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He opened his mouth, probably to object but she cut him off before he could say anything.

  She gave him a mischievous grin. “Think of it as practice. You practice letting me buy you dinner. You see what happens. If you don’t spontaneously combust for some reason, maybe we can do it again sometime.”

  Aedan laughed, shaking his head. “You’re not giving up on this, are you? Fine.” He kissed her, his lips firm against hers. She could feel the residual tension in his lips, in his fingers against her skin. She carded her own fingers through his short hair.

  “No. I’m not. And I’m not giving up on you either.”

  They found the small bistro in the lobby of a hotel. The maître d escorted them to a small table in the back of the dark restaurant, leaving them each a menu.

  Aedan picked his up, and frowned at it. Closed it. “Okay. I’ll admit I’m out of my depth here.”

  “This just makes you really uncomfortable, doesn’t it?” Rosa looked up from her own menu, studying his face.

  “Yeah.” He sighed. “It does. Like being against the ropes and not knowing what to do. It’s uncertainty and I don’t like the feeling.”

  “But it’s me, Aedan.” She grinned at him over the top of the menu. “You’re not uncertain when it comes to me, are you?”

  He shook his head. She finally saw a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

  “Not you as much as everything that comes with you.” He reached across the table, taking her hand. “I’m trying, beautiful...really. It just doesn’t look like it sometimes.”

  She squeezed his hand. “I know. That’s all that matters, that you give me a chance.”

  The waiter showed up before she could say anything else, and she ordered for both of them, watching Aedan frown as she spoke.

  “What exactly am I getting for dinner?”

  “You’ll like it. I promise.” She took a sip of water. “Tell me about the gym. What exactly do you do? I mean, what’re you training for specifically?”

  “Frank has a match in a couple months he wants to line up for me, one with scouts from the pros. He thinks I’m ready now, but he wants to wait.” Aedan tapped his fingers against the table in a silent, impatient rhythm. “The matches coming up are with higher level contenders than me; he’s playing this cautious for some reason. I keep pushing him to set something up sooner, but he won’t budge.”

  “Is there money involved in these?”

  Aedan shook his head. “Not the one Frank wants me to take. The one next month has a purse though, which is why I’m interested in it. But Frank... He’s smart, he’s got his reasons. He says I need to learn patience, not just in the ring but in the rest of it, the business end of it. He’s worried about injuries from lack of training or conditioning, thinks if I’m not prepared, I’ll get hurt.”

  Rosa was quiet for a moment. She wasn’t sure how to approach Aedan with what was on her mind. She wasn’t sure it was the right decision to approach him with it at all. But she had to know. “Do you ever think about doing something else? Or what you’d do if you couldn’t fight?”

  Aedan stared at her. “No. Not since I started training seriously with Frank.” He took a swallow of beer. “When I first started at the gym, it was more just a place to be, rather than on the street. But after Frank took an interest, started training me personally, it’s all we’ve ever worked for. Frank says I’m his million-dollar baby.”

  She felt a little rush of hope. “Is this more Frank’s dream than yours?”

  Aedan shook his head. “No... Not by a long shot. He’s made me see my potential, given me the tools and the guidance. But this is me, all me, my dream. Frank’s part of it, but it’s mine.”

  That was out, then. Rosa sighed internally. Her father had been right. Thinking about trying to change his dream was... silly. Maybe even wrong. But it didn’t make her any less afraid for him.

  Their food arrived and the look on Aedan’s face made Rosa laugh.

  “It is a steak, Aedan. Just with a fancy name and some odd vegetables. You’ll like it.”

  Aedan cut a tiny piece from the steak, gingerly tasting it. Rosa watched as he closed his eyes. “Damn. This is amazing.” He cut a bigger piece off and stuff it in his mouth. A groan escaped.

  Rosa laughed. “That bad, huh?” She teased. “Will you let me take you out for dinner more often, if we come here?”

  Aedan shook his head. Then paused. “Maybe,” he said finally, the single word forced from his throat. He took a swallow of beer.

