A corner of his mouth tugged upward. “Nope, not that kind of fixer, and definitely not fond enough of my brother to kill for him.”
“You’re sure?”
“I wouldn’t even kill a spider for him,” Aaron assured her.
Sighing, Julie reluctantly admitted to herself that she really didn't have anywhere else to go except back to Jack, and she could always swallow her pride and call him the next day, after she had gotten some sleep and gotten over the shock of the whole evening.
"I guess so," she said, opening up the passenger side door and hesitating for just a moment, glancing back at the door, for some reason expecting to see Matt watching her leave.
But there was no one there.
Just a cold, unwelcoming door.
Swallowing the imaginary lump in her throat, Julie slid into the passenger seat, situating her bags in the floor between her feet and pulling the door shut.
Then, glancing over at Aaron's grumpy looking profile, still shadowed in the darkness, she wondered whether or not she would be better off going with the devil she knew.
Chapter Nine-
As it turned out, Aaron's apartment really was in the nice part of town, in walking distance to The Magnificent Mile and all the great shops.
When they got there after a long, silent ride, Aaron got out of his car and popped the trunk, wordlessly removing her suitcase and extending the handle.
There was a doorman standing at the entrance, and Aaron nodded at him as he walked inside, Julie trailing along behind him.
"Did my brother explain anything about what part I'm supposed to be playing in this little drama you guys are having?" Aaron asked her as he pushed the elevator button.
Fighting the instinct to scowl at the man who was opening his home to her, she said, "Sort of."
"Like…?" he said, raising one black eyebrow.
In the well-lit building, Julie was getting her first real look at Aaron, and she concluded that while the personality in that family was sorely lacking, she had to grudgingly admit that when it came to physical traits, she should just about be guaranteed an absolutely adorable kid.
At roughly 5’11”Aaron was shorter than Matt by a couple inches, and instead of the business-like outfits that Matt usually favored, Aaron was wearing a pair of worn black jeans and a black hoodie. They looked close in age, and Julie wondered vaguely which one was older. Aaron had nice brown eyes with thick lashes, and jet black hair, but his complexion was a little lighter than Matt's. Matt had a more olive skin tone, whereas Aaron's was lightly tanned, but not as dark as his brother.
She wondered if she would ever see him smile. If so, she would be able to see his teeth, and see if he got Matt's endearingly crooked front teeth.
So far, it wasn’t looking good.
Matt was certainly the friendlier of the two, even if he was a lying jerk.
But, objectively, she thought Aaron might be more physically attractive.
"Hello?" he said impatiently, bringing Julie out of her mental comparison and stepping inside the elevator.
"Oh…He just said I could stay here for a little while and… I think he said something about you getting me a job, but you don't have to do that. I'm sure I can find something, I just… didn't have anywhere to go tonight, as my eviction was pretty immediate."
"Sleeping with a woman's husband doesn't usually make her agreeable to keeping you under her roof," he said reasonably.
Julie looked down, feeling a little shitty when he worded it like that.
"And Emma was already such a friendly, welcoming woman," he added sarcastically.
"Oh yeah, that's Emma," she responded just as sarcastically.
The elevator doors opened, and Aaron stepped out, Julie following behind him.
"I really hate to impose like this," Julie said. "I normally wouldn’t, but I just really don’t have anywhere else to go right now. My only other option was… worse than going home with a stranger, believe it or not. I'm going to see if I can make other arrangements tomorrow," she told him.