Moonlight Road (Virgin River #11)(90)

“What things besides having children?” she asked.

“I don’t know. Moving,” he said. “Major purchases. Expensive vacations. Sterilization.” He shrugged and added, “Adoption?”

She went to him and sat on his lap. “I’d like to have a child of my own with a husband, but I’m worried about my eggs being too old or something. And I have some strong feelings about that.”

“Which are?”

“You get what you get. If you decide to give it a go, you get what you get. I wouldn’t terminate because a baby isn’t perfect.”

“I go along with that. See how easy it is to act on things you agree on? Is your period late, by the way?”

She laughed. “It’s not time yet. That was something we acted on without agreeing first. Whoops.”

“Really, I meant to have you check in with the local doctor or midwife about some emergency birth control, but we got distracted by all the insanity. We’ll be okay, honey. No matter which way that flows, we’ll be fine.” He smiled. “Pun intended.”

She fell asleep that night in Aiden’s arms, thinking that she had never expected her life could ever be so calm, so sane, so reasonable.

But she woke up to someone hammering at the door.

Aiden rolled over with a groan and sat up on the edge of the bed, grabbing his boxers off the floor. “Find a robe, babe. I’ll see who’s lost their mind at—” he glanced at the clock “—five in the morning?”

She scurried to the bathroom where her robe hung on a hook, but before she could get it completely around her and securely tied, she heard the crash of the door as it banged open, Aiden’s grunt and another loud thud. Then came the angry male voice that shouted, “Aiden Riordan, you’re under arrest for battery and I’m going to read you your rights….”

By the time Erin got to the great room, still tying her robe, three sheriff’s deputies stood just inside the door and the biggest one had Aiden slammed up against the wall, cuffing his hands behind his back. “Good God!” she shouted. “Hey! Where’s your warrant?”

One of the deputies handed her a folded piece of paper and she flipped it open to read it.

“Battery? Who is it I battered?” Aiden asked as his hands were being secured behind his back.

“Your wife, Annalee Riordan, just like the warrant says,” the deputy informed him. “You have the right to remain silent,” he said, reciting Aiden’s Miranda rights.

“When did this happen?” Aiden asked while the deputy continued.

“Last night,” Erin read from the warrant. “But he was here, with me, all night. No one else was here. She wasn’t here…we didn’t go out…”

“Erin, call Ron Preston,” Aiden said. “I’m probably going to need some local lawyer. Officer, ease up—I haven’t even seen her in well over a week. She said I beat her?”

“That’s the story.”

“Pants, Officer. Shoes,” he said. “Come on. I’m in my underwear!”

“That’s how we know you’re not armed,” the deputy said.

“I don’t even own a weapon!” he said hotly, turning around, straining against the arms that pushed him up against the wall.

“Settle down!”

Erin stepped forward, warrant in hand, her cheeks inflamed with fury. “Slow down here—let me get him some clothes, and take it real easy on him—he’s not resisting and will go with you willingly, so bear that in mind when you manhandle him. I’m an officer of the court and I’ve been with him the last seventy-two hours—most of it in San Francisco.”

“Every minute?” another deputy asked.

“Except when he was trying on his new slacks or left the restaurant table for the men’s room. This is bogus,” she said. “This is a soon-to-be ex-wife making a lot of trouble. They’ve been separated for eight years. Dr. Riordan is trying to expedite the divorce so we can get married.”

“Dr. Riordan?” one of the deputies asked.

“That’s right,” he confirmed, looking over his shoulder. “Are you sure she’s really battered?”

“Oh, yeah. All banged up.”

“Is she all right?” Aiden asked. “Was she badly beaten?”

“Treated and released,” the deputy said. Then he sarcastically added, “Is there a beaten that’s not so bad?”

“Slow down, gentlemen, and stop with the innuendo,” Erin said firmly and authoritatively, even though she was both na**d and shaking under her robe. “Obviously my fiancé knows nothing about this. Aiden hasn’t been away from me for more than three minutes in the last three days. He’ll go with you without any argument, but you’re going to uncuff him right now and let him get into some clothes.”

“I have no problem with clothes.” The deputy jerked up on the cuffed wrists, causing Aiden to wince. “You gonna behave?”

“I’ll go with you,” he said in a low growl. “Let’s just take this a little easy, huh?”

Erin went into the bedroom and brought back a shirt, pants and shoes. “I’ll get in touch with Ron and contact the D.A.—this is a bad, bad joke. I’ll have you out in an hour.”