was trampled and spat upon by the man I loved
and the father of my child!”

Torment pulsed in Aidan’s eyes as he slowly removed
the bottle from his lips. “Jesus Em,” he muttered.

His pained expression overwhelmed her, and her chest
rose and fell in harsh pants. Finally she found her voice again. “I’m sorry,
but it’s the truth. Trust me, I may look more put together than you, but I’m
not. I’m just as much a wreck on the inside. I can’t shut down this time like
when I lost Travis or my mom. I have Noah to think about.” A bitter laugh
rumbled from her chest. “So you may think the last three weeks have been hell
on you, but you can rest assured they have been for me just as much if not
more!” Snatching her napkin from her lap, she dabbed the hot tears that pricked
the corners of her eyes.

Aidan’s chin trembled. “I swear to God and all
that’s holy I wish I could take it back,” he whispered.

He reached out for her hand, but Jenny appeared with
their salads. Emma’s emotions suddenly switched gears, and she felt terrible
that their outward animosity had scared the other waitress off. For a few
minutes, they didn’t speak. It seemed too much had transpired between them to
say anything else. By the time Emma had daintily cut her lettuce, drizzled on
her dressing, and taken a bite, Aidan had scarfed down his entire salad.

Emma’s fork paused in midair at the sight of his
fingers plunging in and out of his mouth. His tongue licked and sucked off
every last bit of dressing. Assaulted with memories, her body trembled as she
remembered what those fingers and that tongue felt like. Feeling enflamed, she
tried looking anywhere but his delicious mouth.
What is wrong with you? The
last thing on earth you should be thinking about is sex with Aidan!
The
hormonal pregnancy roller coaster ride she was on seemed hell bent on careening
off on a sex crazed course.

When he met her gaze, his hollowed cheeks flushed.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to act like such a caveman.”

“N-No, it’s okay. I’m glad to see you eating so
well. You’re obviously very hungry.”

He gazed up at her through his long lashes. “But too
stubborn to admit it, right?”

She swallowed her bite of salad. “You never can
admit what you should,” she said softly.

“I know,” he grumbled, as he snatched the last slice
of bread.

She sighed. “I meant what I said about you needing
to shape up. You have to take care of yourself. I don’t like the excessive
drinking—it worries me for your health and safety. Regardless of what we are or
aren’t, you’re still going to be a father. I can’t have a drunk in my--” she
paused. “I mean, in
our
baby’s life.”

His tortured gaze held hers as he chewed. “So I can
still be in Noah’s life, just not yours?”

Not knowing how to respond, she pushed her salad
around with her fork. “Em?” Aidan pressed.

“I would never keep you away from Noah if you truly
wanted to be a part of his life.”

Jenny interrupted them by bringing their plates.
“Everything okay so far?”

Emma forced a smile at the almost loaded meaning of
the question. “It’s delicious thank you.”

“I’d like some more bread,” Aidan said.

Jenny nodded. “I’ll take care of it.”

They fell into silence again. “You need to eat your
salad,” Aidan finally said.