The anger that fused her temper literally had her stamping her feet all the way home. When she reached her apartment she paid no mind to disturbing the neighbors as she unabashedly slammed the front foyer’s door and then her own, before marching across the tiny kitchen, snatching up a set of keys and making her exit in the same manner.
Outside in the parking lot her very clean Mustang sat undisturbed. Throwing her duffel bag onto the passenger seat, she turned the ignition over and pulled the vehicle onto the road. Her foot to the accelerator, Aimee burned gas as she sped down the street to the opposite end of the road and into Colin’s apartment parking lot. As fate would have it, he was already there unloading the groceries he must have been purchasing when she saw him. Somewhere in the back of her mind was the nagging thought that his latest girlfriend would be in the nearby vicinity.
However, as she pulled the car to a screeching halt only a millimeter from his precious Barracuda, she had only one thought on her mind.
“What the hell are you doing!” he bellowed as she got out from behind the wheel. “You nearly smashed your car into mine!”
She snatched up her duffel bag before turning around and quickly tossing the set of keys at him. Taken by surprise, he automatically reached out, grabbed the keys and in the process dropped a bag of groceries that was in his arms.
“It’s not my car. It’s yours.” Turning abruptly, she began to walk swiftly away.
“What the hell does that mean?” And when she ignored him and continued up the street, he barked after her, “Aimee, what are you doing?”
Continuing to ignore him she glanced up into the sky and noticed a black cloud hovering overhead. The weather forecast had been sending out freezing rain warnings all day and it looked like Aimee’s untimely tirade had landed her directly in its path. Her walk home would take close to twenty minutes and more than likely would leave her soaking wet in the process. Not liking the idea of this prospect, she ran across the street toward the bus stop.
When she turned around, she was startled to see Colin directly on her heel. Holding up the keys, he demanded, “What point are you trying to make?”
“None.” She straightened her back and glanced down the road for an oncoming bus. “You paid for the vehicle. I have no right to it, it’s yours.”
“Like hell it is,” he snapped. “We bought it for you.”
“I don’t want it.”
“Why the hell not?” His brown eyes were dark and cold.
“Isn’t that obvious.” She stopped to clear her throat, then continued, “You and I are through. I was foolish to think that we could get over this, but today you made it very clear that’s not going to happen.”
“Should I remind you that it was you that ended the relationship? Not me.”
“I wanted to salvage our friendship.”
He made a disbelieving mug. “By severing it?”
“It was you that tore us apart, Colin. If memory serves me right, you informed me quite plainly that we could never be friends again.”
Shaking his head, he turned away flabbergasted. “Don’t try and put the blame on me. You finished it between us because that was how you wanted it.”
“I ended it because I wanted our friendship back. I wasn’t blind, Colin, I could see things weren’t working between us. At least I had the courage to see it and end something we should never had started.” She nearly choked on this last part. “You just kept acting like nothing was wrong. You had to have noticed we weren’t doing well as a couple. I was trying to save the best thing going between us, our friendship.”
He shook his head. “In my opinion you only achieved in destroying it.”
Hurt and annoyed, Aimee looked once more down the empty street. “Go away, Colin.”
Growling under his breath, he held out the keys. “Take the car, Aimee.”
“I already said, I don’t want it.”
He swore, “You are one damn, stubborn female.”
She got angry. “I already said I don’t want that stupid car.”
“What the hell are you expecting to drive instead?”
“I’ll take the bus or walk.”
“And Christmas?” He looked outraged. “Are you planning to walk all the way home? For god’s sake, Aimee, don’t be foolish.”
Turning on a heated huff, she began marching up the street toward her apartment. Damn the rain! “I won’t stand here and have you call me names.”
“Fine,” he roared as he too, turned away and began back across the street. “See if I give a damn. If you’re too mule-headed to admit you’re wrong, then damn you. I’ll sell the stupid vehicle if that’s what you want!”
“That’s what I told you to do in the first place.” She couldn’t stop herself from pointing out. “Since our friendship is over, I don’t want anything to do with it or you.”
