Page 40 of Coerced

“Should we take the rest of these doughnuts home with us, or are you still hungry?”

“We can take them with us.”

I grabbed the box with one hand, slid my other hand down Aria’s arm, and linked my fingers with hers. Then I stood, urged her from her seat, and led her to the door.

The moment we were both back in my car, I glanced over at her and said, “Thank you for sharing all of that with me this morning. I’m sorry about what you’ve been through, but I’m honored you were willing to share it.”

She sent a small smile my way. “Thanks for asking and listening. It means a lot to me.”

“You’re welcome. Now, are you ready to have a good time?”

“I already am.”

Unable to resist, I reached across the center console and rested my hand on Aria’s arm again. And not long after I started driving did I feel the soft touch of her opposite hand as it covered mine.

Victory number four.

ELEVEN

Aria

“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to thank you. This was fantastic.”

Paxton sent a proud smile my way. “I’m glad you enjoyed yourself. I promise there’s no need to try to thank me, because I had a wonderful time with you this morning. It was fun.”

He certainly wasn’t wrong about that.

This morning had been fun. It was the most fun I could remember having in years. In fact, I’d been so caught up in enjoying my time with Paxton that I’d forgotten entirely about what had happened earlier in the morning with the unexpected phone call from my dad.

Paxton and I had just walked out of the roller-skating rink, where we’d spent the morning revisiting a forgotten childhood pastime. Until he’d brought it up during breakfast, roller skating hadn’t even been on my radar.I used to enjoy it so much as a kid—that was the reason I’d had a party at the rink when I turned ten—but I couldn’t recall ever doing it again much beyond that party.

And although it had been one of things I really enjoyed, it hadn’t ever felt this good. I’d had the best time with Paxton. Truth be told, he impressed me. Though I didn’t have a good reason for why I believed it would be the case, I hadn’t expected him to be as good of a skater as he was.

“Do you do this often?” I asked about ten minutes after we’d gotten our skates on and made our way out onto the rink.

He laughed. “No. Not at all. Like you, I think the last time I did something like this was when I was a kid. Maybe eleven or twelve years old.”

“You’re so good at it.”

“I haven’t even done any of the fancy skating,” he noted.

My brows drew together. “Don’t tell me you can do that, too!”

His lips twitched, and the next thing I knew, Paxton was no longer skating beside me. He was in front of me, facing me and skating backwards. I was so stunned; my jaw dropped open, and I’d stopped actively attempting to propel myself forward.

Paxton reached for my hands, seemingly amused by my reaction, and urged me in his direction. “Come on. I’m sure you can do this, too.”

I shook my head, my eyes widening with fear. “No way.”

The man refused to be denied. And before I knew it,he’d gotten us to change positions, where I wound up being the one skating backward while he chased after me.

I didn’t doubt his ability to catch up. Not only was it much easier to skate forward, but there was a glint in Paxton’s eyes as he came after me, like he was thoroughly enjoying letting me believe I stood a chance at keeping my distance.

Was he just trying to cheer me up? Or was something else happening here for him?

I’d seen the way he looked at me. His eyes had lingered on my body a couple of times now, and he’d been amused by and flirtatious with me, too.

It seemed he was giving me more of that now.