The Proposition (13 page)

“What did you do?” Emma questioned
softly.

“She walked in on me having sex with another
woman.”

Emma’s hand flew to her mouth, and she stared
at Aidan in horror. “That’s…so cruel.”

His expression darkened. “Yeah, in case you
didn’t get the memo, I’m an asshole, remember?”

“But you can be so kind and considerate. The
very fact I’m not at home alone, crying into a pint of Ben and
Jerry’s proves that. Instead, I’m sitting here eating the dinner
you cooked and wearing your clothes. That’s true compassion.” She
shook her head sadly. “Those are the reasons why it’s so hard
imagining you could do something so callous to someone you
loved.”

Aidan shrugged. “The past is the past I
guess. At least she found someone else and has been happily married
for the last eight years.”

“You’ve seen her?”

“No. My mom used to at Mass with her husband
and kids” Aidan grinned sheepishly. “Mom seemed to love rubbing it
in my face.”

“She was probably still mad at you for
ruining such a good thing.”

“Probably.” Aidan emptied the rest of the
wine bottle into his glass. “So now that you’ve heard my sad story,
what about you?”

“You already know mine.”

Aidan shook his head. “I’m not talking about
being in love. I’m talking about breaking someone’s heart.” He
propped his elbows on the glass table. “With your face and body, it
isn’t possible you haven’t broken at least one guy’s heart.”

“I never said I didn’t,” Emma protested.

“Aha! So spill,” Aidan said.

“It’s certainly not as salacious as
yours.”

He smirked at her. “I would imagine not,
Goody Two Shoes. I’m sure the fact you wouldn’t sleep around broke
quite a few hearts.”

Emma crossed her arms over her chest. “Last
time I checked, your heart is above your waist, not below it.”

Aidan laughed. “Okay, okay. I get it. So
what’s the story?”

“Fine. Here’s the Sparknotes version: his
name was Steve, we were eighteen, and I was in love with his best
friend.”

“Ouch, that had to suck for ol’ Steve.”

“I never meant to hurt him, but from the time
I turned sixteen, there was never anyone in the world for me but
Travis.”

“Did you go out with him to make Travis
jealous?”

“No, at first I thought Steve would make me
forget him. We were all in school and church together, but Travis
acted like I was nothing more than a friend. Steve was the kind of
guy who brought you flowers and called you in the morning to see
how you were doing. He also respected my boundaries about sex.”

“Poor Steve,” Aidan joked.

Emma laughed. “Now I didn’t say he wasn’t
getting any sexual satisfaction.”

“Just not the full enchilada.”

She wrinkled her nose. “If you have to put it
that way, I guess so.”

Aidan grinned. “So what happened?”

“Even though he should have been everything I
could ever want in a boyfriend, I felt nothing. It wasn’t fair to
him, so I broke up with him. He was so devastated he got Travis to
come and talk to me.”

Emma ducked her head, fighting the dreamy
smile spreading across her cheeks. “Travis came stomping in my
room, red faced and furious, demanding how the hell could I break
his best friend’s heart. After listening to him rant and rave for
about five minutes, I finally just screamed I was in love with
him.”

Aidan’s eyes widened. “Holy shit! That took
balls. What did he say?”

Emma laughed. “That he was in love with me
too, but he didn’t want to hurt Steve. So we waited a few months to
start dating, and then we were inseparable.”

“And Steve was okay with it?”

“He wasn’t thrilled, but he found someone
else.”

Aidan stared at her for a moment and then
grinned. “After unloading that heavy shit, I think we need some
more wine.”

“Yes, I think we do, too.”

When Aidan didn’t return within a few
minutes, Emma went in search of him. She found the kitchen empty
but heard raised voices coming from the hallway. She craned her
head around the corner to see who Aidan was talking to. Three sandy
haired boys stood in the foyer outfitted in swimming trunks and
carrying pool gear. Their faces were downcast. The smallest one,
who couldn’t have been more than five, stomped his foot and huffed,
“But Uncle Aidan, you promised we could come swimming anytime!”

“I know, Georgie, but you see—”

The tallest one shook his head. “Dude, this
is so not cool.”

“Look, I told you guys that you could come
back tomorrow. It’s just tonight isn’t a good time,” Aidan
argued.

Emma stepped out into the hall and cleared
her throat. Four pairs of eyes focused on her. “What’s going
on?”

