Trust Me? The Trust Me? Trilogy (18 page)

“I’ll see you Monday,” Aiden says, sounding farther away.

“Mmm,” Alistair replies. The elevator chimes, and I hear Aiden sigh loudly and walk toward the bedroom doors. I stand quickly and run to
his bed, lying down and pretending I wasn’t listening. He slides the doors open. I look up at him.

“Hey, babe,” I say, trying to sound upbeat.

“How much did you hear?” he asks me sullenly.

“Nothing,” I lie to him.

“Jeni?” He looks at me, knowing that I must have heard them.

“Um, everything.”

He runs his hand through his hair, frustrated. “First of all
I want to apologize for my father and the way he talks about you. God, I want to hit him so badly right now,” he says, his face scrunched with rage. He moves over to the bed and sits next to me.

“Are you okay?” I ask him.

“Ha! He has a go at
you
like that, and you ask if
I’m
okay? I should be asking you that question, baby. Are you okay?”

“Someone once gave me some great advice regarding your
father. I was told that insults and intimidations are his way of communication and to take anything he says with a grain of salt.”

Aiden tilts his head slightly. “Very wise words.”

“She’s a very wise woman, your Nana.”

“Ah, yes, she is.”

“Can I ask you something?” I ask Aiden shyly.

“Let me guess. What’s the investigation about?”

“Yeah, it’s not the first time someone has mentioned it. I’m
just curious.”

He inhales sharply and has a very worried look on his face. “Father says that someone within O’Connell Finance is embezzling money from company funds.”

I feel shock run through me as a seed of doubt about Aiden’s
involvement is planted in my mind by that horrible subconscious of mine.

“Do they know who it is?”

He shakes his head. “No, but everyone is under
investigation, including me,” he says, looking at me intently.

“Do you suspect anyone?” I ask, looking down at my hands in my lap, as I don’t want him to see that subconsciously I think it might be him.

“I have my suspicions, but I can’t be sure,” he says, moving
his hand to my chin and raising my head to meet his.

“It’s not me,” he says, staring into my eyes.

“I know,” I say, reassuring him but not completely
reassuring myself.

He kisses me gently on the lips. “All that
bullshit
he said about you, that’s not how I feel. You know that, right?”

I smile at him, easing his growing angst. “Yes, babe, I
know, and I’m not after you for your money either,” I say in all honesty.

He laughs, but it’s only a scoff. “I know that. The thought never crossed my mind.”

“Now that we’ve that sorted out, what are we having for
dinner?” I ask, trying to change the subject.

“Can we skip to dessert?” he asks cheekily as he pounces on me, pinning me to the bed and kissing me passionately.

***

It’s a beautiful Saturday morning; my eyes adjust to the
sunlight beaming in through the windows. A naked Aiden holds me from behind, his legs wrapped tightly around mine and his face snuggled into my neck. I yawn and try to move out of his grip. I rotate my body toward him, waking him from
his slumber. My face is right next to his. His eyes scrunch open and shut a couple of times before they focus on me.

“Morning, beautiful,” he says as he nuzzles his nose against mine.

“Morning,” I say, moving in to kiss him.

“Mmm, naked morning cuddles,” he says as he pulls me close so that our bodies are touching in every way possible. I can’t help but giggle at the smile on his face.

“So, barbeque today?” he asks as he plays with my hair.

“Yeah, it should be good. Are you looking forward to meeting all my work peeps?”

“Did you really just say work peeps?” he asks, grinning. “Yeah, it’ll be nice to put a face to the names,” he says, stretching out
around me.

We cuddle for a little longer until the alarm sounds at eleven o’clock. We both slowly let go of each other and get out of bed. I no longer feel embarrassed to be naked in front of him in the daylight.

* * *

I walk to the living room and pick up my bag. I start to unpack my clothes onto his bed as I search for the outfit I’m wearing to the party. I start dressing as I watch Aiden dress in a blue polo shirt and jeans,
and no underwear, as is his new normal. He watches me as I pull up my underwear.

“You know, you should go without your panties. It’s easier access for me,” he says jokingly.

I pause as I can’t help but laugh at him. “Uh-huh. Is that
your perverted inner old man talking?” I joke back to him.

“Yeah, that’s the one,” he says as I pull my underwear up completely, dispelling his suggestion.

He smacks me on the ass, and walks into the en-suite. I
continue putting on the rest of my clothes and take my cosmetics to the en-suite, where Aiden is putting shaving cream over the morning growth on his face.

