Reclaimed (Powell Sanctuary #5)

Chapter 8

8

Isla

My fingers tremble slightly where I grip the black and white photo. It’s still hard to comprehend that this little bean shaped blob is inside of me. I’ve been blessed that at nearly fourteen weeks along, my symptoms have been minimal. A week of nausea and a missed period is what prompted me to first take a test two months ago, but other than some mild fatigue, I’ve felt fine. Normal, even.

I’m sure once my belly begins to show and the baby kicks keep me up at night that this will feel more real. Most days it still feels like it’s all a dream.

I stifle a yawn with the back of my hand and drop the photo back into my purse on my kitchen table. Okay, so recently, vivid dreams have made sleep sparse. Pregnancy nightmares are real, and add in the threat of a stalker and my imagination has run wild.

At least I know this little one is healthy and growing just as he or she should. I tuck that knowledge close and remind myself that we’re both safe for what feels like the thousandth time.

A knock on my front door sends a spike of adrenaline through me. I huff a laugh at my ridiculous nervous system, shutting down my thoughts before they take a rogue turn.

“Aiden.” I step back in surprise.

“Hey, Isla.” His voice is casual, but his expression is a careful mask. From the black, backward cap on his head, to the soft-looking cotton tee, and even his jeans, he’s the picture of comfort and relaxation. Only the tense lines of his shoulders give him away.

And the suspicious bags by his feet.

“What are you doing here?”

“I have a plan.”

“A plan for what?”

“I think we should date,” he blurts suddenly.

“I’m sorry?” My brows pinch as I try to decipher what the hell he’s trying to say while standing on my doorstep.

“I want to date you.”

“I’m not interested in dating.”

“Are you already seeing someone?”

“No, and I’d like to keep it that way.” I shut the door on this strange conversation.

“Wait!” His palm slaps against my door before it can latch.

“Honey, if she don’t let you in, my door is wide open.” My neighbor, Julie calls, her weathered voice sounding all kinds of wrong over the seductive invitation. “I’m single!”

Aiden’s face is a mask of horror. He widens his eyes as if to beg, “ please let me in!”

I giggle and push the door open enough for him to enter. Once he’s safely inside, I poke my head outside.

“He’s not available, Julie.”

She winks. “You get him, girlfriend.”

I offer her a small wave, ignoring the way my belly tingles, and retreat into my house.

“You have five minutes. That’s just enough time for her to go back inside so you can sneak back out to your car. But you better be quick. The mail comes soon and she’ll be stationed out there until Will finishes his route on our street.”

“You know the name of your mailperson?”

“You don’t?” I cross my arms.

“Um, no?” He scrubs the back of his neck. “Should I?”

I lean a shoulder against the door at my back. “They are a person providing a service to you. It doesn’t take much to ask for their name.”

“Jesus,” he shakes his head.

“I know the name of my garbage men, too.”

“Shit,” he mutters.

“I bake them all cookies.”

“Shut up, Isla.” He scrubs his palms over his face.

“Excuse me? I just saved your ass from Julie. You can go back outside if you’re going to talk to me like that. She should spank the rudeness out of you with her wooden spoon.”

“I said…” He steps into me, his chest nearly bumping mine, and gazes down into my startled eyes. Goodness, from this close, his eyes are so blue. Like glacial blue. They’re distracting. “Shut. Up.”

“Why?” I whisper, my voice swallowed by his nearness.

“Because for this to work, I’m not supposed to actually want you, and you’re making that damn hard.”

I swallow against a lump in my throat. “For what to work?”

“Dating you.”

My shoulders tense. “I already said—”

The mere act of his gaze dropping to my lips has me shutting up. So much for not having any pregnancy symptoms. I feel my hormones kick into overdrive and suddenly, I’m clenching my thighs.

Kiss me. Kiss me. NO. Don’t kiss me.

He cups my chin and his thumb touches the center of my lips. I still.

“Just listen.”

I nod once, the only part of me not frozen.