“So,
she’s
why we can’t go swimming!”
the middle boy exclaimed.

“Ooh, Uncle Aidan’s got a girlfriend!”
Georgie said before dissolving in giggles.

Aidan groaned in frustration. “Emma, these
are the monsters I mentioned earlier: John, Percy, and
Georgie.”

Stepping forward, Emma waved and gave them a
bright smile. “Hi guys.”

“Hi,” they murmured. They seemed almost
mesmerized by her presence. It made Emma wonder if they’d ever seen
a woman at Aidan’s house before.

She cocked her head at them. “Let me guess.
Any chance you guys were named after the Romanic poets?”

The tallest one rolled his eyes. “Yeah,
unfortunately our parents have a major thing for boring, stuffy
British dudes.”

Aidan gave an exasperated grunt. “What he
means to say is my sister and brother-in-law are both English
professors at Georgia State.” Pointing to the tallest one, he said,
“The thirteen year old with the mouth is John Keats. My middle man,
Percy Shelley, is eleven, and George Byron, or Georgie, is five.”
He turned back to her. “And guys, this is my friend, Emma
Harrison.”

“It’s nice meeting you. Looks like you were
all set to swim, huh?”

“Yeah, until Loverboy over here decided to
ruin it for us,” John replied, scowling at Aidan.

Jabbing his finger in the air, Aidan
practically growled, “Watch your mouth.”

Emma hid her amusement behind her hand. Once
she recovered, she said, “In his defense, your uncle didn’t know I
was going to have such a bad day today and need some company. But I
don’t mind one bit if you guys stay and swim.”

Aidan’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “You
don’t?” he asked at the same time Georgie squealed, “Really?”

“Sure why not.”

“All right!” Percy exclaimed before barreling
past Emma. John and Georgie were close on his heels.

Emma laughed at their excitement while Aidan
shook his head. “I can’t believe you just agreed to have them
stay.”

“They’re here to swim, so I highly doubt
they’ll even bother us.”

“Famous last words,” Aidan muttered as he
ushered Emma back outside.

At the sight of Georgie about to jump in the
shallow end, Aidan rushed forward and grabbed him up. “Whoa, whoa,
Little Man. Don’t you dare get in without your floaties.”

“But floaties are for babies!” he moaned,
writhing against Aidan’s chest.

“I don’t want to hear it.” He sat Georgie
down and flipped open a brown storage bin. He pulled out two Power
Ranger arm floaties. He slid them up Georgie’s arms. “Your mom
would kick my butt if she showed up and you weren’t wearing
these.”

Georgie glowered at Aidan before running off
and jumping in the pool.

“Uncle Aidan, will you help me with my
backstroke again?” Percy asked.

Aidan glanced over at Emma. “You mind?”

“Of course not. In fact, I’d love to see you
in action.”

He smirked before leaning over to whisper in
her ear. “I’d wear that speedo I promised you, but I think it would
freak the boys out.”

She giggled and shoved him away. “Go get your
swim trunks, cocky.”

While he disappeared into the house, John
swam closer to where Emma was sitting. He propped his elbows on the
ledge. “So how long have you been Uncle Aidan’s girlfriend?”

She fought the flush creeping across her
cheeks at his directness. “He’s just my friend.”

He gave her a look that said he clearly
thought she was bullshitting him. “Wish I had
friends
as
pretty as you,” he said with a grin.

Emma couldn’t help giggling. “Why thank you,
John. You’re quite a charmer, aren’t you?”

He puffed out his chest, and Emma could have
sworn she was seeing Aidan at thirteen. “The girls seem to think
so.”

“Hmm, I think besides your hair and eyes, you
may have inherited your flirting ability from your Uncle
Aidan.”

Aidan chose that moment to come back outside.
He glanced between her and John with a curious expression. “What
are you two talking about?”

“How much John looks like you.” She gave
Aidan a mischievous grin and winked. “And
acts
like
you.”

Aidan crossed his arms over his bare chest.
“John, are you making the moves on my friend?”

John paled a little. “No, I was just talking
to her. I mean, you never,
ever
have girls over here or
bring them to Papa’s.”

Now it was Aidan’s turn to get flustered.
“Whatever.” He dove into the pool and swam over to where Percy
waited expectantly on him. Emma watched as Aidan gave Percy
demonstrations and then feedback on his form. In between giving
instructions, he would throw a gleeful Georgie in the air and let
him splash down.

