stood up suddenly. “Want something to drink?” he asked casually.
“Damn you.” She closed her eyes and took several calming breaths.
She heard him chuckle as he made his way behind the bar and started rummaging around. “There’s beer, wine, champagne, sodas, juice.” He glanced up at her.
“Wine,” she answered then added, “white, if they have it.”
“They do,” he said, pulling out glasses and pouring them each a glass. He handed her a glass and then produced a plate of fruit, cheese, and crackers.
“I’m sure we can have dinner when we land. This should hold us over until then.” He sat back down beside her. “So, when we land, what exactly is our plan?” he asked after taking a grape.
“As far as I know, we’ll get settled in at the place Owen arranged for us, then…” She shrugged as she thought about it. It was so hard to switch her gears from sex with Aiden one moment to trying to plot out how to deal with her father the next.
“We could always show up at your father’s place unexpected. After all, if you believed he was dead, wouldn’t you plan on staying there instead?”
She frowned. “Yes and no. The last time I spent a night under that roof was on my eighteenth birthday.” She shivered remembering how Harold had coldly turned her away. “I doubt he’d except anything else than me stopping by.”
He nodded and took another sip of his wine. “So, we show up after dropping our things off and grabbing some dinner.”
“Sounds good.” She sighed and closed her eyes. “Not really. What I’d like to do is reroute this plane to somewhere remote and disappear for a week instead.”
He set his glass down and picked up her hand. He lifted it to his lips and for a moment she dreamed about how his lips would feel all over her body instead of on the back of her palm.
“But you won’t. You can do this. Make a stand once and for all. Show him just how terrible he’s made your life. A bully will always bully someone who never stands up for themselves.”
“I know you’re right.” She glanced over at him. “Do you know, that’s initially why I took tai chi and judo. There was this group of girls that picked on me.” She chuckled. “It’s funny, they chose me because they thought I was too pretty. Too rich.” She rolled her eyes. “Too perfect. Judging a book by its cover can leave people so shortsighted.”
“What happened?”
“After the first year, I let it slip that I was taking self-defense classes, knowing it would get back to the group. The moment they started picking on me again, I used some of my best moves to disable them without hurting them… permanently.” She shrugged. “The Wildflowers gave me the courage to stand up for myself. Without their love and friendship, I probably wouldn’t be here.”
Chapter 14
It was hard listening to Aubrey talk about her tortured childhood. One thing that he’d gathered from listening to her talk was that she’d been all alone outside of the presence of the Wildflowers.
He knew what it was like growing up an only child. Still, after second grade, he’d had Brett Jewel, his best friend. The two of them had gotten in enough trouble as kids that everyone joked that they were brothers. When Brett had chosen a path of law and peacekeeping after school and Aiden had taken business and architecture classes, their friendship hadn’t wavered.
Even now, they got together at least once every few weeks for beers or to watch a game. He didn’t know what he would have done if he hadn’t had a friend throughout his life. He could only imagine what it must have been like for her.
They continued to talk and answer each other’s questions until the plane landed. On the taxi drive from the airport to the place Owen had set up for them, they remained silent, and he could tell she was growing more nervous.
He had a fear that the closer they got to her father, the farther she would grow from him.
When the taxi stopped in front of a simple brownstone, he turned to her.
“Who did Owen say owned this?” he asked Aubrey as he helped pull their bags from the trunk.
“He didn’t. Only mentioned that we had it for as long as we wanted.” She shrugged and took her smaller bag from him as she looked up at the four-story building.
“The entire place?”
“Yes. He said there’s a car