Tempted (A Player Brother Romance Book) (A Standalone Novel) (Player Brothers Book 1) (10 page)

"What?" she said while raising her eyebrow
innocently as she nibbled on her popcorn. "I have to sit on the end in
case I have to pee. You know how sensitive my bladder is."

I rolled my eyes and faced the screen.

"You look beautiful tonight," Aiden
whispered in my ear as the previews began.

"You aren't supposed to talk during the movie,” I
whispered back.

"The movie hasn't started yet,” he said.

"Shh," I replied.

We all settled in as the opening credits rolled and
the movie started in earnest. I couldn’t help but find myself incredibly aware
of his presence next to me even as I tried to stay engulfed in the plot.

His knee hovered about an inch away from mine, and his
elbow grazed against my forearms as we had settled on the armrest. He offered
me some of his popcorn, which I accepted laughing to myself about the irony of
our situation.

Despite my protest we had still wound up together in a
date like scenario, watching a movie and sharing popcorn in a darkened room.
Out of my periphery I noticed that he sometimes glanced in my direction if
something significant had happened on the screen, as if quietly assessing my
reaction.

The sight of his tattooed arm so close to mine
distracted me on some level. I had never seen him dressed casually since we had
reconnected and I decided that I much preferred him in a suit, mainly because
more of his skin was covered and therefore less distracting.

WAY less distracting.

His presence did nothing to calm my confusion. I had
spent the last weeks building my resolve to bury the attraction that I felt for
him and now it was all rushing back in.

I needed to bury it again.

I wondered if my body language betrayed my inner
turmoil, because about two thirds of the way through the movie, having endured
the achingly close presence of Aiden next to me and resolved not to do anything
about it, he reached over and grazed the side of my bare knee with the back of
his fingers.

I froze, mesmerized by his touch which had sent
shivers through my entire being.

I took a sharp intake of breath that I hoped he didn’t
notice. If he did he made no indication.

Luckily he didn’t but throughout the movie his fingers
would continue to softly graze my knee.

Thankfully the movie finally ended a little while
later, and Kelsey and I exited the row. Once out in the lobby, Aiden caught up
with me, touching his hand on my elbow to get my attention.

I needed him to stop touching me.

It only made me more tempted.

"I wanted to let you know, I was able to
reschedule the reservations since you couldn’t go out with me tonight like I
had asked you to the other night,” he said speaking as matter of fact.

So now we were back to reservations.

"Okay," I answered.

I actually thought I had gotten out of this when I
couldn’t reschedule the first time and hadn’t thought much about it since, but
the butterflies in my stomach betrayed my feelings of hesitation.

"If you’re still up for it," he said.

"Are you trying to give me an out?" I asked.

"Of course not," he said. "If you
wanted out, you'd find a way."

He vanished back with his brothers and their
girlfriends.

Just what
did he mean
by
that, I wondered.

We all said goodbye and parted ways.

"What was that all about?" Kelsey asked
after we both closed our car doors. She had seen Aiden and
I
talking alone, I assumed.

"What was what all about?" I said.

She and I had decided to drive down the road to the
health shake place. We had heard about it but neither of us had been since
arriving in California.

"I heard him mention a date," Kelsey said.

"Yeah, the one that we had to cancel but it's not
really a date,” I clarified.

"I don't know what your deal is,” she said.
"Just admit that you like him and go from there."

I rolled my eyes and took a deep breath. "Let's
just see what happens. I don't want to jump the gun. Besides, my primary focus
is work right now."

"Yeah, yeah," she said with a grin.
"Whatever."

The following week passed without incident. Our
activities at the firm had been relegated to learning what the partners did when
not building cases. Filing paper work, updating information in various
databases, and other general office work. We did spend a few hours each day
reviewing the case so we would be ready when the court date arrived.

My confidence level increased as the days passed and I
found myself interacting comfortably with the other partners. I was starting to
like it at Mahoney and Klein, which added to my frustration at my increased
attraction to Aiden.

At least the two of us managed to behave
professionally while at work.

He reduced his flirtation and I warmed some of my
professional distance. He didn’t mention anything about our date, except to
confirm with me the day of, that Sunday.

The night before court. We had spent the last two days
going over the case again with the partners.

"What time is he picking you up?" Kelsey
asked from her curled up perch on the couch.

"Seven I think. That's in, what, about half an
hour,” I said as I emerged from the hallway.

She whistled as I spun to let her look over my outfit.
I had gone out and bought the perfect little black dress, fitted knee length,
and accented with rhinestone earrings and my small black clutch purse. I made a
mental note to take it to my grave that I had bought a new dress for this date.

It’s not a date, I reminded myself.

"I feel like I’m playing dress up,” I said.

"Well, you look amazing,” Kelsey said.

"It's not too much?" I asked.

She shook her head in earnest. I stepped back to the
bathroom to check my make up one last time. I had pulled my hair up and back,
in a high bun and I nervously fiddled with the small rhinestone charm resting
at the base of my neck.

The doorbell rang, and I opted to wait a few minutes
to make my entrance. I was able to hear them talking in the other room.

Kelsey welcomed him in and said I should be out in a
few minutes. I took a breath. "It's just Aiden," I whispered to my
image in the mirror. “It’s just Aiden.”

