The Proposition(6)
For some reason, Emma found that statement comforting. Still, she managed to keep her best poker face on and shrugged her shoulders. “It’s none of my business.”
He only chuckled as a waiter came up the table. “What can I get you two this evening?”
Aidan nodded at Emma. “I’ll have a margarita on the rocks with no salt, please,” she said.
“Heineken in a bottle.”
The waiter jotted their order down on a napkin and then headed over to the bar. Emma rested her elbows onto the table and put her head in her hands. A long, exasperated sigh escaped her lips.
“Bad day, huh?”
She raised her head, and a sad smile flickered on her face. “Not one of my best. I really can’t blame Connor for the worst of it either. It was already shot to hell giving Therese a baby shower.”
“Your boss?” he asked, and Emma nodded. The waiter returned with their drinks. Emma took a dainty swig of her margarita while Aidan pulled a hearty gulp from his bottle. An anxious feeling came over her at his curious expression, and she feared he was about to ask a pretty loaded question.
“What was so wrong about the baby shower? Someone get shitfaced on spiked punch and not want to play one of the silly games like Guess What’s in the Diaper?”
Okay, so that wasn’t the question she was expecting. “How in the world do you know what goes on at baby shower?”
He grimaced. “I have four older sisters. Trust me, I’ve spent some time in baby shower hell.”
Emma grinned. “I guess you have.”
“So what happened?” he prodded.
With a shrug, she replied, “Nothing really. It was just harder than I thought it was going to be.”
“Because you want a baby of your own?”
She gasped and almost knocked her margarita over. “Wait, how could you…?”
“Connor told me.”
Emma widened her eyes as a warm flush danced over her cheeks and neck. “H-He did? W-What else did he say?”
Aidan took another swig before he answered. “That he was supposed to father your baby, but he backed out.”
Even though she’d only had one sip of her drink, the room tilted and spun around her. She shook her head, trying to shake herself free of the nightmare turn the conversation had taken. This couldn’t be happening. “I’m going to kill him!”
“You don’t need to do that.”
“Are you kidding me?” Emma’s voice shot up an octave. “It was bad enough when he was texting and calling all the time. Now he’s shown up at my work to harass me. But worst of all, he told you, of all people, the most private detail of my personal life!”
Aidan leaned forward, bumping his elbows against hers. “Me of all people…what’s that supposed to mean?”
Emma ducked her head. “Nothing.”
“Oh no. You’re not getting off so easy.”
“It’s just with the type of man you are, you can’t possibly understand my problems or my desires.”
Aidan snorted. “Let me guess. Because of my alleged womanizing reputation, I can’t fathom what it must be like for you to want to be a mother so bad you’d get your gay best friend to knock you up?”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Then tell me.”
Emma leaned over to where their faces were only inches apart. “Since you think you know everything, tell me if you understand this. Have you ever wanted something so bad you think you’d die if you didn’t have it? That the mere thought of it keeps you up at night. You can’t sleep, you can’t eat, you can’t drink. You are so consumed by that desire nothing else matters, and you’re not sure life is worth living if you can’t have it.” Bitter tears stung her eyes, and she bit down on her lip to keep from sobbing right in front of him.
While Aidan remained silent, Emma shook her head and leaned back in her chair. “See? I rest my case. A man like you can’t possibly understand what wanting a baby feels like for me.”
“No, I get it. I really do.”
She arched her auburn eyebrows at him. “I doubt that seriously.”
“Maybe to a certain extent…” A slow, lascivious grin slunk across his face--one that sent warmth to her cheeks and made her squirm in her chair. “I wanted you so bad at the Christmas party I thought I’d die when you refused to come home with me.”
The husky tone of his voice startled her. “Excuse me?”
He scooted his chair so close to hers that she fought the urge to back away. She gulped at his nearness. The lustful gleam flashing in his eyes made him like the Big Bad Wolf looming over her. “How much plainer can I make it? You were so damn sexy in that green dress. Your hair was down and fell in waves around your shoulders. And you kept giving me those innocent little smiles from across the room.” His breath scorched against her cheek before he whispered into her ear. “I’ve never wanted to fuck someone so much as I wanted to you.”