The Bridal Candidate 2 (Heart Connections) Read online

  “Yeah,” Both girls answered. Zoe clarified, “Phia got one for first place, but my team got a team-trophy. I’m the one who’s keeping it though cause I was the MVP.”

  “I can’t wait to see it.” Aiko smiled. “Did Daddy take you out to celebrate?”

  “Kind of.” Zoe shot her father a look before making a face. “He took us to Chez Amelia’s.”

  “Chez Amelia’s is a great place,” Damián protested.

  “Yeah.” His daughter rolled her eyes. “If you’re like eighty and have no life.”

  “I liked it.” Seraphina rose to Damián’s defense. “The burgers were really nice.”

  “What she said. Chez Amelia’s rocks. Hi five, Phia.” Damián held up a hand. Giggling, Seraphina high-fived him.

  Amusement dancing in her eyes, Aiko said, “Don’t worry, Zozo. The moment I get home I’m taking you somewhere cooler to celebrate.”

  “Yesss.” Zoe immediately lit up. “Cooler where?”

  The bubbly conversation continued for several more minutes before Damián sent the girls off so he and Aiko could speak in private.

  “So you’re not coming home tonight?” he asked once they had the tablet to themselves.

  “It’s better if I sleep here tonight.” Now that they were alone, the sparkle had faded in Aiko’s eyes replaced by seriousness. She explained, “It’s Linc’s first night here and with all this amnesia stuff, I don’t think it’s a good idea to leave him here alone.”

  Damián wanted to protest that Lincoln wasn’t alone. The man had Femi, Lewis, and the rest of the Vaughn family to watch over him. But Damián knew that his complaints would just seem churlish right now. Swallowing his protests, he asked, “Have you told him about us?”

  Aiko lowered her gaze. “No.”

  He was silent for a long moment before he asked, “Are you going to tell him about us?”

  “Of course,” she answered quickly as she brushed her fingers over her forehead. “Eventually. I’ve already told him about Seraphina though.”

  Was that supposed to make Damián feel better? Because it didn’t. All it told him was that she was more comfortable talking about her daughter than about their relationship.

  “Are you okay taking care of the girls alone tonight?” Aiko asked, in a very transparent attempt to change the subject.

  Damián reluctantly let her. “Of course. They’ve already had dinner so it’s just a matter of getting them into bed. I’m good.”

  “You just think you’re good.” She scoffed. “Wait until you try to make Zoe get off Instagram.”

  “Then I’ll just confiscate her phone.” He shrugged. “I bought it. I can take it away.”

  “Look who’s pulling the daddy card.” Aiko laughed.

  “If I don’t who will.”

  “Okay, General Dad. Calm down. We don’t want you-” Aiko suddenly turned. A few seconds later, Damián learnt why when he heard someone calling her name. She yelled out, “I’m coming. Give me a minute.” With a sigh, she turned back to Damián.

  “You have to go,” Damián said before she could.

  “Yeah,” she agreed with a sad smile. “I’m in charge of dinner.”

  “Okay, go feed them.” He asked, “You’ll be home tomorrow though, right?”

  “Yeah.” She nodded.

  “And you’ll call me if you need anything?”

  “I will.”

  “Goodnight,” he said. “I love you.”

  But Aiko didn’t even catch his words because her attention was on whoever was behind her. “It’s in the fridge.” When she turned back to the tablet, her eyes held a tinge of irritation. “I have to go. Bye, Damián.”

  And with that the screen went black. Feeling oddly disappointed, Damián sat back in his seat. Maybe the words ‘I love you’ weren’t much, but they would’ve made him feel a bit better about this situation.

  CHAPTER 5

  Some time before dawn the next morning Aiko woke to blazing lights and the sensation of a hard, male body behind hers. At first she thought she was home but then she blinked and realized that she was at her old apartment above the garage.

  What were she and Damián doing here? And why were all the lights on at- she glanced at the clock beside the bed - at five in the morning? She tried to turn to her side to ask him but found herself trapped tightly in the band that was his arm – his dark-skinned arm.

