Free Deadly Shadows by Jaycee Clark Page A

as to what happened, a drunk driver ran a red light.” And just like that, her world was ripped to shreds.
    “I’m sorry.” He reached across the space and covered her hand with his. “It’s not easy losing children.”
    The words were whispered and she’d heard them before, from well meaning friends and family. But his held that note, that dark acceptance of what could not be changed. Only people who had been there knew. “Ah,” she said. “The person you lost.”
    His eyes looked over her shoulder. Jesslyn didn’t turn around to see what it was. He took a deep breath. “Yeah. Though most wouldn’t think so.” Aiden shrugged. “I’m a bit antiquated, so I’ve been told.”
    Jesslyn sat silent and unmoving, not even to pull her hand out from under his.
    “I was engaged, to an incredibly self-centered model, would have been married for several months by now.”
     
     
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    “What happened?”
    “I found out two months before the wedding she’d had an abortion.” His forehead wrinkled on his frown. “I know this is a new millennium and whatnot, women’s rights, freedoms of choices.”
    But not for him.
    He shook his head. “I can’t believe I told you that. Sorry.” Aiden made to pull his hand away, but Jesslyn turned hers over and grasped his warm palm.
    “I’m sorry,” she said for lack of anything better.
    “Why?”
    “Because while I know what I’m missing, you never even got the chance.” Pain shifted raw and angry in his eyes at her words.
    They sat there in the early morning light streaming through the skylights, the bustle of activity in the empty dining room around them, staring at each other.
    Jesslyn smiled again. “So how’s the weather?”
    His smile warmed her insides. “Did we just bond or something?”
    “God, that’s a scary thought.”
    “Tell me about it.” He waved his hand. “Sorry for bringing all that up. I’m not sure why I did.” Jesslyn shook her head. “Don’t worry about it.”
    “Can I ask another question?” He shifted and put his elbows up on the table.
    “Of course you can, doesn’t mean you’ll get an answer.”
    His eyes roamed over her face. “You’re very prickly.”
    She shrugged. “I know.”
    He opened his mouth then shut it again. Standing, he offered her his hand. “Come on, I’ll take you home so you can rest.”
    She didn’t move. “Maybe I’m not ready to leave yet.” The coffee smelled really good.
    Aiden sat back down.
    “I want to ask some questions,” she said. “You got to ply me, now I want to ply you.”
    A grin flickered near the edge of his mouth. “What do you want to ply?”
    She ignored him.
    “What do you want to know?”
    What did she want to know? “Are you always like this?”
    “Like what?”
    “Controlling, overbearing and just come in and take over. Rearrange things to your liking?”He steepled his fingers and studied her. “Is that how you see me?”
    Lowering her voice she mimicked. “An ulcer is nothing to mess around with. Shoes.
    Shoes. Shoes.”
    He chuckled, a low deep rumble that tossed her insides. “Guess you do.”
    “I bet you’re the first born.”
    He nodded.
    “Do you have a quirk?” Something to make him a bit more approachable.
    “Do you?” he asked.
    She grinned at him. “Hell, honey, I’ve got lots of quirks.”
    “Such as?”
     
     
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    “Colors.”
    He frowned. “How are colors quirks?”
    “Cause sometimes I think in colors.”
    He shook his head. “How does one think in colors?”
    She shrugged. “You know, like you see a person and think: They’re yellow. Or a song seems blue, or maybe pink.”
    Aiden leaned back up on the table, his gaze intent. “I’ve never heard that. You seriously think in colors?”
    She pursed her lips, watched as his eyes dropped to her mouth and quickly tucked them between her teeth. “Yeah. Okay, so I’m weird. It’s like listening to Beethoven and thinking of his Fifth with lots of reds and sharp blacks,