The Proposition (14 page)

Aidan held out his hand. “Come meet
Becky.”

“Are you kidding? I’m not meeting your sister
looking like a bimbo from a wet t-shirt contest,” she hissed.

“You’re not going to have much of a choice.
The minute Georgie tells her there’s a woman here with me, she’s
going to be all over you.” He stepped forward and wrapped the towel
around her. “Just pretend you’ve been swimming.”

“Okay,” she murmured reluctantly.

Just as Aidan predicted, Becky appeared in
the doorway, holding Georgie’s hand. At the sight of Emma, she
power walked over to them. With her sandy hair and piercing blue
eyes, Becky and Aidan could have passed for twins. She patted Aidan
on the back. “Well, Little Brother, I wouldn’t have let the boys
come over if I knew you had company.”

“This is Emma Harrison—she’s a friend from
work.”

Emma extended her hand and gave Becky her
best smile. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Likewise.”

As Becky continued sizing her up, Emma
cleared her throat. “Your boys are absolutely adorable. I’m so glad
I got to meet them.”

Becky grinned. “Thank you. I only hope they
were on their best behavior.” She then gazed over at Aidan with a
determined look on her face. “I didn’t know you had such pretty
work friends.”

Aidan snorted at his sister’s directness.
“Yes, there’s a high standard of beauty at the company.”

Becky nudged him playfully. “Well, we won’t
impose on you two any longer.” She motioned John and Percy out of
the pool. They reluctantly dragged themselves out and started
toweling off. Becky wrapped the towel tighter around Georgie. “Now
what do we say to Uncle Aidan for letting us swim?”

“Thank you,” they echoed in a sing-song
chorus that caused Aidan and Emma to grin.

Then both John and Percy looked pointedly at
Emma. “Thanks for talking Uncle

Aidan into letting us stay…both times,” John
said, a pink tinge on his cheeks.

Emma smiled. “You’re welcome.”

Becky stared from the boys to Emma, and then
she gave Aidan a knowing look. “Well, you two have a lovely
evening.”

“Thank you.”

They walked Becky and the boys to the door.
Once they were gone, Aidan groaned and rubbed his eyes as he
collapsed into the chair. “Jesus, I’m glad they’re gone.”

“Aw, I hate to see them go. They’re really
sweet boys.”

He chuckled. “Oh yeah, I should have asked
them to spend the night. I’m sure John would have loved to share a
bed with you and your rack.” He shook his head with disgust. “The
little pervert.”

“He’s thirteen. What do you expect? I highly
doubt you were an angel of virtue at that age,” Emma countered with
a smile.

“No, I was a pervert, too.”

“I figured as much. I swear he looks and
acts
so much like you.” She giggled. “He’s another
Fitzgerald player in the making.”

Aidan’s cell phone started ringing, and when
he glanced down at it, he grimaced. “Damn, this is the India
office. I have to take it. Make yourself at home, okay?”

“No problem,” Emma replied, scratching Beau’s
ears.

As soon as Aidan left the room, Beau hopped
up on the couch with her. “Wanna find a chick flick to watch with
me?”

He licked her hand. She grabbed the remote on
the table and started flipping channels. “Ooh,” she murmured when
she saw one of her favorites,
Nottinghill
, was on. She
snuggled deeper into the couch, continuing to stroke Beau’s shiny
black fur. After awhile, her eye-lids grew heavy, and before she
could stop herself, she nodded off.

“Yes, I look forward to seeing you next
month, Mr. Benwaldi,” Aidan said before hanging up. He rose out of
his desk chair with a heavy sigh. In truth, he wasn’t too thrilled
of the prospect of leaving the country for a month, but it had been
a stipulation of his new promotion. Of course, he hadn’t thought to
mention his imminent departure to Emma yet. He wasn’t sure how she
was going to take him leaving in the middle of their baby-making
quest. Maybe he could convince her to fly over for a few days if
the next week’s try didn’t take.

Wait, what the hell was he thinking? Emma
wasn’t his girlfriend or his wife. Asking a woman to fly across the
ocean was way past his level of commitment, even if it was more for
her benefit than his.