  “Equality,” Rosa said, grinning at him.

  “Don’t push it,” Aedan shot back, but there was a smile playing at the corners of his eyes.

  They ate in silence after that, Aedan devouring everything on his plate, tasting some of Rosa’s scallop salad, asking for more, finishing it and then finally sitting back.

  “You actually look happy, Aedan Kearney. I don’t think I’ve seen ‘happy’ on your face all day. Except at the gym or during...” she blushed slightly, “sex. You seem happy then.”

  Aedan grinned. “That’s a whole different kinda happy.” He sighed and licked his lips. “I’m full, and that makes me happy. And you... You usually make me happy.”

  Rosa pouted. “Usually? I just ‘usually’ make you happy?”

  His expression grew serious. “Up until tonight.” He looked down at his empty plate, then back up at her. “I am—I was—really upset with you.”

  Rosa nodded. “I know and I’m sorry. It seemed like such a great idea. It is a great idea, honestly. But I got so carried away with the idea I forgot about how you might feel about it. I should’ve asked you first. I won’t do that again. I promise.” She reached across the table, running her fingers over the back of Aedan’s hand, smiling. “I think I have a way of making it up to you though.”

  She signaled for the check, not letting Aedan see what the total on it was. After a moment he gave up with a huff of annoyance. Outside, he found them a cab in what seemed like record time.

  “You have a real knack for getting us a ride, Aedan.” She laughed up at him, her dimples flashing, as she slid into the cab.

  “When I have a beautiful girl and the promise of make-up sex, there’s not much that could keep me from that.”

  They sat in heated silence. Not from anger but something else building in pressure. Fingers touched, then knees, then lips. The cab driver cleared his throat and Rosa tossed him the money as they slip out. Aedan didn’t even argue. He let them into the apartment, not bothering to turn on the lights. He pulled her to him, resting his forehead against hers.

  He spoke slowly, hesitantly, as if the words were foreign to him. “Rosa. Thank you. That’s not something I say very often. I told you that. It makes me... I guess I’m scared. No one has ever bothered to really care before or at least never bothered to show they care. I don’t know what to do...I don’t know how to react. I don’t trust any of it. But thank you anyway. I know how hard you’re trying.”

  She watched his face in the soft dark of the living room. “I know. I don’t want to force you to do anything you don’t want to...”

  “You’re not, really. But...” She squealed as he suddenly scooped her up. “I think you said something about a way of making this up to me?” His hand slid up her thigh.

  They were both panting as he carried her through the bedroom door.

  Chapter 12

  The next several days dragged by. Aedan had told her between work and training, there’d be little time to see her. He’d call her late, after work, sounding exhausted and frustrated. She wondered if it was lack of sleep or if something else was going on.

  Bliss couldn’t take the foreground forever. Life needed to get in the way and a few days later, Rosa tried to deal with the frustration of not seeing Aedan since that night. He’d warned her that the next few weeks would be extremely busy. He needed to focus on training and fighting, at the same time squeezing in work. There was basically zero time for her. She told him she understood, but it didn�
�t stop the yearning to see him.

  He’d called her late the night before, and barely spoke to her. She wondered if he was exhausted and needed to sleep.

  “Frank’s upset,” he told her the next night. “Says my timing’s off. He’s not happy I’m working.”

  “But—”

  “But he understands the situation. He knows I need to pay some bills.”

  “I know it’s not how you saw things happening,” she said quietly, hating that she was part of the reason he’d even considered taking the job. She shouldn’t have pushed him.

  “It is what it is. I’ll get it sorted.” Aedan sighed. “I’m just tired. And I hate not seeing you.”

  Rosa twisted her fingers in the corner of her sheet, then untwisted them. She stroked the wrinkles carefully from the soft fabric. “I miss you too, Aedan.” She wasn’t sure if her heart or her body missed him more.

  “There’s other things.” He paused, maybe trying to decide if he should say what he was thinking. Or he wasn’t missing her as much she missed him. “Fuck it. It’s not that great of a place to work.”

