I felt my mouth drop open and I slowly drew back from him. The bar was suddenly too hot. The air too thick. My knees much, much too weak.
Aiden winked, pushing past me. “Glad to see that night left an impression on you, too, Willa.” Then he headed straight to the bar.
I stood there, dying from utter embarrassment, while I tried not to picture Aiden’s head between my legs.
With clenched fists, I mumbled, “I’m going to kill her.”
Instead, my feet moved me right in the path that Aiden had walked. He had said left an impression on you too. Did that mean he’d thought about that night? How often? When was the last time he’d thought about it? It had only been a few kisses. Never mind that they were mind-blowing kisses.
Stop this, Willa. For Pete’s sake, get your head on straight.
I rolled my eyes when a woman standing next Aiden did a double take and then shamelessly started to flirt with him while trying to press her fake chest against his arm. I had no doubt that he could simply point to a woman and she would leave with him, no questions asked. He was that good-looking. The kind of guy you would imagine an artist falling over to paint or sculpt.
How had he managed to stay so handsome all these years? No, how had he managed to get even more handsome? He did have a new scar on his face that I had noticed immediately. It only seemed to add to his…beauty. It was the only word I could use to describe Aiden. He was beautiful.
“Excuse me,” I said as I pushed between the woman and Aiden. She shot me a dirty look, but I simply smiled and then faced Aiden.
“Does that happen a lot?” I asked, not liking the hint of jealousy in my voice. I was never the type of person to be jealous. I wasn’t naïve, and I knew for a fact that Aiden wasn’t a virgin. He obviously hadn’t remained celibate over the years, and neither had I. Obviously. But why did the idea of other women being in his bed nearly drive me mad?
He ordered two beers and then looked down at me. “Does what happen a lot?”
“Women throwing themselves at you.”
He laughed. “Yeah, we had a lot of Frog Hogs at the local bars back in Virginia Beach.”
“Frog Hogs?” I asked, never remembering him mentioning anything like that before. Of course, our emails had always been like two friends catching up. He’d ask about Boggy Creek, my folks, the orchard. He rarely shared anything about his own life. Only that he was going to be deployed or out of touch for a few weeks…which sometimes turned into months. We had certainly never talked about sex, or how many women Aiden was sleeping with, or the men I had been with—which had only been three, including Brian.
“Yeah, women who like to hook up with SEALs.”
I snarled my lip. “Women wanted to sleep with you simply because you’re a SEAL?”
He nodded and pushed money to the bartender. “Keep the change.”
“Thanks,” the guy said and quickly moved on to the next person.
“So, did you?” I asked, not even sure why. I didn’t really want to know his answer.
Aiden placed his hand on my lower back to guide me over to where our small group had found a table. I felt an immediate jolt of electricity rush through my body. I was almost positive he felt it as well because his fingers flexed against my back. We walked over to the two tables that had been pushed together where my brother, Kyle, Adam, Bishop, Bree, and now three other women all sat.
“Did I what?” Aiden asked.
I sighed. “You know, if you’re going to answer every question with another question, Aiden, this night is going to get pretty boring.”
“Then ask clearer questions, Squirt.”
I shot him a dirty look. I did not like him calling me by my childhood nickname. Not one bit. I wasn’t even sure why it bothered me so much. Maybe it made me feel like Hunter’s little sister all over again, and that was not how I wanted to feel, especially tonight.
Then a thought hit me. Was Aiden trying to put me back into that box? Did he still feel like we were in the friend zone?
Suddenly, I felt so very stupid. Of course he was. He had made it clear once we couldn’t be anything more than friends, so why would things change?
Good Lord, I hadn’t even been divorced twenty-four hours yet, and I was letting my thoughts go crazy.
No. I had every right to feel this way. I had never truly given my heart to Brian; I wasn’t going to lie to myself about that. I had been separated from him for a year. I had every right to move on with my life.
We stopped at the table and Aiden stared at me, waiting for me to ask the question again. I shook my wandering thoughts away. “Fine, did you hook up with a lot of these…Frog Hogs?”
He looked down and smiled, and I nearly melted at the sight of his dimples. Then he sealed my fate with a wink as he pulled out a chair for me and motioned for me to sit.
I waited for a moment too long, because Hunter asked, “What’s wrong, Willa?”
With a slow shake of my head, I turned to him and forced a happy expression. “Nothing at all. Aiden here was telling me about Frog Hogs.”
Aiden laughed and took the seat next to me. Once he got settled, he leaned his leg against mine. I waited for him to move it, but he simply left it there. There was plenty of room between everyone, so I knew he wasn’t cramped on the other side. I tried to move my leg, only to have his follow.
Instead of sitting at an awkward angle, I finally just accepted that his leg was going to be against mine. I simply needed to accept the fact that his touch made my lower stomach ache for more. I hadn’t felt that in…oh hell…since that night in the barn. Had Brian ever made my insides ache like this? He had to have at one point, right?
Stop comparing them, Willamina!
“What’s a Frog Hog?” one of the women asked, causing me to look her way.
“Women who want to hook up with Navy SEALs,” Aiden answered before he took a long drink from his beer.
“Are you a Navy SEAL?” the brunette asked, suddenly very interested in Aiden as she leaned forward, making her breasts instantly appear bigger. I wanted to roll my eyes. Instead, I glanced at Bree who stared at the woman with a disbelieving look on her face. I couldn’t help but smile as I wondered if Bree would get her way with Hunter. From the way my brother was staring at her, I knew at least one of us was going to get lucky tonight, and odds were in my best friend’s favor.
Bishop groaned. “O’Hara, you need to leave. You’re going to ruin it for the rest of us.”
The entire table laughed, and when I didn’t, Bree caught my eye. I quickly smiled, then wiped away the small amount of sweat that had started to build on my forehead. Aiden needed to move his leg. Or I needed to go home and pull out that vibrator I’d bought on a whim. The one that promised to make your toes curl and experience an out-of-body pleasure like no other.
Yeah, I needed my vibrator. I had birthed an eight-pound child, for God’s sake. No sex in over a year. No orgasms in Lord knows how long. And now Aiden sat next to me, his body against mine, and all I could think about was coming and, truth be told, I didn’t want my orgasm to come from a battery-operated boyfriend. I wanted it from Aiden.
A soft whimper slipped from my lips, but thankfully no one heard it, and if Aiden had, he showed no signs of it.
Shit. This was going to be a long night.