Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 79197 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79197 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
He stared at me for a moment, then looked away in thought. “One love?”
“Yeah, like God only gives us one person whom we can truly call the love of our lives.”
Dalton focused back on me. “I think God gives us many people we can love, in different ways and in different capacities. Like I love my kids more than anything, but the love I feel for Tammy is different. She is the love of my life, and I know that without a doubt.”
I nodded, continuing to look at the bottle in my hands. “That makes sense.”
“You have feelings for her.”
My eyes shot back up to Dalton. “That obvious?”
“To me. Because I know you, and you’re like a brother to me. I’ve seen you at your highest and your lowest. It’s okay to have feelings for another woman, Aiden. Hell, I would be shocked if you didn’t have some sort of feeling for her. She’s beautiful, smart, loves your kid already, and Hadley loves her… Anyone can see that.”
I rubbed the back of my neck where an ache was blooming. “There’s a problem though.”
“She works for you.”
I laughed. “Okay, thanks for reminding me that there are two problems.”
Dalton leaned back in the chair, crossed his ankles, and motioned for me to go on.
“There is the fact that she’s working for me. And the other issue is the feelings themselves that I’m having.”
“If it’s strictly a physical attraction, there’s nothing wrong with that. You’ve got needs like everyone else. And you’ve only hooked up how many times since Lisa died? Two? Three, maybe?”
“That’s not it, Dalton.” I swallowed hard, clearing my throat before I tried to explain. “The first time I ever met Emma, something strange happened. I felt something I’ve never felt before, with any woman. Hell, I knew I was going to hire her right on the spot. I was almost desperate to know her. And I can’t tell you how hard I prayed for Hadley to like Emma as we drove over to her dance studio.”
His brows lifted. “Go on.”
“I don’t know how to explain it, but she made me feel…alive. I mean, it’s not like she’s the first pretty woman I’ve ever seen or anything. But this was different. She’s different. The few times I’ve brushed against her, or offered to help her and we’ve accidentally touched, even in the slightest way, I feel like I can’t catch my breath. It makes me feel guilty as hell, while at the same time I’m electrified. If that makes sense.”
Dalton leaned forward and rested his arms on his legs. “Why guilty? Because you’re a man and you have feelings for a woman?”
“It’s too soon! And these feelings…I don’t know what they are. I mean, I loved Lisa. Maybe not like I had in the beginning, but I did love and care about her. Yet, what I felt for Lisa doesn’t even compare to this thing with Emma.
“I think about her all the freaking time. She makes me and Hadley dinner every night and then leaves so we can have alone time, and every single time she walks away, I want to ask her to stay. When I’m at work and walking out in the meadows, I feel like I can smell her. That freaking soap or lotion or whatever the hell she uses that smells like oranges and vanilla, it invades my senses until I literally stop to look around for her. That’s not normal, Dalton! I didn’t feel that way with Lisa, and that’s not fair to her. It’s not fair that I would feel like this for another woman whom I hardly even know.”
“Not fair?” he said with a slight chuckle. “It’s not fair that you could possibly meet another woman and fall in love?”
I gaped at him, shocked. “I’m not in love with her. It’s more like lust.”
“Lust, huh? Well, if you need to get laid, go get laid.”
Shaking my head, I glared at him. “You know it’s not the same thing.”
“I want to know why you don’t think it’s fair that you move on. Aiden, you and Lisa were not in love at the end, and that’s okay. You loved her because she was the mother of your child. You cared for her, you did right by her. But you weren’t in love. Don’t feel guilty because another woman makes you feel something in here.”
He pointed to his chest, and I let out a slow breath.
“Last night, I invited her to stay for dinner, and we ate and drank a couple glasses of wine while we watched Suits. She fell asleep on my shoulder… A decent man would have woken her up and told her to head up to her place. Her boss should have done that. Instead, I covered her up because it felt good to have a warm body against me. It was like I craved it. I let her sleep, and I ended up waking this morning with Emma in my arms. When I felt her waking up, I pretended to be asleep, and she snuck off. She left her place right before I did.”