“Sounds fine,” he growled in agreement, then added, “As a matter of fact, I’ll go one step further and do everything in my power to stay out of your life.”
She felt the first drops of rain hit her head as she hollered, “Wow, now there’s a long stretch—that’s exactly what you have been doing.”
Sarcastically, he snarled, “My apologies, oh perfect-one, I hadn’t realized I wasn’t allowed room for anger.”
“That doesn’t surprise me. You haven’t realized a lot of things over the years.”
An elderly couple passing by eyed them curiously and Aimee thought she heard something to the effect of a lover’s quarrel muttered under their breaths. It was almost her undoing until she realized that there actually had to be love involved to be considered a lover’s quarrel.
Colin, who couldn’t help but not have seen the approaching couple, obviously did not care that their argument had attracted an audience. “You’re probably right about that, but I’ll be damned if I let some foolish, pig-headed girl get under my skin any longer.”
“Fine,” she hurled back and with seething anger she turned on her heel and marched up the sidewalk.
From the corner on which she left him, she heard him muffle a cursed response before he too marched back to his apartment building. As her long strides took her quickly up the steep incline towards her end of the street, the excursion did little to ease Aimee’s temper. Why hadn’t she noticed before what a selfish, self-centered man he could be? What the hell was that last comment supposes to mean anyway? Since when did Aimee ever get under his skin?
With a maddening shrug she brushed the thought aside. He didn’t know what he was saying. Time for anger? Huh! Not likely. In all her years of knowing Colin never once had he lost his temper with her. It was impossible for that man to ever feel that strong of an emotion for Aimee. Long before now she had come to realize that Colin could never care that deeply for her. She simply didn’t hold that much power over him.
She had walked three blocks in what was more than likely a record breaker for Aimee, her anger fuelling her speed, when the sky opened up and dropped pellets of cold rain. Picking up speed she was on the verge of breaking into a run when it struck her.
It struck her with such force that she literally teetered on her numb feet. A thought so powerful it nearly bowled her over right there on the rain-soaked street. Standing in the freezing rain, ice pellets pouring down her face, Aimee realized that Colin was angry with her. But just not angry, he was downright furious with her. Why?
“Oh Lord.” She didn’t notice that the words were uttered out loud or that the rain was pounding furiously down around her, all she knew was that she had walked away from what could have been her only opportunity at discovering the truth.
Turning around she looked back down the road and felt the first burning of tears sting her eyes. Could it possibly mean what she prayed it would? Or was she imagining things? Was she allowing her foolish heart to see things that weren’t really there?
Needing to find the answers as soon as possible, she started walking back toward his apartment and discovered the need grew stronger as the block where he lived appeared further. Her steps increased until she found herself in a full jog.
Out of the veil of rain blurring her sight, or was it tears, Aimee noticed a car approach. It wasn’t until it came into full view that she realized it was a white car. A white Mustang to be exact. It lurched suddenly toward her, crossing the opposite side of the road and pulling up alongside the curb at which she came to a halt. The driver side door opened and Colin stood up looking over at her with a dismal expression.
She wanted to say something but found herself short of breath from the brief run back down the street. Or was it? The look in his eyes held her heart in her chest and threatened to squeeze the very breath out of her.
He attempted a smile, which she noticed did not reach his eyes completely. “Lousy weather for a jog.”
She tried to smile, but found her chin was quivering so much from the cold outside and the raw emotion within. Staring at him with his curly locks beginning to glisten from the rain, she really saw him for the first time since that afternoon. His usual laughing eyes were darkened in sorrow and the creases around his mouth were deep and hollow. Aimee’s heart spoke for her. “I love you.”
A spark flickered somewhere in the depths of eyes she now realized had been full of heartbreak. Then it disappeared, leaving Aimee to wonder if she had seen it at all.
“Will you get in the car?” he wasn’t demanding as he asked, but almost pleading.
Nodding, she walked around the hood of the vehicle and dropped into the warm seat opposite him. She hadn’t even realized how cold it had become until she felt the warmth of the heater. Shivering she waited until he seated himself next to her and shut the door to the cold world outside.
