The Proposal (The Proposition #2)(12)

“I’ll text Julia and get her to tell him I’m taking you home.”

Emma bobbed her head in agreement.

As they started back down the hall, he turned to her. “I could pick you up in the morning, so you could see him before the surgery.”

“Aidan, I—”

He grimaced. “Yeah, I guess I’m the last person on earth you want to spend time with, huh?”

She reached out and touched his arm. Once again, electricity pulsed through him, and he fought to catch his breath. “I just thought it would be better for me to drive myself, so you don’t have the burden of taking me home tomorrow after Patrick’s surgery.”

“Trust me. Pop’ll have my sisters fawning all over him.” He swept a lock of hair away out of her face and pinned it behind her ear. “Besides, you could never be a burden to me.” His fingertips feathered across her neck, causing Emma to shiver.

Her eyes widened, and she jerked away. “We should get going.” She spun around and started power-walking back into the waiting room. Aidan almost had to break into a jog to catch up with her.

When she started out the door, he grabbed her arm. “Wait here. I’ll go get the car.”

“Thank you,” she replied, ducking her head.

Aidan experienced a bounce in his step as he started into the parking lot. He had a chance to be with Emma again, and he was going to get her to see the truth if it was the last thing he did.

CHAPTER FOUR

Aidan had barely put the car in park by the curb when he hopped out. “What—” she began, but then she realized he was getting out to open the door for her. She couldn’t help but c**k her eyebrows at him. “My, my, aren’t we the gentleman tonight?”

He gave her a tight smile. “If you’ll really stop and think about it, I was always a gentleman.” His body gave a slight tremor when she crossed her arms over her chest. “Well, for the most part, at least.”

“I guess,” she replied. He motioned for her to get inside. With the biting chill in the air, Emma gladly slid across the warmed leather seats of Aidan’s car.

He closed the door and then hurried around to his side. “It’s awfully cold for October, isn’t it?” he mused.

Shivers went all down Emma’s body like rivulets of rain. Immediately she thought of their parking lot conversation after Aidan first propositioned her at O’Malley’s. He had been nervous then and talked of traffic. She knew now just how nervous he was since he had resorted to talking about the weather. The memory touched a raw nerve, sending a longing ache for the past through her.

To ease the chill of emotions, she rubbed her hands together. Aidan reached forward and turned the heater on. She glanced over at him. Her heart thumped wildly at his continued attentiveness. “Thank you.”

“You wanna grab some dinner?” he asked.

“I’m not really hungry,” she lied.

Aidan grunted. “Guess Dr. Nadeen filled you up, huh?”

Emma tensed at the jab. “He just brought me a snack.”

“Well, you need to eat.” He glanced away from the road to pin her with his stare. “For Noah’s sake, if not yours.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “I’m well aware of what Noah needs, thank you.”

He grimaced. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for it to come out like that.” He sucked in a ragged breath. “It’s just I figured you needed to eat for him, even if you were still upset about what happened today with Pop.”

The sincerity in his voice, along with his compassion, softened Emma. Her eyes took in his thinner frame. Patrick hadn’t been exaggerating when he had said Aidan hadn’t been eating. “From the looks of it, you could stand to eat as well.”

His jaw tensed. “Maybe if you’ll eat with me, I can.”

Emma knew the last thing in the world she should do was agree to dinner. But she felt her resolve slowly fading as her traitorous stomach growled. She winced when it caused Aidan to smirk at her. “Hmm, so you are hungry? Was it just the company you wanted to refuse?”

She twisted her fingers into the hem of her top. “Let’s not argue anymore, okay?” At his hopeful expression, she sighed. “Take me to dinner.”

The corners of Aidan’s mouth turned up, and Emma could tell he was suppressing a beaming smile.

When he pulled into a familiar parking lot, she couldn’t help but gasp. “Here?” she squeaked at the flickering green and orange neon O’Malley’s sign.

Aidan shrugged as he turned off the ignition. “It was the first place I saw. Besides we both like the food here and atmosphere, right?”

A rush of painful memories crashed against her like ocean waves in a turbulent storm. “I suppose,” she murmured.

Ever the gentleman, he held the restaurant door open for her. For a moment, she was thankful not to see Jenny at the hostess stand. Then a piercing squeal caused her to snap her gaze toward the bar. “Emma!” Jenny screeched. Her face lit up as she hopped off her stool so fast it crashed to the ground.

After bounding over, Jenny threw her arms around Emma’s neck. “Oh my God! I can’t believe it!”

Warmth filled Emma’s cheeks as well as her heart at Jenny’s over the top enthusiasm. “It’s good to see you, too.”