No Deal Breakers (21 page)

"Can't you just come home with us? Pretty
please with whipped cream, sprinkles, hot fudge, and cherries on
top? Please Auntie Ari, please?" Ami had tried to go into hiding so
she didn't have to go home, everyone else was already settled in
the car when they realized she'd snuck off. Aria had gone in search
of her, it only seemed right since the two had become
inseperable.

"Looks like you found our little stowaway."
Brian turned to smile at the girls as they made their way to the
rest of them. Aria must have sensed the ear lashing Ami was about
to receive and interceded on her behalf before any of the other
adults could say anything.

"We're sorry that we made everyone late, but
we all know that saying goodbye can be hard, and we're all going to
miss each other, so let's take it easy on her, okay?" everyone
nodded and laughed and Aria crouched down in front of Ami and
murmured something in her that made her giggle and gave her a bear
hug before wiping away her tears with her thumbs.

As with every other time he'd seen her
interact with children it made his heart lurch in his chest, he
wanted that. With her.

The next several minutes were spent hugging
and promising to come out soon, and listening to Brian's dad
grumble about the late start they were getting, it was always
bitter-sweet to see them go, but this time was even more so. He
knew it was selfish, but it left so many unanswered questions in
his marriage.

"Can we go back to bed, four in the morning
is way too early to function." Her mouth opened wide in a loud yawn
to further drive home her point. He chuckled and opened the door
before answering.

"Didn't you hear Dad? It’s four-fifteen,
which means they are late, late, late." They both snickered at that
as they slipped out of their shoes. "I plan on taking the day off
to re-charge today, and I can't think of a better way to start the
process than a long nap." They were standing near the bottom of the
stairs now and Aria was looking at him with uncertainty, the same
uncertainty he felt rolling around inside him.

It was one thing to share a bed without
expectations with a house full of people around and when it was
expected…but now, it was just them and there was no longer a need
to pretend that their marriage was more than it was.

They stood staring at each other for several
long moments, waiting for her to choose if she'd go up the stairs
or down the hall before her expression changed and it was obvious
she'd made a decision. She held her high and began to walk with
determination toward her destination, he wore an ear to ear grin as
he followed her down the hallway and into their bedroom.

Without hesitation she rolled to his side and
wrapped her arms around him as soon as they were both lying down.
She gave him a quick peck on the cheek before nestling further into
his side. He smiled wider, though wasn't sure how that was even
possible. His last thought before sleep claimed him again was that
he should find reasons to nap together more often if it meant more
kisses.

*~*~*

Aria woke to an empty spot where Brian had
been when they'd gone to sleep, and she missed him. She caught a
whiff of bacon and her stomach responded in a loud growl, she
jumped out of bed and followed her nose to the kitchen, not
bothering to dress. Things were so different now than they had
been, even just two short weeks ago she never would have came to
the kitchen in her pajamas, unless she was sick, it had just seemed
too intimate.

Now, though, they were much more intimate
than she ever thought they would be in a lot of ways. Physically,
of course, she actually enjoyed snuggling, hand holding, hugging,
and kissing him on the cheek, but it was much more than that. Their
intimacy was emotional and personal in a way she'd never thought
possible for her; she shared thoughts and feelings and even things
about her past with him that six and a half months ago she never
thought she would.

His touch was so different from that of other
men. With them she was afraid of what they would do to her, with
Brian her only fear was that she wanted his touch too much. She'd
never experienced that before, never enjoyed or anticipated a man's
touch, and certainly never initiated it. She never talked about
herself or feelings in her old life, but things just had a tendency
to pop out with Brian.

Of course, she still hadn't shared all of her
past with him, not the really awful parts, but the closer she drew
to God and Brian the more it became obvious that if she wanted to
move forward with him, she'd have to share it all with him. She
trusted him, and dare say, loved him, but she wasn't sure if that
was enough to keep him after he knew all of her dirty secrets.

