Up close, he looks like a big old teddy bear, and his smile is warm and friendly. We shake hands, and I turn back to Aiden.
“Hi, Steve. This is Jeni. Is it okay if we do a quick walk-through?”
“Of course, you can. Just watch where you step. There’s still some loose wiring and bits and pieces lying around,” he informs, gesturing toward the house.
Aiden nods, and I practically run, dragging him along with me.
“In a hurry, baby?” he asks, laughing at my excitement.
“Ah… yeah! This is going to be our new home. How can you not be as excited as I am? Come on! Hurry up, show me around,” I demand.
We move around the house, and at each room, Aiden tells me what it will be, and I think about how I want to decorate it, and try to visualize what the area will look like with paint and furniture.
The more time we spend here, I fall more in love with Aiden at how much thought he put into this house.
Although it’s nowhere near complete, it already feels like home.
Arriving at work, we say our good mornings.
Niall walks out of his office fiddling with his cast. “I’m going to cut this fucking thing off in a minute,” Niall grumbles, taking one of Bree’s pencils in his hand, inserting it between the cast and his arm to scratch himself.
I try to hide my smile, but I have to admit seeing him suffering is amusing.
“Aiden, cut this thing off, will you?” Niall goads, taking Bree’s scissors and handing them to Aiden, who simply chuckles.
&nb
sp; “This is no laughing matter, boy. I’m serious. Cut. It. Off.”
Aiden places the scissors back on Bree’s desk. “Father, I’m not cutting it off. It needs to be on for a few more weeks.”
Niall looks at Aiden in disgust and picks the scissors up himself. “Fine, I’ll do it myself.”
“If you take it off now, you’ll only hurt your arm further, and then you’ll be in pain and have the cast on for even longer. For a man with brains, you sure aren’t showing me any. Wouldn’t you rather have an itchy arm than a painful one?”
Niall pauses, huffs, throws the scissors back onto the desk, and storms off to his office.
“Great, now he’s going to be in a terrible mood all day,” Brielle murmurs under her breath.
I sigh and walk to my desk as Aiden kisses me on the cheek and proceeds to his office, then I get on with my day.
A little later, I head to the bathroom to freshen up. On my way in, I see Niall walking behind me and decide to quicken my pace to ensure I don’t run into him on the way out. Unfortunately, being quick doesn’t work because as I step out of the bathroom, Niall’s waiting for me, standing between me and the exit. I try to walk past him, but he blocks me in.
The old asshole puts out his hand and pushes me back hard against the bathroom door. My heart starts to race as those nerves creep back. Dammit! I look up and see his face has a glimmer of a smirk. The asshole’s genuinely enjoying himself. I want to call out to Aiden or Bree, but he knows I won’t.
“Look, I have work to do, and you like productive workers, so if you let me go back to my desk, I can get on with things.”
“You could never be productive. You’re a waste of space.” Niall leans in, and my breathing quickens, then he steps closer to me. “Do I need to remind you of what you are?” he asks quietly into my ear.
I shake my head as my breathing shallows. Fuck him and this close proximity. It sets off all my alarms. This asshole’s holding all the cards right now.
“Oh, I do need to remind you. I think you’ve forgotten.”
I hold back the bile rising in my throat while his hand comes up, his fingers gently stroke down the side of my cheek.
I turn my head away from him, my entire body wants to convulse at his touch. “I haven’t forgotten…” You complete fuckhead, I say this part in my head.
“Good,” he says with a menacing smile as he suddenly turns his back to me.