“You’re accepted, believe me. Stella, people are so grateful to you. I’ve talked to them, and they’re grateful for all you’ve done. And as for plain—just look in the mirror.”
“You did that for me,” she said solemnly, thinking the evening would have been so wonderful if she’d had Aaron’s love. It was a subject she had shut out of her mind over and over since their arrival at the club tonight. Tears threatened again and she no longer felt like dancing.
“Aaron, I need a moment,” she said, stepping away from him. She knew the clubhouse from being there with members for various events and she hurried off the dance floor and out of the room, heading for one of the small clubrooms that would be empty on a night like this. Tears stung her eyes and she tried to control them, wiping them off her cheeks.
A hand closed on her arm and Aaron stopped her. He saw her tears and frowned.
“C’mon,” he said, holding her arm and walking down the hall to enter a darkened meeting room. Hanging a sign, Meeting in Progress, on the outside knob and switching on a small lamp, he closed the door.
She wiped her eyes frantically and took deep breaths.
He turned to face her, walking to her and placing his hands on his hips. “I was going to wait until we went home tonight to talk to you, but I think we better talk right now. What started out to be a great, fun evening for you has turned sour in a big way.”
“Aaron, we can’t talk here.”
“Yes, we can.” He stepped close and slipped one arm around her waist. His other hand tilted her chin up as he gazed into her eyes. “This is long overdue, but as the old saying goes, sometimes you can’t see the forest for the trees. I’ve missed you and I’ve been miserable without you. I love you, Stella.”
Startled, she frowned as she stared at him. “You’re saying that—I don’t think you mean it. It’s one of those nice and honorable things you do.”
“No. I’m not saying it to be nice and not out of honor. It’s out of love. After I lost Paula and Blake, I didn’t think I would ever love again. I didn’t think I could. I was wrong, because there’s always room in the heart for love. I just couldn’t even see that I had fallen in love with you.”
Shocked, she stared at him. “Aaron, I didn’t know about your wife and son until this past week.”
He frowned. “I thought everyone around here knew that. I just didn’t talk about it.”
“That’s been a barrier between us, hasn’t it?”
“It was, but it’s not now. I’m in love with you. I want to marry you and if you’d found out today that you’re not really pregnant, I would still tell you the same thing. I love you. When I lost Paula and Blake, I didn’t want to live, either. I hurt every minute of every day for so long. When I finally did go out with a woman, I think it was three or four years later and after the date, I just wanted to go home and be alone.”
She hurt for him, but she remained silent because Aaron was opening himself up completely to her and gone was the shuttered look and the feeling that a wall had come between them.
“I finally began to socialize, but I just never got close to anyone until you came along. I soon realized that you were the first woman I’d enjoyed being around since Paula. I also noticed I didn’t hurt as much and I didn’t think about her as much.
“Stella, I will always love Paula and Blake. There’s room in my heart for more love—for you, for our baby. I love you and I have been miserable without you and it’s my own fault for shutting you out, but I just didn’t even realize I was falling in love with you.”