  Dark-skinned arm? What the hell? She jerked hard trying to dislodge the arm just as behind her the man muttered in a gruff voice, “Aiko?”

  She immediately recognized the voice. Lincoln. Her heart lurched in shock before her mind rushed to calm it with memories of yesterday. Femi calling, rushing home, finding Lincoln. Lincoln was really alive.

  She hadn’t planned to spend the whole night in here with him but the excitement of having him back had caught up to her. They’d spent most of the night talking about her life after he’d disappeared, Seraphina, her mother’s death, his mother’s remarriage… everything except Damián. Soon drowsiness had overtaken her and without conscious thought, she’d fallen asleep in Lincoln’s arms.

  “Are you awake?” he murmured as he pushed his nose into her hair, reminding her of his presence – and that he wasn’t Damian. Immediate guilt rushed through her. Even though they hadn’t made love, it still felt like a betrayal to Damián to have been this close to another man.

  Tamping down on that guilt, Aiko plastered a smile on her face then turned to Lincoln. “I am. Good morning.”

  Today’s Lincoln was markedly different from the previous day’s Lincoln. The beard was completely gone making the hollows in his cheeks even more pronounced, and he’d cut off the ‘dreadlocks’ to leave a buzz cut. Despite the early hour he looked suspiciously bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

  “Good morning.” He leaned over to kiss her but she turned her face in time and his lips touched her cheek instead.

  “Did you even sleep?” she asked as she dislodged herself from his arms and sat up.

  “A little.” He rubbed his eyes and smiled. When he noted her grabbing her phone and car keys, he asked, “It’s just five. Where are you going?”

  If she told him she wasn’t comfortable being in the bed with him, the conversation would inevitably lead to Damián – and she wasn’t ready to have that conversation yet. Quickly scrambling for a quick excuse, she said, “Femi’s about to start the day’s baking and I need to help her.”

  “Oh.” Lincoln sat up. “I’ll come with you.”

  “No, don’t.” She stayed him with a hand on his chest. “You’re our guest. Plus you need to get some sleep.”

  It took a little more convincing but eventually Lincoln agreed to stay in the room. Cold air smacked Aiko the moment she exited the apartment. She stopped at the landing to switch on her phone. As soon as she did, she received notification that Damián had tried to call her last night. She thought of calling him but decided that it was way too early to call. But it wasn’t too early to visit.

  Throwing a tentative glance at the door, she descended the stairs. Instead of turning right at the bottom and heading to the door leading into the garage, she strode towards her car. Due to the earliness of the hour the roads were practically deserted, and it took her barely fifteen minutes to get home. As soon as she cruised into the estate she noted that all the lights on the first floor were off. That was no surprise since Damián and the kids liked to sleep in on Saturdays. Aiko circled the fountain to park in front of the garage before exiting her car.

  Queenie, their pint-sized Maltese, met Aiko at the foyer with a happy bark and excited wagging of her tail. Moments later, their chef, Major exited the kitchen to greet her. “Morning, Ma’am.”

  “Morning.” Aiko greeted with a smile. “Why are you up so early?”

  “Don’t you remember?” the dreadlocked chef answered. “I have the event at my mom’s today.”

  “Oh, yeah. Sorry, I completely forgot.” Aiko gave herself a mental head slap. “It was a long day y
esterday.”

  “It’s okay,” Major said. “I just wanted to make sure I left something for you.”

  “You didn’t have to do that. I could’ve cooked.” Aiko offered him a grateful smile. “But thank you.”

  After bidding the chef a good day, Aiko took the stairs one at a time, turned right at the landing then crossed the hallway to stop in front of their bedroom. Trying to be quiet as possible, she pushed the door open to find the large room cloaked in darkness. As soon as she entered the room she heard Damián’s even and heavy breaths. But it was only after her eyes adjusted to the darkness that she saw him lying on his side of the bed with his body turned towards the large windows.

  Careful not to wake him, she discarded her jacket then stole towards the bed and lifted the covers. The mattress depressed slightly as she slipped in beside him. She scooted closer to him only to find him completely naked. Smiling, she curved her body along the his back and slung her arm over his waist.

