Defining Love: Volume 3 (Defining Love #3) (7 page)

“Thank you.” She started to smile and then seemed to catch herself.
“About that,” she said with a wince. “I know after tonight this changes
everything, but can I ask that it doesn’t?”

“What?” I sat up, that same worry I’d felt earlier shooting
through, only this time it was mixed with anger.

“I mean just in front of Bea,” she said, and the anger quickly
morphed into understanding until she added, “and Edi.”

Instantly, the anger was back but even worse this time. “
Why
Edi? You said you ended that.”

Had she gone back to pretending she could still be gay for the
sake holding on to Edi’s friendship and expected me to have some kind of secret
affair with her? It went beyond everything I believed in. In all the years I’d
been with Mia, I never once considered cheating on her. The closest I’d come
was falling for someone else while still with her, but I’d had no control of
that, and I did the right thing and ended it before even thinking about doing
anything with Henri. This was fucking bullshit. I wouldn’t go along with this.
Not even for Henri.

“Because it’s so soon,” she explained, coming around the desk and
leaning against it directly in front of me. “That part of my relationship with
Edi
is
over. I promise you. I went back to sleeping on my chair bed in
the front room ever since the day we had
the
talk. Things haven’t actually
been as unbearable as I thought they might be. She went out with her friends on
Friday and again tonight. I think, like me, deep inside she always knew it
wasn’t going to work, and it does seem as if she’s trying to be strong about
it. I know it’s been less than a week, but she hasn’t so much as suggested we
can’t be friends anymore.
But
I also assured her my not being able to go
along with that kind of relationship with her wasn’t
because
of you.
Well”—she shook her head—“not so that I could
be
with you. I wasn’t even
certain about anything happening between you and me. All you said was that you
were attracted to me—”

“I made it clear I had feelings for you.”

“I know,” she said quickly. “But I still wasn’t sure what that
meant and you just came off this ten-year relationship.”

“Let me tell you what it means,” I said, trying to remain calm.
“What I
thought
this meant.” I pointed at the desk. “You coming here
tonight to confirm that I
am
in love with you, and then you telling me
you’re in love with me, too, was the beginning of something. We’re together and
you’re
mine
now. Something I
won’t
be keeping a secret from
anyone
.”

“I’m not asking you to keep it a secret, Aaron. Believe me. I
love that you want us to be a couple.” She smiled, shaking her head. “Are you
kidding me? I can hardly believe it. But don’t you think it’s a huge slap in
the face to Mia if she finds out that not even a week after breaking up with
her you’re with me now? You
did
say you care about her, and you
know
how much I care about Edi. I just think maybe we should keep things under wraps
for at least a little while. The other day . . .”

“The other day what?”

I reached out for her then pulled her to me so she’d sit on my
lap. The days of having her this close and not being able to touch her were
over
.
She sat down on my lap and took a deep breath but caressed my face softly with
her fingers. Her touch was like magic. After hearing her concern about Mia’s
and Edi’s feelings, I’d begun to feel better already, but her touch sealed it.
I closed my eyes, enjoying the feel of her soft gentle fingers against my skin.

“The other day when Bea told me you’d told Mia you were in love
with me, I’d decided I was going to quit.”

My eyes shot open.

“Because of what she said she and Mia were hoping,” she clarified
immediately then pecked my lips several times until I kissed her back too. “She
didn’t ask me how I felt about you, but she made sure I understood that she
really hoped it was something you were just going through and when you got over
it you’d go back to Mia, who you really belong with. She made it sound as if
you and I are from different worlds, so it would never work. She never actually
said I shouldn’t get my hopes up about you or that I should quit, but I knew in
my heart it would be the only way I’d be able to stay away from you. Cutting
all contact with you was my only hope of ever getting over you.”

“Getting over me?” I asked, sitting up a little straighter. “Do
you
believe I belong with Mia?”

“No.” She shook her head adamantly.

