The Rebel's Return (Red River) (6 page)

“Nope. Not listening. And for the record, I’m so mad at you. You don’t get to walk back into my life and have a say in what I do or don’t do. Also, this is Francesca’s bachelorette party—I can’t be here sober. It’s bad enough I actually have to attend. Attending sober would be as bad as watching you and Amanda in bed together.”

Holy crap, he hated himself, especially since her gorgeous eyes were now filled with tears. He opened his mouth hoping to God something would come out that could actually make it all better, but she beat him to it. “You don’t get to wander—no,
saunter
—back into town after all these years and pretend to give a damn about me. How do you know that this isn’t what I do every weekend? Maybe I go home with that chump every Friday.”

He tried not to smile because he didn’t want her to think he was laughing at her, but she was pretty damn adorable. He quickly tried to look
somber
when her eyes narrowed on him. “I don’t think I can wander back into town. But I care about what happens to you, and judging by the way this guy is eyeing you, I’d say you don’t go home with him every Friday night.”

The lout moved in. “Time to leave, buddy.”

“You leave,” Aiden said, using his meanest sonofabitch voice.

“Aiden, you can’t go around barking out orders at people. You didn’t even ask me what I want. You just assume—”

“I know you, Nat,” he said in a low voice as he moved a step into her. Her breath hitched, and he could see that her pulse picked up rapidly in the base of her throat. He wasn’t going to let his gaze wander lower, because he knew he’d just get distracted by the way she filled out her sweater.

“You don’t know me,” she said, vulnerability shining in those brown eyes.

“I do. You’re still the same girl,” he whispered. The same one he wanted. Day and night. He’d never stopped wanting her. Wondering about her. Wishing for a future they could never have.

She pushed past him and worked her way through the crowd. He’d always been faster, and followed right behind her, catching the door with the palm of his hand when she tried to slam it in his face. They stood outside on the wide porch of the Roadhouse, her chest rising and falling, and her face tight with anger. He was a weak man, he knew, as his gaze fell to her chest.

“What are you doing?” she hissed.

“Sorry. You always filled out a sweater—”

“No, you ass, I mean what are you doing here? Interfering in bar pickups, pretending like you give a crap about me.”

“I do. I always have.”

“Oh, well sleeping with some stupid girl and then dumping me and taking off isn’t a great way of showing you care. You gave up all rights to interfering in my life, Aiden. Don’t go all apish because you’re back in town and you have some conceited idea that you actually have the right to talk to me about my life and my personal decisions.”

“You’re right. I gave up all rights I had when I walked out of town.” He couldn’t say when he cheated, because he just couldn’t admit that.

“Good. So then know this. There have been many, many men after you. At least a dozen, so leave me alone and let me go on with my life.”

He winced. He didn’t want to think about one guy, let alone a dozen. There was also the fact that he was now doubting all his decisions. Why hadn’t he stuck around to fight for her? Why had he let Dominic decide he wasn’t good enough for Nat? Okay, so sure he had to clean up his act, but then, after that? Why did he just give up on himself?

It was because he was so damn afraid that if she discovered what a loser he really was, she’d leave him. And he never would have recovered from her telling him he wasn’t good enough. But that was a long time ago. He’d changed. He was a man now. She was a woman. An incredibly beautiful, smart, sassy woman, and he didn’t want to leave her again.

He walked toward the only woman that had ever made him feel like he was more than just some guy. She made him feel like he was someone worthy. She had this incredible optimism, this energy, something he’d never felt growing up. She had it, and she shared it. She’d shared everything with him, given him everything. Instead of fighting for them, he took the coward’s road and left.

The door burst open, and Natalia jumped.

“Uh, sorry to interrupt, but I gotta go. We ran out of kids’ Tylenol, and Michael has a fever. Claire just texted. Uh, see you, Nat. Aiden? Don’t be a douche.” Jack slapped him on the back and walked down the steps.

“Say hi to Claire,” Natalia choked out.

Jake gave a wave and hopped on his bike. Aiden was surprised he’d been allowed to keep it.

Natalia attempted to walk past him, but he grabbed her arm. “Nat.”

“Don’t,” she whispered, yanking her arm free. “Don’t pretend you care. Don’t pretend you want me. Don’t pretend to be anything other than the two-faced cheater you were when we were together.”

This was his chance to come clean and move forward with Nat. Or it was his chance to be a coward and let her walk away again. She stomped down the two steps to the gravel parking lot, her back to him. He could call himself a lot of names, but coward wasn’t one of them. “Nat,” he called out and swallowed up the distance between them.