  Her movements must’ve awoken him because his breath hitched then a moment later he mumbled, “Aiko?”

  “Hmm?” She buried her nose into his back, loving his warm masculine scent and the way his hard muscles rippled against her softer curves.

  “Hey.” He greeted as he turned in her arms then gathered her into his.

  “Hey.” She wove her leg between his, set her palm on his chest over his beating heart and buried her face into the crook of his neck. “Sorry I woke you.”

  “I’m glad you did.” Soothing his hands over her back, he pressed his lips to her forehead “I thought you were coming back in the evening.”

  “I was, but I missed you.” And she had. She’d missed this. She’d missed him. Despite Lincoln’s return, Damián’s arms still felt like home and it felt right to be with him.

  She felt his lips curve into a smile against her skin. “I missed you too.”

  They lay silent for some time luxuriating in each other’s arms in the darkness. But after a while the inevitable happened, she felt him stir against her thigh. Her body responded in kind, warming as desire trickled in. Before she knew it she was hiking her leg upwards, the better to caress his burgeoning cock.

  “Aiko,” he groaned before using his fingers to tilt her face upwards. Their lips met in a delicious kiss that heightened the heat flowing within her. With his lips, he waltzed her into a soul-deep kiss and submerged her mind into a whirlpool of desire. To distract her, she realized when the hand he had on her back crawled down her body until he was cupping her ass over her dress and pressing her deeper into him.

  “Mmm,” she moaned when he suddenly shifted her until she was completely over him, her breasts pressing into the hard planes of his naked chest and her thighs straddling his lower body. With a firm tug, he yanked her dress to her waist so she was pressed even more intimately against him. Delicious.

  She whimpered low in her throat as she clung to his shoulders and ground her still clothed pussy over his bare and very hard manhood. It was enough to draw an animal-like groan from Damián. Not to be outdone, Damián deepened the kiss, swooping in and twisting his tongue against hers in a frantic dance that had her panting. It was almost as if he was trying to inhale her.

  By the time he brought his hand to her zipper and started to draw it down, she was almost at the point of no return. Almost. Then Lincoln’s face flashed through her thoughts along with an image of the kiss they’d shared, and the weight of her guilt strangled her desire.

  “Wait. Wait,” she gasped as tore her mouth from his. Sucking in deep gasping breaths, he slipped from his arms to sit up on the bed.

  He shifted slightly beside her and a moment later the lamp on his side of the bed came on. She found him watching her with a puzzled expression. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. I just. I just-” She didn’t know how to explain the shame and guilt that were eating at her. “I only came by for a few minutes to check on you. I have to go back.”

  “That’s not a problem.” A smile lit up his face as he reached for her. “I only need a few minutes to-”

  “Damián, No.” She pulled her arm back to avoid his touch. “I – I can’t.”

  He watched her for a few seconds before lifting up to sitting position. “Aiko, what’s going on?”

  “Nothing’s going on. I just have to go and help Femi with the baking then-” She started to rise from the bed but Damián stopped her with a firm grab of the back of her upper arm.

  “Aiko.” He shifted closer until she felt the heat of his body behind her. “What’s wrong?”

  She bent her head and stared at her bare feet.

  “Is this about him?” Damián asked quietly behind her.

  She started to shake her head but realized that that would be lying. Through suddenly dry lips, she confessed, “Lincoln kissed me.”

  She could’ve sworn that the air immediately crackled with tension. She stiffened expectantly, waiting for Damián to explode but only silence met her. When that silence became too much, she turned her head to sneak a glance at him and found him watching her with a blank look in his eyes and his lips drawn in a tight line. If she didn’t know him better she would’ve mistaken the look for impassivity, but by now she knew that that was his go-to look when trying to hide explosive emotions.

  When he finally spoke it was to say, “I see.”

  “He caught me completely by surprise.” This time she turned completely to face him, setting one bent leg on the bed. “I know that’s no excuse but I swear it meant nothing at all, and I made sure it didn’t happen again.”

