See Megan Run (6 page)

Most people hadn’t known his bad-boy streak
then. They didn’t know he was the one who thought to toilet-paper
Ms. Lettie’s house when she refused to give out candy that
particular Halloween. When he hit high school and puberty at the
same time, the whole town got to know how much of a hell-raiser he
could be. Just like his daddy, they had said. His charm and that
smile had shaved off plenty of days in detention.

Everything changed when his father died. The
bad-boy role no longer appealed to him as much, but he still held
onto it and to her like an anchor. Around that time, Shep came into
the picture, and then she left. No, Megan wouldn’t take blame or
responsibility for leaving him. He’d turned out fine.

How many sweethearts got married and stayed
married? The promises he’d made were those of an adolescent boy
dreaming hazy fantasies. Even then she knew reality blew those to
hell and always left you to pick up the pieces. The laugh escaped
before she could catch it. She’d been eighteen. Her breasts still
defied gravity and eating chili dogs covered in jalapeños never
woke her up in the middle of the night thinking she’d die. What she
had done couldn’t compare to how her mother had treated her.

"What’s so funny?" The voice reached to her
from her past. Megan’s eyes fluttered open to see Aiden. Figures.
When you are thinking of the devil, he usually shows up.

"Thinking how different things used to
be."

He made a noncommittal noise and pulled his
sunglasses from his shirt pocket, putting them on. Seeing him
standing there brought it all back. No wonder his attitude had
changed. This is where they first made love. How could she have
forgotten that? Since her feet had led her here, maybe she really
hadn’t.

Megan turned her gaze to the lake, placid
this time of year. In a few weeks fishermen would invade it, hoping
for a few bites of trout or at least an easy day on the water.

Okay, thinking of something else hadn’t
worked. She could see them in her mind’s eye—naked, sweaty and
eager. The quieter it became, the stronger the images flew through
her psyche. Remembering them, that night, couldn’t lead to anything
good. She clasped her hands in her lap to keep from fanning
herself. And Aiden, well, he stood there letting her stew in it.
She could be wrong, but the smirk he wore made her suspicious.

Not able to take the silence a moment longer,
Megan spoke. "Why didn’t you tell me about Shep?"

"Didn’t think you’d want to hear it from
me."

Another silence. What did you say to an ex?
If you were lucky, the most you’d ever have to say to an ex was,
"Oh, that’s nice," and find the nearest exit. The only place to
escape right now was the dinner table…sitting across from Aiden.
There was no escape. She tried again. "How have things been
here?"

"Good."

Megan glanced at him. She squelched the
thought that maybe he hadn’t been fine after she left. "Your
mother?"

"Heart’s still ticking."

Megan sighed. No, not fine. He was
certifiable. "Why don’t you just ask?"

He crossed his arms. A mirthless laugh
escaped from his lips. "Ask what?"

Ah, yes, she remembered now. They both could
be stubborn. No wonder they had gravitated toward each other. She
summoned all her patience and said with a calm voice, "Why I
left."

"Is asking going to change the outcome?"

Megan realized it wouldn’t. She looked across
the lake again. "We used to be a lot of things, but we were always
friends."

"Now we’ll be family," he scoffed, bringing
her gaze back to him. "Fancy that. Family." The irony dripped all
over the word. "You’re here for the house, and once you’ve got the
deed, I’m sure the only thing left will be dust in your trail."

To think for a moment she’d let herself feel
guilt. Megan stood up, recognizing the temper but not knowing how
to stop it. He knew what to say to get her riled up, but Megan knew
all his hot buttons, too. "Try not to get in the way of it. I don’t
want you to choke on that dust."

"Still self-righteous, I see."

Oh, that did it. How many times had her
mother muttered those same words when Megan didn’t fade into the
background? He knew this, and yet he still said it. She stepped up
to his face, feeling the heat of him. She let her anger feed off
it. "And what are you now? A choir boy?"

The shades blocked her view of his eyes, but
Megan knew her comment made a direct hit.

"Still can’t come up with a decent comeback,
either. I guess city living hasn’t improved you any."

