One Night With Her Best Friend (3 page)

“Then
why won’t you look at me?”

“Because,”
he said, his jaw clenched, “It’s very distracting. I’m not a eunuch, you know.
Remember what I said about what it takes to expedite matters for men?”

She
froze for a second, suddenly realizing what he meant. It had never once
occurred to her that he might be physically affected by the sight of her body.
She wasn’t any sort of beauty queen and she’d always wished her legs were
longer, but she knew she was attractive enough—with a compact, curvy figure and
classic features. He’d never indicated that he was even remotely attracted to
her, though.

“I’m
sorry,” she said slowly, a knot of tension clenching in her chest.

“It’s
fine,” Aaron said quickly, smiling up at her with a characteristic expression that
made her immediately relax. “No big deal.”

Since
he’d sounded genuinely peeved earlier, she wanted to make sure everything was
fine between them. “I know you’re not a eunuch. If you were, the women who
spend the night in your apartment would be very disappointed.”

He
gave a downward smile at her teasing, and she felt better. She added, “I’m
sorry if I was insensitive.”

 “I
already said it’s fine.” He stood up, the dustpan full of wet, broken glass.
His eyes were determinedly focused on her eyes. “It’s just that matters were
being expedited in a way you didn’t intend, and you still don’t have on any
clothes.”

She
laughed and put the roses down on her granite-topped nightstand before she
walked into the closet to get her dress.

Aaron
had gone to dump the glass from the dustpan and returned to wipe up the spilled
water from the floor with the towel. “You better hurry,” he said as she stepped
out of the closet. “It’s already seven-thirty.”

“Shit.”
She glanced at her wrist, although she hadn’t put her watch on yet. “Can you
zip me up, or will that be too much expediting for you?”

His
expression conveyed his bland impatience with her teasing. “Come here.”

She
turned around so her back faced him as he reached down to the delicate zipper
on her deep red cocktail dress. She was strangely conscious of him as he stood
behind her, like she could feel the heat from his body, the intent focus of his
eyes, the ever-so-slight brush of his knuckles against her skin.

It
gave her a strange feeling—a jittery excitement paired with a pressure below
her belly. It was a ridiculous reaction so she tried to talk herself out of it,
but she was trembling just a little when she turned around. “How do I look?”

“Beautiful,”
he murmured, something soft in his expression she almost never saw. “But I
always think you are.”

He
reached out to catch one stray strand of hair that had crossed her part, and he
smoothed it down with the rest.

She
stared up at him, strangely mesmerized for no good reason.

It
was just Aaron—clever, funny, rumpled Aaron. His face was as familiar to her as
her own, but she couldn’t seem to look away from it.

“Kate,”
he began, his voice strangely thick. “Do you think—”

They
both jerked in surprise at a loud knock on the front door.

“Hugh.”
She felt ridiculously guilty for almost forgetting he was coming. It was their
one-month anniversary, and he was the man who embodied her vision of the future.

Aaron
cleared his throat and took a step back, but something had changed in his
expression.

“Can
you get the door while I put my shoes and jewelry on?” she asked.

“Sure.”

She
was relieved when Aaron left her bedroom. It was probably best that he not spend
too much time in this room, since it felt too intimate. It wouldn’t do for
things to get confused in that way. It might mess up the best thing in her
life.

She
was closing her earring as she came out to the entry hall. Hugh was dressed in
a dark suit, looking sleek and gorgeous with his smooth dark hair and handsome,
clean-shaven face. She picked up some tense vibes between the two men, so she
tried to smile them off. “You met Aaron? I’ve told you about him, haven’t I?”

“Yes,”
Hugh agreed. “I’ve heard quite a bit about Aaron.”

She
suddenly wondered if she talked too much about Aaron to Hugh. She’d have to be
careful about that.

Aaron’s
expression was neutral, but she could see a certain distance in his eyes. It
was a little annoying. He’d just met Hugh. There was no reason why he shouldn’t
like him.

Of
course, she’d never liked Carole, Aaron’s ex-wife—no matter how desperately
she’d tried to. And she’d known very well that Carole hadn’t really liked her
either.

“You
should get going,” Aaron said. “I can finish cleaning up the mess, if you
want.”

“Thanks.
Can you just lock up behind you?”

“Of
course.”

For
some reason, Kate noticed that Aaron was slightly taller than Hugh and slightly
broader across the shoulders. She’d never seen the two men together, but she’d
always assumed it would be the other way around.

Hugh
she thought of as masculine and athletic. She still thought about Aaron as a
little geeky.

But
he wasn’t. Right now, he looked big, almost primal—the physical power in his
lean body more evident than she’d ever been aware of before.

And
it wasn’t just physical. No one had a mind like Aaron did. Not even Hugh.
Aaron’s brilliance was a different sort of power.

She
swallowed, clearing her mind. She was dating Hugh. She should not be thinking
about Aaron’s body or the power he suddenly seemed to pulse. That wasn’t
anywhere close to Aaron’s place in her life.

Hugh
was frowning at Aaron as they left. He probably thought it was a strange that
she’d leave a man in her apartment, as if he were at home there.

Aaron
was
at home in her apartment. Any man she dated would have to deal with
the reality of her friendship with him.

But
still… Next time, she’d make sure Aaron wasn’t around when Hugh came to pick
her up.

Several hours later—at
exactly 1:29 in the morning—Kate pounded on Aaron’s door.

She
had a spare key to his apartment, but she couldn’t think clearly enough to retrieve
it from the glass bowl on her console table. Plus, even in her dazed, angry
state, something told her it would be rude to barge into his home without
knocking in the middle of the night.

