18 DESSERT

It was after five in the evening when she came up for air. She hadn't realized how fast time went when she got busy. She hurried to the bathroom for a shower and searched her wardrobe for an outfit. Most of her outfits were from magazines. She bought the whole outfit as it was and wore it as it was so it didn't take long to find everything that went together. Her only work was finding a matching pair of cuff bracelets.

She finished getting ready by six fifteen and had some juice since she realized she hadn't had anything for lunch. She got a call from Mr. Scott at exactly 6:30 and headed down in her warm pink mid thigh bodycon dress, black Toga Pulla slippers and a matching lightweight coat. She had chosen cuffs that looked like vines with pink flowers and a clutch that almost matched the cuffs in design. Most of the jewelry she designed were initially done to cover her scars and she had recently started designing with fashion in mind.

Joe was holding the building door open for her and she greeted him when she saw him. When she stepped out into the evening air she felt like someone was watching her, she came to a halt and started looking around.

"Are you OK Miss?" Joe came up beside her and looked around too.

"It's nothing, just had a weird feeling." She gave him a small smile and started walking toward the car. Joe opened the door for her and took out his phone as he closed it behind her. She couldn't hear much of what he was saying but it didn't sound like he was talking to Aidan so she relaxed into her seat. He got into the driver's seat a few moments later and drove off.

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Aidan lived in an exclusive building where the occupants were among the wealthiest in the country. He was living here temporarily while he was renovating his villa. Even though the building was expensive, most on the apartments where rarely occupied as the owners were usually travelers or had other houses to live in. It was in the center of the business district and mostly used for living there when the owners didn't want to commute too much.

As Aidan was busy doing last minute touch ups to the living room, the door bell suddenly rang. He ran to the mirror by the doorway to check himself out and took a deep breath to calm himself down.

When he opened the door, his breath hitched and he couldn't help but stare, it took hearing Joe clear his throat for him to realize he was in a daze and he quickly thanked him for bringing Toni over and let her in.

"You look beautiful Antonia." He took her coat and kissed her cheek.

"Thank you. You too." He couldn't help returning her smile. He was wearing a pair of navy blue chinos with a white golf shirt that seemed to cling to his every muscle. He hung her coat, took her hand and led her to the kitchen.

"I try."

"I meant handsome." She told him shyly, trying not to think of him naked. She couldn't figure out where these thoughts were coming from.

"Beautiful sounds better." He gave her a wink and led her to the table in the middle of his amazing white marble kitchen.

"I thought you might like some lamb chops, they were always my best dish."

"I just hope I won't get food poisoning." She gave him a little laugh at that.

"I promise you won't. This meal has my mother's seal of approval."

"I'm glad to hear that, she does make amazing cake."

"And she knows it."

He pulled out a chair for her and sat on the one next to it. They ate their meal and talked about random things. He asked her about her jewelry line and Claire and Tom. He knew those were safe topics and he didn't want her to close off on him again. After dinner they ate some of his mother's cake for dessert.

"You're a really good cook."

"Thank you."

"I love your mother's cake." He smiled at how innocent she looked right then.

"You can have the remainder of it and you can ask me if you want more."

He would take any reason for her to call him. They stood with their cups of tea and went into the living room. They sat next to each other on the sofa and Aidan couldn't help thinking of all the things they could do on it.

"Or I could ask her to teach me how to make it."

He was surprised at that; he didn't think she would approach his mother willingly.

"Oh? Have you kept in contact with her since the dinner." He gave a little laugh at that.

"No, but I will be cooking with her tomorrow."

Now Aidan was genuinely shocked. His mother hadn't told him of any such thing when he called her today.

"I thought you said you haven't kept in touch with her since the dinner?"

"She seems to keep in touch with Claire so she invited us both over tomorrow."

"That sounds like fun, can I come?" She gave him a nervous smile at that and he wondered if she wanted to keep him a secret. The thought upset him a bit even though he too wanted to keep her all to himself for now.

"I don't think so. They called it a girls' day or something of equal weirdness."

He couldn't help the laugh that came out; couldn't imagine why such a thing would seem weird to her. Surely, she must have done similar things as a teenager. His mother was practically a teenager and Claire seemed to be the same.

"I'm sure you'll have fun. Maybe I could see you after?"

"That sounds good."

He took their empty cups and placed them on the coffee table. Then he moved closer to her and looked into her eyes. He saw them turn dark with desire and he was elated to find that he wasn't the only one affected.

"Would you like me to kiss you Antonia?"

"Yes."