Page 40 of Sinful Negotiations
“You will.”
She grinned in the darkness. “I will what?”
“Run.”
She chuckled at his teasing. “I’m going to pretend we aren’t having this conversation.”
“Think about it. We have phenomenal sex, I adore you, love being with you, and can’t stand the thought of you going back to your place.”
“Who are you?” Tessa asked the question without turning around.
“I know what I want, and I want you.”
Her lips twitched in contemplation. She was too tired to deal with this tonight. Their contract disintegrated into a pile of ash over the last three days, and she didn’t know what to make of it. Was he serious?
“Do you like horror movies?”
The question caught her off guard. “I do as long as I’m not alone.”
Aidan flicked on the small television sitting on the dresser and clicked the remote until he found an old black and white movie. “I have something for you. Raise for a minute.”
“Now? It’s one o’clock in the morning.”
“Just do it.”
Tessa lifted her head long enough for a chain to slip around her neck. A silver, shamrock charm caught the light from the television, and she twirled it between her fingers. “What’s this?”
“It was my mother’s. She was Irish. When I was younger, I was shy and had trouble speaking at school. She told me to touch it whenever I needed reassurance. I haven’t worn it in years but thought you could. There’s a tracking device installed inside. It’s undetectable. All you have to do is squeeze it, and it activates a beacon.”
“What a thoughtful gift if not a little odd. I can’t keep this, Aidan. It was your mom’s.”
“I wanted you to have it for courage if something ever goes wrong.”
Tessa played with the tiny shamrock, remembering Aidan’s phone call from earlier. “Talk to me.”
“There’s nothing to tell, but remember me when you hold it, and that I’ll always come for you.”
His hand squeezed her shoulders when she started to argue, so she let the conversation die. Late into the night, she twirled and rubbed the shamrock between her fingers. Her gaze turned to the window, and the shadows slithering over the landscape. She was afraid, but Aidan comforted her without knowing it, prepared for what may or may not come, and that brought her a tiny bit of security, peace…and love.
Chapter 35
Dawn broke the darkness, and Aidan frowned as sunlight danced across the lake. That sixth sense was tingling in his gut, but all was quiet. Tessa slept soundly at his side. He stroked the silky skin of her shoulder with his fingers but gazed out the window. He loved caressing her, touching her, and caring for her.
It was odd that after so many years, he wanted a relationship again. Several women had entered his life, but it always ended for one reason or another. With Tessa it was different. Mature beyond her years, compassionate, sexy, and fun, she fit into his life, with him perfectly, but could she accept his other life?
At first, he thought their relationship would only be another sexual encounter, but somewhere along the way he noticed and admired other things like her efficiency, her strong work ethic, her sense of humor, the dreamer she hid from everyone, and the lonely woman she buried.
He thought she’d accepted the position within his company to spy for her uncle. It wasn’t unheard of, and almost expected from Chandler James. The man possessed a cold side he hid from his family. Aidan recognized it because he also had it.
Tessa surprised him though. Not once did she not leak any information to her uncle, and never questioned his decisions. Several times she’d referenced her uncle’s seedier side, so she knew, although she didn’t offer information. She was loyal, and that was admirable considering how overbearing the elder James could be.
When he learned of her employment, he immediately asked a trusted employee to monitor her. Anyone in his situation would make the same assumption, but Tessa proved them all wrong. Whatever information the handler provided, he only hoped Tessa would consider the facts and that she had been truthful when she said she wouldn’t choose her uncle’s side.
It would be devastating to lose her now. It wasn’t who she was, but what she meant to him as a man, and what she brought to his life. The smiles, the laughter, the teasing comments, the intimacy all brought joy to his life, but true love, a deep love, also resided between them.
Tessa loved like she was going to battle, and you couldn’t fake that. If the eyes were truly the windows of the soul, hers revealed everything her mouth didn’t speak.
He had a family, a fulfilling career, and more money saved than anyone could imagine, but he didn’t have a companion in this life.