“I told you to leave me alone,” she said, fishing around the inside of her purse. They had arrived at her monstrosity of a vehicle.

“I’m sorry. For everything.”

She didn’t turn around.

He placed his hands on the car, on either side of her head. It took everything in him not to bury his head in her neck and breathe in the scent of her.

“It doesn’t matter. Also, you’re blocking my light, and I need to find my keys.”

“It does,” he whispered. “It matters that I hurt you, that I betrayed you. But I think what matters more is that we’re both here now. We both still feel the chemistry between us.”

Her shoulders stiffened, and he could have sworn he saw a shiver run through her. “I feel nothing.”

“Let me drive you home,” he said, ignoring her blatant lying in case he pissed her off. “You had too much to drink anyway.”

She rested her forehead against the window, and for a second he thought she was going to argue. She held up her keys, her posture one of surrender.

He took the opportunity to place a kiss in the warm spot on the side of her neck. He thought she’d pull away or maybe elbow him, but her body went completely still. She stood there, her back to him, and he could feel her heat, and the memory of the way they used to be engulfed him until he wanted to choke on his own stupidity for ever leaving her. He squeezed his eyes shut, and it took everything he had not to pull her into his arms. But a second later, the moment was gone, and she pulled away from him and walked around to the passenger’s side. They didn’t say anything as he pulled out of the parking lot and onto the road, but he was very aware of the chemistry humming between them.

“Just for the record, I wasn’t going to drive myself home. I was planning on calling Dom.”

He gave a nod and pulled in front of her building a moment later. “Good.”

“So, I’m going to go upstairs now,” she said, giving him a look that had the tiniest bit of something other than the usual contempt.

“I’ll walk you up,” he said, getting out of the car before she had a chance to say no.

“Very unnecessary,” she said, standing in the alcove that led to the apartments above the bakery. She was fumbling through her purse again, and he knew she was still plastered by her buffet-style alcohol binge.

He didn’t say anything, just opened the door with the keys he was still holding. She frowned at him as she walked through the door he held open. He gave her a smile and walked beside her up the stairs, curious to see her place, and also happy to have the excuse to spend more time with her.

He handed over her keys when they arrived at her door. Her fingers made contact with his, and the spark that only Nat was able to create hit him again. She turned on a table lamp, and the dark space was now lit with a soft glow. Her apartment was small and neat, decorated exactly the way he would have imagined, if he imagined this sort of thing. The small kitchen was a white color with stainless steel appliances and a stone counter. Two white sofas and a white coffee table made up the family room.

“Do you want a drink?” she asked.

He didn’t want to drink around her. He shook his head.

“Water?” She ducked her head inside of her fridge and pulled out a Brita.

“No thanks,” he said, walking over to her.

She spilled her glass of water and cursed. She reached for a tea towel, and he grabbed it from her, wiping the wet counter. “Long night?”

She blinked rapidly, and he frowned when it looked as though she was trying to fight tears. “Too much to drink. Too much stupid cousin. Too much Aiden,” she whispered at the end.

He sighed and reached out for her hand, not knowing if she’d shove him away. She didn’t, and he tugged her along in the hallway he assumed led to her bedroom. “For the record, there can never be too much Aiden,” he said, shooting her a smile.

She almost smiled back, and he noticed how tired she looked. She turned on a bedside lamp and sat on the edge of her bed. There was more white furniture in here. White duvet cover, as well. “I may have agreed with that statement a long time ago,” she said.

“Why don’t you lie down and call it a day.”

Her brown eyes locked onto his, and he saw the vulnerability, the honesty, in them. She had been fighting him so hard, but her feelings for him were shining in her eyes. It floored him.

“Aiden,” she whispered, not breaking his stare. He swallowed hard and waited. He should leave. Now. But if she asked him to stay, he would. He wanted to see that side of her that he’d remembered all these years. He wanted to see her smile—directed at him. He wanted to hear her laugh. He wanted her to curl her body into his with all the trust in the world. “Do you want to stay? Just for a bit?” She climbed under the covers, and he rounded the other side of the bed.

“I like your place,” he said, settling on the bed beside her.

“Thanks. My parents have only just forgiven me for moving out,” she said with a laugh.

He laughed along with her, getting lulled back into the place they used to be. “Some things never change. At least you know they care.”

Her smile dipped slightly, and she turned on her side to look at him directly. “There are a lot of people who still care about you here, Aiden.”

His chest squeezed as she sweetly tried to make him feel better about the contrast between their families. She’d always done that. She’d always tried to see the good in his father. He reached out to smooth the hair off her face, loving that it felt just as he remembered. “Thanks, Nat.”

