Chapter Two

Aiden Taylor Is On A Mission

Aiden Taylor forked Midnight's food into his bowl while the cat stood on its hind legs, front paws on the cabinet, yowling.

"Anyone would think I never feed you," Aiden grumbled. "I mean, look at you. You're obviously wasting away."

Sarcasm was wasted on Midnight because all that remark got him was another long meow. For all Aiden knew, that translated as hurry up and gimme the damn kitty chow, slave. And that right there was the main difference between dogs and cats, at least to his way of thinking. Dogs were grateful, whereas cats didn't give a fuck as long as there was food in the bowl, water in the dish, and rubbies on demand.

And what does that say about me?

Aiden was most definitely a cat person.

He set the bowl down on the tiled floor, and Midnight's head was in it in a heartbeat. Aiden grabbed the cup of tea he'd made before Mom had called, but one sip had him pouring the now cool liquid down the drain. He made himself another, then walked out of his small kitchen and into the living room.

That was Midnight taken care of—now to talk to Becca.

Except she'd be doing most of the talking.

He put his cup on the coffee table, flopped onto the couch, and fished his phone from his jeans pocket. He scrolled to her number.

"Hey. You just caught me." He heard voices in the background.

"Going anywhere interesting?"

"To a movie. What about you? What do you find to do in Milwaukee on a Friday night?"

Going to a gay bar. Not that he was about to share that information with Becca. Walls did indeed have ears, and Becca couldn't keep a secret to save her life. "I'm going to veg out in front of the TV, I think." He waited for her to explode with her news.

"You didn't need to call, y'know. You'll see me next weekend."

"I know. Maybe I just needed to hear your voice."

She snorted. "Are you sick or something? Last time we were in the same room, you called me an irritating brat, as I recall."

"Yeah, but that was September. And if I recall, the word wasn't brat, but it did start with a B. Besides, maybe I've missed you."

Becca chuckled. "Now I definitely know you're sick."

He waited, but she'd gone quiet on him.

Midnight let out another yowl as he strolled over to the couch.

"You haven't killed the cat yet, huh?"

"What does that mean?"

"Aide, you kill everything you touch."

"Since when?"

"That fish Dad bought you? You fed it too much food."

"I was nine years old, for God's sake."

"And the cactus? I mean, how does anyone kill a cactus ? And what about Snuffles?"

"That gerbil died of natural causes," he protested.

"Sure it did—only after you played dress-up with him. You wanted to make him all pretty, remember? That was you who put Mom's make-up on his little cute face, who sprayed him with Mom's Chanel No. 5? You wanna know what killed Snuffles? It was the shame of being turned into a crossdressing rodent."

"You weren't old enough at the time to know all this. You were still in diapers. The only reason you know about Snuffles is 'cause Mom told you." Aiden had heard enough. "And I didn't call you up to talk about my track record with pets and plants." He glanced at Midnight, who was sitting on the rug in front of him, staring at him.

Aiden could almost hear the words.

‘Should I be worried here? Do I need pet insurance? If I'd known any of this shit, I would never have let you move in with me.'

"Then why did you call? And be quick about it. I need to be out of here in the next five minutes."

"That's long enough to share your news, don't you think?"

"What news?"

"Oh, I don't know… Maybe the fact that you got engaged?"

Crickets.

"Becca?"

"Oh. That."

Aiden blinked. "‘Oh that'? You just agreed to marry some guy, and that's how you describe the proposal? And how come I had to hear about this from Mom and not you?"

"I was gonna call you."

He laughed. "No you weren't. You already said as much. So… tell me about this guy. Will, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

"How long have you known him?" And why don't I know about him?

"Three years."

"Wait—is this the same Will who's into sci-fi? The one you called a geek?"

"I don't remember saying that."

"Then there was the time you called him a nerd."

She snorted. "Well, the two terms are interchangeable, wouldn't you say?"

"Geek, nerd… neither of them explains why you're going to marry him."

"He's sweet." She sounded indignant.

"Okay, but how sweet? Are we talking thaumatin sweet or monellin?"

Crickets.

Aiden snorted. "Sorry, I forgot who I was talking to. So, like Reese's Pieces or more like Pixie Sticks? And how did he propose?"

"How does anyone propose? He asked, I said yes."

"But how did he ask?" Aiden's head was spinning. "Unless you get marriage proposals every day of the week, this has to be up there with your first kiss, right? You know, the kinda thing a girl remembers for the rest of her life? So did he get down on one knee? Where did he propose? Was it at least romantic?"

There was silence for a moment. Then he caught the sound of a door closing. "Okay, fine. We were in the university library," she said a moment later.

Aiden huffed. "I guess we can forget about romance then." Strike one for Becca's fiancé. Who the hell proposes in a library?

"It was sweet!"

