Stay With Me (She's With Me #2) - Jessica Cunsolo Page 0,86
breath. “Okay. What are we going to do about Andrew?”
He lifts an amused eyebrow. “We?”
“Of course we.” I give him a duh look. “What’s the plan?”
Aiden finishes his sandwich and cleans his hands. “I told him I was absolutely going to give Vivienne Henfrey the inside story. She already hates him so he knows she’ll take this story and run with it.”
“How did he react?”
He chuckles. “Not very well. Lost his composure for a bit and taught me a few new swear combinations. Even if I don’t talk to the journalist, it was fun to see him sweat for a while.”
Why is he playing this off like it’s no big deal? “Aren’t you worried he’ll make good on his threats?”
Aiden’s smirk intensifies, his eyes smoldering with a combination of mischief and confidence that only he can pull off. “Are you worried about me, Thea?”
I smack his chest. “Of course I’m worried!”
He grabs my waist and without warning flips us over so that we’re lying down, with him on top of me. I pray my face isn’t heating up.
“Don’t be,” he says soothingly. “You have enough to be worried about. I wouldn’t do anything that might risk Tony finding you. I just don’t want Andrew to think it’s that easy.”
“I’m still going to worry,” I say. “The way he said Amelia totally freaked me out.”
“He’s just being an asshole. He knows I care about you and he’s using that against me.” He pauses, then pushes my hair out of my face. “You know, I couldn’t have done any of that without you last night.” He smiles and looks deep into my eyes, a gleam in his that’s only there when he’s truly happy.
“I didn’t even do anything,” I answer breathlessly.
“You did everything,” he replies confidently and then he lowers his head and kisses me deeply, so intensely that my head feels like it’s spinning, that the world feels like it’s melted away, and all that matters is me and him and this moment.
My hands travel up and down his back, feeling the muscles contract under my touch, secretly delighted that I can have such an effect on him. His hands tighten on my waist and he flips us over so that I’m on top of him, my body pressed tightly against his. His hands are all over me, leaving a trail of fire on my skin as he goes, and I know that I’ve never wanted anyone as much and as badly in my life as I want Aiden Parker.
We gently pull apart and he gazes into my eyes, a lazy smile on his lips, and his thumbs gently running across my jaw. “I love you, Thea.”
Wha—? I feel my face physically freeze in a look of shock and worry.
He loves me?
I suddenly and ungracefully roll off of him and sit up, not daring to look at him.
Oh my God. I fucked up so badly.
I feel him sit up quickly and he puts his hand on my arm. “Thea?”
My face must be contorted in a panicked look because I feel him stiffen. “What’s wrong?”
I say it without thinking about it, needing this emotional weight off my chest before it explodes. “I’m leaving in the new year when we get back home.”
He freezes. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that on January 3 I’m picking up my things and moving. I’ll become a Jennifer or an Erica or some other name that isn’t mine and start all over again.” I look away from him and into my lap, not wanting to see the look of betrayal in his eyes.
“What? They can’t just force you to move for no reason! You’re safe here, and if you weren’t, I’d be the first damn person getting ready to protect you!”
The fact that he thinks I don’t have a choice in the matter breaks my heart. Really, physically, breaks my heart. With every word he says it feels like someone is stabbing me in the chest with a knife and I can barely even look at him.
“I think it’s a good idea to leave,” I whisper, staring at my hands in my lap.
I feel him freeze beside me as he registers what that means. “What?” he asks in a flat, emotionless tone.
“I have to leave, Aiden. You all mean too much to me to stay here. Where I go, people get hurt. People die. And I’m not going to be selfish and put everyone in danger without them knowing, without them even having a choice in the