“Someone who wants to send me nudes,” Aidan heard himself say. He immediately wanted to tell Shae he was joking, but hewasn’t.
3
Dear Santa,What was Ithinking...?
Shae watchedAidan watching her as she tried to process the words he’d just said. Was he sweating as bad as she was? Was his stomach turning over too? She was flirting too much. She knew it and she was being too honest. Another trait of Kenney women. Light, hilarious, yet blunt honesty. Shae could always rely on her own honesty, but it was truly a crapshoot when it came to how others responded to it. Harvin had loved that part of her personality at first, until it came time for him to deal with his own truth. Shae mentally shook off the unpleasant thoughts of her unpleasant ex-husband and turned her focus back to the issue at hand. Aidan wanted nudes. Hernudes.
“I’m sorry,” he said a second later. “I didn’t meanit—”
“No, don’t apologize. I have a question about the nudesthough.”
“How can you have a question for me? The nudes were your idea,” Aidanlaughed.
“I know! But say I wanted to send you nudes. Like if I wanted to send them to youspecifically.”
“Right. Okay. You’re sending me nudes. What’s thequestion?”
“Would you send nudesback?”
Aidan tilted his chin up a bit and let out a “Hmmmm...”
“See! This is why I have follow-up questions. I’d be out here sending nudes and getting ‘Hmmmms’ in return,” Shae joked. Kinda. She was definitely sweating, not on her forehead or anything. She was just hot all over from nerves. She took another swig of her drink. In over her head didn’t even describe it. Agreeing to this date was a bad idea. She was not ready to be out in the playing field or whatever you callit.
“I was just thinking of how to frame my response so I didn’t come off like a complete dirtbag,” Aidan replied. “If you were sending me nudes, I would be happy to send you nudes in return, if you wanted nudes from me. I know women don’t like unsolicited dickpics.”
“That is true. So if we decided, like mutually, to send each othernudes—”
“Mhmm. Go on.” His eyes narrowed behind his thick framed glasses. Shae didn’t know what to make of it, so she just kepttalking.
“Right. So we’re adults and shit, right? And wecandecide to send each other nudes. Is that something that you could possibly be interested indoing?”
“Yes,” he repliedcalmly.
“Okay.”
“If that’s something you’re interested indoing.”
“Can I be honest? If I had known it was this easy to get naked pictures of you, I would have asked years ago.” Shae smiled as a burst of laughter erupted fromAidan.
“Well, I think timing is an important factor here. I think your marriage would have ended for completely different reasons if I was sending you nudes years ago. Can I ask you one thing? Before we get back to the nudes, Imean.”
“Please.”I need to stop talking anyway, she almostadded.
“Would you like to go out on a second date withme?”
“Yes. I would and this time you can actually plan it. And I’ll make sure I run my errandsbeforehand.”
“Fair enough. But I don’t mind if you need to stop into CVS forsomething.”
“I’ll make a list before you pick meup.”
“Deal. Before we get back to the nudes, there’s one more thing I have been wanting to do for a fewyears.”
“What’s that?” Shae asked. A second later it clicked. Shae froze as Aidan moved the plates between them and slid to the middle of the couch. His green eyes scanned over her features before settling on her lips. She regretted picking out a long-wear matte lipstick. It made her lips look amazing, but she wasn’t sure if it made them kissably soft. Would matte cosmetics ruin this kiss for themboth?
Shae’s eyes slid closed as Aidan’s lips pressed against hers. The matte was definitely not a problem. It all started off pretty tame. Just lips on lips, Aidan’s hand sliding around the curve of her neck. Her own fingers went to the front of his shirt, toying with the hem of the soft cotton as their tongues entered the equation. Just when Shae thought to take things a little further, Aidan pulled away. Shae’s eyes blinked open. If her skin wasn’t a dark brown, she knew she’s be sporting the same red blush that now covered Aidan’s face. She cleared her throat, then bit the inside of hercheek.
“You’ve wanted to kiss me for a fewyears?”