"Again with the sweet. You really have to work on extending your vocabulary."

"But it was , really."

"Mm-hmm. Did he have a speech all worked out, or was it more of a spur-of-the-moment event? Did he have a ring?"

Another pause. "No. We're… we're going shopping for that tomorrow."

"He proposed and he didn't even have a ring ready? You sure you want to marry this guy?" And that right there was strike two.

Then it hit him. "Oh my God."

"What?"

"I know why you're doing this."

"I don't know what you mean."

Was he imagining the tremor in her voice?

"It's obvious. You're pregnant, aren't you?"

Her gasp was so loud, it hurt. "I am not ."

"Aw, c'mon, sis. You can tell me. How far along are you? Did you tell Mom? Is she properly scandalized that her baby girl got knocked up?" He grinned. "Hey, I'm going to be an uncle."

"What? Of course you're not because I'm not pregnant, okay? So there's nothing to tell. And… well… if you must know… we… we haven't even… done it yet."

Midnight puked up the food he'd scoffed in such a damn hurry, and Aiden snorted. "Yeah, I had the same reaction," he muttered. The mess would have to wait until he'd finished his call. He returned his attention to Becca. "You're telling me, you've known this guy for three years, you're going to marry him, and you have no clue what he's like in the sack? Because I don't buy it." And the fact that this Will character hadn't even tried to get into Becca's underwear?

Strike three.

So what if he was Becca's brother, which kinda made him biased as hell. She was beautiful. He could almost go as far as sexy, except that was way too weird to be thinking about his sis.

And he doesn't want that? What is he, blind?

"No one's asking you to. Look, you'd better not give him a hard time next weekend, you hear me?"

Aiden ignored the threat. He was used to them. "Mom says he's studying Astrophysics."

"That's right."

That brought on another grin. "He spends a lot of time in the library, doesn't he? I'm betting it's his second home." Yeah, Aiden could picture him: skinny, glasses, puny chest, a permanent dent in his shoulders from carrying his backpack full of books…

Not that there was anything wrong there. Aiden had wide and varied tastes when it came to men, and he'd had a few nerds after his own late-night D & D sessions. Nice thing about most guys like that, they were very enthusiastic when it came to sex, because they didn't often get it. Not that all nerds were lacking in the sexual activity department. After all, they came in all shapes and sizes.

I mean, Henry Cavil, for God's sake.

But Becca… and a nerd?

Why the hell is she marrying him?

He tried a different tack. "Is there anything you want to tell me? And I do mean anything. Because I'm trying to get my head around this, and I'll be honest, it doesn't compute."

"Can't you just be happy for me? Will is a sweet guy."

"You said that already. Doesn't he have any other outstanding characteristics?"

"He's smart."

"He studies Astrophysics. Duh."

"He plays Dungeons & Dragons."

She'd finally said something interesting. "Really? How many characters does he have? What level are they at?"

"Huh? Are you even talking in English?"

Aiden guessed it wasn't a shared interest. "Does he read?"

"He's always got his nose in a book."

Well, that at least told Aiden why he'd proposed in the library. It was probably the only place Becca got to see him, if they weren't sleeping together. Then he reasoned that would be difficult, seeing as she was in a dorm.

I'm damn sure I'd have found a way if it had been me. He grinned. What am I saying? He'd found a way, all right—he'd played hide the salami with one of his roommates.

"What about movies? He does go to the movies, right?"

She laughed. "Who do you think is taking me there tonight?"

"Great. So he gets out occasionally." Yeah, Aiden was going to add pale skin to his mental picture of Will. Dark hair framing his white face.

Oh my God. He's a vampire.

"Can't wait to meet him. Especially as he's going to be one of the family. Have you set a date yet?"

"Sorry, gotta go. I'll see you Saturday. Love ya." And she was gone.

Aiden placed his phone on the coffee table, then got up in search of paper towels to clean up Midnight's mess. He glared at the cat as he got down on his hands and knees. "Isn't it about time you learned to clean up after yourself?"

Midnight stared back at him. ‘Sure, wiseass—the day I grow opposable thumbs.'

Once cleanliness had been restored, Aiden flopped back onto the couch. Midnight was on his lap in a heartbeat, kneading Aiden's chest with his paws. "I don't recall ordering a massage," Aiden said softly, rubbing under Midnight's chin. He was rewarded with a loud purr. "This still makes no sense, kitty."

Becca was flighty, incapable of being serious, loud, funny at times, brash… And her fiancé sounded as if he were the complete opposite.

Maybe he needs that.

Maybe Becca provides him with some kind of balance.

Well, he'd know more on Saturday.

Aiden couldn't wait to meet his prospective brother-in-law. This guy already had three strikes against him, and if he wanted to marry Becca, he was going to have to do a lot better.