“Forget I said that,” she hurriedly attempted to cover her carelessly uttered declaration. “I-I didn’t mean it.”
He did not respond and Aimee was feeling far from confidant to look in his direction. She wondered briefly why he hadn’t pulled the car back onto the road but dare not glance his way. The look of ridicule, which would be very evident on his face, would be completely devastating and she didn’t think she could handle it.
When at last the seconds turned into minutes and still no sound from his side of the vehicle, Aimee snuck a quick look in his direction to discover he was sitting staring openly at her. Feeling tenfold more humiliated, she demanded, “Say something. Why are you staring at me?”
His response was not immediate, but slow and thoughtful. “Because I’m enjoying this moment and don’t want to forget one single detail.”
Frowning hard, Aimee gave him her full attention this time. “I’m glad you find it so humorous. I find it very embarrassing. I look like a drowned rat, I made a fool of myself, and to top matters I-I—”
She couldn’t find the words that she had so unashamedly uttered only minutes before.
Colin reached over and touched a wet lock of hair hanging over her shoulder. “You do look like a drowned rat. But no, I don’t find the situation humorous.”
“Th-then why are you staring at me?”
“I already told you. I don’t want to forget a single detail.”
Aimee’s browse came together. “What for?”
“So I will remember every single detail when I tell our children.” He was playing idly with the strand of hair and was looking at something of interest near her left ear.
The cold must have finally penetrated her heart for it froze suddenly, leaving her speechless, but only for mere seconds. “Children?”
He nodded.
“O-our ch-children?” she croaked as the words came out on a sputtered breath. When he nodded again, but still had not met her eyes, she pushed for clarification. “Do you mean like your children and my children. Not o-our children.”
This last comment was stressed with a wave of her finger between them.
He remained speechless, as if pondering his words then elected to respond with, “These past two years have been the best two years of my life, and I credit our friendship for it. That night in your apartment you asked if we could be friends again, and like a first-class jerk I walked away from your offer.”
Aimee sat paralyzed, her heart aching at every word he uttered in raw but candid emotion.
“You were right back there, I did destroy our friendship. I thought life could go on without Aimee. But I’m discovering that the mere thought of spending Christmas without you is distressing, let alone the rest of my life. So, I guess what I really mean is if you have any feelings toward me left, please don’t take them back.”
Finding that her throat had gone completely dry, Aimee thought she would break down right then and there and give him whatever he wanted. But first, she needed to ask, “What are you saying?”
“I don’t want to lose you, Aimee. You’re the best thing in my life.”
She nearly gasped from the sudden elation glowing from within, but had to control her emotions before they got ahead of her. “I didn’t realize.”
Colin gave a short, cynical laugh. “How could you when I didn’t realize it myself.”
“Oh.”
“There you were right before me all these years and I didn’t even see you. What I had been searching for I had already found, but I was too stupid to realize it. I once said that I didn’t know what I was looking for in a woman, and at the time I didn’t. Because if I had, I would have known that I was looking for someone to be my life partner in laughter, love, and friendship. I wanted someone who could be my best friend.”
Aimee moved her lips but no words came forth. The awful thought occurred to her that she must be dreaming, because this couldn’t be happening. The man opposite her was revealing a different side to Colin than she had ever seen. A sensitive, caring and emotional man. A man in love.
“You’re everything to me, Aimee. I love you.”
Joy burst forth and exploded inside Aimee’s chest causing her to literally gasp. She couldn’t remember ever feeling this wonderful in her entire life. Warm and wonderful sensations engulfed her entirely and covered her in a ray of happiness and love that seemed so foreign to her, that she fell silent beside him.
Glancing over, her face gone deathly white, her eyes round and wild, and her tiny pale mouth slightly parted, Colin looked slightly anxious as he asked, “Is that all right?”
It was such a silly question, but it reminded her instantly of the Colin that she had always known and loved. A simple man with a big heart.
She chuckled softly. “Yes, it’s all right.” Then daring to explore this newfound relationship, she reached up and touched the side of his cheek.