  Another long moment of silence then Damián asked, “Did you kiss him back?”

  She wanted to lie. She should’ve lied. Instead she lowered her eyes. It was answer enough for Damián.

  “I see.” Pulling in a deep breath, he lay back against the headboard and closed his eyes.

  Reaching forward to set her palm on his wrist, she said, “I just got caught up in the moment, in the shock. It was just that once though. I made sure nothing else happened, and I kept my distance from him while we slept.”

  Damián’s eyes popped open. “What does that mean? You kept your distance from him when you slept?”

  Shoot. She hadn’t even realized that that confession had slipped out.

  His eyes narrow with suspicion, he asked, “You slept in the same bed as him?”

  Aiko ran her tongue along her dry lips before nodding.

  “Are you kidding me?” he roared. “Aiko!”

  “I’m sorry, baby. It’s just that – It’s -. You should’ve seen how he looked. I just- I couldn’t- Nothing happened though-” Where were words when you needed them? How could she explain to Damián how hard it was to deny Lincoln everything after all he’d been through, after all he’d done for her? So she stopped speaking.

  The room descended into a tense silence that could’ve cut steel. The air between them was hot with Damián’s anger that she felt like she was burning. But she knew that his anger was justified. What man or woman would be celebrating the fact that their partner had kissed their ex then spent the night in the same bed with said ex? Aiko’s whole body tensed as she waited for Damián to go off on her.

  He surprised her with his even tone when he murmured, “You need to tell him about us.”

  “I will. I will.” The words poured from her lips in a rush. “I promise. I just have to find the right time.”

  “Okay.” He nodded curtly.

  She watched him for a moment before crawling up the bed and touching her lips to his softly in a short kiss. “Thank you for not being angry with me.”

  “Oh, I’m angry as hell. But I can also understand how it happened.” He sighed deeply before drawing her half over him. Curling his arm around her waist. “You had a hard day yesterday. I figure you deserve at least one break.”

  “Thank you.” Squeezing his waist, she looked up to meet his eyes. “What did I ever do to deserve you? You’re such a good man.”

  He watched her
for a long solemn moment before saying, “Yes, I am.”

  If he was trying to shame her for forgetting that fact for those few moment in Lincoln’s arms, then he’d succeeded. Aiko’s gaze slid away from his as shame washed over her. Damián’s stare burned into her lowered face for a long moment before he sighed and urged her closer to him. She came willingly, setting her head back on his shoulder and her palm on his chest.

  They lay in each other’s arms for a while, just listening to each other breathing, each lost in their own thoughts. Unfortunately, reality had a way of disrupting the most tranquil of moments. Dawn’s bright rays pierced through the heavy drapes reminding Aiko that she wasn’t supposed to be here.

  Drawing in a heavy breath, Aiko lifted from Damián’s arms. “I have to go back.”

  His brow furrowed as disappointment flooded his eyes. “Right now?”

  “Yeah.” She lifted from the bed. “I didn’t tell anyone I was leaving, and they’re probably looking for me.”

  “But you’ll still come back in the evening?” There was a hopeful note in his voice as he watched her put on her jacket.

  “Mm hmm.” She nodded, patting her pockets to make sure her phone was still there. “I think I’ll just take Phia with me right now though, so she can meet Lincoln.”

  There a short pause then Damián asked, “Will I be allowed to meet him?”

  Her heart jumped at the question. Somehow she managed to keep her voice even as she said, “Of course. When the time is right.”

  “Hopefully, that will be soon.”

  HOPEFULLY THAT WILL be soon. Damián’s last words played on Aiko’s thoughts as she strapped Seraphina into her car-seat. Though she knew that a meeting between her two loves was inevitable, the thought was enough to send anxiety threading up and down her spine. How could she not be nervous? This wasn’t a position she’d ever envisioned being in, and she didn’t want to be in it. Everything in her was screaming for her to postpone it for as long as possible.

  “Mommy?” Seraphina drew her attention. The little girl’s eyes were still shadowed with sleep. “Where are we going?”