Catching Whitney (13 page)

“Whitney! Open the door. Now!”

It’s Aidan. Hasn’t he tortured me enough? Why is he so insistent on hurting me? I walk to the door so I don’t have to yell so loud.

“Go away, Aidan. I wouldn’t open this door if the house were on fire and you had the only extinguisher in existence!”

He pounds with his fists again. “Dammit, Whitney! I mean it. Open the door!” He listens for a moment, but I don’t reply. “I’ll break it down. Don’t think I won’t.”

I start to feel desperation. “Why? It’s over, Aidan. Just go home.” I feel tears once more, and my voice cracks as I repeat, “Just go home.”

“No! We are not over. Never say that!”

“Why can’t you leave me alone?”

He beats on the door again, and in anger I unlock and fling it open. He’s standing there with mussed hair and anger etched in his features.

“Why? Because you’re mine, Whitney. You have been since that night at the hotel.” He pushes his way inside, and I slam the door behind him.

“You’re crazy.” I look around him. “Where’s Caleb?”

“He’s with Lindsey. And I’m not crazy. I’m a man that knows when he’s got a good thing, and I’ll fight to keep it. To keep you. Until tonight, things were going according to plan.”

“Plan? I know all about your plan. You can take those intentions and shove them!”

He runs his hand through his hair again. A small laugh escapes his lips and really start to wonder if he’s losing it. “I don’t know where I went wrong. I was patient and tried to give you time. Sure, I stole a couple of kisses, but I’m only human. You’re just so damn irresistible.”

I snort in disbelief.

He stalks toward me, purpose shining in his eyes. “You don’t think so? Do you have any idea what it’s like for me when you walk into a room? It’s like my skin is on fire and can only be soothed by touching yours. The oxygen itself gravitates toward you, and if I’m not close to you, I can’t breathe. Other men look at you, and I want to gouge their eyes out.”

I understand what he’s saying, because that’s how I feel about him. But that doesn’t change the fact that he has a baby on the way, and he used me to hurt the mother of his unborn child.

“I can’t, Aidan. Please,” I’m practically begging him now.

He takes another step closer, and I realize I’m within reach should he want to grab me. I’m not afraid of him. I know he’d never physically hurt me, but his touch would only weaken my resolve to rid him from my life forever.

“Aidan, I never want to see you again.”

The hurt and anger in his voice are palpable. “What? Why would you say that? What am I missing?”

I shake my head. I can’t even repeat what I overheard. I’m afraid if I try he’ll audibly hear my heart breaking. The words are too cruel to repeat.

He looks me over and realizes I’m wearing nothing but panties and a t-shirt. His smile grows slowly as his eyes travel up my legs, eventually landing on my face. He takes the remaining step forward and puts his hands on my waist. His voice is soft and just above a whisper.

“You’re so incredibly beautiful. You’re funny and smart. You have an amazing way with kids. How could I help but fall in love with you?”

I try not to react to his touch or his words, but my body is traitorous, and I feel myself start to lean into him. Did he just say he is in love with me? No, it’s all part of his game to keep me close and available when he calls. I close my eyes and look for the Whitney with a backbone. Last time I needed her, it was to tell him yes. Tonight I have to say no, and it’s the most painful word I’ve ever attempted to utter.

I place a hand on his chest and can feel his heart beating rapidly. My own is just as erratic.

“You need to leave, Aidan. I can’t do this anymore.”

His grip on my waist tightens ever-so-slightly, and he frowns.

“At least tell me why. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and I’ve been chasing you too long to simply walk away without a reason.” He brings one hand to my face and caresses my cheek. “I’ve been replaying the entire night in my head and...” His voice trails off, and his brow becomes furrowed. “Wait, did you say something about Rebecca back at your car?”

Just hearing him say her name creates a new wave of pain that rips through my body like a knife. I nod quietly, afraid to attempt speech. My inner thoughts are scrambled. I want to scream at him and ask him why. I want to throw something at him. I want to tell him off in every imaginable way that exists. And the worst thing - I want to kiss him and feel his arms around me even still. Despite it all, I’m still in love with him, and that’s an irony that I can’t shake. I was trying to avoid this very thing when it came to Aidan, but it seems I was lost in him long ago.

He steps back and lets his hands fall to his sides. A shiver runs through me at the loss of his warmth. He seats himself on my sofa. “What did she say to you?”

I press my lips together to stop their trembling. “She said nothing to me. But I overheard her in the bathroom.”

Aidan’s frown becomes more pronounced. “Tell me. Please. I think there may have been a misunderstanding.”

I raise my eyebrows. “Misunderstanding? That’s an understatement.” Suddenly my inner bad-ass roars to life. I move to sit next to him, trying to school my features and keep my rising anger on a leash. “Is a baby a misunderstanding? Using me to make her jealous - is that simply an accident?”

His face falls. “Yes, it is.” It dawns on him that what he said didn’t come out correctly. “I mean no! Ah hell. How do I explain this?”

He angles his body so he’s mostly facing me and reaches for my hand, but I pull away.

“Whitney, Rebecca is a walking mess. She’s my late wife’s cousin. She’s practically family, so when she offered to help care for Caleb it made sense. What I didn’t know, until recently, is that she has some delusional idea that we are a couple. We were arguing about that very thing at the party tonight. She was irate that I was showing you so much attention. The fight ended with her huffing off in anger, grabbing her friend Katie, and going to the... ladies room.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Damn. Now I understand.”

