Modern Arrangements: Complete Trilogy (Modern Arrangements #1-3) (59 page)

"Oh, Aidan...I'm so sorry."
Elora hurried and took Jimmy away, loosening his hands from his hair first.

James was laughing.

"What's wrong, Aidan? My son
kicking your ass already?"

Aidan simply chuckled.

Presents had been exchanged between the
family that night and a couple of gifts were exchanged between spouses and
significant others. James gave Elora a diamond necklace, Henry gave Anne a
large diamond bracelet, Jason had given Maggie a sapphire ring and Liam
presented Viola with a set of keys to a brand new Aston Martin Vanquish.

Viola had squealed in delight and jumped
into his arms. We all joked that we should probably leave them alone, which we
ended up doing anyway once we noticed how late it was getting.

Aidan and I tucked the twins in and then
went to get the gifts we had gotten for our in house family. We collected them
all and headed toward their personal quarters, sneaking in and laying the
presents out under each of their trees. Aidan insisted on wearing a white beard
and a Santa hat, which I kept trying not to laugh at. Once back downstairs, I
sat down to wrap a few last things. I heard Aidan enter the room behind me.

"Can you hand me the bows that I
have over on the oak table, please?" I asked without looking up.

"Sure." He replied. I heard a
loud thud and turned around quickly.

"What is all of that?" I sat
up straighter.

"What?" He asked innocently.

"That." I pointed to the large
boxes on the floor.

He shrugged. "Nothing".

"Uh huh...." I raised an
eyebrow.

"There for the twins." He
mumbled.

I got up and walked around looking at
the boxes.

"Aidan, they’re only four months
old!" I exclaimed and fought the hysterical laughter that was bubbling up.

"But look how cool they are!"
He sounded like a little kid in a toy store. I was waiting for him to stomp his
foot.

"What are four month olds going to
do with motorized cars?" I couldn't help it any longer, I burst into
laughter.

"They’ll grow into them." He
pouted and sat on the floor, opening the boxes.

"You're going to put these together
yourself?" I had to fight back more laughter.

"Why is that so funny?"

"Do you want me to call
Celia?" I giggled.

He hopped to his knees and grabbed my
waist, pulling me down to the floor and lying on top of me.

"Are you saying that I can't put
these together?"

I nodded and laughed. "Let me call
Celia."

"Oh, that's it!" He started to
assault my sides with his fingers and I was in a hysterical fit of laughter.

"Oh...god...stop....please,
stop!" I screamed as he continued to tickle me. He finally let up and I
gasped to catch my breath.

"You are so beautiful." My
eyes met his. His face was so serious, so lost.

I ran my hand through his hair and then
cupped his cheek. He grabbed my hand, keeping it on his cheek, and closed his
eyes.

"What...?"

"Shhh..." I didn't say a word.

We stayed that way for a few more minutes
before he leaned in and kissed me. Then he sat me up and placed me between his
legs as we worked on the motorized 'Power Wheel' vehicles. They were both
Corvettes, one red and one purple. We both laughed as we attempted to build
these things.

New Years was approaching quickly and as
Viola and I prepared for the New Year's charity ball, Abby went into labor.
Maggie got her to the hospital where Viola and I arrived soon after.

Sixteen hours later, Abby had given
birth to a little boy that she named Ryan. He was adorably chunky and bald.
After spending two days in the hospital, Abby and Ryan headed home. Viola was
so worried about Abby that I made her stay home while I finished the plans for
the charity event.

It was at this point that Loreley became
much more prominent in my life. While at lunch one day, I had gotten a phone
call that one of our auction items was now being pulled out. It being one of
the larger pieces, I had to explain to Loreley why I needed to leave lunch. She
had calmed me down and made a few phone calls. Before I knew it, we had an even
better item for the auction. I couldn't believe she had done that for me, and
so quickly.

When New Year's Eve arrived, everything
was going flawlessly with the ball. Viola was proud of me, which meant the world
to me. Aidan was also impressed, along with some others. However, when Loreley
appeared next to me at the party, quite a few irritated faces appeared around
my table.

"Perhaps, I should go. I'll speak
with you later." She smiled and stood.

"No. Loreley, please sit." I
motioned for her to sit back down. "You are welcome to join me at this
table."

"Lilli." Aidan hissed.

"You know what? Perhaps you should
recognize that this item right here." I slammed my finger down on to the
particular auction item that most people were talking about, "was obtained
because of Loreley. Without any request for a favor in return."

"I'm sure she will want something
of you eventually." He mumbled.

"I think that I—"

"Loreley, if anyone is leaving this
table, it’s going to be Aidan." I turned, glaring at his shocked face.

"How can you cast her aside? She is
not her father, Aidan, regardless of things that she may or may not have done
in the past. Loreley has been nothing but kind to me and, until I learn
otherwise, she is welcome around me." I grasped Loreley's hand and heard a
gasp. I turned to see Loreley had tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry." She hid her face
with her hair as she patted her eyes with a napkin.

I patted her hand.

"Don't be sorry, Loreley. You may
have done things but, to me, you aren't that person and you don't have to be.
You can be you; the you that I know and love. You are not your father,
regardless of what people have made you think and believe about yourself."

"Thank you." She choked out.

"I'm sorry." Aidan leaned
forward and pressed his lips against my cheek, kissing it. "You’re right,
she has been nothing but kind to you. Though it is not normal, she does seem
different with you." Then he leaned forward so he could see Loreley.
"I'm sorry to have made you uncomfortable."

"Thank you." She choked again
and it was almost a whisper.

The rest of that night Loreley was
unusually quiet. I had tried to talk with her a couple times but she gave short
quick answers and remained silent.

