“Of course you do,” she said, reaching out to take his hand and squeeze it gently. The heat of his touch warmed her blood, making her suddenly flush in the relatively cool apartment. “I wouldn’t have gotten involved with you once, much less twice, if you didn’t have a chance. I’m not the kind to take physical connections lightly.”
Aidan’s gaze searched her face for a moment, and then he nodded, pulling his hand away from hers. “I’ll keep that in mind,” he said. “I’d better get going. Tonight is my last night off until the gala on Saturday. I’ve got a lot to get done before then.”
They both stood, and Violet followed him to the front door. She understood he had things to do; she did, too, and yet, she hated the thought of him leaving. Normally, she was the kind of woman who liked having some alone time even in a relationship, but she found herself fighting the urge to fling her arms around his neck to keep him from going. She wasn’t ready yet.
How had she gotten so attached to Aidan so quickly? In all the years she was with Beau, she’d never felt this way. “Stay,” she said in a soft voice before she could overthink it.
He looked at her curiously with his hand on the doorknob. “After almost a week together, I thought you’d be sick of me by now.”
“Me, too,” Violet said with a smile. “But surprisingly, I’m not.”
His hand dropped from the doorknob and he moved it to rest on her hip. He came in close to her, warming her body and wrapping her in the cocoon of his alluring scent. She wanted to press into him and pull him into her bedroom. She wasn’t sure how she was going to fall asleep without him in the bed beside her.
Violet pressed her face into his neck, feeling the warmth of his skin and the thrum of his pulse against her lips. “So stay,” she whispered in his ear.
“Okay. You’ve twisted my arm.”
Nine
The rest of the afternoon passed painfully slowly. Once Violet convinced Aidan to stay the night, it was a countdown to having him in her arms. She’d gotten used to falling asleep beside him and waking up with his scent on her pillowcase. They weren’t keeping their relationship or Knox’s parentage a secret from Tara any longer, but they weren’t flaunting it in front of the nanny, either. That meant if Violet wanted a soft, slow kiss or a good hug, she had to wait for bedtime.
Although the kitchen was repaired, most of the cabinet contents were still in boxes in the dining room. Aidan ordered Chinese delivery while Violet fed Knox some baby cereal and mashed-up banana. The banana—at least what made it into his mout
h—was a hit.
At bedtime, Aidan took his opportunity to put his son to bed. Violet watched from a distance as he went through the nightly routine he’d picked up from her while they’d stayed with him. A new diaper, pajamas and then a quick rock in the rocking chair together to settle Knox down. Sometimes Violet would tell Knox a story or sing him a song. When he was a little older, she would start reading to him. Aidan regaled his son with a story about the Yankees triumphing over the Phillies in the 2009 World Series. Knox lay in his arms, enthralled the entire time.
Watching the two of them together always turned her heart into butter. Violet wasn’t entirely sure what it was really like to have a father—at least one who was involved in her life. Her bedtime had always involved a nanny, and if her parents were in town, perhaps a kiss on the forehead from her mother. But bedtime stories, baths and lullabies were not something she associated with her parents. Her father cared for her in his own way, but he just wasn’t the demonstrative type. Her grandfather Stavros hadn’t been the kind, either, although he’d warmed up to being a grandfather by the time she was born. Maybe someday her dad would soften with Knox, but when she was a child, it was likely all he knew how to be—firm and distant.
Violet knew that Aidan’s father had problems drinking throughout Aidan’s childhood, so it was possible he wasn’t much of a hands-on father, either. The difference was that Aidan didn’t use that as an excuse to be cold with his son. Instead, he went over and above, making sure he did better for Knox than his own father had done for him.
She appreciated that more than she even realized at first. Watching them together, she thanked her lucky stars for the twist of fate that brought her and Aidan together. She knew that even if Knox had been Beau’s son, it wouldn’t have been like this with him. He hadn’t really been involved throughout the entire pregnancy. He blew off an ultrasound. Moped through the baby shower because he’d had to cancel a standing racquetball match for it. The idea of having a son appealed to him, but not the reality of it.
Aidan had a son dropped into his lap out of nowhere and he’d recovered beautifully. She got the feeling that going through her pregnancy with him would’ve been different, as well. Would he have rubbed her swollen ankles and gone out in search of her latest food craving? Probably so. Because he seemed to care about the people in his life. To Violet, that was more important than all the other things Beau supposedly had to offer her but Aidan didn’t.
Knox nodded off in his father’s arms. She watched as Aidan gently stood up, walked his son over to his crib and got him settled in.
“He’s out cold,” Aidan whispered when he turned and saw her watching him from the doorway. “How did I do, Mama? Did I pass the bedtime test?”
Violet smiled. She hadn’t been watching him with that in mind, but she appreciated that he was trying to do everything right. “With flying colors.”
“Do I get a reward for a job well done?” he asked with a devious arch of his brow.
“I think that could be arranged.” Violet took his hand and led him across the hallway to her bedroom. Once inside, she shut her door and then pushed Aidan backward until he was sitting on the edge of the bed. With her gaze fixed on his, she slowly lowered herself down to her knees in front of him.
“Are you ready for your reward?” she asked with a coy smile.
“Oh, yeah.”
Violet took her time, running her hands up and down his legs and stroking his thighs through his jeans before moving to his fly. She unbuttoned it and ran down the zipper, feeling his body tense beneath her touch. He helped her tug his jeans and black boxer briefs over his hips and down his legs. They went into a pile along with his shoes and the rest of his unnecessary clothes.
She’d barely touched Aidan and yet once he was naked, she realized he was already primed and ready for her. As she reached for his exposed desire, she heard his sharp intake of breath. He continued to hold his breath as she wrapped her fingers around his firm heat and gently stroked him until he let out a ragged burst of air from his lungs.
“Violet,” he whispered with his eyes squeezed shut.
Feeling emboldened by his response, she brought him to her lips and enveloped him in the moist warmth. Aidan groaned aloud as she moved up and down the length of him, teasing at him with her tongue. He buried his fingers in her dark hair and bit at his bottom lip in an apparent effort to stay quiet.
Violet was determined to make that difficult for him. It was a reward, after all.