Chapter 7

Chapter

Seven

Chalisa triedto talk normally to her family as they headed down to dinner, but her heart raced out of control. Aiden. Even dirty and bloody, he was the most enticing man she'd ever encountered. Maybe the dirt and blood added to his appeal. She knew he could fight like a charming ninja, and he'd used those skills to rescue her three months ago.

His lips making their way up her neck … she pulled in a breath and shivered. She wanted to be back in that room with him, kissing the night away.

Yet what would that accomplish? She'd fall for him all over again and then he'd leave her at the end of the week. She thought she might love that man, but she didn't trust him.

"What did you get on your beautiful dress?" her mom asked after they greeted many friends from Magna and sat down to dinner. She pointed to a reddish-brown smudge on Chalisa's shoulder.

"I don't know." Aiden's blood and dirt. Oh, no. "Excuse me." She stood from the table and walked out into the grand entrance.

"Chalisa!" Princess Belle glided down the steps on Stuart's arm.

"Hi!"

They hugged. Belle pulled back and grinned. "Stuart tells me your man is quite the tough and impressive charmer."

Stuart pumped his eyebrows at her. "He took down Kingston. It was epic."

Chalisa envisioned how tough and impressive Aiden was, but she knew she had to clarify before the rumors spread throughout Magna. "He's not my man."

"Oh." Belle looked to Stuart.

Movement came on the stairs above them. Chalisa glanced up, and all the breath rushed out of her body.

Aiden strode confidently down the stairs, his dark-blond hair brushed back, his handsome face shadowed by the perfect length of stubble, his lips curved in an appealing smile, his blue eyes completely focused on her, dressed in a dark gray suit that looked tailor made for his lean, perfect body.

She swayed to the side and tripped on her high heels. Stuart and Belle had turned to look at Aiden as well. She reached for the railing but missed, and she was going down.

Aiden pushed off from the staircase, flipped over Stuart and Belle's heads, twisted underneath her, and took all of the impact of her fall with the marble floor.

Chalisa landed cushioned in his arms and knew this was where she was meant to be.

She could hear Stuart and Belle exclaiming above them, but she could only focus on Aiden's brilliant blue eyes.

"Are you all right, love?"

"How could I not be with you around?"

He smiled, but she felt his body stiffen as if he knew he couldn't stay around, protect and love her like they both wanted.

"Did you break any bones?" she asked.

He chuckled at that. "I actually am the Bionic Man. It's a thing."

She laughed with him.

He lifted her up and popped to his feet. Wrapping his arm around her, he turned to Stuart and Belle. "Ah, Princess Belle. I've heard far too much about you from your smitten husband."

Stuart chuckled at that as Belle gave him a sassy look. He lifted his wife's hand and kissed it. "You know I love to brag about you."

"I'm sure." Belle grinned and focused on Aiden. "Are you a ninja or a warrior?"

"Parkour and ultimate fighting expert, actually." Aiden grinned.

"You remind me of James Bond when he's flying all over the buildings chasing the bad guy."

He was more appealing than James Bond in Chalisa's mind.

"Not the worst comparison I've had. I'm Aiden Porter. It's an honor to meet you, Princess Belle. I think very highly of your husband."

Stuart slapped him on the back. "Only because I'm going to train him to beat the SEALs at the joust."

"That's right."

"Come sit by us at dinner. I want to hear your story," Belle insisted.

Did she mean Aiden's life story or the story of how they met? Aiden stiffened against Chalisa's side, and she could imagine he didn't want to tell either story.

"I've got to get this stain out of my dress." She pointed to her shoulder, and Aiden's eyes widened.

"Oh. I believe I put that stain there." Aiden lifted his free hand, feigning innocence. "Forgive me, love."

Stuart and Belle both grinned at that.

"I hope the cameras got that move he did," Belle said to Stuart.

Aiden's gaze was focused on Chalisa. "Where is the closest restroom?"

"Right over there." Belle pointed. "We'll save you a place at dinner."

"Thank you. Please don't wait for us."

Stuart and Belle exchanged a look. "Oh, we won't."

Aiden directed her toward the bathroom, his arm around her back, the pressure of his palm against her waist and hip searing heat into her. He pushed open the bathroom door with his free hand and they walked into the spacious white marble bathroom.

Shutting and locking the door behind them, Aiden guided her to the sink, pulled the hand towel off the rack, and turned the water on to cold. He wet the towel, turned the water off, then squeezed the excess water off.