Megan narrowed her eyes, not able to hear
over the roar of temper in her ears. She poked his chest. Aiden
didn’t back up and that pissed her off more. "Looks like the
backwoods breeding hasn’t made you any smarter."

"You used to like this backwoods boy." The
words came out deep and strong but caressed like a feather against
her face, and because once she’d really loved the backwoods boy,
Megan knew to back up. Aiden caught the edge of her shirt and
pulled her to him.

"Scared?"

"No." Even Megan heard the tremor in her
voice.

Aiden laughed, then stilled against her. She
felt the hard planes of his chest that he’d turned into muscle
since the last time she’d been this close to him. That damn zing
had replaced the roar in her head. Her lips parted with a shaky
sigh. Aiden cursed, then brought his lips to hers. Her nose bumped
his glasses off his face, and they thudded near her feet, but he
didn’t seem to care. And, oh, neither did she.

This she would have remembered. This was not
how he used to kiss. He cradled her head in his hands, and changed
the heat level of the kiss by delving his tongue deeper in her
mouth. Oh, no, he definitely didn’t used to kiss like this. If he’d
kissed her like this when they were young, she’d have been pregnant
every year until menopause set in.

Instead he’d grown into this man with wide
shoulders, rough hands, and a mouth that made her want to sin. Her
breasts felt full and heavy against his hard chest. Anger and
passion made the kiss last longer than it should have. Oh, and it
didn’t feel like he was trying to punish her with his lips. No,
more like he was laying claim to what was once his. The passion
spread like a drug through her veins, making her head reel. It made
her want. The alien emotion shocked her more than the moan rising
in her throat. The sound must have brought Aiden back to his
senses, because he tore his mouth from hers.

The sound of their breath coming out in hard
gasps filled the silence. She stumbled back, trying to get her
thoughts to congeal. The intensity of the kiss rendered her mute.
Aiden rubbed his hands over his face. His amber eyes took her in
and she wondered if her shock resembled the expression on his face.
He shook his head, disgust clouding his features. Without speaking,
he turned and headed for the road. Megan placed a hand over her
speeding heart.

"Welcome home to you, too," she said to his
fading shadow.

*****

He should have turned the hell around when he
saw Megan’s profile in the setting sun. Well, give him some credit,
his steps had faltered, but the dumb part of him, the part that
never got the memo about their breakup, made him keep walking
toward her like Megan was a beacon of light.

Beacon of light, my ass.

When it dawned on him which tree they were
under, he should have told her dinner was ready and left with his
head and hormones on the same page.

Same page, my ass.

He could still taste her on his tongue. She
tasted of cherries and trouble, and for those brief moments he’d
reveled in it, comparing and committing it to his memory. Screw
oysters or chocolate, a hundred-year-old oak was a damn
aphrodisiac. He pinched the bridge of his nose. What an idiot. He’d
succumbed as easily as if she’d crooked her finger at him. The
sound of disgust filled the quiet. Aiden continued walking.

Headlights shone on the moist dirt in front
of him. Aiden moved closer to the shoulder of the road. The driver
honked the horn, and he turned to see a beat-up Cadillac. Just what
he needed, his mother. She stopped, leaning over the seat to roll
down the window.

"What are you doing out here so late?"

"I was heading home and decided to clear my
head by walking." He opened the car door and sat down.

Jocelyn wasn’t looking at him but out her
window toward the lake and the aphrodisiac oak. She turned back to
him. "No wonder you’re a cop. You’re a horrible liar."

Being a good liar was the least of his
problems. "Can you take me home?"

She put the car in drive, then said, "I’m not
going to ask." Aiden counted up to thirty seconds.

"It’s Megan, isn’t it? Don’t tell me it’s her
again. I know you used to love her, but she’s not worth the
heartache."

He’d wagered to himself it would take a whole
minute to break her, but these circumstances called for impatience.
"You think that about every woman I’ve dated."

"No, just Megan." She shook her head, but
kept her eyes on the road. "You’re stalling. It is about her."