Emma drew in a desperate breath and tried to
still the fluttering of her heart at the sight of Aidan interacting
so effortlessly with his nephews. When he pulled himself out of the
pool and came striding over to her, she couldn’t help staring in
wonder at him.

His eyebrows shot up at her expression.
“What?”

“I just never imagined seeing you around
kids.”

“Oh yeah, I’m freakin’ Ward Cleaver, aren’t
I?” he snorted in response.

“You don’t give yourself enough credit. For
some reason, you don’t like to admit how much you care about
them.”

“Is that right?”

She nodded. “If you were so anti-children,
you wouldn’t have offered to let them come and swim, and you would
have let Georgie in the water without his floaties. Plus, you just
spent twenty minutes giving Percy swimming lessons.”

Aidan furiously toweled his wet hair, a scowl
forming on his face. “Em, I don’t know what you’re hinting around
at right now, but I’m never going to be father material, okay?”

“You shouldn’t feel so negative about
yourself,” she protested.

Before Aidan could say anything, a shriek
came from the pool. Georgie was paddling over to the ladder, tears
streaming down his face. Once he got out, he streaked over to Emma
and Aidan.

“He held me under!” Georgie cried, pointing
at John.

“It was barely a second. Stop being such a
big baby,” John replied.

“I-I couldn’t breathe!” Georgie snubbed,
grinding the tears from his eyes with his fists.

“Walk it off, Little Man. You’ll be all
right,” Aidan said.

His response made Georgie cry harder and
earned him a glare from Emma. “What?” Aidan questioned.

“Come here, sweetie,” Emma offered, opening
her arms. Georgie quickly scrambled into her lap and then wrapped
his arms around her neck. “Shh, you’re okay now.” She turned her
wrath on John. “I think you owe your brother an apology.”

John’s eyes widened as he glanced from Emma
to his uncle, but Aidan only shrugged. “Um, I’m sorry,
Georgie.”

“You promise not to do it again?” he asked,
his voice muffled against Emma’s collarbone.

“Yeah, I promise.”

Emma rubbed Georgie’s back in wide circles.
“See, everything’s fine. You want to go back in the pool?”

“No,” he snubbed.

Percy rolled his eyes at John who then
snickered. “Yeah, if I was pressed up against that rack, I wouldn’t
want to leave either!” John said while Percy nodded in
agreement.

Even though he said it in low voice, both
Emma and Aidan heard him. While Emma fought to keep the flush from
creeping across her cheeks and neck, Aidan stepped to the edge of
the pool. “All right, get out this instant. If you’re going to be
that disrespectful to my friend, you can march your horny little
asses home!” he growled.

John and Percy’s eyes widened, but they
didn’t mouth off. Defeated, they started for the pool steps.

“Wait, Aidan, don’t make them go home for
that. They’re just being boys,” Emma argued.

He whirled around. “Are you kidding me?”

“I’m sure they feel very bad for being rude
and would be willing to apologize.” She stared pointedly at the
boys. “Wouldn’t you?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Percy said.

John nodded. “I’m very, very sorry for saying
something like that about you Emma.”

“Thank you.”

For good measure, John glanced up at Aidan.
“And I’m sorry for being disrespectful to your girl—” He paused at
the death glare Aidan gave him. “To your friend,” he finished.

“Me too,” Percy said.

Emma gazed up at Aidan and smiled. “See,
problem solved.”

Georgie raised his head. “What does horny
mean?”

Emma couldn’t help giggling at the absurdity
of the situation, especially when Aidan’s eyes widened, and he
stared helplessly at Emma to explain. “It’s not something you need
to know about, and your uncle shouldn’t have said it,” she
replied.

“Ooh, Uncle Aidan, you’re in trouble,”
Georgie said, wagging his finger at Aidan.

Emma grinned. “Yes, Uncle Aidan is a very bad
boy. We should wash his mouth out with soap, shouldn’t we?”

Georgia giggled. “Yes, we should.”

“Hello?” a woman’s voice called from inside
the house.

“Mommy!” Georgie cried, peeling himself off
Emma and running to the doorway.

Emma started to stand up, but Aidan blocked
her, thrusting his towel at her. When she started to protest, he
grimaced and motioned to her chest. She glanced down and flushed.
Comforting Georgie had soaked her white shirt, and you could see
straight through to her lacy white bra. “Oh shit!” she stared
wildly around the patio for an escape.