The Author and Her Bodyguard

Chapter 43

Heat sparked into Aiden's deep blue eyes and quickly caught, consuming everything in its path until all I could see were roaring flames melting the glaciers that normally filled his gaze. I leaned back, startled. I was going to burst into flames under that stare.

The timing would have been fantastic to prove my morphine-induced point if I burst into a pile of ash right before his eyes. Like a burst of colorful, "I told you so" confetti. He would have gotten a front-row visual representation of what his stupidly hot gaze did to the poor female heart. He induces flatlines with his freaking blue phoenix fire eyes.

I tried to yank the blanket back up over my face from where I sat in the hospital bed, but Aiden held it tight in his hand. "If it's not too much trouble, I'd like for you to look at me as I tell you this," he said gently.

My gaze bounced around the room for a moment until it finally landed on Aiden's face. His determined gaze made my heart start beating faster, forcing me to take several deep breaths when the heart monitor went wild for a moment. I HATE THAT THING!

"I like how honest you are, even when it leaves you with that look on your face that you have right now." A smile lit up his face, showcasing his dimples. It was such a unique moment that my breath hitched, as he looked at me from under his dusty dark lashes. My gosh it's even more powerful than his stare!

He ran his fingers through his raven black hair, smile disappearing. "But I haven't been as honest with you as you have been with me and that's not okay." My head spun. What was he talking about? I didn't think I could handle any more emotional turmoil. Not for a long, long time.

My voice was unsteady. "Aiden... you don't have to explain anything. Not right now anyway."

He shook his head. "I do. It's better that I tell you now." He shifted, looking uncomfortable, staring down at his hands for a moment before looking back up at me. "You asked me a question a month ago... A question that I blatantly lied about after you had been nothing but honest with me. And I'd like to fix that."

I stared at him, my mind too foggy to track down what conversation he was referring to. "You asked me if I regretted kissing you," he clarified.

I sucked in a breath. "Ohhhhhh." I nodded like that was the most obvious thing in the world, even though I had no clue what he wanted to change his answer to.

I was surprised to see Aiden's entire face turn bright red. The kind of bright red that I thought only I was capable of. "I'd... like to change my answer."

"To what? Yes?" I blurted like a moron who couldn't wait for the punch line of a joke so had to ruin it. Good going Laliana.

He shook his head, eyes dark, his lips quirking up in amusement as he turned the full power of those stupidly beautiful eyes on me again. "No. I don't regret kissing you Laliana Summers. And every moment since then, I have done nothing but regret my words. Regret letting you walk out that museum door believing a lie that should have never been expressed."

"Then why'd you say it?" I asked, trying to wrap my head around the idea that Aiden Dalton, very hot, very very hot, VERY VERY VERY HOT, Aiden Dalton, my hero, and protector didn't regret kissing me.

"Because I was scared. I knew that if I told you the truth... that I wanted to kiss you every moment of every day for the rest of my life, that I wouldn't be able to let you go... and that terrified me."

I stared up at him slack-jawed, my brain short-circuiting, giving my mouth full reign. "Well... that seems crazy. You can't possibly kiss me every moment of every day. When would you have time to breathe? It's not really practical unless you have gills. Which means we'd have to live underwater and I don't think I could pull off the mermaid look but you'd make a great—"