Wrapping his hand gently around her upper arm, he focused on the stain. His brow furrowed. "Forgive me for sullying your dress."

Heat traced through Chalisa at the memory of how they'd gotten the dress dirty. In a very bold move that she'd never imagined doing before this moment, she tilted her head, giving him access to her neck again.

"I didn't mind," she whispered.

His gaze crashed into hers. Neither of them moved. The only sound in the bathroom was their breathing. She was almost panting for air as his blue eyes lit a fire inside her. His thumb traced along the bare skin of her arm, making her quiver. She leaned in, more than ready to kiss him and pick back up where they left off upstairs.

Aiden swallowed hard and stared at the stain on her shoulder. "We'd better take care of this."

He brought the hand towel up and started scrubbing at her dress. She wondered if he'd ruin the material. Her body chilled at the abrupt movement and the loss of another chance to kiss and reconnect with him. Her emotions had been all over the place today, but she was beginning to hope that them being brought together again was orchestrated by her dad and all the angels watching over her from above.

"It's no good." Aiden set the hand towel down and looked at the stain as if it was his enemy. "I'm sorry, love. I've most likely ruined your beautiful dress. Would you like to go change?"

She shrugged and looked in the mirror at the stain and the silky fabric that had balled and frayed from his scrubbing.

Meeting Aiden's gaze, she asked, "Shall we order room service and stay in tonight?"

Aiden braced his hands against the sink on either side of her hips. She was pinned in place, and she didn't want to ever move again. She wanted to bask in his blue eyes.

"Chalisa." His voice was rough and husky, and for the first time he didn't call her ‘love.' "I can think of nothing I would love more than to go back to that suite and …" His gaze traveled over her lips. "Stay in."

Chalisa trembled at the image of them in their suite. He'd take off his suit coat and tie, unbutton his top button. She'd stay in the dress because even with the stain, he seemed to love it on her. They'd kiss and talk and kiss some more. Who cared about food?

She bravely placed her palms on his shoulders and ran them around to his strong upper back. Even in the suit coat she could feel the definition in his rear delts, rhomboids, and trapezoids, the beautiful striations she'd seen while he fought Kingston without his shirt.

He studied her, his blue eyes yearning for her, and then ...

He stepped back and straightened away from her. "I can't do this to you, love."

Chalisa's hands fell to her sides. She was propelled back to the awful reality that they had no relationship, no matter how connected she felt to him and the hope she'd had that their reunion was orchestrated by heaven.

"I understand," she whispered, hating the concession.

"You do?" He shook his head. "Of course you do. You are the most generous and impressive woman I have ever met in my life."

Chalisa appreciated the compliment, but she had to clarify. "You're dating Jezebel Noir."

"Pardon me?" He appeared truly confused.

"That's why you can't ‘do this to me.'"

"Ah, no." He laughed, but there was no humor in it. "No, love. Jezebel has nothing to do with why I can't kiss you until you understand exactly how special you are to me."

Her brows rose. His words confused her. Aiden was either her perfect man—maybe he'd broken up with Jezebel and was ready to pursue her—or the biggest schmoozer and liar she'd ever met.

Wait. He'd said why he couldn't kiss her. None of this was reassuring or enlightening.

"I'm not dating Jezebel," he insisted when she only stared at him. "Her agent coordinated a photo shoot with me so she could use me as her boyfriend for a publicity stunt. It was good exposure for both of us."

Her stomach twisted, yet she felt light and hopeful. "All those pictures?"

"They meant nothing. I've never even gone to dinner with Jezebel. Nice lady, but not for me. Kissing her for those pictures…" He lifted his hands. "It did nothing for me."

Chalisa's heart raced.

"Chalisa." He moved back in but this time reached for her hand. He paused for several beats, his eyes conflicted, then nodded as if he'd reached a decision. "I have to tell you the truth, so you can understand why I had to leave three months ago. Why I can't be with you now."

Her heart slammed against her rib cage. She wanted an explanation, but she didn't want to know that they had no chance.

"You are the only woman who has ever stolen my heart."

She stared at him, stunned. She had stolen his heart, but … "How can I believe that? Have you ever Googled yourself?"

He gave a short laugh. "Only every morning." His eyes became earnest. "Chalisa. I don't date any of those women who take pictures with me and pretend we're together. If they kiss me, it means nothing. I'm too closed off to feel anything and nobody penetrates my shell. I flirt and tease and move on. You are the only one who's ever broken through." He released her hand and paced the small bathroom.