He heard the catch in her breath as his thumb grazed the smooth line of her cheekbone. Her eyes shone with emotion. “Aiden, I missed you so much,” she said in a voice that made his gut clench.

There was no way he wasn’t going to kiss her. There was no way he was going to deny the invitation in her eyes.

Except of course, if her cell phone rang sharply in the silent bedroom. She jumped and scrambled. “I, um, I need to get that,” she said.

He flopped his head back on the mattress and listened as she promised Sabrina that he’d go and pick her up from the Roadhouse.

Chapter Six

“I have to go to My Sister’s Closet.” Natalia groaned, ducking behind the counter to grab a pastry box. She was avoiding eye contact with Sabrina, who was going to harass her for details about her encounter with Aiden. Details she really didn’t want to relive.

“Uh, back it up, please,” Sabrina said, grabbing the pastry box.

Aiden. Right. What was there to say? The almost-kiss? The look in his eyes that she was now sure she hadn’t been imagining before? Or maybe it was the kiss on her neck. Or riding in the car with him so close to her. Or maybe it was the sound of him whispering in that gruff voice that had filled her dreams last night.
You’re still the same girl…

No, no. It had to be the fact that he’d been lying on her bed like some fantasy from her wildest dreams.

“Orders. I have a ton of deliveries to do this afternoon. I really need to get on finding a delivery driver.” She picked up the clipboard filled with the afternoon’s deliveries.

Sabrina snatched it from her. “No. The most important thing is for you to tell me how and why Aiden picked me up from the Roadhouse.”

“He was helping you out. He has a thing against drunk driving.”

“So do most normal people. That doesn’t mean they go around being designated drivers for everyone. It also doesn’t explain how and why you were able to get a hold of him so quickly.”

Natalia leaned forward, bracing against the marble counter. “It was all a coincidence. Nothing. Nothing happened. Nothing will ever happen. Regardless of how good the man looks, or all the tortured, brooding gazes he gives me.”

Sabrina took the glass dome off the chocolate-dipped biscotti, shaking her head as she pulled one out and bit into it. “This is tragic, and something needs to be done about it.”

“Nothing needs to be done. The man is leaving Red River in a little over a month. I doubt he’ll ever be back, and even if that weren’t happening? It would not matter because he’s a cheat.”

Sabrina wiped the crumbs from the front of her dress. “You guys were so young.”

“Fine. Let’s say I was able to move beyond that. I still couldn’t because his cheating is indicative of a much larger problem that has to do with me. Franco cheated on me as well. The problem is
me
. I’m not about to enter anything with Aiden, fall madly in love with him again, only to have my heart trampled on all over again.”

“What happened was not your fault.”

“Fine. But there’s something wrong with
me
.”

“No. Here’s what happened—Aiden was in a really bad place when you were together. His life was a wreck, and he was out of control. Stupid-head on the other hand was a moron right from the beginning, and frankly, I think we both know him cheating with Francesca was the best thing to happen to both of you.”

She crossed her arms. “Okay, maybe you’re right.”

“Also, Aiden’s got it all together now. He’s not the same guy. Don’t you think he deserves a second chance? You know what his home life was like.”

She covered her face and groaned. “Let’s say I agreed with you. I don’t even think he wants a second chance.”

Her phone sounded and a cluster of texts came through. She glanced at the screen and shrieked. “Oh God, I’m late.”

“For what?” Sabrina asked.

“The stupid dress fitting. Francesca ordered the bridesmaids’ dresses from My Sister’s Closet, and I have to try it on today. Fitting number one with none other than Eunice Jacobs.”

“I’m so sorry this is happening to you,” Sabrina said, polishing off the last bite of the biscotto.

“Yeah. Me, too. Just what I need, to be poked and prodded by the biggest gossip in town.”

“I’m sure it won’t be that bad.”

“You’re lying, aren’t you?”

Her friend winced and nodded. “It’s going to be so bad. Between Mrs. Jacobs and your cousin…maybe you should fill up one of the paper coffee cups with alcohol and just drink your way through it.”

She would have laughed had it not been so sad.

“Have you seen the dresses, at least?”

She shook her head, dread making it impossible to go faster. “No. I know she’s going to pick something hideous just to stick it to me. She’s made it her life’s mission to try and make me look bad.”

“She hasn’t succeeded. She’s only made herself look desperate and stupid. Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll look beautiful, though now that Aiden’s back in town, I hope you look hot.”

Natalia threw her head into her hands and moaned. “Why is all of this happening at the same time?”

