all but the most cursory business conversations with Aidan, even at night. They continued to spend their nights together and it was wonderful as always, but where they used to chat about anything under the sun, now Ellie did everything she could to keep the subjects centered on business, on the office, on work in general. Nothing personal. She had to do that. To protect herself more than anything else.
Ellie had already confessed her love. Aidan knew how she felt so there was really no point in saying so over and over again. Besides, if she did, if she allowed herself to indulge in loving him openly, she would get caught up in pretending that they might actually have a life together and forget that the only thing they had between them was a thin, legal document. They didn’t have love. Didn’t have a future. All they had was a rather elusive goal to get her pregnant. Once they achieved that, Ellie had no doubt that Aidan would begin to make excuses to stay away from her. Eventually she wouldn’t see him at all except at work or when he and his family wanted to visit with their baby.
And if that wasn’t the most depressing thing in the world, she had also begun to notice that Aidan seemed perfectly willing to give her all the space she wanted, thus confirming in her mind that she was indeed losing him. But that was impossible, she chided herself. How could she lose him when she’d never really had him to begin with?
*
Aidan brought the small fishing boat to a stop in a secluded bay on the other side of the island from the resort. As he set up the deck chairs and grabbed the fishing poles, Logan pulled two bottles of beer from the ice chest, popped them open and handed one to his brother.
Aidan took a long slug, then set the beer bottle into the built-in drink holder on the arm of his chair. He baited his hook, then cast it into the water.
“Perfect day,” he said, relaxing in his deck chair.
“Yeah, beautiful.” Logan joined him and readied his fishing rod. “I love this spot.”
“Yeah, me too.”
“Best decision we ever made was to buy this island.”
“I’m with you there.”
They continued to fish in blessed silence for three and a half minutes or so, until Aidan blurted, “She’s driving me crazy.”
Logan laughed out loud. “I should’ve taken bets on how long you could last without bringing up the subject of Ellie.”
“It’s not funny,” Aidan grumbled. “She won’t stop working.”
“I’ll just mention this in case it hasn’t crossed your mind,” Logan said. “But Ellie is our partner now. When she works hard, we make money. See how that works out? It’s a good thing. A win-win.”
“I’m clear on the concept,” Aidan said drily. “I’m just a little worried about her, that’s all. Lately she’s completely obsessed with work. Eats, sleeps and breathes it. It’s all she talks about. Even when I try to change the subject to something else she’s interested in, like books or movies, she winds the conversation right back to the office.”
“Must make for some stimulating pillow talk.”
“Shut up.”
“Wait. Are you two still…you know?” Logan made a tangled gesture with his fingers.
“Shut up,” Aidan repeated more forcefully.
“Is that a no?”
“No, it’s not,” Aidan said. “We’re doing just fine in that department, thank you for your interest.”
“Just trying to get the full picture.”
Aidan scowled. “But even at night lately, Ellie doesn’t say much unless it’s work related.”
“Might be a defense mechanism,” Logan said as he adjusted the rim of his ball cap to better shield his eyes from the sun.
“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”
Logan’s line tugged and he moved quickly to test it. “False alarm,” he muttered, sitting back in his chair. “Okay, so you’ve got to look at this whole situation from her point of view. It’s not like you’ve vowed eternal love to her, so she’s starting to face facts. You’re only sticking around to get her pregnant. Once that happens, you’re gone. So even though she’s in love with you, she doesn’t see a future with you.” He shrugged. “And so she’s starting to pull back emotionally.”
Aidan scowled at him. “Thank you, Dr. Freud.”
“Hey, you asked. And please, you don’t have to be a psychiatrist to see it. Just not blind…like some people.”
“I’m not blind. I’m…focused.”
“On all the wrong things.”
“This is your fault,” Aidan blurted.
“How do you figure that?” Logan sounded outraged.
Aidan eyed him suspiciously. “Now