Love on the Lake (Lakeside 2)

“Last year Katrina told me she was in the middle of a divorce, but that wasn’t true. She threatened to divorce her husband, but she hadn’t gone through with it. She was never going to bail on her gynecologist husband, who apparently can’t find a clitoris with a map and a microscope. The man looks at vaginas all day every day. If anyone should know what he’s doing, it’s that guy.”

I nearly choke on a sip of my prosecco. As it is, I suppress a cough-laugh.

“You all right?” Aaron asks.

“I’m fine. Please, I need to know what happened.”

“She’s going to live in misery forever because she doesn’t want to lose the life of leisure. Which was fine. I didn’t want to be her boyfriend. But I thought they were separated, and I found out they weren’t when her husband showed up early one Friday afternoon. I had to jump two stories into the rosebushes or risk losing my balls. That was the last time I mowed lawns on that side of the lake. The Sea-Doo was an apology gift.”

“Wow. That’s quite the apology.”

“Rosebushes cause a lot of damage.” Aaron shrugs, but he looks like he’s waiting for me to get up and walk out on him.

I glance over at the table where Katrina is with her friends. “It’s sad that those women are so miserable and they’re willing to stay trapped in it because they don’t want to lose their comfort. I was the same way. I used to spend ridiculous amounts of money getting my hair and nails and whatever else done. I needed the brand names and the status that came with all those things. I’m embarrassed by the way I used to act and the things I put value on. It took losing it all for me to finally see that all of it was an illusion. A mask to hide all the discontent.” I blow out a breath. “Sorry, that was a tangent you didn’t need. What I’m trying to say is that if anyone should be uncomfortable, it should be that woman, not you. I don’t want her to put a damper on our date, so if you want to go, we can go, but I don’t need you to take me home unless that’s what you want to do.”

“I don’t want her to ruin our evening either.”

“Okay. So we don’t let her.” I slide my hand across the table and touch the tips of his fingers.

His shoulders relax, and he curls his fingers around mine. I see something vulnerable lurking behind his eyes. “You’re a dangerous woman, Teagan.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because you make me want to believe in the future.”

I want to ask more questions, but our dinner arrives.

I’ve learned something new and important about Aaron, though—there are layers to this man, secrets and vulnerabilities. I want to uncover all of them and teach him that he can and should be loved, not in spite of them but because of them.

CHAPTER 15

TWO LIVES

Aaron

The week after our date night passes in a blur of sleepovers and late nights. As much as I want to stay at Teagan’s Friday night, I don’t. I have to be up early on Saturday morning, and she seems preoccupied with the farmers’ market proposal. I already know she has a hard time sleeping, and I don’t want to make that worse by keeping her up late and making too much noise when my alarm goes off at an ungodly hour. I’ve noticed she has to take medication daily. At first I thought it was birth control, but those typically come in those perforated packages, and the prescriptions I’ve seen in her medicine cabinet are in regular bottles. I don’t want to snoop, but I’m assuming one of them must help her sleep.

So I leave her place around eleven, feeling like crap over the disappointment on her face. But we both could use a decent night’s sleep, and I need a night on my own so I can shift mental gears.

I get up Saturday morning, pack an overnight bag, and hop in my truck, leaving Pearl Lake behind. I need the two-hour drive to clear my head. I don’t know how long I can reasonably keep this from Teagan. Or if I should. Hell, I’ve been keeping it from my mom ever since I dropped out of college. So keeping it from Teagan is kind of a given, seeing as they work together, and how unfair would it be for me to put my secret on her like that? It’s another layer of complication and one of the reasons I haven’t allowed myself to get close to anyone in a long time.

As soon as I pull into the driveway, the front door flies open and a little body comes flying down the front steps, skipping the last two. He nearly falls over and jump-hops around while he waits for me to park the truck. Jamie’s mother rushes out after him, yelling for him to stay put so he doesn’t end up under my tires.