Violet tried not to be offended that he wasn’t interested in more time with her, although his offer did leave her with a few important questions. “That’s a sweet offer, but two bedrooms,” she repeated, “for three adults and one baby.” Where did he think everyone would end up sleeping in this scenario of his?
“Tara and Knox can share the guest room. It has a double bed and his Pack ’n Play will fit in there just fine. You can sleep in my room. And I...” Aidan’s deep voice drifted off as his bright blue eyes met hers from beneath their heavy ginger brows.
Her belly tightened when he looked at her that way, the possibilities dangling in the air between them. Sharing an apartment, a bedroom, a bed... It didn’t matter if it was for a week, a day or an hour, Violet wasn’t sure she had the willpower to keep away from Aidan. Images of him standing shirtless in her bedroom still haunted her at night. It had taken everything she had not to run her fingers through the auburn curls on his chest and drag her nails across the hard muscles of his stomach.
“...I will sleep on the couch.”
Or maybe she wouldn’t have to use willpower.
Even then, she couldn’t accept his offer. Staying at the Plaza was hardly an imposition. They would have housekeeping and room service and they would survive. “No, really, Aidan. I’m not going to impose on your life. The hotel is fine. They’re sending over a shuttle van to pick us and our things up in an hour.”
Aidan grabbed her cell phone from the kitchen counter and handed it to her. “Call and cancel it.”
“What? Why?” Violet snatched the phone out of his hand but didn’t have any intention of calling anyone. Instead, she shoved it into the back pocket of her jeans.
“Because I’m not letting you and my son live in a hotel when I can do something about it.”
“Let me?” Violet couldn’t help the edge in her voice. She wasn’t the kind of person who asked permission from anyone. At one time, her parents had watched and critiqued her every step, even from halfway around the world. As she grew up, she decided that anyone else could mind their own business. She learned early on that there were plenty of people in the world—men especially—who would be happy to control her and her money. But she was not a prize to be won. Violet had to grow a backbone or she might as well give her fortune away.
“Who are you to let me do anything? I am a grown woman—a single mother at that—who makes her own decisions.”
Aidan’s eyes widened as he realized his mistake and held up his hands to buffer the blowback. “That’s not what I meant. I know you make your own decisions, probably better ones than I do. I just want to do something nice for you, okay? You’ve been great helping me with the foundation grant and working through the custody situation with Knox. There isn’t much I can do for you or Knox. I’m sure the Plaza will be great—far superior to anything I can offer you. But I’m asking you to consider staying with me instead. Let me do this for you.”
Violet sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. The pleading expression on Aidan’s face was hard for her to resist. She knew it was tough to be involved with her in any capacity. The few friends she’d kept around and the men she’d dated over the years had told her as much. Buying her presents seemed impossible. What do you buy the person who can quite literally buy almost anything they want? And helping her? With what? She could pay for all the help she might ever need.
True kindness though... That wasn’t something you could put a price on. She could tell Aidan wanted to do this for her. Not to impress her or keep an eye on her, but because he wanted to be nice. From what she remembered of his place, it was a nice apartment in Hell’s Kitchen. It wasn’t all the way downtown or worse, far off in Jersey or something. She remembered him telling her that the place was the only thing left from his old life, although she couldn’t remember what he was referring to now.
“It would be nice to have a full kitchen for Knox,” she admitted. The Plaza only offered a mini bar and she doubted they had baby food and warmed formula on the room service menu. “Okay. We can try it. But if it’s too tight of quarters or it’s just not working out for some reason, the three of us will head to the Plaza.”
“Absolutely. And I’ll gladly help you move there if I’m wrong.” The wide grin on Aidan’s face was the best thank-you she could’ve gotten. “But I think it’s going to be great.”
Violet wasn’t so sure, but she knew it would be a better alternative than living in the disaster area of her apartment for the next few days. There was no way Knox could nap or Violet could think with all the work going on. “Thank you, Aidan. This is a very kind offer. I hope we don’t make you regret it. Knox is cutting his bottom teeth with a vengeance.”
“No worries. I’ve missed so much that I’ll happily endure teething to spend time with him. And you,” he added with a pointed look into her eyes before he quickly shifted attention to his watch. “Uh, listen, I’m going to run home and clean up so everything is ready when you get there.” He scribbled the address onto a slip of paper in his pocket and handed it to her with a brass key. “I’ve got to head to Murphy’s about two, so if you’re not there before I leave, you’ll need this.”
Violet accepted the address and the key, holding the cool metal tightly in her hand. “Thank you, Aidan.”
He nodded and sl
ipped back out the door, stepping wide over the fan drying the floors. Once he was gone, Violet looked down at the key in her hand. The ache in her stomach made her think she’d made the wrong decision staying with him. The ache in her core when he’d looked at her that way made her certain of it. If she didn’t want a relationship with Aidan, she needed to tread very carefully. But what was done was done.
It was only a week, right?
With a sigh of resignation, she went up the stairs to the nursery and let Tara know about their sudden change of plans.
* * *
Aidan quietly unlocked the front door of his apartment and slipped inside, not sure of what he might find when he got there. He’d had to leave for work in the midst of their settling in. He’d called home to check in a few times throughout the evening and Violet insisted everything was fine, but he wasn’t so sure. There was an edge of anxiety in her voice. Then again, she’d had a long and frustrating day that started with wet ankles and ended in another man’s apartment.
The apartment was dark and quiet. It looked almost as though nothing had changed today aside from little touches—bottles in the drain tray by the sink, the stroller sitting in the foyer and Violet curled up on his couch with a book.
The only light in the room was shining down on her, highlighting her form like she was an angel sitting there. Her long, dark hair was twisted up into a messy knot on top of her head and she was wearing a pair of navy silk pajamas as she read. He wasn’t sure if she’d ever looked as beautiful as she did then, fresh faced and relaxed.
When she finally looked up at him and smiled with a divinely serene look on her face, Aidan had to brace his hand on the back of a chair to steady himself. “Hi,” he said, as ineloquently as he could manage.
“Hi.” Violet put a bookmark between the pages and closed her book.
It was then that he noticed it was a historical romance novel—the kind where the man on the cover was wearing nothing more than a kilt and a broadsword while he gripped a woman in his arms. The golden script on the front said something about The Highlander’s Bride. Prize? The Highlander’s Pride? He wasn’t sure. Either way it was not what he would’ve thought would be in Violet’s “to be read” pile. She’d always struck him as the book club type. Interesting.