Page 68 of Settling the Score

She was being a baby.

Slowly, she reached out and opened the door, drawing it inwards to reveal Aiden’s big – really big – frame, and a face that showed hints of concern.

‘You okay?’

‘I’m fine,’ she said, one hand behind her back, fingers fidgeting.

‘Did you knock on my door?’

She squeezed her eyes again before remembering that she wasn’t three and that wasn’t how you hid from someone.

The door clicked and she opened her eyes to see Aiden had stepped into her room and shut it.

And he was close to her.

So close that all she could really focus on was the wall of pectorals she knew to be behind his grey T-shirt.

‘I…’

Great. Great start, she thought, with an inward eye roll.How poetic.

‘I don’t know.’

Much better.

‘Sienna.’ Another growl. Deep and husky, giving her name – from his mouth – the power to snake out and wrap around her, like a silk rope. She shivered at the imagery of that. The idea of him tying her up.

‘You’re the one who wanted to talk,’ she said, defensively.

He frowned. ‘That’s why you knocked on my door?’

She shrugged one shoulder.

He expelled a breath. ‘Because you didn’t seem interested in talking down there. At least, not to me. You seemed fine talking to anyone else,’ he muttered.

‘It’s a party, that’s kind of the point.’

He crossed his arms over his chest, so she couldn’t help but stare hungrily at the way his shirt strained over his muscles. Her mouth felt all dry and dusty.

‘But you want to talk now?’ There was the slightest hint of a challenge in those words. A question he hadn’t put into words lingered between them. She felt it. Heat flickered through her, challenging her, daring her to do something reckless and stupid, for once in her life. To put herself, and her needs and wants first.

To take a little something, just for herself.

How long had it been since she’d made a decision purely because she wanted to?

‘Nope,’ she answered, and as if to underscore her meaning, she took a step towards him, effectively closing the remaining distance between them.

‘Sienna.’ Now her name was both a growl and a plea. And a promise?

She lifted a hand towards his chest and he unfolded his arms but stood perfectly, completely still.

‘You know what, Aiden?’

‘What?’ Another plea. For sanity? Salvation?

‘I don’t think you want to talk, either.’

His Adam’s apple jerked as he swallowed. She lifted a finger and pressed it to the hair-roughened flesh there, then ran her pointer finger higher, towards the curve of his lips. He closed his eyes, swaying a little.