“Is he going to the wedding?”

She nodded. “By
he
I’m sure you’re referring to Aiden and, yes, I’m sure he is because his dad was invited, and he wouldn’t send him alone.”

“Well then, I’ll help you make sure that you look to die for in that dress.”

Dying was exactly what needed to happen.

Natalia squeezed her eyes shut at My Sister’s Closet as Mrs. Jacobs poked her repeatedly with pins as she tried to fix the giant tablecloth of a dress engulfing her.

“I can’t believe this has happened, Natty,” her cousin said. “I really thought you were larger when I ordered the dress.”

Natalia was glad her hands were currently wrapped in chiffon or she would have attempted to strangle her cousin.

“I swear I thought I ordered the right size,” Francesca said, her hand flying to her chest.

Natalia stared at herself in the full-length mirror, not really surprised. The burgundy dress hung on her like twenty yards of silk drapery. Meanwhile, all the other bridesmaids’ dresses fit perfectly. Natalia gave compliments to the other girls and stood on the sidelines feeling like they were in high school all over again, her cousin trying to outdo her as she always had.

“Well, according to this, you marked Natalia down for a size twenty,” Mrs. Jacobs said, shooting her a pointed stare. The woman had half-moon black reading glasses perched on the tip of her nose, her fuchsia lips pursed together. Natalia could make out the censure in her tone. It made her happy to know that someone else doubted her cousin’s sincerity.

“My bad! Well, come on, ladies. Lunch is on me.”

Natalia moved to the side and waited for everyone to exit the changing room area. Mrs. Jacobs had said to stay behind so she could pin the dress for alterations.

“You know,” she said, placing the clipboard down on an upholstered chair. “I had a friend back in high school who reminded me of your cousin.” She picked up a needle holder and started pulling and tugging on the fabric. “She always tried to put me down or humiliate me.”

“I try to tell myself it’s her problem. It doesn’t bother me.”

“Hogwash, dear. That has to bother you. Heck, it bothers me to watch. Those kinds of people are insecure and disloyal. She backstabbed you once, and she’ll do it again.”

Natalia frowned. “I wasn’t aware…you knew about that. It was a long time ago.”

Mrs. Jacobs lifted her brows and then tugged tightly on the bodice of her gown. “Well, I do hate to interfere in other people’s business, so I usually keep quiet. Sometimes I happen to overhear things. I know things, dear. I know she stole your boyfriend. Despicable, and shame on them both,” she hissed. “But her loss because now she’s marrying the loser,” she said with a giggle.

Natalia almost laughed along with her, but she was still slightly taken aback by the fact that Mrs. Jacobs could accurately remember teenage drama.

“And now, as if it isn’t enough that she stole the man right out of from under you, and is marrying him, she wants to try and make you look like a giant blob.”

This time she did laugh.

“Personally, I think it has to do with the fact that the devastatingly handsome—and now successful—Aiden McCann is back in town.”

Natalia couldn’t see her face because she was now kneeling down, hemming the bottom of the dress. “What would that have to do with anything?” But she already knew.

“Well, my dear. She doesn’t want you getting back together with Aiden. He’s handsome as sin, and now he also has his life together, his own business. She would be eaten alive by jealousy to see the two of you back together.”

“She has nothing to worry about, because he and I will never get back together.”

Mrs. Jacobs rose abruptly, pins sticking out of her mouth and dropping to the ground as she spoke. “Never say never. Those boys—Aiden and Dylan—have been through a lot. Losing their mother so young, and poor David trying to raise them even though he was heartbroken. He made a mess of things, but he tried.”

“I can’t give a cheater a second chance, Mrs. Jacobs.”

She sighed, the last pin dropping onto the carpet silently. “Sometimes what we think happened and what actually happened aren’t the same, dear.”

“What do you mean?”

She shrugged and sighed theatrically. “I’m saying it was a long time ago, and I think that maybe things played out the way Aiden wanted them to. I babysat those boys occasionally, and I know their father very well… I just… Well, now this is none of my business. I hate intruding in other people’s affairs,” she said, patting Natalia on the shoulder and turning her to look in the mirror.

Her words about Aiden echoed in her mind. As if. But as she stood there being poked and prodded, she thought back on her conversation with Aiden…every time she’d mentioned the cheating, he’d quickly talked about leaving. None of this mattered, anyway. He didn’t live here. He left.

She frowned, catching sight of herself in the full-length mirror. Mrs. Jacobs had certainly taken in the dress. The bodice was now tight and low cut, the waist cinched, and the skirt A-line and falling to the floor in a graceful waterfall of silk. She looked…really good. She needed to run her new theory by her BFF.

