the opportunity to toss him out on his butt, as she should have done months ago. Yet, when she peered through the peephole, she didn’t see Kevin. She saw his brother standing on her porch, and that was quite a surprise. Aidan had never paid her a visit before.
Corri opened the door, immediately regretting her unkempt state. “What are you doing here?”
He held up a brown paper bag. “I brought some wine. I thought you could use a drink.”
She could. Several, in fact. “By all means, come in.”
Aidan followed her into the living room and shed his jacket. “Nice place. Kind of a long drive from downtown.”
“I like the quiet neighborhood.” She liked the way he looked right now with his navy sweatshirt, well-worn jeans and loafers. Not that she’d seen him ever look anything but great. “You know, I’m so used to you in a suit, it’s almost always a shock to see you in casual clothes.”
“I guess we’re even then,” he said as he tossed his jacket over the back of one chair. “I’ve rarely seen you without all the stage makeup, or your hair down.”
Her hand immediately went to her stringy hair. She hadn’t bothered to dry it when she’d left the shower. In fact, she didn’t remember brushing it. Not to mention, her T-shirt and sweats would qualify as too ratty to exist. “I’m a mess.”
“You look great.”
Considering the appreciation in his tone, she might actually start to believe it. “Thanks. Now come have a seat. I was just about to make something for dinner. Have you eaten yet?”
“No.” He dropped down on the sofa and set the bottle on the table. “But you shouldn’t have to cook. We could have Chinese delivered. Or pizza.”
“Believe me, it’s nothing fancy,” Corri said on her way to the miniscule kitchen. Not unless he considered hot dogs fancy, because that’s exactly what she’d planned to have. Nuked hot dogs. She’d gone to the grocer’s on the way home and stocked up on junk food—major junk food, including double fudge cookies, and Italian soda. Tomorrow she could go to the gym and attempt to reverse the damage.
Corri microwaved three hot dogs, one for her and two for Aidan, and after gathering all the fixings and silverware, placed them on her nice teakwood tray. She opened the cabinet and took out the gold-rimmed wineglasses Kevin had brought her from Pamplona back in July, an attempt to make amends for missing her twenty-ninth birthday. If they weren’t so pretty and ornate, she would happily throw one against the wall just as she had the ring.
After slipping a corkscrew in her pocket, and tucking the bag of chips under her chin, she carried the tray into the living room and slid it onto the coffee table. “Here you go. Franks à la Corri.”
Aidan eyed the hot dogs for a few minutes. “The cloth napkins add a nice touch.”
And they looked somewhat odd alongside the paper plates, Corri decided. But she was more concerned about pleasing Aidan. “I could whip you up an omelet if this won’t work.”
He grabbed the bottle of relish. “This is fine. I haven’t had a hot dog since last summer at the ballpark.”
Good, because Corri truly didn’t want to go near the stove. She sat beside him, keeping a comfortable berth between them, yet still feeling oddly nervous. Ridiculous. He was her boss, her friend. But this was Aidan in her home, not in the office. “If you want some grated cheese, I could get that for you.”
“This is fine.” He picked up a knife and offered it to her. “Maybe you’d like to use this to vent some more frustration on your hot dog.”
If he hadn’t said it with such a sexy smile, she might have been insulted. “Very funny. I believe I’ve done enough hacking for one day.” She handed him the corkscrew. “You can do the honors.”
Aidan uncorked the wine with all the proficiency of a man who’d had a lot of practice. She had no doubt he’d done this on more than one occasion with more than one woman. Since his breakup with his former girlfriend, he’d dated quite a few eager prospects. Several had shown up at the studio like prime-time groupies asking for him, only to be turned away by Aidan’s bulldog assistant, Stella. But as far as Corri knew, he hadn’t been seriously involved with anyone lately. Not that that should matter to her.
He poured the merlot, then handed her a glass. “To good ratings.”
Corri touched her glass to his. “I’ll drink to that.” Right now, she’d probably drink to anything.
By the time Corri had eaten her hot dog, Aidan had consumed both of his. She tore open the bag of chips and tilted it toward him. “In case you’re still hungry.”
He waved them away. “No thanks.”
Corri grabbed a few chips and set the bag down on the table. “I shouldn’t be eating them, either, but after today, I’m in the mood to binge.” She proved that by consuming the chips in record time.
Aidan settled his gaze on her lips, then said, “Lean over here.”
She felt an abrupt surge of excitement. “Why?”
“Because you have mustard on your mouth.”
Of course she did. What went better with bad hair and no makeup than a blob of mustard? “Point it out, and I’ll get it.”
“I’ll do it.”
She expected him to pick up a napkin. Instead, he formed his palm to her jaw and rubbed the corner of her lip with his thumb several times. “It’s gone now.”
If it was gone, then why didn’t he move his hand away? Why did he keep looking at her as if he wanted a repeat of the kitchen kiss? And why was she wishing he would kiss her? Easy. She wasn’t in her right mind.
Finally, he let go of her face and took a long drink of the wine. Corri settled back against the sofa, wine in hand, and tried to think of something to say to break the uncomfortable silence. She settled on a question she should have asked the minute he came into the house. “Did you find Kevin?”
His slight weight shift indicated a chink in his normal composure. “Yeah. At his condo. He hadn’t left for the airport yet.”
Apparently she was going to have to wring the information out of him. “What did he say?”
“He told me to mind my own business, and I told him he was a coward.”
That gave Corri a strong sense of satisfaction. “You didn’t punch him, did you?”
“No, but I wanted to when he mentioned suing you and the studio because of the show.”
She pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes. “I’m so sorry, Aidan. Normally he never watches the show.”
“He didn’t. His boss’s wife did.”
“Lovely.”
“I made a few threats of my own, so you don’t have to worry about it.”
That called for a drink of wine, which she took