  “What do you mean?” Her father owned nice restaurants. It wasn’t the slums or crappy work conditions.

  “It’s kind of a replay of the party at your friend’s house. I’m apparently not ‘good enough’ to be a dishwasher there, according to the rest of the staff. I’m just trying to lay low till either they get used to me or—”

  “Or what?” If he was trying to get fired, her father was never going to let her continue see him. Adult or not, she still lived under her parent’s house, their rules. Why couldn’t Aedan just try? Was it that hard? She held her breath waiting to see what he’d say.

  “Or I get the match I want, not the one in a couple months. I’ve convinced Frank and he’s been working on getting a match for me with the big guy, Derek Stone. I got Frank to see it’s either now or never for me. I don’t want to wait a couple months. I need to do this now.”

  What had been amorphous possibility somewhere in the future jumped into startling clarity. Rosa felt her heart beat faster. “But Aedan, do you think—”

  She heard him blow out a breath, the exhaustion clear in his voice. “Look, Rosa, I’m beat. I’ll call you tomorrow. Maybe I’ll have time in the afternoon, after training and before work. Right now, I’m too tired to think straight. I don’t want to fight and this sounds like we’re going to.”

  “Oh, for heaven’s sake! I’m not trying to pick a fight. Can’t you just stop training? Take a break. At least until...” She could hear the edge in her voice and bit back her words.

  “Until what? You know I can’t do that.”

  “Yeah. I know.” She couldn’t keep the annoyance out of her voice.

  Aedan sighed. “Why’re you angry with me now, Rosa? What’d I do?”

  “I’m not. You’re just being silly.”

  There was a pause and then he spoke, a slight hitch in his voice, “Silly because I want something you can’t understand? That I’m doing something that doesn’t fit into your world? Which one is it? Or is it both?”

  She frowned at the phone. “That’s not what I meant.”

  “Listen. I’ve got to go...I’ll call you later.” The line went dead.

  She stared at her phone before tossing it on her bed. Aedan was tired, irritable. She knew he was tired. She probably wasn’t being fair, but she couldn’t help herself. She missed him. When they were together things were always easier. This was... hard. Maybe if he slept he’d feel better.

  “ROSA?” HER FATHER CALLED.

  Rosa set her fork down beside her plate of half-eaten food she’d been poking at for the last half hour. It’d been three days. Aedan had said he’d call three days ago and he hadn’t. It was driving her crazy. She’d texted and left him a message. His only reply was that he was busy and he’d call when he had a chance. Now, her phone lay silent in her lap and she hadn’t heard from him all day. It was silly to wait by a phone, but still she couldn’t stop herself. “Hey, dad. I’m in the dining room. How was work?”

  “Fine.” He stood by the door. He didn’t lean against it but stood stiffly upright. “Can I talk to you a moment.”

  “Of course.” The hairs on the back of her neck prickled. Had something happened? With mom? She prayed her assumption she told Aedan wasn’t about to be proven. If she was having an affair—

  “Why don’t you come to my office?”

  “S-Sure.” She stood, following her father toward his study, though she wasn’t sure why he bothered. Her mother had hardly been home since the weekend, and it was only the two of them. Sophie was still in the house. Maybe he wanted to avoid her overhearing. Rosa frowned as he closed the study door and took a seat on one of the leather chairs. “Everything alright?” She swallowed hard. Please Mom, don’t be messing this up.

  “I had a call last night from the restaurant,” her father said, leaning against the edge of his desk. “Aedan’s been fired.”

  Rosa could feel the blood drain from her face. Aedan?

  “Did he tell you the reason why?”

  She shook her head. “I haven’t spoken to Aedan in a couple of days...”

  Her father frowned. “The chef said he was ‘aggressive’ toward the other staff, uncooperative and unwilling to listen when reprimanded.”

  Rosa’s eyebrows drew together. “Aedan’s a hard worker. I know he wouldn’t have been fired for being lazy.”

  “I suspect it was more of a physical conflict that got him fired. I don’t have the details, but do you think he might’ve lost his temper and hit someone?”

