is more fun and you know you agree,” he said softly, standing close in front of her. “I’ll show you tonight when we’re together.”
“Oh, no, you won’t. I don’t need you to show me one thing. We’ll have dinner, talk a little and say good-night. That’s the agenda. Got it?”
“Oh, I have an agenda. I had it the moment I walked through the door and saw you sitting there with Cole. One of the goals on my agenda is to get you to take down your hair.”
“Amazing. One of my goals is to keep my hair pinned up, so one of us is going to fail completely,” she said, her blue eyes twinkling.
Eager to be with her for the whole evening, to flirt and dance and hopefully kiss, he leaned a bit closer. “If I placed my hand on your throat, I’ll bet I’d feel your pulse is racing. You want the same thing I do. I’m looking forward to dinner and spending the evening together.”
“I’m looking forward to the evening, too, so I can talk to you more about how you and your company can continue to help with the restoration of Royal. You’re doing a wonderful job so far, and it’s heartwarming to know you’re willing to continue to help.”
“We’ll help, but tonight is a time for you to relax and catch your breath. It’s a time for fun and friendship and maybe a kiss or two to take your mind off all the problems, so don’t bring them with you. C’mon, I’ll walk you to your door,” he said, taking her arm and heading to the elevators.
She laughed. “Well now, don’t you have a take-charge personality.”
“It gets things done,” he answered lightly as they entered the elevator and rode to the sixth floor. When they got off, she walked down the hall and put her key card in a slot. As she opened the door, she held the handle and turned to him.
“Thanks, Aaron. I’ll meet you in the lobby.”
“How’s seven?” he asked, placing one hand on the door frame over her head and leaning close. “It’s good to see you again. I’m looking forward to the evening.”
Her eyes flickered and he saw the change as if she had mentally closed a door between them. “Since I’m leaving town tomorrow, let’s make it an early evening, because I have to get up at the crack of dawn. My life has changed since you first met me. I have responsibilities now that I didn’t have then.”
“Sure, whatever you want,” he said, wondering what bothered her. For a few minutes downstairs she had let down that guard. He intended to find out why she was now being distant with him. “See you at seven.”
“Bye, Aaron,” she said, and stepped inside her suite, closing the door.
As he rode down in the elevator, his thoughts were on her. He knew she had regretted their night of lovemaking. It was uncustomary for her and in the cool light of day, it upset her that she had allowed herself to succumb to passion. Was she still suffering guilt about that night?
He didn’t think that was what had brought on the cool demeanor at the door of her suite. Maybe partially, but it had to be more than that. But what else could it be? He intended to find out.
He took the elevator back down and crossed the lobby, determined to get a suite on the sixth floor even if he had to pay far more to do so.
It turned out to be easier than he had thought because someone had just moved out.
My lucky day.
Stella Daniels walked through the living room of the suite in the Cozy Inn without seeing her surroundings. Visions came of Aaron when he had strolled to the table where she sat with Cole. Looking even better than she had remembered, Aaron exuded energy. His short dark blond hair in a neat cut added to his authoritative impression. The warmth in his light brown eyes had caused her heart to miss a beat.
She had a mixture of reactions to seeing him—excitement, desire, dread, regret. She hoped she’d managed to hide her tangled opposing emotions as she smiled and greeted him. Her first thought was how handsome he was. Her second was happiness to see him again, immediately followed by wishing he had stayed in Dallas where the company he shared with Cole was headquartered. His presence complicated her busy life more than he knew.
She’d offered her hand in a business handshake, but the moment his fingers had closed over hers, her heartbeat had jumped and awareness of the physical contact had set every nerve quivering. Memories taunted and tempted, memories that she had tried to forget since the one night she had spent with Aaron in October.
It had been a night she yielded to passion—which was so unlike her. Never before had she done such a thing or even been tempted to, but Aaron had swept her away. He had made her forget worries, principles, consequences, all her usual levelheaded caution, and she had rushed into a blissful night of love with him.
Now she was going to pay a price. As time passed after their encounter, she suspected she might have gotten pregnant. Finally she had purchased a pregnancy kit and the results confirmed her suspicions. The next step would be a doctor. Tomorrow she had an appointment in Austin. Her friends thought she was going there to visit her sister; Stella hadn’t actually said as much, but people had jumped to that conclusion and she had not corrected anyone. She did not want to see a doctor in Royal who would know her. She didn’t want to see one anywhere in the vicinity who would recognize her from her appearances on television since the storm. If a doctor confirmed her pregnancy, she wanted some time to make decisions and deal with the situation herself before everyone in Royal had the news, particularly Aaron.
Tomorrow she would have an expert opinion. Most of the time she still felt she wasn’t pregnant, that something else was going on. It had only been one night, and they’d used protection—pregnancy shouldn’t have resulted, regardless of test results or a missed period.
She studied herself in the mirror—her figure hadn’t changed. She hoped the pregnancy test was wrong, even though common sense said the test was accurate.
Given all that was going on, she should have turned Aaron down tonight, but she just couldn’t do it.
She looked at her hair and thought about what he had said. She would keep it up in a bun as a reminder to stop herself from another night of making love with him. In the meantime, she was going to have dinner with him, work with him and even have fun with him. Harmless fun that would allow them each to say goodbye without emotional ties—just two people who had a good time working together. What harm could there be in that?
Unless it turned out that she was pregnant. Then she couldn’t say goodbye.
She showered, took down her hair to redo it and selected a plain pale beige long-sleeved cotton blouse and a dark brown straight wool skirt with practical low-heeled shoes. She brushed, twisted and secured her hair into a bun at the back of her head. She didn’t wear makeup. Men usually didn’t notice her and she didn’t think makeup would make much difference. The times she had worn makeup in high school, boys still hadn’t noticed her or wanted to ask her out except when they were looking for help in some course they were taking.
An evening with Aaron. In spite of her promises to herself and her good intentions, the excitement tingled and added to her eagerness.
When it was time to go meet Aaron, she