“You believe my being in love with you is something I’m just
going through and I’ll get over?”

“No.” She continued to shake her head. “But I know it’s what Bea
and Mia think—want. Eileen doesn’t even know the whole truth. Bea said Mia
asked her not to tell anyone, but Eileen was also very disappointed that you
and Mia broke up. It’s because of Eileen and Bea that I even have this job.
They’ve been good friends to me. I felt too guilty to even consider the
possibility of you and me.”

“So you were willing to cut me off just like that out of loyalty
to
them
?”

“Well”—she tilted her head as the corner of lip
twitched—“obviously my loyalty to them doesn’t run very deep, since here I am.”
She smirked, running her fingers through my hair. “I had a feeling I’d be all
over you the very next time I saw you. I knew I’d missed you, but”—she glanced
back at the desk then smiled wickedly—“I guess I didn’t realize just how much.”

“
You
missed me?” I shook my head in exasperation. “I owe
both Bea and Eileen an apology for the nasty mood I was in all day.”

She kissed me softly, leaning her forehead against mine. “I’m
sorry,” she whispered, staring into my eyes.

“Let me ask you something.” I laced my fingers through hers. “Do
you
think our worlds are too different for this to work?”

To my relief, she shook her ahead again. “I’ll admit when I first
met you I would’ve never in a million years thought I might have a chance with
such an amazing man. But one thing I’ve always believed is that if two people
were meant to be together it wouldn’t matter if they were from different
galaxies. Their hearts would find their way to each other.”

“Perfect answer,” I said, kissing her nose then her lips. “But
I’m not surprised so far
everything
about you is perfect.”

“Seriously?” she asked, sitting up with a smirk. “Are we going to
be one of those disgustingly sweet couples because I’ve never met anyone more
perfect than you?”

“I’m
far
from perfect, but I’ll let you think so for now,”
I said, squeezing her tighter. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

“I doubt it’s anything that will free you of me, but can we
please keep this on the down low just for a while?” Those beautiful eyes
pleaded as if I’d have the power to say no to them. “At least until your family
can accept that it’s really over between you and Mia.”

“
Hell
no!” This time
I
shook my head adamantly, but
that seemed to amuse Henri because she smiled curiously. “It was almost eight
months since I broke things off with Mia last time when my family had an
intervention-type meeting to try to persuade me to get back together with her.
Eight
months
,” I repeated. “And they
still
weren’t over it, and we hadn’t
even been engaged back then. No way am I gonna keep this under wraps that long.
I’ll do a few weeks and that’s only for
you
. I do care about Mia’s
feelings, but personally, I think the sooner Mia and Edi start getting used to
the idea that it’s
really
over and you and I have moved on, the better.
And,” I said, squeezing her hand, “I think
you
need to start preparing
yourself for the possibility that any kind of relationship with Edi might not
last much longer.”

“
Why?”
she asked, any joy in her eyes draining completely.
“Divorced people stay friends all the time.”

“Because, baby”—I kissed her cheek—“most divorced people separate
because they’re no longer in love. Most of the time there are kids involved and
they have to stay amicable for their sake. But think about it.
You’d
have no problem remaining friends with Edi because you don’t love her the way
she loves you. You’re
in
love with me, right?” Just saying it made me so
ridiculously happy I wanted to squeeze her.

“Yes, I am.” The joy in her eyes returned momentarily, and I
couldn’t help it. I
had
to squeeze her then kiss her again. I didn’t
want to stop, but I had to get back to my point, so I finally pulled away and locked
on her beautiful eyes.

“Let’s say a few months from now when, hopefully, you’ll love me
even more . . .” I smirked.

“I will,” she said, so bright-eyed I had to kiss her again.

“So let’s say, hypothetically
of course
, in a few months,
I broke up with you, but wanted you to keep working here and for us to stay
friends.” She pouted playfully, so I kissed her again, squeezing her hand.
“Trust me. That’s not happening, but suppose it did. Could you do it? Would
you
be able to stick around, be my friend? Not just listen to me talk about the
other women in my life, but see me with them?”

