Heat Exchange (16 page)

“Are you in a hurry?” he teased, but the husky rasp of his voice told her he was suffering. She put her hands on his ass and pressed her fingernails into his skin, just enough to give him a nudge, but he resisted.

“No, I’m not in a hurry,” she said, changing tack. She tucked her hands under her head, as if she was totally relaxed. “Take your time.”

He looked down and grinned. “That makes your boobs look amazing.”

That made her laugh. “I’ll keep that in mind if I ever pose for naked photos.”

“No.” His expression turned fierce and she put her hands back on his body, running them over his shoulders and biceps before stroking his back. “I don’t want anybody else seeing you naked.”

Aidan drove into her, burying his cock so deep within her she almost came immediately. She cried out, but he covered her mouth with his. The muscles of his back worked as he fucked her slowly and with long, deliberate strokes—almost pulling out completely before burying himself deep again. When she moaned his name, hovering on the brink, he quickened his pace.

“Come for me,” he said, his voice raspy.

And she did. Her muscles spasmed, tightening and releasing as he drove into her, not letting up until her fingernails bit into his back and they were both breathless and trembling from their release.

After a minute, he rolled to his side and kissed her shoulder. Then he went into the bathroom for a minute and Lydia rolled onto her stomach, stretching muscles that were still deliciously warm. She couldn’t help remembering the possessive look that had taken over his face when she joked about having naked photos taken, and she smiled.

“That kind of smile’s good for a man’s ego,” Aidan said as he slid back into bed. He pulled the sheet and blanket up over them and then lay on his side so he could throw his arm over her back.

“I don’t think your ego’s in any need of fluffing,” she said, and then she giggled when he slapped her on the ass through the covers.

Then she rolled onto her side so he could spoon her, and her smile changed to one of contentment. It was nice, she thought, curling up with Aidan with no thought of anybody or anything else lurking like a shadow elephant in the room.

Tomorrow they’d go back to Boston and those elephants would start closing in again, but for now she was content to nestle against Aidan’s body and feel his breath in her hair.

Chapter Fifteen

A
FTER
DROPPING
L
YDIA
off at her sister’s and making a quick stop at his place, Aidan made his monthly trek to his parents’ house in East Cambridge for a family dinner. The rest of them were there every Sunday, but he’d managed to convince his mother that his work schedule only allowed for one Sunday with the family per month.

During football season, that Sunday usually happened to coincide with the Patriots having the early game, so he could see the whole thing before suffering through the meal. And sometimes he was able to stretch it to six weeks or even two months, though he was expected monthly.

Unfortunately, everybody was already seated around the big dining room table when he walked in, though nobody had food on their plates yet. His father sat at the head of the table and Bryan was at his left, both of them in crisp dress shirts and ties. Bryan’s wife, Deborah, sat next to her husband, looking very put together and vaguely unhappy to be there. Aidan’s sister, Sarah, was on his father’s right, and his mom sat at the foot of the table. The empty chair between Sarah and his mom was for him.

“I’m sorry I’m late, everybody,” he said, bending down to kiss his mother’s cheek.

She wrinkled her nose. “You smell like gas. And your shirt is smudged. Is that dirt?”

Aidan looked down at sleeve and saw that, yes, there was a small smudge of dirt on it. “I stopped to help a woman who was out of gas, and I must have rubbed against the car trying to get the gas can nozzle into it. I’ll go wash up.”

“And unroll your sleeves and button the cuffs properly while you’re in there,” his mother said.

“Honestly, Aidan,” his father said, “just once you could keep driving past, you know. Let somebody else stop and help for a change.”

It was probably a good thing his old man couldn’t be bothered to look up at him, since Aidan figured his expression was probably something like
are you fucking kidding me right now?

“Helping people is what I do, Dad.”

“Yes, we know. Higher calling and all that. But gas delivery boy is stretching it a bit, don’t you think?”

Aidan bit down on whatever words might come out of his mouth should he open it and instead walked in silence to the guest bathroom. His old man was pretty damn dismissive for a guy who’d had his head split open by colliding with a tractor trailer and laid in the middle of the road while his wife sat by the guardrail in shock.

And whether he’d grown up to be a firefighter or an investment advisor, Aidan liked to think he was the kind of guy who wouldn’t drive by a woman broken down on the side of the road with her kids.

Maybe he shouldn’t hold it against his dad. He’d been raised by a family with some money and he’d made even more for himself. John Hunt wouldn’t know which end of a wrench to use, and he’d never even changed his own tire. He wouldn’t have the slightest idea how to help somebody in trouble, unless it was a financial issue. Aidan knew that. What he found hard to forgive, though, was the implication his father found him somehow
lesser
because of his job.