He understood her worry. Only Shep and his
mother knew how Megan’s leaving had affected him. No, he hadn’t
spiraled into a depression, but the day she left him he stopped
being a naïve boy. He’d grown into a man who didn’t take on
unnecessary responsibilities, a wife and kids being the last on
that list. Sooner or later you had to grow up anyway and stop
believing in fantasies. Being married to Megan happened to be one
of his. His mother saw his way as giving up. Aiden disagreed.

He looked out the window to his neighborhood,
hoping it’d help him forget how dumb he was. His mother shifted
beside him, and he finally answered her question. "My life doesn’t
revolve around Megan, so it’s not about her." Unfortunately, only a
good portion revolved around Megan.

"So you walking home at seven o’clock at
night, not far from the Hazley estate, I might add, has nothing to
do with Megan?"

Aiden decided a sign would get his point
across. He’d wear it around his neck—
I’m over her
—in case
some of the friendly members of the city wanted to ask about the
state of his mind. Aiden sighed when his mother stopped the car in
front of his house. "I’ve had a long day." And lost my mind at the
very end of it.

His mother reached over and turned his face
to hers. The brown eyes he’d inherited from her studied his face.
They were filled with worry. "Just tell me you’re going to be
okay?"

He placed his hand over hers. "I’ll be
fine."

At least this time he’d be prepared when
Megan walked away. There wouldn’t be any of his hopes to be backed
over with a Mack truck on her way out of the city limits.

The worry stayed in his mother’s eyes, but
she smiled. "That’s a better lie. I think I’m going to go have
dinner with my brother."

Aiden made a mental note to turn off his
phone when he got inside. "Have seconds for me."

He leaned over and kissed her cheek. The skin
had softened with time, but she was still beautiful and single. He
wondered for a moment if her understanding of how he felt went past
a mother’s intuition. "I’ll see you later."

Aiden stood on the curb and watched her car
until he couldn’t see it any more. Then he went into the house and
turned off his phone.

Chapter 6

"What? Why would I know where Aiden is?"

Megan had to cool it or they’d smell the
pheromones on her. Jane’s hand paused, one suspicious brow raised
as she set the plate in front of Megan. From experience Megan knew
Jane of all people could smell the thought of sex at fifty
paces.

"Thank you," Megan said pointedly, lifting
her fork, trying for cool and knowing she was failing.

Nicole cleared her throat. "I sent him to go
get you for dinner."

Megan stuffed her mouth to prevent the white
lie of not seeing him, because in truth she hadn’t. She had felt
him, tasted him, smelled him, but at some point her vision had
blurred. 
Don’t dwell on it, you idiot
. She shrugged as
if to answer.

It would never happen again.

It could never happen again.

Jane made a noncommittal noise when the
doorbell rang, while a part of Megan prayed Aiden had come back and
the other part knew she’d choke on her food if her thoughts kept
going down the road they wanted to. The side that had gone without
sex for—how long? She couldn’t recall—was the side craving the feel
of Aiden’s sweat-soaked body against hers, wanting to know how much
of a man he’d grown into. Aiden was her ex, but the kiss had been
so good. Heat rushed to her face. She did not want to have sex with
him. Well…she did, but wouldn’t. No matter how hot and right he’d
feel against her. Megan reached for the glass of water to help the
chicken down her parched throat. A good thing she’d already
swallowed when the guest walked in.

"Coiffed" was the first word that came to
mind, followed by "regal," shortly followed by "terrifying."
Aiden’s mother stood in the arch of the doorway. Her ebony skin had
softened, but her eyes, Aiden’s eyes, stared Megan down. Megan
finished her glass of water, wishing for something stronger. If she
couldn’t have whiskey, she’d take Chardonnay.

Nicole stood, and the royal blue peasant
skirt swished as she went to give Jocelyn a hug. They exchanged
pleasantries. Megan watched in surprise at the genuine smiles on
both women’s faces.

"Hey, baby sis," Shep said.

Nicole pulled out a chair for Jocelyn and
then returned to her own. Of course the mother from hell gave her
guest the seat directly across from Megan’s. Jocelyn placed the
cloth napkin on her lap and nodded to Jane when the plate was set
in front of her.

"I was passing by and decided a good meal was
what I needed. I dropped Aiden off at home. He wasn’t feeling
well." One sleek brow rose in challenge.