“Man, I’m the worst host ever. Sorry that
took so long,” he said, as he walked into the living room. He
skidded to a stop at the sight of Emma asleep on the couch with
Beau beside her. For a moment, he didn’t know what to do. Should he
wake her up and take her to get her car, or should he offer her the
guest bedroom? Or should he take her to his bed? It wasn’t like
they hadn’t slept together before.

He eyed Beau and gave a frustrated grunt.
When Beau gazed drowsily up at him, Aidan wagged his finger. “You
know damn well you’re not allowed on the furniture.”

Beau responded by yawning and then burrowing
deeper to Emma’s side.

Aidan bent over the couch, his hand sweeping
across Emma’s cheek. “Wake up, Em,” he said softly.

“Hmm?” she questioned without stirring.

“You need to go to bed.”

“No. Too tired,” she murmured.

He rubbed her arm. “You’ll sleep better in
bed.”

She gave a short snore in response. Aidan
rolled his eyes. Of course, she would have to make this harder on
him. “Okay, fine. I’ll put you to bed.”

He reached underneath her legs and then
brought his arms around her back. With a grunt, he lifted her up
off the couch.

Emma gazed up at him through hooded eyes.
“Are you my Knight in Shining Armor, now?”

“Oh yeah, I’m a helluva knight,” he
grumbled.

“You’re making me break all my rules.”

“Huh?”

Her eyes closed, and he thought she’d gone
back to sleep. “You make me feel too much…I’m just supposed to use
you for sex like you use me.”

His chest tightened at her words. Is that
really what she thought of him? Even though it was usually the
truth, he didn’t like hearing it from her…at least not now. “Em,
open your eyes and look at me.”

At his command, her drowsy green eyes focused
on his. “Don’t you ever think I’m using you, all right? I may have
always wanted to have sex with you, but I would never, ever use
you.”

She wrapped her arms tighter around his neck,
her lips grazing his cheek. “You’re a good man, Aidan Fitzgerald,
even if you don’t want to admit it.”

“You think so?”

Her head bobbed lazily. “I never would have
imagined you would take care of me like you did tonight, especially
when there was no promise of sex. But you did.”

Aidan rolled his eyes as he eased Emma down
on his bed. “That makes me a real gentleman, huh?”

“Umm, hmm,” she murmured, snuggling under the
covers.

“I’m glad you think so highly of me, Em.”

“Just don’t break my heart,” she said
softly.

She was already breathing heavily when he
replied, “I’m going to try my best not to.”

Ten days after her dinner and sleepover at
Aidan’s, Emma forced herself to throw her rule book out the window.
Daily texts, emails, and phone calls from Aidan even made Casey a
believer in resurrecting his potential boyfriend material. And now
the red circled date on her calendar told her it was time to start
Round Two of Baby-Making.

This time Aidan insisted she come to his
house. The “all business” parameters of their arrangement had been
broken, so there was no point in meeting at a hotel. After running
home to freshen up, she headed over to his house.

He answered the door in boxers and a t-shirt.
“Sorry, I just got out of the shower.”

“Yeah, I just did the same,” she replied, as
she followed him into the house.

He grinned at her over his shoulder. “You
should’ve showered here, and we could have killed two birds with
one stone.”

Emma laughed. “I guess you’re right.”

“Are you hungry?”

“A little.”

“I can order in some Chinese.”

Emma pretended to be horrified. “You mean you
didn’t cook for me tonight?”

Aidan chuckled. “Sorry babe, not tonight.
Work’s been kicking my ass.”

“The new promotion?”

He nodded. “Even though the money is
fabulous, I’m starting to wish I’d said no.”

After digging in one of his drawers, he
pulled out a menu and handed it to Emma. “Let me know what you want
to eat.”

Instead of looking at the food options, Emma
was puzzled about what was different about Aidan. Then she realized
what it was. “Boxers? When did you start wearing those?”

He leaned back against the kitchen counter.
“Well, I did a little research, and I found out that boxers are
better for the balls and sperm counts.”

“I see,” she replied, fighting the flush that
was creeping across her cheeks.

“Yeah, the article says it seems to help the
swimmers with their mobility, and we want Olympic Gold this time
around.”

Emma’s heartbeat accelerated, and she sucked
in a breath. “So you started wearing boxers to help me
conceive?”

