SHE froze. The warmth of his lips against hers created ripples of heat across her body.
For a long time they just stayed that way. Their mouths locked together, their breath intermingled in the cool night air. It was as if time slowed down and the world became still. The sounds from the house were a million miles away.
Caitlin opened her mouth a little and let out a tiny sigh. The world of make-believe was a wondrous place. The pretend romance a beautiful place to be lost in. She’d make herself remember it wasn’t real in a moment. In just another little moment.
Aiden felt the sigh against his mouth. It shook him to the soles of his feet. He told himself he’d been prepared for this. That kissing Caitlin for the sake of realism was something he could handle like an adult. An uninvolved, uncomplicated by emotions adult.
But she was getting to him. From the vulnerability that had tugged at his heart seconds ago to the sudden wrench in his gut as he felt the pull of attraction to her.
Kissing her had always been on the agenda. It was just a tick on the list of things to make the lie more convincing. That was all it was supposed to be.
It wasn’t all it was.
The sigh was almost like a signal. One he interpreted as Don’t stop, Aiden. So he moved his mouth across hers. Felt her move with him. His free hand moved up to her cheek while his other hand tangled with hers, their joined hands lifting in the air to dance together.
But deepening the kiss with a small tug of his teeth against her bottom lip made his body come to life. And that shook him.
Dragging his mouth from hers, he watched as her heavy eyelids finally opened. She looked at him with wide, mesmerised eyes. And he couldn’t stop looking back.
The glass doors opposite them slid open and Caitlin’s mother appeared. ‘It’s late. There’s no point in you driving back to Dublin now. So I’ve made up Caitlin’s room for you both.’
Caitlin’s head snapped round to look at her. ‘We can’t share a room!’
Her mother looked surprised. ‘Why on earth not?’
Glancing at Aiden, she found him staring at her with those hypnotic eyes of his. He didn’t open his mouth to help out.
‘You didn’t like it when I shared a room with Liam any time he stayed, Mum.’
‘You were younger then.’ She smiled at Aiden. ‘It takes a while for any parent to accept the fact that their children are all grown up in that department.’
Aiden managed to smile back while his mind searched frantically for a reason not to share a room with Caitlin. Not just a room but a bed too, he assumed. It was tough to find an excuse, though, while his damned libido kept picturing her curled in against him. He swallowed hard,
‘We really don’t mind separate rooms, Mrs Rourke. It is your house after all.’
‘Please, Aiden. It’s Maggie.’ Her smile widened at his respect for her feelings. ‘And it’s nothing to worry about. Anyway, Cara is staying too, so she’ll have the boys’ room.’
Caitlin felt ill. She absolutely couldn’t share a room with Aiden. Not after that kiss. She wouldn’t be able to sleep a wink!
‘We should get back to Dublin, Mum. It won’t take that long.’
But her mother had the determined streak that Caitlin herself had inherited. ‘Nonsense, dear. You’re staying. I won’t hear another word about it.’
They both stared up at her.
‘Anyway, Aiden was saying earlier he wanted to take a look around here for somewhere to have the wedding. So we can have a look around tomorrow, after breakfast.’ She stepped back towards the doors. ‘Now, come on back in, you two, before you catch a chill.’
‘We’ll be right there.’ Caitlin needed a moment to gather herself together. And to find a reason not to stay.
‘Well, I’ll leave the door open, so don’t be long.’
‘We can’t share a room.’
Aiden knew it wouldn’t be too great an idea. But Caitlin’s determination that it shouldn’t happen brought a frown to his face. ‘We’re not getting out of it too easy.’
She continued looking through the door, her voice low. ‘I’ll tell her I have to work tomorrow.’
‘You already told them earlier you have a couple of days off.’
‘Then I’ll say I’m not feeling well.’
‘Isn’t she more likely to make you stay then?’
Caitlin turned and glared at him. ‘Then you think of a reason!’
‘It’s only for one night, for crying out loud.’ His frown promoted itself to a scowl. ‘I’m fairly sure I can manage not to jump all over you.’
‘It’s not a question of you jumping all over me.’
‘Then what is it?’
How could he possibly understand? There was far more intimacy involved in just being close to him. Especially considering what had just happened. And how it had made her feel. But then if he hadn’t felt it too it really wasn’t that big a deal to him, was it?
She skirted past the question and answered with a resigned, ‘You’ll have to sleep on the floor, then.’
‘You told me you used to share the room with Cara. That means two beds, doesn’t it?’ He was asking for himself as much to calm her.
‘It did. Until we both moved out and Mum had the room redecorated so couples could come to stay.’
‘As a guest, doesn’t that mean I should get the bed?’
‘Fine. Sleep where you want, then.’ She stood up and walked through the doors, pulling them shut behind her.
Her father looked at her with questioning eyes and she pinned a smile to her face. Then, with a quick glance around the room, she found a space between Patrick and Jane where she wouldn’t have to sit by Aiden.