It was a matter of respect, and his dad not only disrespected him, but pretty much everybody he cared about. It was tough to swallow sometimes, but he washed his hands with the flowery soap and, after a few futile swipes at the dirty streak, fixed his shirt sleeves. He could get through dinner and then he’d be off the hook for another month.

After taking his seat between his mom and Sarah, they started passing the serving dishes. The food, at least, would be amazing. He considered it his consolation prize for doing his duty as a son once a month. Today it was roast beef with garlic mashed potatoes and roasted asparagus, which happened to be one of his favorites of his mother’s meals.

“So, Aidan, are you dating anybody?” his mother asked, once they’d all begun eating. She usually held up the bulk of the conversation since his father rarely knew what to say to him. They didn’t have a lot in common and neither went out of his way to find something.

Whether or not he was dating anybody was a complicated question, but he suspected it was asked more to be polite and offer expected conversation than out of genuine interest. “I’ve been seeing somebody lately, but it’s very casual and I haven’t been seeing her for very long.”

“Oh, that’s nice. Deborah has a lovely friend I’d thought perhaps you might like, but it seems I’m too late.”

Aidan glanced at his brother’s wife and she gave him a tight smile. He suspected she was mentally sighing in relief, though. She didn’t look thrilled about the idea of hooking one of her friends up with a guy like him.

Conversation continued around the table, but Aidan didn’t pay a lot of attention. And they wouldn’t even notice. Once, when he was about thirteen, he’d gone through his father’s office and his mother’s closet, certain he’d find adoption papers. At the time, it had seemed the only possible explanation for why he not only didn’t fit in, but seemed to be actively disappointing to his parents. As he’d aged, though, the resemblance to his father had become unmistakable, and his brother looked like them both.

And this feeling of being the odd man out at the dinner table was exactly why Tommy Kincaid meant so much to him. The man “got” him, and he’d taken Aidan under his wing and taught him everything he knew. The guilt hit him again, harder this time, and put a damper on his appetite.

Aidan wasn’t so old-fashioned that he believed he was dishonoring Tommy’s daughter. She was a grown woman and she was entitled to a sex life, and none of that was her father’s business. It was the lying that ate at him. He was lying to Tommy and to Scott, and that was a betrayal in itself.

“Aidan?” He realized his mother had spoken to him and looked up. She was looking at him intently. “Are you feeling all right?”

“I guess. Why?”

“You look a little flushed and you’re pushing your food around on your plate.”

“I’m fine. Maybe not as hungry as I thought, though.”

“I hope you’re not sick. I have to fly to South Carolina in two days for business and I’d rather not fly sick,” his father said. “It’s bad enough you smell like gasoline, but germs, too?”

Aidan took a deep breath. One of these days he was just going to get up and walk out and not come back. There were a whole lot of people who liked and accepted him just the way he was. Why he cared about people who did nothing but judge him and find him wanting just because they shared DNA was beyond him.

But today wouldn’t be that day. He knew if he did that, it would be a long time before he saw his family again, especially since they’d blame him without taking a look at their own possible shortcomings. And, even though there were countless reasons why it shouldn’t matter to him, he couldn’t quite bring himself to cut ties completely.

He made it through dessert, which was carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. Just like the meal, it was one of his favorites, and it went a long way toward making him feel better. She might not be any better than her husband at making him feel like a valued member of the family, but this wasn’t a coincidence. Maryanne Hunt had little ways of making her son feel loved, even if she wasn’t good at the words.

After an hour of listening to his dad and Bryan recount their recent business triumphs, though, he’d had enough. “I have the night shift, so I should get home and get ready for work.”

It was a lie. He wasn’t assigned the night tour, but he did want to get home. Not only because he was tired of investment talk, but because Kincaid’s Pub closed at nine on Sundays—except when the Patriots had a Sunday Night Football game—so he’d have an extra couple of hours to spend with Lydia tonight.

“Honestly, Aidan, I think it’s barbaric the way they just flip from day to night at will like that.”

“It’s not that bad, Mom. There’s usually enough time between the changes and you just sort of get used to it. We learn to sleep when we need to sleep, for the most part, whether it’s day or night.”

“Be careful,” she whispered, squeezing his hand when he bent down to kiss her cheek.

“Always.”

He kissed Sarah on the cheek, wishing they were closer. He’d tried over the years, partly because he envied the relationship Scott had with Lydia and Ashley, but his sister had the personality of a wet paper bag and absolutely no desire to return the effort. Then he said goodbye to Deborah and Bryan from across the room, stiffly shook his father’s hand and got the hell out of there.

