The Proposition (The Proposition #1)(30)

Aidan caught her staring, and she smiled shyly at him as she padded barefoot into the kitchen. She inhaled deeply. “Something smells wonderful.”

A pleased expression grew on his face. “I decided on the scampi. I thought we could eat out on the patio if that’s okay?”

She nodded. “Sounds great.”

He opened the back door, and she stepped outside. Beau came galloping up to her. “Down boy! Don’t even think about it!” Aidan shouted.

Beau reluctantly nudged Emma’s legs. “Good boy,” she replied, rewarding him with a scratch behind the ears. As she gazed around the immaculately kept patio and backyard, her eyes widened at the sight of an in-ground pool. “This is all so beautiful.”

“Thank you.”

He held out a chair for her, and she eased up to the table. He already had it set it for them complete with linen napkins. A glance at her full plate of scampi sent her stomach growling. When Aidan sat down, she smiled at him. “I can’t thank you enough for the bath and the clothes. I feel like a new person.”

“You’re welcome.”

After taking a bite of pasta, she glanced up to find Aidan staring at her chest. Self-consciously, she crossed her arms over her br**sts, trying to hide the fact they kept straining against the material. She cleared her throat, and he quickly looked away. “Aidan Fitzgerald, are you staring at my boobs like a horny teenage boy?”

He gave her a sheepish grin. “It’s kinda hard not to when they’re about to bust out of the shirt.”

She huffed exasperatedly. “Well, I hated to stretch it since it isn’t mine, and it fits everywhere but the chest.” She glanced down and shuddered. “Ugh, I so want to get a breast reduction.”

“Jesus, why would you ever want to do that? Your br**sts are amazing.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “That’s such a man thing to say. You have no idea what a real pain they are. My back kills me, not mention it’s hard finding shirts to fit. Then there’s the whole factor of them getting bigger when you’re pregnant.”

Aidan licked his lips. “They do?”

“Yes, pervert, they do.”

He laughed. “Sorry, but I’m a total boob man, so that prospect really turns me on.”

“A boob man as opposed to what? An ass or a thigh man?”

He nodded. “Of course, it goes without saying that both your ass and thighs are amazing, too.”

She gave him a sarcastic smile. “Oh, thank you so much. Here I was worrying that they were hideous, and you’d been traumatized to have to see them. Glad I’ll rest easy tonight.”

“I’ll overlook that sassiness considering the day you’ve had. Instead, I’ll offer you more wine,” he remarked.

She held up her glass. “Thank you. It’s delicious.”

As he poured, Emma glanced out over the fading sunlight shimmering across the water. “I’ve got to say I’m more than a little jealous of your pool.”

It’s actually what sold me on this place. Like I told you before, swimming was my passion growing up, and after I left home, I always wanted another pool.” He took a sip of wine and then turned his intense gaze on her. “So what was your passion when you were younger?”

“Hmm, it’s probably a total cliché but singing.” She ran her fingers over the rim of her wine glass. “Well, I guess it still is my passion.”

“Really?”

Emma was shocked by the eager expression on Aidan’s face. “Yeah, my family is really big on Bluegrass and Country. I grew up singing with a band that’s made up of five of my male cousins. We would play at festivals and at the bar my Uncle Gary owns.” Emma laughed. “I guess you would call it a honky-tonk more than anything.”

He shook his head. “Why is it almost impossible for me to picture you singing in a smoky, rough and tumble bar?”

“Oh, I didn’t just sing there. I did at church, too.”

Aidan grinned knowingly. “Ah, you’re a church girl. That explains a lot.”

She stopped swirling the pasta around on her fork and shot him a look. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Now I know why you felt the way you did about sleeping with me—why you don’t have any sexual partners in your past besides your fiancée.”

“Having morality and spirituality aren’t bad things,” she countered.

“I didn’t say they were. In fact, it’s what I like most about you.”

Emma snorted. “You can’t be serious.”

“Well, I am.” He moved his hand across the table to graze his fingers against hers. “Until I met you, I never knew innocence could be so damn sexy.”

Although her cheeks warmed at his compliments, she couldn’t help the smirk that curved on her lips. “You really are a smooth one, aren’t you?”

Aidan jerked his hand away from hers and crossed his arms over his chest. “I didn’t realize I was being smooth at the moment. I was just trying to flatter you a little.”

Emma chewed thoughtfully on a bite of shrimp. “I think it oozes so naturally you don’t even realize you’re doing it. I think you’d even manage to do it in a coma.”

“Oh really?”