ever, she just wanted to have him beside her. Holding her.
“I’d like that,” she said, stifling a yawn.
“Rest. I’ll wake you up when we get there,” he told her.
She didn’t need any further encouragement and felt herself drifting off, lulled by the hum of the car and the sound of the windshield wipers clearing the rain off the windshield.
She woke when Aiden shifted as the car stopped. “We’re home,” he said softly.
For a moment, she thought he meant they were back in Florida. At River Camps. Then she blinked and noticed the building they were stopped in front of and scooted out of the back of the cab and let him lead her inside.
She didn’t know how she made it up the stairs, but she sat on the edge of the bed as he pulled off her shoes and pants.
She quickly pulled off her coat and then, while keeping her T-shirt on, pulled off her bra and tossed it across the room.
“That was perhaps the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen you do,” Aiden said as he toed off his own shoes.
She’d already crawled under the blankets and was waiting for him to join her.
“I’m too tired to think,” she said with a yawn.
“Sleep,” he said and when she didn’t feel him climb in the bed with her, she opened an eye.
“Are you coming to bed?” she asked him. He was standing at the window, his phone in his hands.
“Soon, I wanted to—”
“Aiden.” She sat up and opened the blankets for him. “Shut it off. Come to bed. You can do whatever it is in the morning.”
He chuckled, then set his phone on the nightstand, unzipped his jeans and removed his shirt, and crawled in beside her in only his boxer shorts.
He was warm and she relaxed against his chest, enjoying the play of muscles. She’d missed him. Missed feeling him so close to her.
As she drifted off to sleep, memories of Aiden filled her thoughts and dreams.
They both jolted awake to the sound of a phone ringing.
“Mine,” she said and noticed Elle’s number on her screen. “Morning,” she answered the call.
“Bridgett got away?” Elle asked.
Instantly, she knew she was on speaker phone again. Most likely, all of her friends were gathered around the breakfast table in the employee dining hall.
She ran a hand over her hair, pushing the red locks out of her eyes. “Yeah, she never showed up at the hospital. The police are looking for her.”
“And you think she’ll show up here?” Zoey asked.
“No, I don’t think, but I’m not taking any chances,” she responded. “Especially since you have a baby on the way.” She stood up and walked over to the window and looked out. She was a little shocked to see snow covering the ground.
How long had it been since she’d seen the white powder? Not long enough. She shivered at the thought of heading out in the cold and turned back to the room. Aiden was lying in bed, shirtless, watching her.
She couldn’t stop her eyes from running over him. God, how had she not really taken the time to appreciate how perfect he was before? It was as if she’d been given access to a gift and then shunned it. Now she could see what she’d been missing for all these months and desperately wanted to get her hands on it, on him, again.
“Earth to Aubrey.” Elle’s voice broke into her thoughts.
“I’m here.” She shook her head and turned back to the window. “It’s snowing here, but we’ll be heading to the hospital again soon. I’ll let you know how my father is doing then.”
“Okay. For now, Brett is staying in the apartment in my old room,” Elle added. “You didn’t tell us that he was injured.”
“He was?” Aubrey turned back to Aiden.
“Sprained wrist, and he looks like someone beat him with a baseball bat,” Zoey added.
“Still, he’s fit enough to hang out here for a while. It’s not like we think Bridgett’s going to come here. She hasn’t thought of us since the last time she tried and failed to get our dad’s money,” Scarlett said.
“I doubt she’ll come here, but we’re on alert,” Elle added.
“Good,” Aubrey said.
“Now, we didn’t mean to wake you up. Get some rest,” Zoey added.
“Thanks, I’ll keep you posted.” She hung up.
“Everything alright?” Aiden asked as he shifted, which had the sheet that covered him falling lower over his hips.
“Yes.” She ran her eyes over him. “So, I was thinking.” She slowly started to crawl up the bed