* * *

L
YDIA
WASN
’
T
SURE
what to expect when she showed up at Aidan’s after he got back from his parents’ house. She knew he had a contentious relationship with his family and his father had a way of putting him in a bad mood.

When she’d texted him to let him know she’d thrown his phone charger in her bag and then forgotten about it and offered to drop it off, she’d expected him to tell her not to worry about it. He probably had more than one, and he could get it another time.

If you don’t mind bringing it by
,
I’d like to see you.

She’d laughed, getting a curious glance from Ashley, who’d been watching some afternoon talk show she was hooked on now.

It’s only been a few hours since you saw me.

You can help me forget I spent the evening with my family.

There had been a pause while he typed more.

Unless you’re tired or don’t want to.
I
have another charger.

Of course he did. But she didn’t mind.

I’ll be over later.

“Really?” Ashley asked a few hours later, when Lydia told her she was heading out for a while.

“Yeah, really. I accidentally stole his phone charger.”

“Yeah, because I’m sure he only has the one.”

Lydia frowned at her, not liking the attitude she heard in Ashley’s voice. “What is going on with you? One second, you’re giving me shit. Then you’re helping me plan a weekend alone with him. Now you’re all snippy again.”

“I’m sorry. I guess I can’t decide how I feel about it. And maybe if my life was settled, I’d be better at knowing how I feel about yours, but everything just seems so messed up.”

Lydia sank onto the couch next to her with a sigh. “That’s because everything
is
so messed up.”

“I’m going to work with you tomorrow night.”

“Really? Are you sure?”

Ashley shrugged one shoulder. “I’m not sure. That’s why I’m going to work
with
you and not telling you I’ll work instead of you. If I need to leave, I’ll be able to.”

“You have to brace yourself for some comments, though. Because you’ve been away, people are going to want to say something about you being back.”

“I know. I think I’m ready. Danny and I are...I can’t hide here until we figure it out. It shook me and I didn’t know how to act, but I’m turning into a hermit afraid to face the world and that is
not
me.”

Lydia’s heart ached for her sister. “It’s not. You’re stronger than this, but it’s not something anybody can push you into.”

“Dad and Fitz are going to something at the VFW for a friend of theirs, so it seems like a good night to get my feet wet again.”

Lydia reached over and squeezed her knee. “Good thinking. And you’ll be fine. I’ll be there, so if you need a break, you can hang out in the office for a breather. And if you need to leave, you can do that, too.”

She didn’t think Ashley would leave, though. Once she made up her mind it was time to get back behind the bar, she’d probably stick with it.

“Thanks.” Ashley picked up the remote control and gestured at the paused television screen. “Go bring Aidan his phone charger. I’m going to finish watching this show.”

Aidan was in his boxer briefs when he opened the door again, but Lydia was used to that now. She wasn’t sure if it was just his nature, or if it had to do with wearing almost seventy pounds worth of gear at work, but the guy hated wearing clothes in his own apartment.

He let her in and kissed her as soon as the door was closed behind her, as if he hadn’t just kissed her goodbye a few hours ago. “Hey, stranger.”

“Funny. Here’s your cord.” When he took it and tossed it on the counter, she caught a whiff of something odd and frowned.

“What’s wrong?”

“You smell like a cheap hooker.” She wrinkled her nose, amused by his look of outrage. “I’m serious.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

She moved closer, sniffing at him. Then she grabbed his hands and inhaled deeply. “It’s your hands. Seriously, it smells like you’ve been rubbing them all over a cheap hooker.”

Aidan laughed. “I’ll pass that compliment on to my mother. She’ll be thrilled to know the soap in the guest bathroom smells so nice.”

Lydia winced. “Ouch. If you pass that compliment on, tell her Ashley said it. So, how did dinner with the family go?”

“Same as usual. My dad’s an ass and my mom tries to pretend he’s not. My brother needs my father’s permission to breathe and my sister’s turning into my mother. But the food was good.”

“I can put up with a lot for good food. Especially if it’s free and I don’t have to cook it.”

“It’ll be at least a month before I have to do it again. Six weeks if I can come up with some good excuses.” He dropped onto the couch and patted the seat next to him. “Sit with me. Unless you’re running right off.”

“I can stay for a little while. Didn’t you save an episode of that show you want me to watch on your DVR?”

“Oh, yeah.” He grabbed the remote and pulled up the menu. “And it’s not just an episode. They had a marathon, so I saved the whole first season.”

“Aren’t you way past that? You’ve already seen the first season.”

“I’ll watch it again. It has zombies. Trust me, you’ll like it.”

Once he hit Play, he lifted his arm and she snuggled against his side as the show started. She’d heard a lot about the show, but working nights meant having to save or stream prime-time shows to watch during the day and she was lazy when it came to television.