For a second, anger flashed in her eyes, but then she seemed to
understand my point and was back to looking sad again.

“I know
I
couldn’t,” I said, searching her poignant eyes.

“I couldn’t either,” she whispered.

“I could be wrong, sweetheart. Your relationship with her is far
more complicated than most. It’s not like you’re replacing her with someone you
think is better than she is. She knows it’s not about that and that there’s
always been a special place in your heart for her whether you were dating
someone else or not. All I’m saying is be prepared. She may be licking her
wounds right now by hanging out with her friends. She might think this is just
pain over knowing things could never be the way she’d like them to be between
you and her, but when she actually hears about or sees you with me, it may be
too much for her. I’m just thinking about her reaction to her thinking you’d
hooked up with that guy who helped you decorate.”

I wouldn’t say it because it didn’t feel necessary—yet. But I was
also thinking about how
I’d
feel if this didn’t work out between Henri
and me after today. I’d have no choice but to fire her if she didn’t quit
because there was
no fucking way
I’d be able to deal with hearing about
and especially seeing her with anyone else now, even a woman.

This was exactly why I needed her to be prepared to lose her
friend once and for all. While I could be reasonable and go along with being
discreet for a few weeks just to make her happy, I wasn’t doing this for too
long. It made me nervous what she might do once Edi found out and cut her off.

If Henri was surprised I wasn’t more worried that my moving on so
fast would be a slap in Mia’s face, she’d be even more surprised about what
else I had every intention of doing. I’d had all week to ponder the “
what
ifs
.” It was the only thing that got me through what felt like the longest
week of my life.

Because I knew Edi’s parents were the ones paying for that
apartment she stayed in, if things really went south in their relationship, I
was prepared to offer to have Henri move in with me. I would have even if this
hadn’t happened tonight but even more so now that she
was
mine. I’d
never
done this with Mia. The last thing I wanted was for Henri to feel obligated to
move back home or, worse, compelled to try and work things out with Edi.

If moving my new girlfriend of just a few weeks in, when I hadn’t
done so with Mia after all the years I’d been with her wasn’t a backhanded
bitch slap, I didn’t know what was. But I knew exactly what my dad meant now
when he said once he met my mom he knew she was the one and never once looked
back.

I wouldn’t mention it just yet. It was too soon, but the moment
she so much as sounded the tiniest bit concerned about her living arrangements,
I was putting it out there. More than ever, I knew now Henri was the one for me
and I’d made enough mistakes in my life trying to please everyone else. I was
getting it right this time—moving on, not looking back—and I didn’t care how
many feathers this relationship ruffled in the process. Not screwing things up
with Henri was my first priority now.

Once she reluctantly and not very convincingly agreed she’d
prepare herself for the possibility of losing Edi, she moved on to a much more
pleasant subject. One that had me instantly hard.

“You wanna know what other fantasies I’ve had aside from you
taking me on your desk?”

“Jesus,” I said, letting my head fall back with a chuckle, my
heart already racing. “Can this night get any better?”

She giggled, already on her feet. “C’mon. I’ll show you.”

I took her hand, following her into the back room to the tables
we did the packaging on.

“You’ve really fantasized all this time?” I asked skeptically.
“Not that I don’t believe you, but this is just too damn good to be true.” I
glanced down at the ridiculous-looking tent in my pants and her eyes followed.
“That’s just from the thought of you fantasizing about what I’d to you.”

And there was that wicked smile again, one I hadn’t been privy to
until tonight but I already loved. It only made me crazier about her. It should
scare me how far gone I was, but strangely it didn’t.

“I really have.” She dug her teeth into her bottom lip. “Not all
have been about what
you’d
do to
me
. This one’s about what I’ve
been fantasizing doing
to you
.”

She turned to me with a twinkle in her eyes that wiped the smile
right off my face.
No way.