“True.” I walk around the opposite side of the counter when he starts to come toward me.
“What are you doing?”
“Nothing.” I keep moving as he follows me.
“You’re a horrible liar.”
“I’m not lying.” I frown at him, and the side of his mouth kicks up.
“So why are you suddenly set on keeping this between us?” He pats the top of the island.
“I’m not.” I push in my stool, and he leans into the counter across from me.
“Liar.”
“I’m—” I start to tell him that I’m not lying, but instead, I jolt when suddenly there’s a loud thud, and the sound of glass breaking comes from down the hall at the front of the house.
“Stay here.” He points at me, and my heart pounds as he storms around the corner out of sight. Of course I don’t listen to his order. I jog behind him to find out what happened, then run into his back at the doorway to my office. “I thought I told you to stay put.”
“You did, but you’re not my boss.” I flip on the light switch and then squeeze my eyes closed when I spot Blue in the corner of the room, looking far too innocent, with the glass vase I had filled with faux flowers and glass beads now shattered and covering the hardwood floors.
“You have a cat?”
“I have two.” I start to move around him to get my cat, but before I can, his arms go around my waist, and he lifts me off my feet. “What are you doing?” I squeak as he turns and carries me down the hall, hanging half over his arms like I’m a ragdoll.
“Saving your feet.” He lowers me to the ground in the kitchen. “Where’s the broom?”
“I need to get Blue so she doesn’t get glass in her paws.”
“I’ll get her. Now where is the broom?” he repeats, and I sigh before going to the pantry to grab it.
“She won’t let you get near her. She doesn’t like strangers.” I shove the broom at him when he holds out his hand.
“You’re not going into that room without shoes.”
“Fine,” I huff, and his lips press together like he’s trying not to laugh. With another huff, I take off for my bedroom to grab a pair of slippers, then start back to my office, only to shake my head when Aiden comes down the hall… holding Blue. “She let you pick her up.”
“I could make a joke about that, but I’ll keep it to myself.” He passes me my cat before walking away, and I look at Blue, narrowing my eyes on her when she blinks at me.
“You are in so much trouble.” I tap her nose, and she swipes at my finger. Knowing that if I put her down she will be right back in my office in the middle of the mess she made, I carry her to my room and shut her inside with her sister that is asleep on the end of my bed. I go to the pantry to grab an empty box and the vacuum, taking them with me to help clean up.
We work in silence as we get all the glass swept up and the beads gathered from where they’ve scattered under furniture, and we’re done in half the time it would have taken me to do it all alone.
“Thank you,” I tell him, picking up the box to take it outside to the garbage can.
“I’ll take that out with me when I leave.” He takes the box from me when I get to the front door and sets it next to the mat on the floor before turning to face me. As he starts walking toward me, I back up a step, and his head tips to the side. “What are you doing?”
“What are you doing?” I ask him and take another step back when he moves toward me.
“Since I just had my tongue in your mouth and you were making that hot-as-fuck noise down my throat not that long ago, I’m trying to figure out why you’re suddenly set on keeping distance between us.”
“I was not making noises.” I glare at him.
“Doll.” He crosses his arms over his chest. “What the fuck is going on?”
“Nothing.”
“Right.” His arms fall to his sides, and he comes toward me while I start to back up, only—with my house not being huge by any stretch—I soon feel the carpet that’s in my living room under my feet. Then the back of my knees bump into the coffee table. Not wanting to end up with my ass falling through the clear glass, I start to skirt the table, but it’s the wrong move, and I realize this when Aiden’s hand sweeps out to wrap around my hip with enough pressure to send me tumbling sideways onto my couch. I gasp as I fall to my back, then my breath freezes in my lungs as he comes down on top of me, with one thigh between my legs and his face an inch from mine.