“Do you ever regret giving him the business?” I stroked his cheek and closed my eyes.
“Not one bit. I’ve got everything right here in this house, everything that I’ll ever need. Including you.”
“So, we don’t have to go out to dinner tonight with my parents?” I’d been trying to talk him out of that little dinner date since he broke the news to me. I’d wanted the two of us to have a nice romantic dinner for two to celebrate our year together, but since it was also the anniversary of our families reuniting, as well as the official conception of the foundation, he wanted to celebrate by taking us all out to dinner.
“We do. We can’t back out on them now. Besides, your mother said she had some exciting news.” He shrugged his shoulders, and I narrowed my eyes. That didn’t make any sense.
“And, when did my mother say that?” It seemed she would have told me before telling Aiden, though I do think she had started to like him best. I tapped my finger on his chest as I waited for his answer, but he kissed me instead, pressing himself hard against me. I pushed him back and rolled over. “I’m waiting for your answer.”
“Don’t be difficult tonight, okay? We’re going to a nice dinner, and that’s all you need to worry about.” That was his polite way of saying that’s all I needed to know. He wasn’t going to fool me. He had something up his sleeve. The last thing I wanted was a surprise of any kind, but more than that, I didn’t want to ruin anything Aiden had planned. He loved to do things for me, and I had learned to let him.
It was his way of taking care of me, and while I wasn’t about to get into another argument with him about how independent I was, I’d learned to pick my battles and let him feel in charge.
It’s funny how when you love someone so much, you learn to let them have their way. The truth was I had learned to love it. I wouldn’t take that kind of shit from anyone else, of course, but Aiden was mine and I was his. I loved being his.
“Yes, sir,” I rolled my eyes and giggled.
“I’ll give you something to giggle about.” He tickled my sides, and I went into a fit of laughter so hard I had to warn him off.
“You can’t tickle a person first thing in the morning.” I nudged him away and sat up.
He rose up behind me and planted a kiss on my shoulder. “Mattie’s making breakfast for us this morning, so we better get ready and go down.”
I knew better than to argue about Mattie waiting on me. She’d been part of the package deal, and I had to respect the lady’s livelihood. Besides, it was nice having the extra hand around the house. It wasn’t like I could handle it alone with all those rooms, half of which I’d only been to the door of during my tour.
I’d turned one of them into a sitting room where I could work on the foundation in peace, far away from anyone else, but Aiden had learned that I was a pushover when it came to his ability to distract me from my work.
“Then I’m going to hurry up in the shower, so yours doesn’t get cold on you.” I jumped up and raced him to the shower, but he met me in there and slowly washed me from head to toe. He worked me up to such a thick lather I had to remind him that we were in a hurry and our food was getting cold.
Minutes later, we were dried off and dressed and headed
off to the kitchen where Mattie was finishing up our meal. She’d baked a breakfast casserole that had become one of my favorites.
“Pete Jr. is going to be making a trip to the nursery next week and wanted to know if there are any special requests. He’s going to rework the flower beds out front and replace a few of the plants that aren’t thriving. He should be around to talk to later.” Mattie stepped over to the small table by the window that overlooked the oaks, and that’s when I realized she was talking to me. “He said he’ll get anything you want.”
“Oh, thanks, but I’m not really sure I have anything special to request.” I hoped he wouldn’t be too disappointed, but I had never really known much about flowers.
“You’re the lady of the house now. He remembers when he was a kid, and Mrs. Walker would ask for the most particular flowers. You could always request some petunias or maybe some lilies.” She went back to her stove and shut the oven off, then she went off to the private quarters where she spent her downtime during the day.
I waited until she was well out of earshot and muttered, “Lady of the house?”
“You are and not just any lady, but a special one.” His smile widened to meet his eyes. “I’d like you to start having more to do with the place, Lexa. I think it would be nice to share the place and you’ve been here almost a year and haven’t replaced anything or moved anything other than taking over that guest bedroom. It’s your home, so feel free to do with it what you like. I want you to feel at home.”
“You saw my apartment, Aiden. I never did anything special to the place. It was clean and tidy, and that’s how I liked it. I love the house the way it is.”
“Suit yourself.” He didn’t seem irritated, but I decided I’d try and have a little more say in things like gardening and my preferences of food, which Mattie had been trying to get out of me for months.
After lunch, I made a few requests with Pete and had him show me some options on my cell phone. I chose several flowers in mixed colors and hoped that Mrs. Walker would approve. I liked to honor her memory as often as I could because I knew she was still alive to Aiden when it came to Olde House.
I glanced down at the time and panicked as I realized I’d be in a mad rush to get ready for dinner with my parents. I was holding Aiden to the dessert he promised. When we got home, I wanted to be spread out like a feast for him to devour.
I ran upstairs and jumped in the shower wondering where he was, but knowing it didn’t take him half as long as it did me. I spent the rest of my hour alone getting dressed to impress, then Aiden came waltzing in and stood behind me in the mirror.
“I saw you with Pete. Did he get the flowers you wanted?”
“I had a little help choosing, but I’m certain they’ll be lovely.”
He undressed behind me and stepped into the shower. I watched his reflection, the perfect, thick cord of his muscular torso and his strong jawline, the one I loved to kiss and bite. And there were other things there I wanted to bite as well, and I heated up thinking about the pleasure he got from such teeth scraping actions.