“This serial killer is targeting dancers who are single and live alone. So you lie low and for a while we pretend like we’re together to keep you off of his radar. It’s that simple.”

“What if I don’t want to spend that much time with you?”

“I can’t speak for you, but I’m thirty-two and single. Not a lot going on these days that’d make this a much of a hassle.”

“Seems almost too easy.”

Aiden shrugs and the corner of his mouth quirks. “There’s nothing else connecting these women together. I already spend a lot of time at the club. So we pretend like we’re a couple. I drive you to work and bring you home. For anyone watching, it’ll seem like you’re off the market.”

“Then what’s with the bags?” I flick out my wrist at the black bags.

“I need to move in.”

“What?”

“it’s temporary.”

“No.”

“Isla, stop and think for a minute. If someone does decide to set their sights on you, don’t you think they might try to find out where you live? To really sell the idea of us being together, I need to stay here for a while.”

As much as I don’t want to admit it, he does have a point.

And wouldn’t I feel that much safer having him sleep in the house with me?

A tingle races down my spine at the thought.

No. Nope. No way. He doesn’t even know I’m pregnant. I open my mouth to tell him when the bag at his feet moves. On its own. Rather than spilling my secret, I let out a shriek.

“What is that?”

“That’s Chevy.”

“Who’s Chevy?”

“My cat.”

“You brought your cat?”

“Yeah.” Aiden kneels down and unzips the black bag. Two orange legs poke out in a long stretch before a ball of fluff follows. “Couldn’t leave him alone by himself.”

Aiden rises with his furry companion held tight against his chest. His rumbling purr is audible.

“Isn’t it a requirement of the family to be a dog person?”

“What, like we’re a mafia or something?” he lets out a small chuckle. “We’re animal people, Isla. As long as it has fur, it’s welcome.”

I reach out and scratch Chevy between his ears. Or what’s left of them. The tops are flattened almost like someone cut them off. The cat leaps from Aiden’s arms, giving a long stretch on the floor before prowling across my living room as if he’s making himself at home.

Not only are his ears damaged, but he’s missing tufts of fur, his tail is docked, and he only has three legs.

“What happened to him?”

“I found him in the engine compartment of Silas’s truck after we had a night out at The Rocks. He was trying to keep warm. He lost his ears and tail from frostbite and his leg was amputated due to an injury.”

“That poor baby!”

That explains the name.

“Well, I’m much more inclined to let him stay than you.”

“I’m sorry to inform you that we’re a package deal.” He walks over to Chevy on the couch and picks him up.

I study the two of them as I work over the proposed solution.

“What’s in it for you?”

Aiden clenches his teeth and holds a neutral, unreadable expression.

“Because if you think I’m going to just fall into your lap and sleep with you in exchange—”

“I don’t want that.”

My chin jerks back at his rapid response. “You don’t?”

He looks at the ceiling, his shoulders rising with a deep breath. Chevy leaps from Aiden’s arms, freeing them, and he settles his palms on his narrow hips. Those startling blue eyes meet mine.

“Woman, what do you want?” he rasps, running his tongue over his lower lip. “Because you’ve backed me up into quite the tight corner here with your mixed messages.”

“I didn’t mean to.”

“Do you want me to admit that the mere idea of you squirming beneath me makes me really fucking hard or would you rather I keep that to myself? Your choice. But choose wisely, because if I say I don’t want to sleep with you to protect us both and you respond again like I just kicked your dog, I’ll have to fuck you just to prove a point.” He lets that moment linger for a second before adding with a smirk, “with your consent of course.”

Oh.

“I’ll make it enjoyable for the both of us.”

Oh. My thighs clench.

“I had my fingers buried inside of you because I find you highly desirable. Just to clear things up.”

I throw my palm up between us. “Stop talking, Powell.”

He grins, and despite his cocky attitude, I find that stupidly hot.

“What’s in it for you?” I ask again in a measured tone.

“I need my family to get off my back. You pretend to be my girlfriend, I bring you to one of our family dinners, they’re all reminded of what it felt like to fall in love, and they stop asking if my ongoing demand for space is a form of crisis.”