“Well I don’t, so please continue.”

He flashes me a weak smile. “She knew you were in the bathroom, Whitney. She was trying to stir up trouble; make you hate me. Looks like she did a bang up job of it too.”

My jaw goes slack. “But, she was sobbing, Aidan. Real tears. And her friend was confirming everything she said.”

He shook his head. “She used to be an actress, Whitney. She can cry on command better than anyone I’ve ever seen. I still don’t know how she didn’t make it to the big time. And some of it may have been real. Before she stormed, off I had to lay it out in no uncertain terms that she and I would never be together. I told her I was in love with you.”

My eyes snap to his and I search for any sign he might be lying. All I can see is hurt and betrayal in his beautiful brown eyes.

“What about the baby?”

He frowns. “The baby isn’t mine. She found out she was pregnant a couple months ago. The father is a local married man and an ex-business partner of mine, so it’s complicated. You might know of him - Jared Mathison. I’ve known him for years. He lied to Rebecca, knocked her up, and embezzled from my sports complex. There is no love lost between us.” He releases a heavy sigh. “I hope she hasn’t been telling people the baby is mine. Lord, what a mess.”

Ah, so that explains how the Mathison family plays into all this.

I think back to the conversation in the bathroom. “To be fair, I don’t remember her actually coming out and saying it was yours. She mentioned the baby a couple of times, but didn’t get into detail. Since the rest of the conversation was about you, I assumed – oh, Aidan. I’m so sorry.”

He shakes his head. “She meant for you to think that. She knew you were too good a person to come between a baby and its father.” He reached for my hand and this time I let him have it. “I swear to you, Whitney Dawson, outside of Caleb, no one is more important to me than you. I mean it when I say I love you.”

“I’m so confused, Aidan. I love you too, but I don’t know how to reconcile everything that has happened tonight. I feel like I just got off a horrifying roller coaster.”

His expression changes from sadness to joy. “You love me?”

“I do. I didn’t want to. I fought it for so long. I wanted to be a happy, independent woman who relies only on herself. But I guess that’s not who I really am.”

He squeezes my hand. “Of course it’s who you are. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have love too.”

I give him a tired smile. “Yeah, I guess so.”

He pulls me into his arms. “Let me stay the night, Whitney. No sex. I want to fall sleep holding you and wake up with you next to me. I came so close to losing you tonight that I’m afraid to leave. I need you close.”

I smile and let stray tear of relief roll down my cheek. “I’d like that, Aidan. I’d like that very much.”

I wake up to the smell of bacon cooking. I stretch and roll over to see the spot where Aidan slept is empty. He was true to his word and only asked to hold me. He’d talked with Lindsey after I left the party and she offered to watch Caleb so he could come after me. That explains how he got my address. Once I agreed to let him spend the night, he called her, and she agreed to let him sleep over at her house. She has a few video games of her own, so I felt sure he was having a great time. It’s amazing to me how protective I’ve become over him. Yes, he’s a student, and I care about all of my pupils, but with Caleb it’s so much more. It’s as if he’s my own.

I throw back the covers and let my feet hit the cold hardwood floor. I shiver and grab my robe, then quietly sneak into the kitchen. Aidan is standing at the stove in his boxers. He’s flipping pancakes and a smile forms on my lips. I can also hear the bacon sizzling from somewhere in front of him. I lean my body against the door jamb and cross my arms. I wait until he’s flipped the last pancake before I speak.

“You know, you really shouldn’t fry bacon in your skivvies. You could burn things.”

He spins around and gives me an adorable smile. “Things?”

I push myself off the wall and stroll to him, then wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him soundly. “Yes, things. Important things. Things that I eventually want you to use on me again someday.”

He chuckles. “Don’t you mean thing? I only have one you know. Shouldn’t school teachers know the difference between singular and plural?”

I smack him on the butt as I go to the cabinet. “I know the difference, but you have more than just... that... down there.” I motion to his general crotch area. I pull a coffee cup from the shelf and smirk. “Shouldn’t you know that if you burn your berries, it’ll be hard to use your twig?” Ah, there’s my inner spaz flying her freak flag. I was wondering where she’d went. I was actually starting to miss her.

He coughs, then grabs the table to steady himself. “Hand me that apron.”

I toss a blue apron to him, and he slips it over his head, then ties it at the back. He starts plating the bacon and sets it on the table. The he returns to the stove for the pancakes. I fill my coffee and take a seat. Once he’s seated, he points his fork at me.

“Please don’t refer to it as my twig again. That makes it sound tiny.”

I take a sip of my coffee and give him a knowing smile. “If you say so.”

“Yes, I say so. A man needs to protect his pride, you know.”

“Is that what you’re protecting?” I ask innocently. “I thought it was your twig.”

He hops up from his chair. “That’s it. Looks like I need to remind you what my so-called twig is really like.”

I screech and fling myself from the chair, running back into the bedroom. He chases me down the hall and catches me just before I hit the bed. I laugh out loud as he nuzzles my neck and threatens to do all sorts of naughty things to me. I’m not sure if I’m one hundred percent ready to resume a sexual relationship with him just yet, but I know he’ll give me all the time I need because he loves me. And I’m learning that real love can overcome any obstacle - even one as difficult as me.