He closed his eyes and leaned gently into her touch and softened her heart even greater. “Truth is, you’ve scared the hell out of me these last couple of months.”
“Oh? How’s that?” She felt a delightful thrill as he took her hand into his and kissed the inside of her pulse.
His eyes raised to her face and Aimee was delighted to see that old familiar laughter back in their dark depths as his hands pushed the sleeve of her jacket away. “Because I’ve been wanting to do this—and this—”
A thrill raced throughout her entire body as his lips began a trail up her arm until they reached the bend in her elbow where his tongue peeked out and tickled the sensitive skin. “I-I see.”
“No, I don’t think you do.” He lifted his head and was now looking deeply into her eyes. “You were Aimee. In other words, off limits. I’ve been told that for as long as I can remember. If I so much as looked at Dennis’ little sister, I’d get my jaw rearranged.”
She gasped. “You never saw me that way!”
He rubbed his jaw and said, “I have a chipped tooth to prove otherwise.”
Aimee’s eyes widened, hardly believing him. Yes, she could see her brothers knocking any young man who dared to look at their little sister in a sexual way, but Colin? He never showed the slightest interest.
“I’ve known you forever, Aimee. Back when you were a little girl just hitting puberty and discovering boys. A bad time in one’s life and I felt you needed so much protection, regardless of the fact that you already had four, very competent and protective brothers. I needed to take you under my wings and keep you there. When you came to town, two years ago, I did just that.” He grinned. “And, hell, no competition from your brothers. You were all mine.
“But something happened that I wasn’t expecting. We became friends. Very good friends. I’ve never shared a relationship like that with anyone. Not ever.”
“Me neither.”
He smiled. “You became a part of me, without my even realizing it. I’m ashamed that I probably took our relationship for granted. I spent most of my free time with you, and now that I think about it, most of my thoughts consisted of you as well. I took so much from you but never gave anything in return.”
“Yes you did. I had your friendship.”
Again he smiled, but only slightly as he shook his head. “Aimee I was treating you like you were mine already and never gave you the chance to form any other relations. I entirely monopolized your time and never thought twice about it. It simply felt right.”
“I never wanted any other relations,” she confessed. “If you had been seeing clearly you would have realized that I have loved you for a very long time.”
He looked utterly stunned, and Aimee was almost surprised at how much. Surely he must have figured out by now why she enjoyed spending so much time with him? “You did? Why didn’t you ever tell me?”
“Because, like you said, I was Aimee. You would never have even considered it.”
“Inappropriate?” he quoted. “You’re absolutely right. I would have thought exactly that.”
“You needed to discover your feelings all by yourself.”
He raised a brow. “You were so certain that I would?”
“At one time, yes. But I’ve been greatly tested many times. Especially when you became engaged to Sheila.”
He looked physically pained as he grimaced, sat up and drew her to him. Aimee sighed in contentment. “The biggest mistake in my life, was listening to my head rather than my heart. I had felt such an overwhelming peace and fulfillment at that time, and mistook it for the wrong lady.”
“Peace?” Aimee made a face. “I can’t recall giving you too much of that concerning Sheila.”
Colin grinned and dropped a kiss on the top of her head. In the past the childish endeavor left her angry, now however she could only feel a loving glow spread throughout. “Well at the least, your hatred of the woman is fully understood. The very thought of you with another man leaves me with a fierce sense that I too could rearrange someone’s jaw. I knew how your brothers felt. And mistook my feelings for brotherly.”
“I was immensely jealous of Sheila,” she admitted. “Rest assured there was more than once when all I wanted was to claw those beautiful blues from her pretty little face.”
Colin laughed. “I think the thought occurred to her once or twice as well. She must have seen what I was too blind to see.”
Aimee tilted her head and looked up at him. “If you couldn’t see me with another man, than why did you offer to set me up with Ted?”
