Tending Their SECRET by Crystal Perkins Read Free Book Online

hoping it wasn’t someone I’d fucked. No luck
there.
    “Hi, Brandi,” I say as she walks around me
when I don’t turn.
    “Is that all the welcome I’m getting?” she
asks with a pout.
    “Pretty much,” I tell her, lifting Ellie and
my clasped hands for her to see.
    She glares down at our hands, and I don’t
even try to hide my eye roll. I haven’t seen this chick in over a
decade, and it’s been even longer since we hooked up. I don’t know
what she was expecting. Apparently more than I’m willing to
give.
    “You’re going to save me a dance,
right?”
    “No. I only dance with my girlfriend. Nice
seeing you,” I tell her as I pull Ellie away.
    She’s shaking with laughter. I feel bad
leaving my dad to suffer the fallout of my getaway, but he’s got
our friends to help him out. If all else fails, he can call his
detail in to take her away.
    “Running from a woman? Really?”
    “Yes, Doll. I’m man enough to admit that
certain women scare me. Some of them, because they can potentially
kick my ass; that one, because I thought she might jump me right in
front of you.”
    “I’d protect my property.”
    “Property?”
    “You said I own you.”
    “I’ll show you all about owning,” I say,
reaching for her, and stopping myself just in time.
    I drop my hand and close my eyes, trying to
think how exactly to apologize. “Open your eyes, Aiden,” she tells
me. I do as she asks. “It’s okay. I mean, it’s not, but that’s on
my side of this situation. You shouldn’t have to hold back. If you
want to go back over there to Brandi, I’ll understand.”
    “You think because I can’t touch you right
now, I’d leave you for someone else?”
    “It’s not fair.”
    “No. It’s not. But that’s my fault, as much
as it’s yours. I should’ve been there, and you shouldn’t have gone
in. We can’t change that, but we can do what you asked, and try to
move on. I’m not going anywhere, I promise.”
    “Can I kiss you again?”
    “You’re not seriously asking me, are you?
Because I have never denied you a kiss.”
    “Yes, you have.”
    “Not since I told you I love you.”
    “I love you, too.”
    She wraps her arms around me, and I place my
hands on her hips, exactly where she let me earlier. The smile I
see before our lips meet melts my heart a little more. I know that
she appreciates me remembering. We kiss for several minutes,
forgetting that there are people still around.
    “You’re making a scene,” Andres says, coming
up and bumping me on the shoulder.
    “Don’t give a fuck,” I tell him, recapturing
Ellie’s lips.
    “Think of someone other than yourself for
once.”
    “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” I
ask, shocked that he would even say something like that to me.
    “You let down everyone who cares about you.
You should be thinking about your dad right now.”
    “Aiden always takes care of the people he
loves,” Ellie says, her eyes flashing.
    “Whatever. Just tone down the PDA.”
    “Fuck you, asshole.”
    “Letting your woman defend you. Nice. But
you’re not my type, Ellie.”
    “You’re crossing a line, Andy. You can say
whatever the fuck you want to me, but you don’t talk to Ellie like
that. I suggest you walk away.”
    “So much for being best friends, huh? I
guess I’m not famous enough for that.”
    “What the fuck? You think I care about my
friends being famous? If I wanted fame, I’d have campaigned with my
dad. I’d be telling the world he’s my dad. I’m sorry you and I grew
apart, but that had nothing to do with anyone else, but us.”
    “You’re right. It was ‘us.’ Plural. I was
hoping we could re-connect, but you’re not making it easy.”
    “Anything that’s worth it isn’t easy. But
you wouldn’t know that, would you Aiden?” Dave asks, coming up to
us as well.
    And I thought my night couldn’t get any
worse. Dave is my dad’s right hand guy. He’s also ex-military, and
around my age, but I didn’t know him before