Aidan crawled out of my bed just before sunrise. He had a dog that needed to be let out, and we agreed to have dinner at his house in Shelbyville since my third date choice for the article was to have a night in. He gave me a long lingering kiss before he left, then me and my deliciously sore body drifted off into a deep sleep.
Just like I had every day for the past two weeks, I woke up thinking about Derek, and I didn’t know how long I lay on my bed staring at the ceiling.
My phone buzzed on the nightstand and I rolled over to look at it.
Aidan: We’re still on for tonight, right?
For a brief time, I’d considered canceling on him, and I felt extremely guilty. He was putting his all into these dates, and the least I could do was return the effort. It just felt unnatural to be moving on with my life when Derek had been the center of my world, and everything and everyone else had paled in comparison.
That was the moment I made the decision to let go of my past and step into my future with whoever may be there waiting.
Me: Definitely.
I made a call to my Realtor to start the next steps in getting the house sold. That part didn’t bother me. This place never really felt like a home, and I didn’t have any sentimental attachment to it. I also called Natalie to check in and tell her about my plans. She offered me a room in her house in La Jolla until I could find a place of my own. I told her that I would consider it, because I was looking forward to seeing Natalie and Sam’s six-month-old son, Nolan, for the first time. I purposely left out anything to do with Aidan. I just didn’t want to get into it right now with her. Maybe in a few months, over a glass of wine, after I had time to reflect on my time here and figure out where I was headed in life.
After my conversation with Nat, I got dressed and drove to a salon in the shopping center near my house and gave the stylist free rein to do whatever she liked to my hair. Two hours later, she spun me around in the chair, and I was pleasantly surprised. The change was subtle but stunning. She trimmed off a few inches and added a warm shade of caramel highlights to liven up the drab brown I’d grown used to. Not only did my hair feel lighter, but so did my spirit, and I was looking forward to seeing Aidan.
Chapter Eight
Rendezvous #3: Are you in or out?
You know where you are and where you stand with your date. Have dinner in or go out. If your choice is to go out, try out a new restaurant and add a twist by ordering something that you’ve never had befo
re. Take the plunge together. If your choice is to stay in, show off your amazing culinary skills or the fact that you are pretty decent at following the recipe you found online. If all else fails, have your take-out menus readily available?.?.?.
It took me forty minutes to drive out to Shelbyville. After following the directions Aidan had given me, I drove down a long road that wound back into the woods and up a gravel driveway. The sight of the house took my breath away. It was a beautiful timber-frame house with a wraparound porch, complete with Adirondack chairs and a clear view of the lake. As soon as I brought my car to a stop, the front door opened and Aidan emerged. He smiled at me as he pulled his arms across his chest. He was wearing a pair of khaki shorts, a blue T-shirt, and he was barefoot. I never realized just how sexy bare feet could be, but Aidan Ross could make anything look sexy.
“Hey.” He greeted me with a hug as I reached him in the doorway.
“Hey.” I smiled up at him, and he set me away from him as he stared at me.
“You look?.?.?.” He studied me. “Well you always look beautiful, but I don’t know?.?.?.?something is different.” I grinned up at him but decided not to tell him about my hair. It was just nice that he noticed the change.
“I brought an overnight bag. I hope that was okay,” I said as I handed him my bag.
“I would’ve been offended if you hadn’t.” He winked and pulled me inside.
The inside was just as breathtaking as the outside. The ceiling was high-vaulted with rustic wood frames. There was a great room with a fireplace, two large brown leather couches, a flat-screen TV on the wall, and a shelf full of DVDs directly beside it. Huge windows covered the back wall and showed more of the lake. I could imagine Aidan, shirtless, tending to the fire while I sat on the couch and admired the view, and I wasn’t talking about the lake.
“Aidan, this house is amazing. I mean. Wow,” I said as I spun around looking at all of the details. This was far beyond a bachelor’s pad. There was a loft on the second level overlooking the great room and a partial view of the open kitchen. I caught the swishing tail of a brown dog going up the stairs, apparently not in the least bit interested in me.
“Thanks. It took me three years to build it.”
“You built this house?”
“Well, sort of. I did some of the work, but my brother’s construction company helped me out a lot.” He went on to explain that he purchased the land when he got out of the military and lived in a single-wide trailer for a couple of years while he went to school. He worked on the house whenever he could. He couldn’t afford to pay his brother for a lot of the materials or labor, so he gathered most of what he could and his brother helped him whenever he had the chance and could spare the workers. I think that it added more heart to the story of the house, and I could see how proud Aidan was of it.
He gave me a tour, and in addition to the loft, there were two bedrooms upstairs and a master bedroom downstairs. The kitchen was large, with stainless-steel appliances including a six-burner gas range and granite countertops with pots hanging decoratively on a rack suspended from the ceiling. Something that I’d always wanted in my own kitchen.
A delicious smell was wafting from the pots on the stove and there were freshly chopped vegetables in bowls on the counter.
“That smells fantastic. What is it?” I asked as I walked up to the kitchen island and sat on one of the barstools. Aidan went to the stove, grabbed one of the large spoons, and stirred a red sauce in one of the pots.
“Chicken parmesan,” he answered, and I watched him pull the chicken cutlets from the oven and strain the pasta, all while looking very comfortable in the kitchen. “Will you open that wine?”
I did as he asked and filled two glasses with red wine while he prepared the salad. Once we were seated at the dining room table, we ate in comfortable silence. The food was delicious, the wine was perfect, and Aidan was gorgeous.
“So how is the article going?” he asked as he sipped his wine.