I wave back, go inside, and lock the door, hoping my new alarm system is unnecessary but not entirely believing it.
By the time Aidan returns, it’s dark.
“Sorry I’m late,” he says when I open the door to his knock. “Meeting was a clusterfuck. Almost missed the last ferry.” He glances past me into the foyer. “Okay if I come in?”
“Of course.”
I swing the door wide and step back to let him through it. He walks into the foyer and inspects the security code box on the wall. “Jake do a good job for you?”
Smiling, I close the door. “Jake’s awesome.”
He cuts his gaze to me. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. I like him.”
“You say that as if it’s a surprise.”
I shrug. “I’m not a fan of people in general. I take it on a case-by-case basis. But Jake’s a good egg.”
“He is,” he says softly, his eyes shining. “And same here about not being a fan of most people.”
“We should start a club. Introverts United, Seattle chapter. You can be the president.”
“We’re not introverts. We’re misanthropes. Big difference.”
“That reminds me. I’ve been meaning to tell you that I admire your vocabulary.”
Gazing down into my eyes and looking as if he’d like to grab me and gobble me up, he says gruffly, “Yeah? Anything else you admire, little rabbit?”
Hearing that nickname reminds me of our sexy chase around his kitchen table. My whole body turns warm. “I’ll make you a list.”
We gaze at each other for a moment until he reaches out and sweeps his thumb over my burning cheek.
He murmurs, “Good. You can recite it to me next time I’m inside you.”
Somebody just picked me up and dropped me into a volcano. Searing heat envelops my skin. The breath I pull into my lungs is scorching. I wouldn’t be surprised if I looked down to find all my clothes burnt to ashes in a pile at my feet.
When I lick my lips, there’s a moment where I’d swear he was about to lunge at me. But he controls himself, dropping his hand from my face and turning businesslike.
“I’m gonna get that tarp up now.”
“What? Now? It’s dark outside!”
“So?”
“So I don’t want you falling off my roof and breaking your neck!”
He stares intently at me, his gaze sharpening. “Two things.”
“Oh no. Why do I get the feeling this is going to end badly for me?”
Brushing right past that, he says, “Number one. I don’t fall off roofs, no matter how steep they are.”
I cross my arms over my chest and resist rolling my eyes.
“Number two,” he says more softly, “so what if I did break my neck?”
I blanch. “Aidan, that’s not funny.”
“Nobody’s laughing. Answer the question.”
He’s very serious now, gazing at me with burning intensity, an odd light behind his eyes. I don’t know why, but my pulse goes haywire.
I drop my arms to my sides and say, “Please don’t make me answer that.”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t think I’m ready for this conversation yet.”
“What conversation?”
He steps closer. His intensity burns even brighter. We stand inches apart, so close I can feel his body heat, but he doesn’t touch me. He merely gazes down at me with hooded eyes, waiting.
Staring up into his dark eyes, I whisper, “The conversation about how I feel about what’s happening between us.”
He says instantly, “Yeah, we’re gonna do that. Right now. Because I almost went fucking crazy thinking about you today, and if you’re not into this, I’d rather know sooner than later.”
I close my eyes and exhale a shaky breath. “Did you forget our little chat in the shower so quickly?”
“Nope. Look at me.”
I open my eyes. When he’s got me good and trapped in the bonfire of his gaze, he says, “I know you’re not comfortable getting close in your house, and I’m respecting that. Otherwise, I’d already have you naked. Understood?”
Damn, he’s intense. I swallow nervously and nod.
“Good. Now talk.”
I debate with myself in silence for a while, but Aidan doesn’t push. He simply stands there staring at me like I’m about to dispense some mystic secrets of the universe that have been lost to the human race since we were cave dwellers.
Finally, I say, “Okay. But I’d like to ask that after I say what I’m going to say, that you don’t make a big deal about it.”