Darker The Forbidden Berry

He sighed and walked over to her side of the bed and leaned over, offering a tender kiss.

“What happened to you being so concerned about your job? You’re supposed to make sure I’m getting to these dates.”

The job. Right. She’d almost forgotten about it. She frowned and leaned back into the pillows, still looking up at him. Aja wanted to argue and ask him to stay, but there was no good way to do it without sounding silly and jealous.

Finn pressed his lips to her forehead next and just smiled.

“When I come home we’ll hang out, okay?” He said, pulling away and grabbing a bottle of expensive-looking cologne off the dresser.

When he sprayed it, the scent of tobacco, leather and smoke filled the air. She’d never noticed that the way he smelled was due to cologne. It was never overpowering and she just assumed that Finn smelled that good all the time. He brushed past her, his fingers running up her arms as he paused in the doorway and smirked back at her.

“Go ahead and try getting your legs to work before I make it back, yeah?”

Her face went hot again and she looked away, waiting until he left the room to bury herself under the blankets. How was he able to make her cheeks flush with just a few well-placed words? When she heard the distinct click of the door closing behind Finn she yanked the covers down and threw her legs over the side of the bed, instantly feeling a deep ache between her legs. For a moment she just sat on the edge of the bed, lost in her memories of the night before.

That was how she spent her day. She tried to attend her online classes and work on a digital project, but every time she did, her mind wandered to Finn. She even went to the little cottage she was not using much anymore, silently hoping that getting away from his smell would help her ignore the lustful memories that came out of nowhere. No such luck.

Around 3.00 pm, she finally gave up on being productive and shut her classwork down in favor of eating Nilla Wafers out of the box and watching some rerun of a game show. Aja had taken the time to fix her long hair and tie it up into two cute space buns on her head. She’d also taken it upon herself to slip into a cute red, silk sleeping romper. The lace around her thighs and decorating her chest were just enough to be interesting without being overly sexy. She wanted him to want her, but she did not want him to know that.

She heard the much quieter sports car pull into the garage and she could not help but smile a little. Finn had taken her out in his pride and joy. This other woman got the sports car he drove out of necessity.

When Finn came through the side door, his tie was already loosened and he was holding two large brown bags of take-out food.

“Hey! How’d that date go?” She was trying so hard to sound casual, but she had a feeling it was not coming off that way.

“Oh it was terrible,” he said simply, though he did not sound particularly upset.

“Is that a good thing?”

He shrugged and she followed him into the kitchen where he began to lay out what was essentially a restaurant-grade taco bar.

“I don’t want to date the people my parents are setting me up with. The dates are doomed from the beginning.” A smile pulled at his full lips and he glanced at her with a cocked brow.

“Why are you so concerned about how my date went?”

Aja looked away for a moment, embarrassed that she’d been so thoroughly called out.

“I was just curious.”

“Or did you have a good time last night and now you’re worried the dates might mean the end of it?”

Sh*t. Was she that transparent? The soft chuckle that rumbled in his chest eased her worries a bit.

“Don’t worry. I had a nice time too. That’s why I raced home after a crummy date. Usually, I would go right from the date to some party to get the taste of whatever awful heiress I met out of my mouth. That did not really feel necessary today.”

She turned to look at him, a bit surprised by his admittance.

“You wanted to see me?”

“Of course I did! Didn’t you feel that spark last night?”

He’d rocked her world. Of course, she felt the spark. She just had not been ready for him to admit it so openly. He put his hands on the counter and grinned at her.

“I want to get to know you better. There’s just something so intoxicating and intriguing about you. I can’t put my finger on it quite yet, but I think I want to explore it a bit. What do you say?”

“I would say that you’ve read my mind, Finn,” she said with a grin.

Aja had no idea what this whole situation meant for her job, but if they were sleeping together it would make it a lot easier to keep an eye on him…Right?