  “No. I don’t.” Anger flared as she got to her feet, staring across the room at her father. “Why would you think that? Maybe because everyone assumes since he’s a fighter he’s got no control over his temper. Well, you’re wrong. He has. The only times he’s ever hit someone has been when he’s been provoked. He doesn’t just go around hitting people because he knows how.” She was already walking toward the door as she spoke. Her father stared after her, his expression pained, but he didn’t try to call her back. “I think I’ll wait until I hear from Aedan before I listen to anything else you have to say. I’m don’t think you have the whole story. Had you even thought to ask him before you assumed anything?”

  She left before her dad could reply.

  Once her room, Rosa dialed Aedan’s cell phone. It rang a long time so she hung up and tried again. Just before his voicemail picked up, he answered.

  “H-Hullo?” He sounded groggy and she knew she’d woken him up.

  “Aedan? You okay?”

  “Rosa? Yeah. I’m fine. I just...what time is it?” There were muffled noises on Aedan’s end of the line. “Oh, shit. It’s later than I thought.”

  Rosa waited a moment. Waiting for him to tell what’d happened. When he didn’t say anything, she forced the air from her nose, trying to suppress a sigh. “Do you have something you want to tell me?”

  He snorted. “Oh, yeah. You talked to your father, didn’t you? I figured he’d tell you before I got the chance.” He yawned. “I got fired.”

  She heard the bedsprings squeaking through the phone. Despite being upset, she couldn’t help picturing him in his bed. She closed her eyes, willing away the image of him, the sheet pulled carelessly across his hips, chest bare, in the light from the window. That’s not helping here, Rosa. “What happened?”

  “It was like I said. Like your friend’s party. Same thing happened there. There’s some kind of pecking order with your people I’ll never understand. I tried to do what I was told, got yelled at for either doing it wrong or not doing something else. All they did was yell.” He took a deep breath. “The final straw was when the head guy in the kitchen called me white trash.”

  Rosa cringed. “That’s not very nice.” She hesitated. “What did you do?” There was no judgement in her tone. She’d meant it when she told her father she believed Aedan didn’t go around hitting people whenever he felt like it. Still, a part of he
r worried he’d hear the question as blame.

  Aedan sighed through the phone. He sounded weary and... sad. “I told him he knew nothing about me and had no right to call me that. Then I went out to smoke a cigarette. I don’t even freakin’ smoke. Haven’t for years. The idiot followed me out back, told me I’d left my station without permission, and fired me.”

  Rosa winced. “But. What about—”

  “Look, Rosa. I’m exhausted. I’m still half-asleep. Come over. I haven’t seen you in days. I want you here, in my bed.”

  Her heart sped. “Aedan, maybe you should just sleep.”

  There was a brief pause. “Rosa, please. I need you here.”

  “Give me twenty minutes.”

  AEDAN OPENED THE DOOR to her soft knock. He was dressed in just a pair of thin gray sweatpants, hanging low on his narrow hips. Silently he pulled her to him, his lips finding hers. There was something almost desperate in his kiss, a longing, a need. She let him fold her against his body, the heat and hardness of him sending a rush of arousal through her.

  “Aedan, I...” she whispered his name.

  “Shhh.” He placed a finger against her lips. “Later.”

  He led her down the hall to his room. The bed was rumpled, the pillows bunched among tangled sheets. But it didn’t matter.

  She reached for him, pulling him into her arms. He briefly buried his head on her shoulder, nuzzling her neck before finding her lips again. She could feel his erection pressing against her stomach, the thin material between them not concealing anything. Her hands were splayed across his chest, fingers reading the contours of his muscles, the raised edge of the scar, the hard nipples.

  His hands were tugging at her shirt, pulling it up over her body. She broke away for a moment to let him pull it over her head. He tossed it to the floor, looking down at her for a moment.

  “Hmmm...no bra...” Any response she made was muffled against his lips. She slid her fingers beneath the waistband of his sweatpants, tugging them over his hips, and they slid to the floor.