Free His Desire by Mary Eason Page A

stop.
    He turned the Rover around and headed back to his own neighborhood.
    As much as he would like to demand certain answers from her, he couldn’t.
    Kylie would never allow that. The truth was, his reaction to learning she wasn’t nearly as obsessed with him as he was with her had hit hard; harder than Aaron had ever allowed a woman to effect him before. She’d gotten way under his skin. She had become important to him and to be honest, he wasn’t sure when that had happened. It just seemed that he’d always cared about Kylie.
    Not that he was a bit surprised by her actions, only that she’d taken them this far. Kylie was always throwing obstacles in his way whenever she thought he was getting too close.
    Mariah was a prime example. A few days before he’d met Mariah at that damn party and Kylie had practically shoved her in his face, he’d come too close and she’d gotten scared.
    Aaron had found himself alone at her apartment with no intrusions, none of the friends she was constantly in the company of whenever he was around.
    That night there had just been the two of them and Kylie had let down her guard a little.
    It had all happened quite innocently. He’d taken her home from a party she’d invited him to. She’d been acting strangely all night long. Aaron believed she hadn’t really wanted to be alone. Over coffee, they’d talked while pretending to watch a movie. He couldn’t even remember the name of it because it hadn’t mattered. Kylie told him about her family. That was his first real glimpse into her past beyond a few joking remarks and of course the usual teasing that was always there between them.

    Aaron knew how hard she’d struggled, working her way through school and holding down two jobs until she could make her little business successful. He admired Kylie’s strength. Things had come too easily for him growing up with parents that were wealthy.
    Midway through the movie, they’d both fallen asleep. Aaron had woken in the middle of the night with Kylie in his arms. He hadn’t done the right thing then, just like he hadn’t the night they’d made love.
    His conscious had told him to leave. He hadn’t. Instead, he’d carried her to bed and spent the rest of the night in her arms. He’d never felt more comfortable with a woman even though nothing had happened.
    Kylie’s reaction the next morning to waking up in bed with him, even though they were both fully clothed had been total embarrassment. She’d all but rushed him out of the apartment with some excuse about work. She’d been pushing him away ever since that night.
    But he wasn’t prepared to let her keep pushing him away. Whether or not she wanted to admit it or not, the truth was, she’d wanted him just as much as he had wanted her. She just couldn’t get beyond that ridiculous
    ‘friendship only’ thing of hers enough to see that two people, especially two people that had the connection they had with each other could be lovers as well as friends.
    He had his work cut out for him. Aaron smiled as he parked the Rover in front of his house. That was okay. Somehow, the thought of changing Kylie’s mind was a tantalizing challenge. And he lived for challenges.

Chapter Seven
    “Hi.” Aaron’s voice came through the telephone line sounding anything but angry. Kylie could almost picture him smiling. “How about we call a truce and have dinner tonight?”
    “You’re not still angry with me?” Oh, for crying out loud. She sounded like a little girl trying to please her parent’s, Kylie thought pitifully.

    “I’m not angry with you. But we do need to talk. And I have a proposition to make to you.” The prospect of that sent knots in the pit of her stomach.
    “You do?” Geez, that little girl voice again.
    Aaron laughed. He apparently was finding all of her new humility amusing. “I do. Why don’t I pick you up at the apartment at seven and we’ll go someplace special.”
    She wanted to say yes. Shoot, she