Another month passed, and Aidan and I
were celebrating our first anniversary. He had called me from work on Friday
afternoon telling me to be prepared for cold nights. That was all he would tell
me.

On Saturday afternoon we kissed the
twins goodbye and headed out in his car. He drove for a few hours, not telling
me anything about where we were going. Soon, the scenery changed. We entered a frozen
wooded area until finally reaching a quaint, little wooden cottage. Apparently,
the cottage was bought for Isobel as a gift from Aidan senior.

"Now...it's yours." Aidan
whispered as he held my chest to his, his arms around my waist.

I spun around in his arms.
"What?"

"You heard me. It's yours." He
smiled widely and kissed my shocked mouth.

"Aidan, I can't accept—" His
lips crushed against mine. When he lifted me up, I wrapped my legs around his
waist.

We just entered the cottage and already
I could feel the heat start to soak into my body. He kicked the door shut and continued
to walk until he lay us down in front of a lit fire place. Slowly, he took off
my scarf, coat and gloves before moving on to the rest. A few seconds later,
which may be some kind of record,  I was completely naked, lying beneath him.

I rolled him over and slowly took of his
clothing, piece by piece, teasing him. Once he was naked, he shifted to roll me
over. I grabbed his wrists and pinned them to the floor. Obviously, he could
break my grip if he wanted to, but he didn't fight me.

Still holding his wrists to the floor, I
sheathed his hard length into me. He was so hard and I was so wet that slipping
onto him was effortless. I sat still for a moment, savoring the feel of him
inside of me. Slowly, I began to rock my hips, creating the friction we were
both breathing heavily for. As the tension inside me built into an exquisite
tensed knot, I placed my feet flat on the floor and bounced up and down on him.

"Shit." He moaned. "I'm
gonna....cum with me…please!" He panted. Finally he grunted, "Cum
around me, Lilli."

The exquisite knot snapped and I had to
release his wrists to brace myself on his chest as the ecstasy flooded throughout
my body. I rocked slowly as I rode out the final waves of passion before I
collapsed onto the floor next to him.

"You are so amazing." He
growled as he pulled me close to his side and kissed the side of my head. I
fell into a light slumber next to him.

When I woke up, I was wrapped in a
cashmere blanket and there were pillows all around me. I stretched and sat up.

"Don't get up." I heard from
the side of the room. I turned to see Aidan walking toward me with two bowls.

"What's that?"

"Dinner." He smiled
mischievously.

"Let me help." I started to
stand up.

"No, I told you not to get up. I
prefer you staying naked and in front of the fireplace for the duration of our
stay." He smirked as he sat next to me, leaning back on the couch.

"Oh, you do, do you?" I
laughed.

"Mmhmm...damn straight. Actually, I
think that there should be a rule that you are not allowed to wear clothes the
whole weekend." He smiled, proud of his idea.

"Yeah...I don't think so." I
laughed and he pouted.

"So, what..?" I started
laughing as I looked into the bowl.

He smiled.

"Lucky Charms."

I laughed.

"Do you remember?"

I took a large bite and moaned, looking
at him questioningly.

"One of the first times I was
around you, you offered me Lucky Charms."

"Ah, yes...right before I called
you an old man with Alzheimer’s, right?" I giggled.

"Ha ha." He chuckled and ate
his cereal next to me.

"I should've known then that I
would fall in love with you." It was almost like he had accidentally said
it out loud.

"W-why is that?" I took a bite
without looking at him.

"Because the moment you winked at
me I felt something. I just hadn't realized what it was." He sighed.
"I don't think you realize just how taken I was with you, even if I hid it
under an agreement."

"Oh." I whispered. My eyes
were still on my bowl that was now empty.

I saw his hand appear and take my bowl
from me. Too soon, he was pulling me to him.

"Doesn't matter now, you’re stuck
with me." He laughed and pulled me between his legs, massaging my
shoulders as we relaxed in front of the fire.

Our anniversary passed and it was back
to our normal routines. I worked three days outside of the house and spent the
rest of my time at home with the kids. Loreley had started helping me on
occasion when I was at home.

She surprised me one day, showing up
unannounced and completely flushed. She looked as if she had been crying
although she denied it. I kept pressing for her to talk with me. She simply
brushed it off as nothing and that I was overreacting. I wasn't convinced and
offered for her to stay at our house for the night.

For some reason I felt as if she were
hiding something, but I wasn't sure what exactly it was; however, I also felt
that she was worried about something or almost in danger. Aidan didn't even
give me a hard time about Loreley staying the night, which I was thankful for.

Things were going so well, too well. I
almost felt as if I were waiting for the pin to drop and shatter the cozy, little
bubble of wonderful we had created. The twins were healthy and growing with
each day. Aidan and I had worked out our schedules to spend as much time
together and with the twins as we could. Our families had made more of an
effort to see each other. I even had Donald come visit for a week around the
twins first birthday, Millie as well. Everything was almost perfect. I should
have known then that things were going too good, something was bound to happen.

Six months after the twins turned one,
Aidan had a business meeting in Chicago to discuss the possibility of a new
merger. He was going to originally send Liam and Henry until he was informed
that the CEO requested him personally. I assured him that everything would be
fine. I wasn't aware how wrong I would be.

He had been gone for two days when I got
a message on my blackberry from Aidan telling me that he would be another day
in Chicago. I tried to call him, but only got his voice mail. I started to get
worried when after my third call he didn't respond. I called Liam to see if he
could get Aidan for me, but found that Liam wasn't with Aidan. I quickly
arranged a flight to Chicago and left as soon as I could. Something felt wrong.