Oh comeon.
I have to tempt you withsomething.
See. She could do this. She was a perfectly goodflirt.
Fine. Are you makingthe
caramel fromscratch?
Please say yesand
describe it to meslowly.
Oh yeahbaby.
You knowit.
He sent back a drooling emoji that made Shae chuckle as she set down her phone. Keira was right. All she had to do was be honest with herself about what she wanted and everything would be okay. And for now she wanted to flirt with Aidan via text while she baked the afternoonaway.
?
Something was bothering Shae, Aidan could tell. They’d been texting the last few days. Their texts mostly involved her sending him pictures of everything she was baking and the occasional late night nipple shot, which he very much appreciated, but when he’d shown up at her house to pick her up for their skating date, she’d barely looked him in the eye. Even when he kissed her hello, she seemed like she was holdingback.
She held up her end of the conversation in the car, telling Aidan about the rest of her work week and letting him fill her in on the two properties they’d found for their website. He was about to mention that he found a house that he was considering renovating himself, but he kept that tohimself.
LA Live was packed when they finally battled their way through the weekend traffic and made it to the heart of downtown LA. As soon as they emerged from the underground garage, Aidan was hit with the full spirit of Christmas. The whole outdoor plaza was decorated with lights and garland. Stevie Wonder’s voice came through the massive PAsystem.
As they turned the corner, the massive tree and outdoor skating rink came into view. It was as close to the tree at Rockefeller Center as Southern California was going to get. Aidan made a bold choice and reached for Shae’s hand as they moved through the crowd of people. She gave him a half-hearted smile and wove their fingers together. He wasn’t sure what to make of that. Didn’t stop him from holding on to her for as long as he could,though.
Aidan wasn’t one to beat around the bush, so as soon as they sat down to strap on their skates he asked. “Are you okay? You seem kind oftense?”
“Actually, I’m not sure.” Shae finally turned and looked at him. Aidan knew the signs. She was about to friendzone his ass hard. Not that there was a problem with them being just friends, but he’d be lying if he said he didn’t want more. He swallowed and prepared himself to handle the rejection like anadult.
“What’s going on?” heasked.
“Remember the other day when we were talking about a night offirsts?”
“Yeah.”
“Well I know we are literally at the start of our second date, which might actually be our first because I did drag you to Target the first time—anyway.” She stopped herself with a wave of her hand and seemed to regroup around her original train of thought. “I feel like everything I’m saying and doing issilly.”
“What do youmean?”
“Aidan, you asked me what I wanted in a relationship and I said pornographicphotos.”
“Were youlying?”
“Hell no. If it wouldn’t be really weird, I’d frame the pictures you sent the other night and show them toguests.”
That made Aidan laugh and finally relax a bit. “Please don’t dothat.”
“I won’t, but I just—I don’t know what I’mdoing.”
“Neither do I. I’m spending every second thinking of one of two things,” Aidan said, making a confession of hisown.
“What twothings?”
“Well, since we’re being honest I’ll just go ahead and embarrass myself. I’m either thinking about when I can see you again and when I can bring up the subject of us having sex in person without sounding like a total dick. I also think about you baking naked, which I know is completelyunsafe.”