He seemed to consider this before replying, “He was safe, and I could keep an eye on him I suppose. I never really thought about you with another man. As a matter-of-fact, it was Sheila that brought the subject up. Otherwise, I would have gone on ignorantly believing that Aimee was happy just the way things were. When I pictured myself old and married, I honestly saw my little friend Aimee right there beside me. You didn’t belong anywhere else.”
“Gee thanks.” She smirked.
“I know.” he quickly agreed. “That’s when I began to wonder about you and your personal life. What type of men were in it and, exactly, how many. In my stupid, self-centered way I think I believed that I was your personal life, that anything beyond that couldn’t exist. That was until that day in your mother’s kitchen. I was totally floored. I thought I knew all there was to know about you. And here you were keeping a secret from me. You had a lover, someone I did not know about. And, worse, you didn’t want me to know about.”
“It was you.”
Sighing softly, he pulled her even closer. “I know that now, but at the time I had no idea. I would never have confessed this to you or myself, but I think I felt betrayed. As if you had no right to have feelings toward any man other than myself. But, of course, you had every right and therefore I had to resign myself to the fact that I could lose you one day. A statement you once nearly repeated that night in your apartment after you had been robbed.”
Aimee shivered. “What a horrible experience. I never want to go through that again.”
“And you won’t if I have anything to do with it. I’m going to be right by your side for the rest of our lives whether you want me to be or not.”
“Sounds wonderful.” She smiled into his chest and wondered what she had done to deserve such happiness.
“That night was a wakeup call for me,” he revealed.
“You chose me over Sheila,” she recalled.
“There was no choice. I knew where I belonged.” His admission brought on another ray of joy. “No, what I meant, was actually the following morning. I woke up with you in my arms and it felt so right, so wonderful, yet so frightening. I had been controlling these taboo thoughts I’d been having of you, these desires to kiss the hell out of you, when that night sleep evaded me on the damn floor. I thought my brotherly feelings toward you were enough to make it proper for me to share the other half of your bed. Instead, my dreams were full of passionate images of you and me doing things I had just controlled my male hormones to spurn.”
“Oh,” she gasped slightly. “I accused you of having erotic dreams of Sheila.”
“You had been half right. I had one of the best sexual dreams ever, but they consisted all of you.” He grinned suddenly at the memory. “I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. You looked so alluring and desirable in the morning sunshine like an angel with your pale complexion and that beautiful mane of hair all tousled and chaotic as if I had been running my fingers through it all night long. Damn, you were sexy enough to lure a monk.”
He followed this statement by actually doing exactly that. Aimee closed her eyes and enjoyed the feel of his fingers tangling themselves within her hair. “I almost cut it off.”
His hand froze. “What?”
“I hated the way you always twitched my ponytails like I was an eight year old child. It only reminded me how you felt about me.”
He swore. “I think it was an excuse to actually be able to touch it. It’s one of my favorite features of yours that has teased me greatly, rest assured. I’m glad you didn’t.”
Aimee smiled, glad to please him. “At least I didn’t ask you to do it for me.”
He groaned. “Another stupid move, but hell, I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. I never felt anything so sensual in my life. Lady you can give me a cut any time.”
“You felt it too?” She sat up and looked at him. “I could hardly concentrate, that’s why I did such a lousy job.”
“And why I wasn’t able to stand up right away.” Stroking her cheek he slipped his hand into her hair and pulled her close. “You are one hell of a tantalizing woman who’s tested my male hormones more than I care to admit.”
Blushing hotly, she wasn’t given a chance to respond, when he closed his mouth over hers and kissed her like he had never kissed her before. It lasted longer than either planned and when he finally pulled away his dark eyes were smoky with unmasked desire. A shiver of delight chased its way down her spine reminding Aimee how much of a young fervent woman she was. She returned his look with a tentative smile and was rewarded with a groan.
“Lord, woman, I think I better take you home.” But he did not drive away immediately. Smirking he reached over and laid the tip of his finger gently on her lips. “This was what really made me sit up and take notice. Hell, I’ve never got that kind of reaction after kissing any woman.”
“But you never—” she blushed shyly, unable to finish the sentence.
