Best of My Love (Fool's Gold, #20)(80)

“Are you saying I wasn’t this deep the last time we were together?”

“You were fun and charming and great in bed.” She sipped her wine. “But no. Not deep.”

He wasn’t aware of making any changes in thinking, but he knew that they had taken place. They were inevitable and the point of the experiment with Shelby. He liked who he was now. Not the jackass he’d been, but a good man who respected others’ feelings. Especially when it came to women.

“I had a bad experience a few months back,” he admitted. “It caused me to look at my life and what I’d been doing in my free time.”

“Aside from sleeping with tourists?” she asked, her voice teasing.

“No, pretty much just that. While the reasons were sound, the execution turned out to have some flaws.” He briefly told her about the New Year’s Eve debacle and Shelby’s suggestion that they become friends.

“Actual friends?” Margaret asked.

“We alternate doing boy things and girl things.” He laughed. “Less formally now, but it still happens. Shelby kicks butt at Texas hold ’em and I can go to lunch with a woman and simply talk.” He leaned back in his chair. “Without offering advice.”

“I’m not sure I believe that.”

“It’s true. I’ve learned the power of listening. Not only do some problems not have a solution, sometimes the point isn’t the solution. It’s sharing the feelings the problem creates. Women bond over shared emotion.”

Margaret shook her head. “I honestly don’t know what to say. I’m a little jealous. That would never happen at my house.”

“Then you’re not expecting enough of your husband. If I can learn to listen, anyone can.”

“I wish that were true. How’s business?”

“Excellent.” He told her about the new tours he would be offering.

“I’ll have to bring the whole family back here,” she said with a laugh. “You’re making me want to move.”

“You’d be welcome.” He thought about her little kids. “You’d need a babysitting service, wouldn’t you? One you could trust.”

“Sure, but that’s hard enough to find at home. It would be impossible on vacation.”

“Unless we had referrals. I’ll have to talk to some of the other business owners in town. Maybe we could set up a co-op or something.”

“Now you’re scaring me, Aidan. What if it turns out you’re perfect?”

“Nothing you need to worry about. It’ll never happen.”

“I don’t know. You’re getting pretty close.”

“I’m better than I was,” he told her. “I’m grateful for that.” He never wanted to hurt anyone the way he’d hurt the woman he’d been unable to remember. There’d been no reason for it. No excuse.

“What happens when the six months are up?” she asked. “With you and Shelby?”

“I’m not sure.”

He knew what he would like. He wanted to keep seeing Shelby. As friends and maybe something more. He liked her in a way he hadn’t expected. They fit well together.

Margaret smiled at him. “Wow. I hope my husband gets that look on his face when he thinks about me.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Just now, when you thought of Shelby. There was something. I can’t explain it, but trust me. Every woman wants her man to look at her that way.” She leaned across the table and lightly kissed him. “I hope she knows how lucky she is.”

“Me, too.”

Aidan started to laugh only to see movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned and saw Shelby on the sidewalk, by the restaurant. Her eyes were wide, her cheeks drained of color. When her gaze locked with his, she turned and quickly walked away.

Aidan swore and started after her.

He caught up with her before she’d gone twenty feet. After grabbing her arm, he turned her so they were facing each other.

“It wasn’t a date,” he told her. “I’ve known Margaret for years. We’re friends. She’s happily married with a couple of kids. You don’t have anything to worry about.”

Because he would never cheat on her. Not only because he wasn’t that guy, but also because of her. How he felt about her.

Shelby stared at him. “I believe you,” she said slowly. “Of course I do.”

Which sounded right, but she still looked upset. “Then what else is wrong?”

“I don’t know.”

He dropped his arm to his side. They stared at each other. Aidan felt the tension—but this one wasn’t based in sexual desire. Instead it felt tight and uncomfortable. As if something was wrong. Or as if he was supposed to be doing or saying something but he didn’t know what.

“I sent you a text about the dinner,” he said.

“I know. You said to come by. That’s why I’m here. It’s not that.”

“Then what?”

Her blue eyes searched his, looking for something. As if she needed something only he could give her. He knew the feeling. Sometimes when he thought about her he got confused and had no idea about the cause.

The truth crashed in on him with the subtlety of an avalanche and he suddenly knew exactly what was wrong. Or rather, what was right.