and leave a trail of cat hair behind. “Sorry.” Stella found herself apologizing again, but Aidan just smiled.
“You need to stop apologizing,” he said, reaching down to pet the fluffy monster. “I like the way you live. It’s just like you.”
“Messy and chaotic?” she asked, disbelieving.
“Full of life.” He straightened up, and caught her eye, and Stella’s stomach did another slow spin.
“Do you want a drink?” she blurted. “I have tea, or whisky…”
“Whisky sounds great.”
Aidan gave her a smile that was more intoxicating than any twenty-year vintage, warming her blood from the inside out.
She went to fix their drinks, as he browsed her record collection. “You like the oldies, huh?”
She smiled. “I got that record player at a thrift store, years ago. The only records I could find were ancient. I used to rock Matty to sleep to Fleetwood Mac and Joni Mitchell.”
Aidan put on a record; moments later, the first stirrings of Jonny Cash playing out through the room, low and seductive.
Boy, was she in trouble now.
Then he walked over, took both glasses from her hands, set them on the table, and kissed her, slow and sweet. And just like that, Stella’s nerves melted away. She’s been flustered over nothing, because this?
This just felt right.
“I’ve been waiting all day to do that,” he murmured, drawing back enough to gently push the hair from her eyes.
“Me too,” she whispered. “There’s something about dinosaur bones, just really turns me on.”
Aidan laughed, and she was struck again by what an amazing smile this man had. He didn’t use it often like this: full-throated, nothing holding him back, but when he did…?
Her knees went weak.
“So, show me around,” he said, smiling. “Introduce me to the family.”
She realized he was talking about the animals and laughed. “Well, that’s Betsy,” she said, taking him over to the dogs. “And June. We got her as a puppy. Never take a five-year old near the rescue adoption tent,” she warned him.
“You’re telling me. My sister kidnapped her dog, remember?”
“She’s a grown woman,” Stella pointed out.
“Sometimes, she forgets that part.” Aidan smiled. He took her by the hand, and led her over to the couch. They sat, and Stella took a gulp of her whiskey. She coughed.
“You’re nervous,” he said, studying her.
She gave a shrug. “I don’t often invite guys back here. Ever.”
“Because of Matty?”
She nodded, then paused. “I used to think so, but now… I’ve worked hard to make this life,” she found herself saying. “Not just for him, but for me, too. Something safe, and stable.”
Stella glanced up, certain she was ruining the mood, but she found Aidan staring back at her with a reverence that took her breath away.
“I think you’re incredible,” he said simply.
Stella’s heart stopped.
“What you’ve built here,” he continued. “What you had to overcome, alone…. You’re incredible.”
He leaned in and kissed her, and God, Stella could have lost herself in his arms and never come up for air.
Aidan’s lips brushed hers, sweet and slow. His hand moving to cradle her cheek, and then traced lower, along the curve of her neck and over her shoulders. She shivered at the feather-light touch. Every nerve in her body was waking up, roaring back to life, and it felt like she was sixteen again, full of possibility. Right there on the edge of the world, ready to fall.
She pressed closer, deepening the kiss. Aidan let out a low groan, easing her lips apart and sliding his tongue against hers in an intoxicating dance. Stella ran her hands over his chest, feeling the solid muscle and savoring every touch. The fire inside was burning brighter now. Wilder. Something restless stirring to life in her veins, hot and demanding. Aidan pulled her into his lap, and she moved to straddle him as she explored every inch of his face, and jaw, and tangled hair with her eager fingertips. “You have great hair,” she sighed, coming up for air.
“I do?” he asked, a smile tugging on his lips.
“You do,” she said decisively. He chuckled, and Stella laughed too. She felt giddy and light-headed, the way she had when he’d spun her around the dance floor.
Like she was walking on air.
She dipped her head to kiss him again, teasing him with slow, light kisses until his grip on her hips tightened, and his breathing turned ragged, and Stella found herself arching against him, aching, wanting more. His hands slipped beneath her sweater, rising up to stroke the small of her back, hot against her bare skin. She gave a