Her heart took flight. He had fallen for her in those two hours together.

"Aiden." She stepped up to him and touched his arm. "You mean everything to me. I fell for you. These past three months, I've longed for you."

She expected him to wrap her up quicker than he had in their suite and kiss her very, very thoroughly. Instead, he stared at her as if she'd shot his dog.

"Ah, love. I'm so terribly sorry. I don't expect you to ever forgive me." He shoved a hand through his hair and studied the sink. "I loathe myself right now."

"I can forgive you. We can be together. You felt how right it was for us to be together. You still feel it."

He met her gaze, and she could see he agreed, but there was a terrible battle waging in his eyes.

She took his hand and placed it on her amber necklace. "Everlasting love. Remember?"

He tenderly lifted her necklace, his warm fingers making the skin of her neck tingle. "I'll never forget."

She smiled, and her dreams of this man took flight again. They were meant to be, and he was the most incredible human on the planet.

"I can't."

Those two words ripped her dreams apart before her eyes.

His gaze was tortured as he met her eyes again. "Those two hours were beautiful, extraordinary, out of this world. Your sweetness ripped through my defenses. I let down my guard like I've never done in my life and everything I said to you, every touch was genuine, real. I've never felt real with a woman before. I fell hard for you."

Her lip trembled from emotion. Despite the sweetness and truth of his words, somehow him falling for her and their time together wasn't enough to overcome whatever was keeping them apart.

"The problem is when I'm near you, when I touch you … I lose my mind." He smiled softly, but it was there and gone quick. "I keep excusing my weakness, letting down my guard with you, and I can't. I cannot do this with you any longer."

"What do you mean?"

He released the necklace and stepped back. "My path is set. You aren't part of the plan." He met her eyes again, but this time his gaze was almost cold. The Bionic Man.

"Not part of the plan?" she repeated. "What plan?"

"My life has a higher purpose. ‘Protect, serve, fight for the innocent, others before self, and never let your guard down.'" He said the words like a mantra. "I made an oath when I turned eighteen to spend my life protecting others and to never let down my emotional barriers and get into a relationship that would only hurt me and my love in the long run. I promised my dad on his death bed. I'm so sorry, Chalisa. I never wanted to toy with your emotions. If I was any other man …"

Her heart thumped slowly inside her constricted chest. She could hardly draw a breath.

"But you're not," she whispered.

He shook his head.

There was something final and painful in his eyes. She'd seen this several times when his eyes shuttered. He didn't think of himself as a soldier who could go home at night to his wife and family. He thought he had to be strong and never let a woman into his heart. A promise to his dad on his deathbed was not something Aiden would take lightly.

Her sister Reagan had promised their dad on his deathbed that she would take care of their mom because she'd dealt with depression. It was part of the reason she and Kingston had such a rough path to being happy and together. When their mom found out, she had been angry that their dad had extracted such a promise and had relieved Reagan of it.

"Is your mom …" She had a sliver of hope that his mom could be appealed to, relieve him of the deathbed promise, whatever that promise might be.

"Murdered when I was five."

"I'm so sorry."

"Thank you." The words were too formal. "Your dad?"

"Died of cancer two years ago."

"I'm sorry to hear that, love."

They studied each other. Chalisa had the sinking feeling that all hope was lost. Aiden, the man of her every dream, was right here, but because of an oath to protect and serve and his deathbed promise to his father, they'd never be together.

Aiden cocked an eyebrow and flashed his patented smirk. "Well, love. We'd best get some dinner. Big day for us tomorrow." He offered his elbow.

"Yes." She slid her hand through the crook of his elbow. Just touching him affected her, but she had to steel her heart, just as he seemed to be doing.

"Do you want to change your dress?"

"I don't really care." She felt numb, disjointed. She wanted to fall into bed and shut the world out, not face a dining room full of curious friends and family and cameras.

"All right. Chin up, love. We'll get through this."

He escorted her out of the bathroom and down the hall to the dining room. Chalisa pasted her own smile on. Aiden was strong enough to get through anything, but she didn't feel strong at all. They weren't a ‘we.' They would never be a ‘we.'

She thought she'd hurt the past three months. But knowing that she was special to Aiden, the only woman who'd ever gotten through his armor, he'd fallen for her, and she'd stolen his heart just as he'd stolen hers only made her hurt even deeper.

She knew Aiden well enough to know … he'd never go back on his promise.

His future path was set.

Her future had never looked so bleak and lonely.