Although he had sort of just saved me from the rain. And a good blow to the head.
Silently sighing, I cursed myself for what I was about to do.
“Thank you for printing out those papers for me, by the way,” I said quietly, fighting the impulse to take it back immediately. But I didn’t. I could be diplomatic. At least, right now. “It was very nice of you, Aaron.” That last part had me wincing, the admission feeling funny on my tongue.
I turned to look at him, taking in his hard profile. I watched the tight line of his jaw relax a little.
“You are welcome, Catalina.”
He kept his gaze on the road.
Whoa. Look at us. That was … very civil.
Before I could delve any more into that, a shiver crawled all the way down my back, making me shudder. I hugged my middle in hopes of getting warmer inside the wet clusterfuck that was my clothing.
Aaron’s hand shot to the console, changing the temperature setting and switching on the heating of my seat. I immediately felt the pleasant hot air brushing my ankles and arms, my legs growing gradually warmer.
“Better?”
“Much. Thank you.” I faced him with a small smile.
His head turned, and he searched my face with a skeptical expression.
It was almost as if he were waiting for me to add something.
I rolled my eyes. “Don’t let all these thank yous get to your head, Blackford.”
“I wouldn’t dare.” He lifted one of his hands from the wheel. And I swore there was a hint of humor in his voice. “Just wondering if I should enjoy it or if I should ask if you are okay.”
“That’s a good question, but I don’t think it’s one I can answer.” I shrugged my shoulders, fighting the snappy comeback rising to my tongue. I sighed. “Honestly? I am soaked to my bones, and I’m hungry and tired. So, I’d enjoy it if I were you.”
“That bad of a day?” That tiny pinch of humor was gone.
Sensing the start of another shudder, I burrowed myself in the heated fabric of the seat. “More like a bad week.”
Aaron hummed in response. It was a deep sound, a little like a rumble.
“This might not surprise you, but I have been close to murdering a few people this week,” I confessed, taking the truce I had imposed as a green light for venting to him. “And you are not even at the top of the list.”
A very light and very subdued snort came from him. Truce and all, I guessed I was allowed to admit that I liked it. It made my lips bend in a smile.
“I …” He trailed off, considering something. “I don’t know how to take that either. Should I be offended or grateful?”
“You can be both, Blackford. Plus, there’s time until the day is over. You can still claim your rightful place as the number one person who awakens my most murderous side.”
We stopped at a light. Aaron’s head turned slowly, and I was caught off guard by how light his expression was. His ocean eyes were clear and his face more relaxed than I’d ever seen it. We stared at each other for two or three long seconds. Another shiver curled at the nape of my neck.
I blamed the wet clothes.
Without missing a beat and as if he had eyes on the side of his head, he turned to the road as the light changed to green. “I’ll need directions from this point on.”
Puzzled by the implications of his request, my head spun in the other direction. I took in the layout of the wide avenue we were driving through. “Oh,” I murmured. “We are in Brooklyn.”
I had been so … distracted that I had forgotten about telling Aaron where I lived. Although he wasn’t too off track. Or at all.
“You live in this part of the city, right? North Central Brooklyn?”
“Yeah,” I blurted. “Bed-Stuy.” I confirmed with a nod of my head. “I just … how did you know?”
“You complain.”
What?I blinked at his explanation.
He continued, “This way okay, or should I turn?”
Clearing my throat, I stumbled over my words. “Yes, stay on Humboldt Street, and I’ll let you know when to turn.”
“Okay.”
I gripped my seat belt, feeling a little too warm all of a sudden. “So, I complain?” I mumbled.
“About the commute,” Aaron answered calmly. I opened my mouth, but he continued, “You have mentioned that it takes you forty-five minutes to get to the part of Brooklyn you live in.” He paused thoughtfully. “You rant about it almost every day.”
My lips clipped shut. I did complain but not to him. I pretty much vented to everybody else. Yeah, half the time, Aaron was somewhere around, but I never thought he was interested in what I had to say if it didn’t concern work. Or if it concerned me.
He shocked me by asking, “Who’s made the top besides me then? The list with the people you might have wanted to murder this week.”
“Huh …” I trailed off, surprised that he was interested enough to ask.
“I want to know my competition,” he said, sending my head swiveling in his direction. “It’s only fair.”
Was that a joke? Oh my God, it was, wasn’t it?
Studying his profile, I felt myself smiling warily. “Let me see.” I could play this game. “All right, so Jeff”—I counted with my fingers—“my cousin Charo”—a second finger—“and Gerald. Yes, definitely him too.” I let my hands drop to my lap. “Hey, look at that; you didn’t even make the top three, Blackford. Congratulations.”
Frankly, I was genuinely surprised myself.
I watched how his brows furrowed.
“What’s the problem with your cousin?”
“Oh, nothing.” I waved my hand in the air, thinking of what Mamá had said. What that Sherlock Holmes wannabe had said about not finding photographic evidence of my made-up boyfriend. “Just some family drama.”
Aaron seemed to consider that for a long moment, in which we drove in silence. I used the time to look out the passenger window, watching the blurry streets of Brooklyn through the droplets running down the glass.
“Gerald is a prick,” came from the man in the driver’s seat.
Eyes wide, I looked over at him. His profile was hard, serious. And I didn’t think I’d ever heard Aaron curse.
“One day, he’ll get what he deserves. I’m shocked that hasn’t happened yet, if I’m being honest. If it were up to me …” He shook his head.