Pushing the past away and remembering her
plan from shortly after she moved here to focus on the present and
let the past stay put and the future handle itself, she leaned
against the doorway to the kitchen to watch Brian as he finished
making breakfast.

"Why didn't you wake me?" He spun around at
her question, and to her surprise, frowned.

"Because you are supposed to be snuggled up
in bed, and I am supposed to be bringing you breakfast in bed, and
you're supposed to be surprised." He grumbled like a petulant
child, she stifled a laugh and turned on her heel and scampered
back to bed, pulling the blankets up over her head and trying,
fruitlessly to pretend to be asleep. Keeping the giggles at bay was
the hardest part, but thankfully, she got them under control just
as the door creaked open.

"Hey, sleepyhead, I've got breakfast here for
you." He said gently near her ear, as if she hadn't just been in
the kitchen watching him plate the food. She smiled under the
blankets before sitting up and making a show of yawning and
stretching.

"Oh! How sweet, what a surprise!" She
exclaimed a little too enthusiastically and they both burst out in
laughter.

When her sides were sore and tears were
streaming down her face she finally caught her breath and leaned in
to give him in a kiss on the cheek. She usually reserved them for
bedtime, but it was getting harder and harder to resist touching
him and kissing him…and not just on the cheek.

"Thank you, Brian, this is really sweet…even
if I did ruin it."

"You didn't ruin it, you made it better, like
you do with everything." Their eyes locked and the atmosphere
changed, heated, and that now familiar warmth stirred in her belly.
More than anything she wanted to lean in and kiss his full lips,
she just couldn't. Tearing her gaze from his took much more effort
than she thought it should, but she finally succeeded and picked up
the plate of food from the night stand where he'd sat it down.

Brian cleared his throat before speaking, "We
should probably eat before it gets cold, I'll pray."

A few hours later Aria was reading her Bible
while Brian tended to Thunder and Jax when her cell phone rang.
Looking at the screen told her it was Brian, that was strange, he
was just out in the barn. Hoping nothing was wrong she answered
tentatively.

"Brian? Is everything okay?"

"Uh, well, yeah." Was he nervous?

"Okay…"

"Listen, now that my family is gone I was
thinking that it was time I took you on a proper date, you know,
let the wooing commence."

"You couldn't tell me that face to face?" She
couldn't keep the goofy grin from taking over her face.

"Well, you said before that you'd never dated
anyone before, so I assumed that meant that you'd never had the
awkward first date that most of us have in high school." No, she
hadn't experienced high school at all.

"No, I've never had that experience."

"That's what I thought. I think everyone
should experience that at least once, and of course those awkward
dates always start with an awkward phone call." Her heart melted a
little more, he was the sweetest husband-boyfriend a girl could ask
for.

"Uh-huh, so this is that awkward phone call?"
She heard his muffled chuckle.

"It is. This is the awkward conversation
where I beat around the bush and kind of ask you out, but not
really, in case you aren't interested, in which case I can just
pass it off as just a casual thing and invite other people along to
pretend it isn't a date."

"And if I do want it to be a date?"

"Then I pick you up at seven, sweaty palms
and all, and take you on a classic high school date: dinner and a
movie. So, um, will you…you know, go on a, uh, um…date…with me?"
She could sense the smile in his voice, even through the feigned
nervousness.

"Hmmm, I don't know…" she couldn't help but
tease him a little.

"Please, Aria, you're the prettiest girl in
school, it would be an honor to have you on my arm. I'll even dig
out my letterman's jacket for you to wear." That brought on a fit
of giggles.

"I would be honored to be your date this
evening." She finally answered after she got the giggles under
control. She heard a loud "yes" away from the phone, and could
imagine him punching the air.

He cleared his throat and said into the
phone, "I mean, cool. See you tonight." The giggles were back as
she hung up, her first real, official date…and it was with a man
she'd been married to and going on regular dates with for over six
months. She shook her head, what a strange situation.