His words remind me of something Juniper said when we went out for coffee.

“He hasn’t been the same.”

“They’re worried.”

“You’re serious?” I don’t know why I seek confirmation when the evidence is in front of me, but the words leave my mouth before I can stop them.

“I am. If everything goes well, hopefully they can catch this guy and we can part ways in a few weeks. You’ll be safe, and my family will be relieved to see me dating. But it’s worth repeating, most importantly, you’ll be safe.”

“Maybe we’re overreacting.”

“I’ve seen enough women in my life scared shitless because of a man. I’m not about to let you be another one when there’s something I can do about it.”

What do I have to lose besides a bit of personal space for a few weeks? I glance down at my stomach, and the answer becomes crystal clear.

“Okay. I’m in. But I draw the line at a blood pact. We can shake on it.” I hold out my hand.

Aiden glances at my palm, my face, then back at my hand again. He slips his large fingers around mine, squeezing. “We have a deal.”

“Now what?” A smile tugs at my lips at the sight of his cat kneading my couch cushions.

“What color do you prefer?”

Aiden pulls some boxes from his duffel bag and I snort. “What’s the matter? Don’t date blondes?”

He lines the four boxes of hair color on my coffee table. “I actually prefer blondes, but it sounds like this guy does too. It’s semi-permanent color so we’ll touch up as needed.”

My stomach pitches. “Where did you hear that?”

“Silas.”

A tense silence fills the air. His head snaps up and he rises to his feet. His large palms cover my elbows and draw me a step closer while those searching blue eyes meet mine.

“I take it you didn’t know,” he murmurs.

The tiny shake of my head is all I can muster. “Manny didn’t say anything about that.”

“Come on.” Aiden links our fingers and, after swiping the boxes into his other arm, leads me down the hall until he finds my kitchen. “Sit.”

The room feels small with him in it rummaging around my cabinets. The old wooden doors creak and clatter as he moves through the room. He drops a stained, red towel and two chip bag clips on the table beside the hair dye.

“Hang tight.”

He leaves the room, only to return a moment later with my hairbrush in his hand.

“You seem like you’ve already got the lay of the land,” I quip.

“I saw the brush when I did a walk through after your shift the other night.” It joins the other items. “Now you just sit back and relax.”

He picks up the towel and snaps it in the air between us. With a smirk, he wraps the cotton around my neck.

“Have you ever done this before?”

A peek over my shoulder reveals him holding his chin in one hand and regarding his supplies.

“Of course. Who hasn’t? Pick your color,” he hastily moves passed the subject.

“Black is out. I don’t want to be too dark. You should have grabbed something fun like pink or purple.”

“I didn’t know if you’d take to the idea, even less if I showed up with the entire rainbow of colors.”

“If this perv is stalking blondes, give me literally any other hair color on the planet.”

“I can go back to the store if you’d like.”

A tiny smile plays on my lips as I shake my head. “I’m teasing you, Powell.” I lean forward and swipe the red box off the table. “This is out. Too close to Juniper’s color.”

“Brunette it is.”

The color on the box calls it light brown, but it’s darker than the cool brown beside it. The other is too similar to a dirty blonde for comfort.

The plastic gloves from the box crinkle as Aiden slips them on his hands. “Good enough,” he mutters, reaching for the hairbrush.

My laugh serenades us. “Those look a little small.”

He scrapes the bristles gently against my scalp. “You know what they say about hand size.”

“Mm.” I close my eyes as the rhythmic tugging lulls me. “I think they say that about feet.”

“Got big ones of those too.”

He has a big something else that I felt between my thighs, but I keep that comment to myself. That once-in-a-lifetime memory is going to stay locked up tight.

He parts my hair with a thick fingertip and clips half of it with a bag clip. The heat of him leaves my back and I crack open my eyes to find him crouching beside me. His tongue peeks out between his teeth as he carefully pours the color into the developer. Noticing me staring, he winks and covers the tip to shake the bottle.