Luckily the mirror is wide, and there is enough room for him
over the sink and me putting on my makeup. I put the cosmetics case up on the bench and open it. Aiden exhales at the size of the case.

“What?” I ask as he looks at me.

“Nothing, dear,” he says as he skims a blob of shaving cream
off his face and plants it on my nose.

“Hey!” I say, laughing at him. I grab his towel off the rack and wipe it off then whip him with it before I put it back. He laughs and
continues to shave. I start to apply my makeup as Aiden catches my eyes in the mirror. He winks at me, and I blow him a kiss. When we finish in the bathroom, we head out and over to the elevator. I grab my handbag on the way.

We
call in the local shops on the way to buy a box of
chocolates and some flowers for Skye. Although I know Mel said that our presence is her present, I still feel like I need to get her something. We arrive, and Mike pulls up on the side of the road to let us out.

“Thanks, Mike,” I call out to him as he drives off. There
are purple and turquoise balloons forming an archway at the entrance of their home. Aiden takes my hand, and we walk through the archway into the backyard.

As we turn the corner, I see Mel serving drinks. She spots
us and comes straight over.

“Hey, sweetie, how are you?” she asks, giving me a big hug.

“Hi, Mel, let me introduce my boyfriend, Aiden.”

She smiles at him as her eyes quickly dash to mine. She raises
her eyebrows at me and then shakes his hand.

“Nice to meet you,” Aiden says.

“You too, Aiden. Would you both like a drink?”

“Yes, please.”

“Beer and wine okay?”

Aiden answers for both of us. “That will be great, thanks.”

We head into the backyard where a lot of people I don’t know are sitting around a long rectangular table set with a purple tablecloth,
turquoise paper plates, some cutlery, and napkins.

I see a table in the corner set up for the presents, so we head over and put the chocolates and flowers on it. John spots me and makes his
way over.

“Hi, John, how are you?” I ask, giving him a hug as the rented jukebox plays another song.

“Fit as a fiddle, hun.”

“John, this is Aiden, my boyfriend. Aiden, this is John,
Mel’s husband.”

Aiden puts his hand out to shake John’s. “Nice to meet you, John. Lovely place you have here.”

“Yeah, it’s not too shabby. So you’re the culprit who’s responsible for all those flowers appearing in the reception area then?”

“Yes, sir, that’s me.”

“As long as you keep treating our girl right, you’re okay by me,” John says as he takes a sip of his beer. I shake my head as Mel brings us our drinks.

“Here you go, guys. Make yourselves comfortable. Everyone should be coming downstairs shortly,” she says as we take our drinks and head over to the table and sit down.

Aiden takes my hand under the table, interlacing our fingers
as usual. He takes a sip of his beer. We hear a ruckus coming from the stairs. It’s the girls in their short dresses and high heels. They look very grown up, not like the picture in Mel’s office. Aiden chuckles as they chatter loudly among
themselves coming outside to join the party. One of them spots Aiden and looks him up and down. He doesn’t notice it at first. Her eyes open wide with excitement as she sees my handsome boyfriend. She elbows one of her sisters and points him out to them. I start to laugh as Aiden looks at me, confused.

“What’s so funny?” he asks.

“The girls are excited to see you,” I say, looking over at them.

He turns his head to look at them, and they all giggle, so
he waves. They shriek and whisper to each other like the fans of a boy band. He laughs and takes another sip of his beer, looking back at me.

Mel walks over to the girls and brings them over to us. “Girls, this is Jenifer from work. Jeni, these are my girls, Skye, Amy, and
Jade.”

I let go of Aiden’s hand and stand up to greet them.

“Happy birthday, Skye,” I say, giving her a hug.

She whispers in my ear. “Thanks for the eye candy,” and then
she giggles.

I laugh and look at Aiden, who is suddenly very shy around his fan club.

“Oh and here’s my son, CJ,” Mel says, pointing to him as he walks around the corner with a young tall brunette in hand. He walks toward us,
and I recognize him instantly.

Sarah runs up, hugs me, and whispers in my ear, “Oh my god I didn’t know you’d be here. I don’t know anyone, and I’m so nervous.”

I comfort her with a smile. “Oh, hey, Chris, I didn’t know you were Mel’s son. What does the J in CJ stand for?”

He looks shocked to see me and says, “I didn’t realize you were
the
Jeni that they never shut up about. Now I understand why I feel
the need to be so overprotective toward you. The J is for Jagger. It’s embarrassing, and that’s why I never mention it. Dad is obsessed with the Rolling Stones.”

