“I haven’t budgeted for a trip,” I said.
“My treat.”
I glared at him, wondering if he was just teasing me, but again, he seemed absolutely serious.
“I couldn’t let you do that.”
“Why not?”
“It’s just not…not proper.” I glanced around at the sparse surroundings, wondering how he could afford a trip for one, let alone a trip for two. “I don’t even know you.”
He laughed.
“Fuck that,” he said with a wide grin. “I don’t care if it’s proper or not. You’re just making excuses. Come on,
Chloe, why not take a chance?”
What was the worst that could happen? Did I really think he was going to kidnap me and sell me into slavery or something? That’s the sort of thing that only happened on television. Besides, he was obviously stronger than I, and if he wanted to haul me off somewhere, I wouldn’t have been able to stop him.
This was ridiculous. I had work. I had to help Mare pick out wedding flowers. I had told Gabe I’d go car shopping with him this week. People were counting on me to be here. I couldn’t just pack up and leave with some strange, tattooed man, irrespective of how gorgeous he may be.
“No,” I said, this time with more conviction. “I’m not going to Florida with you.”
Aiden looked at me for a long moment, smiled slightly, and nodded. I noticed right away that his eyes didn’t light up this time, and I immediately felt bad for rejecting him.
“All right,” he said. “You can’t blame me for trying.”
“I don’t,” I said quietly as I stood up to leave. “I’m just not sure doing something like that on such short notice is in me.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Aiden replied. He stood up in front of me and placed his hand on the side of my face. “I think it’s in there somewhere.”
“Unlikely,” I said as I tried to smile. I was keenly aware of how close he was to me, and again my body reacted. My skin tingled as he bent slightly to place his lips on the side of my neck. I closed my eyes and held my breath as he moved his hand to the back of my head.
“You can still change your mind,” he whispered as his nose dragged along my cheek, making me shiver. “My fight was delayed, so I won’t be leaving until almost noon tomorrow. You have some time to think about it.”
Aiden pulled away abruptly and headed over to the kitchen area. He scribbled in a small notepad that had been sitting on the counter, tore off the page, and handed it to me. It had flight information and a phone number on it.
“Text me if you change your mind,” he said.
“I’m not going to change my mind.” I glanced at the paper as I headed for the door. My heart was pounding again, and I needed to get out of there before I said or did something crazy. I didn’t seem to think clearly in his presence. All those muscles and his intense eyes kept me off guard. I needed to get out of there and back to the safety of my condo.
“Text me anyway.”
I nodded, thinking it was better to let him believe I would contact him later even when I was pretty sure that was not in the cards. He took my hands in his and pulled me in close, brushed his lips against the corner of my mouth, and then opened the door.
I drove home slowly, replaying the entire conversation in my head. Go to Florida with him? He had to be nuts.
Monday morning I would have to explain the project cancellation to the team though they’d likely all heard about it by now anyway. I had to reassign resources, meet with accounting, and figure out where the budget for the server upgrade would land, now that it wasn’t going to happen. I had to change contractor assignments, reallocate technical resources, and update the project plans. Mare needed a florist. Gabe needed a new car. The very idea of jaunting off with some stranger with no notice was ridiculous.
And exciting.
I pulled into my parking space and went inside my condo. I could have sworn Buffy was glaring at me.
“For all I know, he’s a vampire,” I told her.
As I looked away from Buffy, I caught sight of my father’s picture on the other side of the bookshelf. His smiling eyes looked into the camera, and I reached out to stroke the frame.
“I have a pretty good idea what you would think of all this,” I said to the picture. “Stay away from dangerous situations. The unknown is often dangerous.”