“If it were up to you, what? What would you do?” I watched a muscle jump in his jaw. He didn’t answer, so I averted my gaze, letting it fall back onto the passing traffic. This conversation was pointless. And I was too drained of energy to attempt to have it anyway. “It’s all right. It’s not like it’s my first rodeo with him.”
“What does that mean?” Aaron’s voice had a strange edge.
Trying not to pay attention to that, I answered as honestly as I could without getting into too much detail. I didn’t want Aaron’s pity or compassion. “He hasn’t been exactly pleasant and agreeable ever since I got promoted to team leader.” I shrugged, clasping my hands in my lap. “It’s like he can’t compute why someone like me has the same position he does.”
“Someone like you?”
“Yeah.” I exhaled heavily through my mouth, my breath fogging up the glass of the window for a couple of seconds. “A woman. At first, I thought it was because I was the youngest team leader and he was skeptical about me. It would be fair. Then, it also crossed my mind that he might have an issue with me being a foreigner. I know a few of the guys used to make fun of my accent. I once overheard Tim call me Sofia Vergara in a mocking way. Which, honestly, I took it as a compliment. Having half the curves or the wit that woman has wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. Not that I’m unhappy with my body. I’m okay with being … the way I am.” Normal. Plain. And I was. Everything about me was pretty standard where I came from. Brown eyes and brown hair. On the shorter side. Not thin, but not fat. Wide hips but rather small bust. We were millions of women that fit that description. So, I was … average. Not a big deal. “It wouldn’t hurt, losing a couple of pounds for the wedding, but I don’t think whatever I’m doing is working.”
A sound came from my side, making me realize that I had not only overshared, but I had also rambled my way out of the topic at hand with Aaron, who didn’t even compute small talk.
“Anyway”—I cleared my throat—“Gerald doesn’t like me being where I am, and it has nothing to do with me not being an American or me being younger than him. But that’s how the world works, and it will work that way until it doesn’t anymore.”
More silence followed my words.
I peeked at him, curious to know what it was that he was thinking that kept him from lecturing me or telling me that I was whining or if he did not care what I had to say. But he only looked mad. Again. His jaw was all bunched up, and his brows furrowed.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the intersection that signaled my street. “Oh, take the next right, please,” I instructed Aaron, taking my eyes off him. “It’s at the end of that street.”
Aaron followed my directions in silence, still looking like he was bothered by something I had said. Thankfully, my block came into view before I was tempted to ask.
“There.” I pointed with my finger. “The building on the right. The one with the dark red front door.”
Aaron pulled up and stationed the car on a free spot that had somehow been magically waiting right in front of my door. My gaze followed his right hand as he killed the engine.
Silence engulfed the confined space of the vehicle.
Swallowing hard, I looked around. I tried to focus on the characteristics of the brownstones of this borough of Brooklyn, the few trees scattered along the street, the pizzeria on the corner—where I usually picked up dinner when I was feeling lazy. Or just hungry. I focused on everything, except the way in which the silence pressed on me, the more I waited inside the car.
Fumbling with my seat belt and feeling the tops of my ears heat for no reason, I opened my mouth. “All right, I’m going to—”
“Have you thought about my offer?” Aaron said.
My fingers froze on my seat belt. My head lifted very slowly until I was facing him.
For the first time since I had placed my drenched ass inside, I let myself really look at Aaron. Study all of him. His profile was lit by the dim glow coming from the few lamps perched on my street. The storm had somehow died, but the sky was still dark and angry, as if this were just a short pause and the worst was yet to come.
We found ourselves pretty much in the dark, so I couldn’t be sure if his eyes were the deep shade of blue that usually told me he was serious and all business—which I hoped wasn’t the case—or that lighter blue that preceded a battle. The only thing I could notice was how his shoulders seemed tense. A little wider than usual. They almost dwarfed the otherwise spacious interior of the car. Hell, looking at him now, his whole body seemed to do exactly that. Even the distance between his seat and the steering wheel was overly wide to accommodate his long legs. So much that I bet a person could easily fit in there.
By the time I found myself wondering what he would say if I jumped on his lap to test my theory, Aaron cleared his throat. Probably twice.
“Catalina.” He drew my attention back to his face.
“Do you …” I trailed off, a little shaken by the fact that my mind had taken me to Aaron’s lap. I am ridiculous. “Do you want to pee or something?”
Aaron frowned and rearranged his body in his seat, angling it toward me. “No.” He looked at me weirdly. “I’ll probably regret asking this, but why do you think I want to?”
“You are parked in my street. In front of my building. I thought maybe you needed to use the bathroom. And I hoped it wouldn’t be number two, honestly.”
I watched his chest inflate with a deep breath and then release all the air out.
“No, I don’t need to use the bathroom.”
His gaze studied me, as if he couldn’t figure out why I was there, inside his car. And in the meantime, I wondered exactly the same thing.
My fingers finally made work of the seat belt, snapping it free as I felt his eyes boring holes into my side.
“So, what’s your answer?”
My whole body froze. “My answer?”
“To my offer. Have you thought about it? And please”—dammit, that word again—“stop pretending you don’t remember. I know you do.”
My heart tripped, tumbling down for a horrifying second. “I’m not pretending,” I murmured, doing exactly what he had asked me not to.
But in my defense, I needed to win some time to figure this out. How to … deal with the situation. And more importantly, to figure out why.
Why was he offering? Why was he insisting? Why was he going through the hassle? Why did he think he could be the one to help me? Why did he sound like he meant it? Why …
Just why?