We laugh as Aiden stands to shake hands with him.

“Hey, man,” Chris says.

“Hey, small world,” Aiden replies.

“Tell me about it,” Chris says, taking Sarah’s hand and pulling her to him.

“Mom, I want you to meet Sarah, my girlfriend.”

Sarah blushes as Mel hugs her.

“I’ve heard so much about you, Sarah. Just so you know, I do read all our workers’ emails, and I’ve just figured out that I officially know
way too much about my son’s sex life.” Sarah’s face drops, as does mine.

“So glad he’s using
protective measures
in your
climactic events
,” Mel says with a smirk as she kisses Chris on the cheek. “It’s great to finally meet you, Sarah,” she says as she walks away.

Chris and I burst out laughing as Sarah blushes relentlessly.

“Well, that was officially mortifying,” Sarah says, hand over her mouth.

“You guys talk about our sex life in your emails?” Chris
asks quietly.

“Sarah talks; I listen and tell her off. I always thought that Mel read them but was never sure. I do think it’s pretty hilarious that she was reading about her own son.”

I look over at Aiden, who is not so amused.

“You okay, babe?” I ask him quietly as Chris tries to comfort Sarah.

Aiden looks at me. “Do you talk about our sex life via
email?” He doesn’t look happy at all. He looks hurt.

“Um, not explicitly.”

He inhales sharply as Chris slaps him on the back, sitting next to him and interrupting us as Sarah sits next to me.

“Hey, dude, what have you been up to?” Chris asks Aiden,
taking his attention away from me.

I turn away from Aiden and face Sarah. “Are you okay?”

She still looks shocked. “I never thought for one minute
that your boss would actually read your emails, and I never thought for one second that she would be Chris’ mother.
Shit, shit, shit
,” she says, looking mortified.

“Don’t worry. Mel thinks it’s funny. I could tell by the way
she was joking about it. She’s probably delighted that you’re happy with her son.”

“She probably thinks I’m some sort of whore taking advantage of him.”

“You’re not a whore, and I know for a fact that she wouldn’t
think that. I’m quite sure she’s glad that you make him happy.”

The girls run over to give their big brother a hug, probably so they can get close to Aiden again. Chris stands up, takes Sarah by the hand, and introduces his sisters to her.

“Sarah, these are my crazy sisters, birthday girl, Skye, Amy, and Jade. Girls, this is my girlfriend, Sarah.”

They squeal and rush around Sarah, all talking to her at the same time. Chris shakes his head.

“Girls, one at a time. Don’t overwhelm her.” They giggle as Sarah looks at me with that
help me
look. Skye takes Sarah’s arm in hers, and the girls lead her over to the jukebox. Chris follows, putting his arms in the air and shaking his head. I watch my best friend being welcomed
into her new family.

My mind wanders to Aiden’s family; they are so welcoming of me, except for one. I turn to face Aiden, whose is looking at me somewhat distantly.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know you would be upset by me talking to Sarah about us.”

He laughs, confusing me. “I’m not angry because you talk to Sarah about me. I’m angry because it’s in writing, on the Internet, and I’m
currently being investigated for embezzlement. I can’t have any red flags popping up about me. I need to be squeaky clean, baby,” he whispers to me. I bite my bottom lip.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know about the embezzlement thing till
yesterday. How was I supposed to know that emailing could affect you in a negative way?” I question. “If you had told me sooner what was going on, maybe I would’ve known not to say anything,” I argue back to him.

“I didn’t tell you because I thought you would run and never
look back.” His eyes seem sincere.

“If I was going to run, don’t you think I would’ve by now? Think back to the retirement ball when your Father was, let’s just say, less than welcoming. I don’t care if you’re rich, poor, being investigated for
embezzlement, or have an arrogant ass of a father, I’m here, and I’m not running. I love you, babe. I regret putting how I feel about you in writing. I am very sorry, and I won’t do it again, and I also promise that I’ll delete the
emails as soon as I get to work on Monday. I don’t, however, regret our time together. I don’t even care about your father being the way he is. I don’t care how he feels. I only care about you.”

“And that’s why I love you. You put everything into
perspective.” He kisses me softly as he pulls my hands to his. “He is an arrogant ass, isn’t he?” he asks, making me smile.