"Sweetheart, can I talk to you for a minute?"
She was in her craft room working on a few dresses she promised Ami
she would make her, turning toward the door she waved him in.

"I just went out and got the mail, we've been
invited to a wedding, unfortunately they hesitated too long on
sending out our invite, so we only have about three weeks until the
wedding, and it's in Connecticut. If we want to go I'll need to
book the tickets and rooms soon."

She shrugged, "I mean, that's up to you, if
you want to go we will, they're your friends…or family?" He didn't
say whose wedding it was, but she couldn't understand why he looked
so nervous about asking her.

"Friend. A friend from college actually, Paul
Kingston, the thing is, the reason they waited so long to send ours
out is that he's also Kara's brother."

"That's why you look so nervous. I'm okay
with it if you are, it's really up to you, I'd love to go, but if
it's too awkward, I understand." Relief washed over his face.

"I want to go, I've known Paul a lot longer
than Kara, but the awkwardness is more her parents than anything
else. Paul sent a letter with the invitation explaining why it was
such short notice, he wasn't sure if I'd want to be around his
family with everything that has happened, but he still wants me to
be there. He also said that Kara won't even be there, apparently
her and Gus are married now and no one in the family will have
anything to do with her. She keeps in touch with him, but that's
it."

"That's really awful that they'd do that to
her. I'd be okay with it, though, if she were there." He smiled at
that and moved closer, holding his arms out in silent question, she
returned the smile and stood to give him the hug he'd asked
for.

"Alright, then, we'll go. I'll get everything
set up, do you want separate rooms, or will one room with two beds
be okay?"

She pulled back to look up at him, but
remained in his arms, confused, she stared at him for several long
seconds, did he not want her to share his bed anymore now that his
family was gone? They hadn't really discussed it, but she'd hoped
that they would keep sleeping in the same bed as they had been.

"We've been sleeping in the same bed, I
assumed…uh, did you want me to move my stuff out? I'm sorry, I
should have asked, but I just thought…"

"Oh no! I thought you would want to move out,
what a relief! I would love nothing more than to continue to have
you in arms every night. One bed it is."

She loved how thoughtful he always was. She
wanted to kiss him and she was tired of holding back, she knew she
shouldn't, she knew it would change their relationship yet again,
but in that moment she didn't care.

She leaned in to kiss him, when he saw her
intent he smiled and started to turn his face so she could kiss his
cheek as she normally did. She shook her head and caught his face
between her hands, pulling it down she planted her lips over his.
It was a short, simple kiss but her heart still sped up and her
body felt like it was on fire, she wanted more, but thought that
that was probably enough for the moment.

She took a step back and looked up at Brian
through her lashes, he was actually blushing, she couldn't believe
it. He cleared his throat and made his way toward the door.

"Well, okay then. I'll go get that all set
up." He stopped and turned when he got to the door, "Don't forget,
I'll be at the front door to pick you up at seven." With a wink he
turned and walked out the door.

Why was she nervous? She'd been out with him
countless times, lived under the same roof with him, and slept in
the same bed with him for crying out loud.

This was different though, this was the first
time they'd gone out without his family since everything changed.
And so much had changed, they weren't just friends anymore, there
was an intense attraction between them, and it was getting more
difficult to resist it all the time.

After the fifth wardrobe change, she realized
she really was acting like a high school girl and decided to go
with the dress Julia gave her the night of Brian's birthday and the
street dance. It was hard to believe that was only two weeks ago,
it felt like a lifetime ago. It was fitting, really, the last time
she'd worn it their entire dynamic had changed, and she knew
tonight would be another turning point in their relationship.

She went with a simple French braid and
leather sandals instead of the cowboy boots and hat she'd worn last
time. She debated on whether or not she needed a jacket,
remembering Brian's heated gaze when he'd seen her without one
warmed her from head to toe, then she remembered his relief when
she'd wanted to wear one and the protective way he'd scared off any
man that looked at her too long just by glaring at them.