I opened the door and walked down the hallway,
stepping into the living room. Instantly, I saw him gaze me up and down with a
look of disbelief.

I probably looked tons better not wearing my work
dresses that went well below my knee.

"Wow,” he said, clearing his throat.

I laughed under my breath.

“She’s fuckin gorgeous, huh,” Kelsey spat out.

He looked good also, wearing a suit jacket and a small
black tie, he looked a little bit more formal than I was accustomed to in the
office. In one hand he held a single long stemmed red rose. Almost as if he had
forgotten he had it, he looked down at the rose and then handed it over to me.

"This is for you," he said.

He was trying hard to get me to cave to him.

"Thanks."

We were acting like a couple of awkward teenagers. I took
the rose and found a suitable vase in the kitchen, placing it on the counter
top through the pass through window.

"You ready?" I asked, smoothing the skirt of
my dress.

"Yep."

He extended his arm to me and I tentatively tucked my
hand into his elbow, noticing once more the flexing bicep beneath the sleeve

Was he going to act like a gentleman all night? It
just made it seem…cheesy…and that he was trying too hard.

"Have fun," Kelsey said, leaning on the wall
with her arms crossed. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

Not happening.

Otherwise we would be sleeping together before the
date.

He opened the car door for me, a move that I have
never seen from him, at least not towards me.

"So just so we are clear," I said with a
playful smile. "This isn't a date. Not a real one."

"So you say," he insisted as the car pulled
out of the parking lot. "But you’re still going to get the full Aiden
Player date treatment."

"Oh, so I get the 'date' treatment?" I said
raising my eyebrows. "Does that mean I get all the perks that the girls in
high school did back when you had the reputation of your last name?"

He flashed me a grin and said, "I guess you'll
find out. Won't you."

I laughed, and had to admit to myself that it felt
pretty good to be out with him. It had been hard to separate our current
circumstances to our past friendship. I decided that at least for tonight, I
would not be so hard on him.

A few minutes later we arrived at the restaurant, an
opulent location with bright lights reflecting from the crystal chandeliers
that I could see through the open front door. I felt a bit taken aback by the
posh appearance of the other guests, but I took comfort in the fact that Aiden
and I had both dressed the part. At least to outward appearances we looked like
we fit in.

The
Maitre
D', a stuffy
looking older man who looked as if he had spent more time on his mustache than
I had on my entire outfit, asked our last name and a sharply dressed server led
us to our reserved table. I tried not to feel self-conscious as we walked
through surrounded by white table cloths and gleaming crystal. We were seated
next to the large window overlooking the beach. I had never felt so spoiled.

By anyone.

"This is beautiful," I whispered to Aiden as
the server filled out glasses with the white wine that had been preordered to
our table. We both smiled politely as the waiter explained the vintage of the
wine.

"You may start out with an Aperitif, in order to cleanse
your palate before the appetizers,” he explained in a calm voice.

I couldn’t help but feel as if even the servers were
looking down on us. This one looked as if he had just stepped out of a
magazine.

"That would be fine," Aiden said. "The
house special."

The server nodded and exited.

I leaned forward so only Aiden could hear me.
"What's an aperitif?" I asked.

He whispered his reply. "I have no idea."

"I didn’t know that there was an extra course
before
the appetizers,” I said.

We both erupted into suppressed chuckles, trying not
to draw the attention of the upper crust society folk that surrounded us.

"I'm just going with it. I didn’t realize this
place was so ritzy. But order what you want definitely,” he said.

We looked at the menu which seemed to be written in
French and there were no prices listed.

"Can you read this?" I asked, trying not to
burst into further laughter.

"You may have to order for me." His answer
came in with the bewildered look on his face.

I glanced around at the other patrons. The plates
looked like small bizarre art projects that may have represented food to someone
who had only read about it in an encyclopedia. When the server returned with
our aperitif I was pleased to discover that he presented us with what looked
like tiny wine glasses no larger than a shot glass.

"Have you decided on your order?" The waiter
asked in a soft spoken tone.

My guess was that they behaved with an air of
servitude to make the money set feel better about themselves. I panicked a bit
thinking that we had no idea what the menu said, but to my surprise Aiden
closed his menu with a flourish and spoke with confidence.

"Do you have any chef recommendations?" he
said, matching the tone of the other patron.

I lifted my napkin to hide the smirk on my face that I
had difficulty suppressing as I watched his performance.

"But of course," the server said. "For
our appetizer we can bring you the
fromage
with
caviar, served alongside our toasted baguette. Tonight’s entrees include your
choice of the Chef's special Cordon Bleu, or the Steak tartar." He nodded
when he finished speaking.

"We will have one of the appetizers that you described,
and the lady and I will both have the steak." Aiden sounded as if he had
been to this kind of restaurant for all of his life.

"Thank you sir,” the server said as he took our
menus.

Once he had left I looked down at the small glass in
front of me. "What is this supposed to do?" I asked.

Aiden answered in an effected French accent. "It
is the aperitif to cleanse our palate, so as to better taste the eloquent
combinations of
flav
ours
that are to be
presented to us."

I snickered and picked up the tiny glass. "Do we
sip it or just shoot it?" I wondered.