The music is turned up louder as Sarah and the girls
transform the deck into a dance floor. More teens and twenty-somethings turn up, as do the guys from work. One by one I introduce them to Aiden. The guys from the repair shop, including Bob—who he had already met—and finishing with Tim. I was a little anxious to see how this would pan out; I’ve
seen Aiden’s jealous side when he had his little squabble with Chris. It’ll be interesting to see how he reacts to my banter with Tim.

“Hey, Timmy,” I say as he walks up to meet me.

“Hey, Jeni,” he says, slapping me on the ass as he eyes Aiden.

“Tim, this is Aiden, my boyfriend. Aiden meet Tim.”

Aiden reluctantly puts out his hand.

Tim looks at Aiden’s hand. “Boyfriend, huh?” Tim asks then
walks off, ignoring Aiden. I’m in complete shock.

“I’ve never known Tim to be rude. He’s always so happy and playful.” I look at Bob, feeling confused as I raise my eyebrows.

“I don’t think he’s happy about you having a boyfriend, and I’m not very happy about him touching you,” Aiden says quietly.

“I think he always thought you had a thing for him,” Bob says.

Bob’s announcement is a revelation to me. “Really? Tim, god
no, he’s like an annoying little brother who persistently irritates me,” I say, shocked.

“He talks about you a lot in the shop. I think his ego might be a bit bruised today,” Bob says.

Aiden wraps his arm around me, staking his claim.

“Wow, I honestly had no idea. I don’t understand,” I say, looking at Aiden.

“I understand perfectly,” he says, kissing my forehead.

Chris and Sarah make their way back to us after dancing up a storm on the makeshift dance floor. We all sit at the rectangular table as John brings out the barbeque meat.

“C’mon, guys, let’s get this grill started,” he says as
Aiden, Chris, and the guys from work all stand up to help. It’s a good excuse to drink beer and talk guy shit. Aiden kisses me on the top of my head as he walks past me, showing not only Tim but all the guys there that I belong to
him. I grab his hand as it brushes my shoulder.

“Love you,” I say to him.

“Love you too,” he says, knowing that he belongs to me.

Sarah turns to me with a shocked look on her face.

“The
L
word, already?”

I smile at her. “Yes. He told me on Wednesday when I completely freaked out on him.”

She turns her full attention to me. “Um, what? You had a freak-out and didn’t tell me?”

“You were at Chris’ place at the time. I was freaking out because I have these bottled-up emotions, which I thought were way too early to feel, but apparently he’s feeling the exact same way.” Her mouth drops open.

“Don’t worry. I’m sure Chris will say it to you soon enough,” I reassure her.

“You look happy. I haven’t seen you this happy.
I’m excited for you,” she says, holding my hands.

“I am happy. He makes me very happy.” I can’t hold back my
smile as I look at him, standing by the barbeque with the other men, looking gloriously gorgeous.

I take a sip of my wine as Chris’ sisters start walking toward Sarah again. She pulls a
help me
look on her face.

“They’re not that bad, are they?”

“No, just full-on,” she says. Then she takes a deep breath and exhales then gulps down the rest of her wine.

“Just be careful of the wine,” I say in a motherly way.

“Wine is my friend in times like these.”

“It’s also your enemy, just be cautious.”

“Yes, mother,” she says mockingly as she stands to greet the
sisters.

“C’mon, Sarah, there is more dancing to be done,” Jade says. Sarah looks back at me and pulls a funny face as she is dragged off to the dance floor.

Suddenly I’m sitting at the table alone. At least I have a
good view as Aiden and Chris stand together talking, probably about cars. I lean back in my chair and take another sip of my wine. The sun shines down on my pale skin as I soak in the much-needed Vitamin D. I suddenly realize I’m at
a party, sitting on my own as usual, but this time I’m not single. For the first time in years, I realize I’m completely off the market. I relax and close my eyes as I tilt my head back, soaking up the sun.

“Hey, Jeni.” I hear someone say as I open my eyes.

“Oh, hi, Tim. Having a good time?” I ask nonchalantly.

He sits down next to me. “Can I be perfectly honest with you?” he asks, sparking my interest. I sit up and look at him directly.

“Sure, Tim. Fire away,” I say, not really knowing what this is about.

“Here goes, Jeni. I’ve always liked you. I mean I do like you.”

“I like you too, Tim,” I say, wondering where this is
heading.

“No, I mean
really
like you, and I’m sure you like me that way as well,” he says, shocking me.

“Oh, um, Tim, I’m sorry if I led you to believe that I liked you like that. I’m flattered, but I have a boyfriend, and I see you as more of
a brother... I’m sorry, Tim.”