“You sure about this? I know it’s impulsive, so if you need a minute—”

“This entire thing is impulsive. Half an hour ago you showed up on my doorstep telling me to date you. It’s temporary dye and a fake relationship. I’m sure I can manage. Now if you start picking out rings next week, I might have to put my foot down.”

I don’t miss the way Aiden’s eyes drop to my hand or the way he runs his tongue over his bottom lip before he rasps, “Yeah.”

A second later, the heat is gone, replaced with a distant air.

“Our relationship might last as long as this dye job, so I hope you’re ready for me.”

Ready for Aiden Powell to invade my life? Not a chance.

The man proves in minutes that he does, in fact, know what he’s doing with those hands. He works section by section, coating each patch thoroughly before moving onto the next. The gentle pull erodes the nervous edges until complete relaxation invades my body. My limbs grow heavy and I slump lower in the chair.

“Falling asleep there?”

“Maybe,” I hum. “How can I stay awake when I’m in such capable hands?”

The way he massages the dye into my strands sends a shiver down my spine. I swear I quiver with a mini orgasm, just barely keeping a moan inside my throat.

“Almost done.” He moves around my chair to get to the front, checking my hairline for any missed spots. His thigh brushes against mine. The undivided attention does something to me. I feel more cared for than I’ve ever felt in my entire adult life. His cologne wafts over me, drowning out the scent of dye with something undeniably Aiden. A masculine mixture of citrus and spice, woodsy and warm. Without even trying, I’m transported back to the lap dance beneath the red light.

The upward tug of my hair encourages my heavy eyes open, snapping me free of the memory. Aiden piles the strands in a twist on top of my head.

“Fifteen minutes and we can give you a rinse.” He plucks the gloves from his fingers, tearing them in the process.

“Are you hungry? I need to do some shopping but there should be a frozen pizza in there somewhere.”

“We can go together. It’ll be our first official outing.”

“How romantic,” I tease.

“It’ll be just like high school.”

I meet Aiden at the fridge and retrieve a bottle of water, offering him one. “I wouldn’t know.” I take a refreshing sip.

“You didn’t walk around the only store open past ten o’clock with your boyfriend?”

The small of my back meets the edge of the counter. “I didn’t have a boyfriend.”

He raises an eyebrow. “Girlfriend?”

I laugh. “Not until after I graduated.”

“Wait, you date girls?”

“I like to keep an open mind, but it’s been a few years now.”

“That’s cool.” He twists the cap off his own water bottle. “Why didn’t you date anyone in high school?”

“My parents were strict and I wasn’t interested. I was kind of a nerd.”

The conversation pauses while Aiden throws in the pizza and discards the wrapper in the trash. When he turns around, he rubs the back of his neck.

“I didn’t date much either. I was kind of a shy kid.”

I squint my eyes. “I don’t see it.”

“You wouldn’t now. I grew out of it.”

“So what you’re saying is you’ve since dated lots of girls. There’s enough threats going around, I don’t need some unrequited ex showing up to reclaim her long-lost lover.”

Aiden pulls a face of horror. “What I’m saying is I’ve never had a serious relationship and that scenario is never gonna happen.”

The timer on his phone rings out, effectively ending the conversation.

“Time to rinse.”

Aiden drags one of my kitchen chairs to the sink and I plop down onto the seat. “You know, I can manage. I could have hopped in the shower.”

“But then we’d miss getting to know each other better.”

“We’re about to spend the foreseeable future together. I’m sure there will be plenty of time to trade embarrassing stories.”

The faucet runs as Aiden adjusts the temperature. “Well now I can’t wait to pull them out of you.”

“Ha! Good luck with that, Powell. My lips are sealed.”

The warm water hits my hairline from the handheld sprayer in Aiden’s grip. He gently rinses my scalp, and I can’t help but notice the way his gaze flicks over my face every few seconds as if he’s checking that I’m still okay.

His tenderness twists something in my chest.

I’m content to enjoy his ministrations, confident I won the argument, but Aiden steals the last word.

“We’ll see about that.”