“Yep. And I also read that it’s better to
store up sperm to make them more potent.” He pushed himself off the
counter and came to stand in front of her. “So I’ve held off on any
sexual activity that might result in me wasting swimmers.”

“Oh,” she murmured.

“Does that surprise you?”

She nodded. “I just assumed you were seeing
someone or…”

“Screwing someone?” When Emma didn’t respond,
Aidan swept the hair away from her face and stroked her cheek.
“There’s no one but you—not even my hand since I saw you last.”

Her eyes widened when she got his meaning. “I
guess it’s been a really long ten days, huh?”

His expression became pained. “Frankly, I’m
about to explode.”

Emma laughed. “I’m really impressed with how
serious you’re taking this.”

“Whenever I attempt to do something, I intend
to do it well and give it all I have. And that includes knocking
you up.”

She smacked his arm playfully. “You’re such a
charmer.”

Aidan laughed. “Let’s see if I can’t charm
the panties off of you right now.”

“What about the food?” she questioned.

“We’ll work up an appetite,” he replied.

The menu fluttered from her hands and fell to
the floor. “Sounds good to me.”

Staring into each other’s eyes, the
electricity in the room shifted. Suddenly, it seemed Aidan couldn’t
get her naked soon enough. He gripped the hem of dress and then
pulled it up, jerking it over her head. She was glad she chose to
change her underwear when his eyes roamed appreciatively over the
green and gold bra and panties she was wearing. But he didn’t stare
for long. Instead, he gripped her waist and hoisted her up to sit
on the marble countertop. His fingers unhooked her bra and whisked
it away as Emma wrapped her legs around his waist.

Aidan’s lips hungrily met hers as his tongue
darted in and out of her mouth. His hands cupped her bare breasts,
kneading them like he knew she liked. She rewarded his efforts with
a moan against his lips. Aidan’s hands left her breasts to grip the
waistband of her thong. He stripped it off and down over her
thighs.

He then spread her legs, hooking her knees
over his shoulders. When his tongue darted inside her heat, Emma
threw back her head. “Mmm, oh God, yes!”

“Say my name, babe,” Aidan murmured against
her sex.

With him continuing his teasing assault on
her clit, she very quickly rewarded him with, “Yes, Aidan! Oh, yes,
oh yes, Aidan!” Her shaky legs spread wider to allow him more
access. She was rewarded by Aidan sliding his fingers in and out of
her while his tongue lapped and teased at her folds. Her fingers
gripped the edge of the countertop as she came hard and strong.

When Aidan’s erection, rather than his
fingers, nudged at her opening, her eyes flew open, and she jerked
back. “No, not like this! Not here!”

Aidan’s eyebrows shot up into his forehand.
“Don’t tell me you have an aversion to sex on kitchen countertops?
I promise they’re clean.”

Emma felt her face warming. “That’s not
it.”

He ran his fingers through his already
sweat-slicked hair. “Em, you think you could cut to the chase? I
mean, I’m standing here with a raging hard-on right now, and all I
want is to be buried deep inside you.”

“I just don’t want to look back and realize
my baby was conceived on a kitchen counter, okay?”

Aidan stared at her for a moment before
howling with laughter. “If my memory serves me correctly, I banged
you on my desk at work after you worked me over in the desk
chair.”

“You wouldn’t go to the couch!” she
argued.

“But don’t you think babies have been
conceived in worse places?”

Emma crossed her arms over her bare breasts
in a huff. “We’re not talking about other people’s babies. We’re
talking about
mine
.”

He rolled his eyes and then grinned. “Emma
Harrison, you are going to be the death of me in more ways than
one.” When he pulled her closer to him, she started to protest, but
he shook his head. “Just hold your horses,
princess
. I’ll
get you back to the bedroom, okay?”

She grinned. “I’ll make it worth your while,
I promise.”

As he lifted her off the counter, she gripped
her legs tight around his waist while he held her steady around her
hips. “Hmm, just what are you suggesting?”

She titled her head to the right, appearing
to be lost in thought. “How does after we go a round, I give a lot
of oral attention to your most prized possession?”

Aidan groaned. “Worth every fucking step of
hauling your sexy ass to my bed.”

Emma giggled. “I figured as much.”

“You’re so bossy and demanding, Em. I can’t
believe I give into you.”