Colin seemed to know where she was going however. “I couldn’t. That first kiss on your birthday—it was spectacular, hell it was incredible—and I wanted more. More than I knew I had a right too. But at the same time, it seemed damn awkward. I kept thinking I shouldn’t be doing this that you were Dennis’ little sister. Hell, you were practically my own.”
“I’m not—”
“I know, I know,” he soothed immediately. “But it took some damn convincing on my part. I had placed you in a particular mode, one not to be touched or violated. I would be breaking my own code of ethics if I crossed that barrier. The only thing I could think to do, was keep my distance, take it slow and maybe the mold I had created around you would begin to melt and I would be able to have you at last.”
Aimee could barely speak. She hadn’t realized that he saw things so deeply or cared that strongly that he feared his own reactions. It certainly did a lot of explaining.
“I thought you didn’t want me.”
“I wanted you more than I wanted to breathe. I just didn’t know how.”
“And now?”
“You shattered that mold by ending our relationship.”
“Then why didn’t you fight for me—us?”
“Because I was angry and hurt at the beginning. Especially for the fact that it was you, Aimee, who was breaking my heart. You were my little friend, who I cherished so dearly. You shattered my world.”
“I wanted you to realize that we had lost our friendship in the process of dating. I couldn’t stand it anymore.”
“I know that now. I didn’t then. Not until I began to miss you. Then I realized I had been missing you a lot longer than I believed. I missed our friendship and needed my best friend back.”
“But you still didn’t come.”
He made an ashamed mug. “My stupid pride. But when I saw you today, I knew you were worth fighting for.”
“That’s not what you said.”
Again he looked humble as he replied; “I wanted you to hurt as much as I did.”
“It hurt more seeing you with that other woman,” she recalled. “Who was she by the way?”
He frowned. “What woman?”
“The one I saw you sharing a smile with over the bin of Kaisers.” Venom webbed the jealous bones in her body and she didn’t care that he could hear it from the chill in her voice.
He grinned. “You were jealous?”
“I’ve spent far too many years watching you with other women. After today I knew I couldn’t put myself through it again.”
The smile was wiped from his face. “Oh, Aimee, sweetheart. If I had known how much I was hurting you—I would never have forgiven myself.” He leaned over and kissed her hard. “There is no other woman. Whoever you saw today was a complete stranger who I was doing the polite and courteous thing by helping her out. Hell, I don’t even recall who you’re referring to. I only remember your sad face staring at me across the dairy aisle and how much I wanted to run down there and pull you into my arms and beg your forgiveness.”
“But you didn’t.”
“No,” he agreed solemnly, “Instead, in true first-class jack-ass style, I made those big beautiful baby blues turn into pain and wished instantly that I could have done anything to take back my words.”
“I thought you really hated me.”
“And I did,” again, he agreed. “But only because I loved you so much it hurt. Otherwise, I don’t think I would have taken you ending our relationship so hard.”
Aimee smiled. “Mom was right.”
He looked surprised. “Why? What did she say?”
“That the day you got angry at me, would be the day I discovered you loved me.”
“What a theory!” He smirked.
“It’s true. In the past two years, never once have you gotten mad at me. I never saw your temper.”
He arched a brow. “Really?”
She nodded.
“Because the way I recall, there were quite a few moments when I had to excuse myself so that I could vent a little steam because of a very stubborn young female who got me quite hot under the collar.”
Stunned, Aimee couldn’t help but stare. “I didn’t realize. Why didn’t you ever want me to know?”
He shrugged. “I have no idea. It seemed right at the time. I suppose I wasn’t ready for you to see that side of me.”
“It didn’t stop you earlier in your parking lot.”
He chuckled, “Honey, I had just about all I could take of constraining my emotions where you were concerned. There was no holding it back.”
Aimee felt warm all over and couldn’t prevent the blush creeping into her cheeks. After he finished kissing her thoroughly one more time, a thought occurred to her. “Now I have my answer.”
“What answer?”
With a wave of her finger, she gestured between them. “Our children.”
He smirked and they exchanged warm smiles before joining their lips and closing out the ice storm pelting down around them.
The End