Or she could ask Aiden, since he was walking straight toward them with a look that was getting hotter and hotter. She hadn’t even noticed him walk in.

“Afternoon, Mrs. Jacobs. Natalia.”

“Well, aren’t you a sight for sore, tired eyes, Aiden McCann? You just get more and more handsome as the years go on,” Mrs. Jacobs said, and Natalia could have sworn the woman fanned herself with her hand for a moment.

“Natalia, can I have a word with you?”

Mrs. Jacobs was looking back and forth between them. Natalia avoided eye contact with her. “Sure.”

“Well,” Mrs. Jacobs said, taking giant, theatrical steps backward out of the fitting area and into Aiden. He steadied her with his hands on her shoulders, and the woman blushed. Natalia did not want to acknowledge how Aiden didn’t have to do a thing to charm Mrs. Jacobs.

“You all right?” he said to the older woman.

She was falling all over herself, her leopard-print leggings and sequined, oversize cat sweatshirt catching on a hanger as she made her way to the front of the store. “I’m perfectly fine, thank you, dear. You kids have a nice chat!”

Aiden hadn’t waited for the woman to finish talking. Instead, he swallowed up the distance between them, and she suddenly felt the need to clothe herself. His gaze was everywhere, almost as though he were touching her. Then it lingered on her breasts for a heated second before traveling up to her eyes. His face was clenched, and had this been any other man than the one that had broken her heart, she would have jumped him, because no man had ever looked at her like that or evoked such an immediate, physical want in her. So instead she did what any self-saving, smart woman would do. She reached for Mrs. Jacobs’s purple and pineapple-printed raincoat and enveloped herself in it.

“Oh God, it’s like straight out of a nightmare,” Aiden said. He even took a step back.

She breathed an inward sigh of relief. At least that problem was solved. She backed up a little bit. She noticed he still had the stubble thing going on. And he wasn’t wearing a jacket today, even though it looked like rain. He was wearing faded, worn-in jeans that seemed to be made to hug and emphasize all his good parts, which happened to be everything. Then there was the T-shirt he was wearing that emphasized how much he’d filled out in the years since he’d been gone. Except the stomach, that was flat and…her eyes snapped up to his.
Stay on track.
“Yes? You needed to see me about something?”

Aiden gave his head a shake. “I can’t think with that thing on you.”

She hugged it tighter and backed up another step. Before she knew it she was standing in one of the changing rooms. “It’s not up to you to like what I wear.”

“That’s not yours.”

She shrugged.

“You’re wearing it because you don’t like me looking at you.”

She rolled her eyes. “As if. You looking at me is as boring as…a horse on a farm glancing over at me.”

His lips twitched, and she observed a dimple appearance. The glint in his eyes unfortunately didn’t match the tone of the dimple, and he took two large steps forward so that he was now in the doorway. “You’re lying,” he said with another dimple flash.

She lifted her chin and looked him square in the eye, even though her pulse was racing and, dear God, she could smell him, and he smelled so good. Like man and Aiden and old Aiden and…

“What are you thinking about?”

She waved a hand in front of her face. “Nothing. I was thinking that I don’t know why you’re trying to prove I’m a liar.”

“I have my reasons. So back to what we were talking about.”

“I can’t remember.”

“You don’t like me looking at you.”

“You’re wrong. You looking at me is just the same as…Mrs. Jacobs looking at me.”

She had always been a bad liar. Judging by his sexy, you’re-such-a-liar smile, he thought so, too. He braced his arms on either side of the doorway. His shirt lifted, and she caught a glimpse of hard abs. Omigod, she was going to cry.

“Somehow I don’t think Mrs. Jacobs looks at you the way I do.”

“Exactly the same,” she said. She knew what he was going to say next.

“Then take off the jacket and see if me looking at you is the same as Mrs. Jacobs looking at you.” He was grinning now, the handsome bastard, as though he knew. He was also daring her.

She ripped off the jacket, tangling it up, and threw it at him. His rich laugh made her toes curl, and he caught the jacket and then slowly let his gaze wander up and down her body. She knew she was turning red, everywhere, and he could see it all, thanks to the seamstress skills of Mrs. Jacobs. Her breath hitched as he walked until they were almost face-to-face. Then he shut the door behind him, and it was just the two of them in the tiny dressing room. If she took a deep breath, her breasts would come into contact with that solid chest and everything would be over: her resolve, her pride, her dignity. She concentrated on tiny, shallow breaths.