“I probably don’t want to know.”
“That might be for the best,” he admitted with a shrug.
“Okay, so what’s the fifth completely random bit of information that I absolutely must know about you?” Melanie asked with a teasing smile.
“That,” Aidan said, shooting her a wink as he shoved his jeans off, “I love baths.”
*-*-*-*
“Well?” the man that had somehow charmed her into taking a bath with him by using weird and somewhat disturbing trivia asked as he wrapped his arms around her and placed his hands on her belly.
“Well, what?” Melanie murmured, somewhat distracted by just how incredibly comfortable she was.
After spending the last few months struggling to get comfortable, she was in heaven. It only confirmed her earlier suspicions that she was a snuggle slut, but at the moment, she simply didn’t care. She never wanted to leave this tub, Melanie thought with a sigh as she shifted to get more comfortable, murmuring a, “Thank you,” when Aidan adjusted her tee-shirt to keep her covered.
“Your five things,” he said as she leaned back more, resting her arms on his boxer-short-clad thighs.
“And why exactly are we sharing five things, might I ask?” Melanie asked, unable to help but smile as she watched Aidan absently trace circles on her belly over where their baby boy was moving.
“We’re getting to know each other.”
“And we’re doing that by sharing five completely random things?” she couldn’t help but ask as she laid her head back against his chest.
“Mmmhmm, I thought it would be for the best if we went with the accelerated version,” Aidan murmured, chuckling when their son kicked his hand.
“I see,” Melanie murmured, her lips twitching with amusement as she asked, “Then shouldn’t sharing a bath be considered part of this accelerated program?”
He sighed heavily. “I’m starting to think that you don’t want to share any deep dark secrets with me.”
“And what would these deep dark secrets consist of?”
“The usual, your favorite color, favorite ice cream, your most mortifying secret so that I can blackmail you with it at a later date. The usual,” he said, making her smile.
“I don’t know. Telling you what my favorite ice cream is might be going too far.”
“But, you’re okay with sharing your most mortifying secrets?”
“Oh, absolutely.”
“Sounds reasonable.”
“That’s what I thought,” Melanie said, nodding solemnly.
“What’s the first item on your list?” Aidan asked, shifting so that he could gently rub his hands over her belly.
“I don’t know if you’ll be to handle my deep dark secrets. They might scar you for life.”
“I’m willing to take that risk,” he said, chuckling.
“As long as you know the risks,” Melanie said, sighing for effect before admitting, “I believed in Santa Claus until I was fourteen.”
“I see,” Aidan murmured thoughtfully before asking, “And how did you manage to pull that off?”
“Denial,” she admitted.
“And the Easter Bunny?” he asked.
“I think it would be for the best if we moved onto my second completely random thing,” Melanie said.
“You’re probably right.”
“I usually am,” Melanie said, nodding in agreement as she shifted to get more comfortable.
“I’ll try to remember that,” he said, chuckling.
“You really should,” she said with a nod before asking, “Does that count as my second thing?”
“Are you stalling?”
“Absolutely.”
“Second thing or I pull the plug,” the devious bastard said.
“Fine,” Melanie said, making sure to sound put out before she admitted, “When I was six, I tied my sister up and locked her in the closet.”
“Older or younger?”
“Older.”
“Impressive,” Aidan murmured, and she couldn’t help but nod in agreement since Caitlyn had been in mid-tantrum mode when she’d pulled it off.
“And your parents?”
“Conveniently forgot to punish me,” Melanie said with a sigh, reminiscing about that slice of pumpkin pie that her father snuck into her room for her later that night.
God, she could go for pie.
And some ice cream.
“And your third thing?”
Sighing heavily, she said, “I’m afraid that I’m too weak to go on.”
Chuckling, Aidan said, “You’re a devious little thing, aren’t you?”
“Yes, yes, I am,” Melanie admitted with absolutely no shame whatsoever, not if it got her pie.
Chapter 15
“Okay, let’s have it,” Aidan said as he handed her the large bowl overflowing with the pumpkin pie and the extra creamy French vanilla ice cream that the devious little thing talked him into getting for her.
“Is that from Dixon’s?” Melanie asked with a hopeful expression that had him chuckling as he joined her on her bed, absently noting that this bed was bigger than his, but not as comfortable.
“Of course,” he said, settling in even as he did his best to ignore just how fucking exhausted he was.
For the past month, he’d been getting up an hour early to check on her and take care of her before racing off to work only to rush back during his lunch break to check in on her, going back to work and putting in another five hours before rushing back, taking care of her for the night, and putting in another five or six hours working on her apartment every night or working a shift at the emergency room before finally passing out on the couch only to do it all over again the next day.
Unfortunately, that’s pretty much how his days had always been. He’d drag his ass out of bed, head to work, work through lunch, work until it was time to head out, pick up a shift at the emergency room or help his brothers and cousins with whatever they had going on before heading home and crashing and doing it all over again the next day. God, he couldn’t even remember the last time he went out on a date. He was really looking forward to the next two weeks, Aidan thought as he closed his eyes only to find himself on his stomach and hugging a pillow a minute later.
Frowning, he looked up to find Melanie taking a bite out of a sandwich that he didn’t remember making before she said, “And it was really embarrassing, but I eventually got over it,” with a shrug before saying, “Okay, your turn.”
“My turn for what?” he asked, unable to help but frown when she said, “Your next five things.”
“It’s still your turn,” Aidan pointed out with a yawn as he turned over onto his back.
“After I just shared my pain?” Melanie asked, only to shake her head. “No, no, I just couldn’t go through that…not again.”
Narrowing his eyes suspiciously on the woman as she finished off the sandwich that looked really good, he reached over for his phone and-
“I’ve only been asleep for ten minutes,” he pointed out as he tossed his phone back on her nightstand.
“Ten brutal minutes where I shared my pain,” Melanie said with a sniffle and a heartfelt sigh that had his eyes narrowing on her.