She didn’t even glance his way when he opened the doors and came in after her.
‘Well, we’d better get these wee ones off to bed, then.’
Jane stood up and handed her daughter into Connor’s waiting arms.
Caitlin jumped up. ‘Must you? It’s been ages since I saw you.’
If they left then it would be one step closer to bedtime. She’d do anything to put that off.
‘These two are up well past their bedtime.’ Jane leaned over and kissed her cheek. ‘We’ll have plenty of time together with all the wedding stuff to come.’
‘There’s still no hurry on all that.’ Brendan stood up. ‘Plenty of time for a ceremony.’
‘Actually, we’ve already set a date.’
Several pairs of eyes swept in Aiden’s direction.
‘You have?’ Brendan’s eyes narrowed. ‘When, exactly?’
‘The Saturday before Christmas.’
‘That’s less than three months away.’ Maggie Rourke looked stunned. ‘We can’t put a wedding together that fast!’
Patrick laughed. ‘You make it sound like such a big deal. It’s only a wedding, for goodness’ sake. A dress and a bit of a cake. What else do you need?’
Maggie frowned at him. ‘Actually, there’s a great deal more to it than that. There’s guest lists, flowers, cars—a venue for the reception. And most of those places are booked up a year in advance, you know.’
‘We don’t want a big wedding, Mum.’
‘Why on earth not? All of the family will want to be there, and you have so many friends.’
Caitlin shook her head. ‘No, just something small will do us. No big fuss.’ The thought of a fuss made her want to vomit.
Maggie looked as if she might cry. ‘But it’s the biggest day of your life! We always planned on giving our girls the best send-off. It’s our job.’
And one they could ill afford. Glancing at her father’s face, she wondered how much her mother actually knew. But Brendan’s face was an impassive mask.
‘No. We’ll be footing the bill ourselves.’ She stared across at Aiden. ‘Won’t we, darling?’
Darling? His eyebrows rose slightly. ‘Yes, we’re paying for it all. There’s no problem there.’
Brendan looked him straight in the eye. ‘No. We’ll take care of it.’
‘Dad, you can’t—’
‘Yes, I can—and I will. No daughter of mine is paying for her own wedding.’
‘But, Dad—’
‘I’ll not hear another word.’ He held up his hand. ‘That’s an end to it. But it’ll not be in three months’ time. We’ll aim for June next year.’
Aiden opened his mouth to speak, but Caitlin got there first. ‘Yes, it will, Dad.’
Brendan’s eyes sparked at her. ‘And what exactly is the rush? Are you pregnant?’
She blushed. ‘No, I’m not pregnant.’
He nodded curtly. ‘Then June it is.’
Her chest cramped as she continued to argue with him. ‘No. We’ve made up our minds.’
He stared at her with angry eyes.
Aiden stepped between them, his back to Caitlin as he kept his voice low and determined. ‘We want to get married as soon as possible.’
‘Why?’
‘We don’t see any point in waiting. We know we want to be together, and waiting ’til June isn’t going to change that. We both know life’s too short.’ He raised his chin an inch and squared his shoulders. ‘And if there’s a question of paying then I have it covered. I want to give Caitlin whatever she wants.’
He couldn’t have said anything worse if he’d tried. Caitlin closed her eyes in anguish. Not only had he just dented her father’s pride on the money issue, he’d also in a roundabout way suggested that Caitlin’s wishes were more important to him than they were to her parents.
‘You have a lot to learn about how this family works, young man.’ Brendan held his anger in check, instead turning and walking out of the room.
The remaining inhabitants of the room stayed in a stunned silence. Caitlin opened her eyes and looked round at them all.
When she eventually spoke her voice trembled. ‘We don’t mean to upset anyone. We just want to get the ceremony over with, that’s all.’
Aiden turned to look at her. ‘So we can get on with the rest of our lives.’
His words were true on many levels. And even though she wanted to take the tension out of the room by just opening her mouth and admitting the truth the very fact that her father was so torn on the subject of paying for her wedding made her all the more determined to see it through.
‘Yes.’ She walked over to stand by him, her hand reaching for his to show a united front. He didn’t know the damage he’d just caused. It wasn’t his fault. She’d chosen to weave herself this web. ‘We just need to get married.’
Maggie walked forward and placed one hand on her shoulder. ‘Don’t worry, love. Your dad just has a lot on his mind at the minute.’ She smiled at Aiden. ‘Bit of pressure at work.’
With those words Caitlin immediately knew that her mother knew.
She turned her smile on Caitlin. ‘We’ll talk about it tomorrow, when he calms down.’
Breaking her contact from Aiden’s warm hand, Caitlin wrapped her arms around her mother’s neck and held her close. ‘Everything will be all right Mum.’
‘Of course it will, dear.’