So
she pounded instead until, after a couple of minutes, she heard sounds inside
of his approaching.

He
swung open the door in the process of pulling a t-shirt over his head. For a
moment, she was startled by the sight of his bare chest with its lean, rippling
muscles and light sprinkling of hair.

It
was a
very
fine chest. A ridiculous and irrelevant recognition that was
proof of her scattered state of mind.

Aaron
pulled down his t-shirt to cover it and blinked at her. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,”
she said stupidly. Her mind started to work clearly enough to realize she’d
woken him up in the middle of the night. His hair was a mess, and his chin was even
more bristly than normal. He looked groggy and concerned and strangely sexy.

The
knowledge made her feel self-conscious in a way she never was around Aaron.
“Sorry. I shouldn’t have woken you up.”

He
gave her an impatient look, making it clear he thought her words were absurd.
He pulled her inside and shut the door behind them.

Kate
wasn’t aware of exactly how it happened, but they ended up sitting side-by-side
on the couch. Aaron’s eyes looked steel gray in the dim light of the living
room as he gazed at her soberly. “Did something happen with Hugh?”

She
nodded, shaking with anger and outrage. “He dumped me. The bastard dumped me.”

Aaron
inhaled thickly and let it out. She heard the breath, even though she wasn’t
looking at him. “I’m sorry. What happened?”

“I
don’t really know.” She felt fuzzy, as if she’d drunk too much—although she’d
only had one glass of wine with dinner. She also felt numb, as if someone had
knocked her in the head but she hadn’t yet processed the impact. Mostly, she
just felt mad. “We started to argue and then couldn’t stop.”

“What
did you argue about?” Aaron’s tone was soft, careful. He’d never been excited
about Hugh, but he would also never want to see her hurt.

“About
you, mostly. He thought it was inappropriate that I’m so close to you. He
called it ‘intimate’—making it sound like there’s something dirty about our
friendship.”

When
Aaron didn’t respond, she darted a glance over at him. He sat stiffly beside
her, staring down at the floor. Finally, he said, “I’m sorry if I got in the
way of your relationship. I shouldn’t have been hanging out at your place earlier.”

“No.
It’s not your fault. He was being stupid and possessive. Besides, there was a
lot more to it. He used that as an excuse to get into how bad I am at
relationships. Saying I’m too cold and controlled and I hold back too much to
be with someone for real.” Her voice cracked at the memory of the words, at how
they’d made her feel. “Bastard.”

She
sat for a minute, glaring down at a blank space in the air, but her anger was
morphing into something else. “I don’t think he was right about me,” she said
at last.

She
tightened her hands, pressing them into her thighs in an attempt to restrain
the sharp crack of emotion. She tried to summon her righteous anger again at
the selfish, insensitive way Hugh had behaved.

“Of
course he wasn’t right. How can you even think that?”

“I
don’t. He’s just an ass. But I’ve never really been in a long-term, serious
relationship. I thought I just hadn’t found the right guy.”

“You
probably haven’t.”

“But
you were saying the same thing earlier today about how I’m too rigid. Maybe the
problem has always been me.”

“The
problem isn’t you.” Aaron’s voice was gruff, deeply comforting.

“He
said he needed to be with someone more open and giving. Someone who doesn’t
always hold herself back. Someone
softer
, he said.” Her whole body
started to shake as her throat constricted around the words. She’d been so
furious when he’d said that to her, and she’d lashed out in response. But now
the words had had time to fester.

“He’s
an idiot.”

Despite
herself, she let out a huff of bitter amusement. “That’s nice of you to say,
and I know he was being a jerk. But I am kind of hard and unyielding, and I try
to administrate the whole world. Isn’t that what you were trying to tell me
before? Maybe I can’t really give enough to be in a good relationship.”

“Of
course you can.” Aaron bit the words out in the tone he rarely used, the one
that showed him to be furious. “Stop blaming yourself. Hugh was just dumping
his own issues onto you. And nothing I said earlier implied you were hard or
unyielding. You’ve been my friend all these years, and you’re the most generous
person I’ve ever met. You’ve given me more than I can begin to measure. That’s
proof you
can
do relationships.”

She
felt comforted despite herself, but the swell of pain in her chest kept rising
into her throat. She had to clasp her hands together to keep them from shaking.
“I meant love relationships.”

Aaron
didn’t respond to that. He looked away briefly.

“I
really want one,” she admitted in a wobbly voice. “For someone to love me like
that.” She’d never admitted it out loud before, since it made her feel weak and
predictable.

“I
know you do,” Aaron said, almost gently.

“I
really thought Hugh was it.”

“I
know you did.”

“I
thought he was the guy I’d been waiting for all this time. Things really seemed
to be falling in place with him.”

“I
know they did.”

Aaron’s
responses were oddly reassuring, as if they validated her feelings, however
wrong they had been.

“I
know it was stupid, but I’d made all these plans. Now the whole thing just fell
apart. It feels like everything is falling apart.” Her attempts to stop shaking
failed utterly, and her words broke down in a stifled sob.

He
pulled her into his arms, drawing her tightly against him. “I know it does,” he
murmured against her hair.

She
let go for a minute, shaking against him and releasing the tight knot of hurt
and disappointment. He was warm and smelled like Aaron. His arms were tight
around her, and he felt strong, utterly safe.

She
didn’t cry for very long. In fact, she was surprised by how much better she
felt after just a few minutes.

She’d
only been with Hugh for a month, after all. It was only her plans and dreams
that had really been crushed.

“Sorry
for waking you up,” she mumbled, still slumped against him. She didn’t want to
pull away. She liked how it felt to be held by him. They hugged a lot, but they
didn’t usually cuddle together like this.