15 NOT READY TO SHARE HER

He turned to face her, then placed his hand on the small of her back and used the other one to tilt her chin and have easy access to her mouth. His mouth found hers. He found himself lost in that simple kiss. He didn't feel the elevator stop or hear the doors open. He just heard someone clearing his throat at which point he lifted his head and turned to find two of his workers standing outside the door. One had a smile on his face and the other was blushing to the roots of her hair. Antonia was bright red.

"Malcolm. Anna."

He knew most of his workers and greeted them by name whenever possible.

"Mr. Booth." They said in almost unison.

He didn't want to introduce Antonia to anyone here because his mother would find out faster than a speeding bullet and he wasn't ready to share her yet. He walked her out of the building to the car. Antonia greeted Joe as he opened the door and turned to him.

"Thank you for lunch Aidan. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Thank you for the company."

Before he could kiss her goodbye she hurried into the car and looked straight ahead. Aidan wanted to climb in with her and spend the rest of the afternoon kissing her but he let her keep her distance for now. He closed the car door for her and told Joe to take care of her.

Aidan was the happiest man on the planet that day. His meeting with Win came too soon while he was replaying his lunch date over and over in his head. He couldn't help the frown that appeared on his forehead when he remembered her reaction when he asked about her childhood. He was about to dial Joe and get him to dig deeper into her history when Win walked in.

"You look a little gloomy for someone who had a lunch date."

He replaced the receiver at Win's voice.

"The lunch went wonderfully." He gave him a very smug look.

"And so I hear. Kissing in the elevator already?"

"News sure travel fast." He grumbled.

"It sure does. I hear she was bright red and very adorable from what Anna says. Malcolm thinks she is smoking hot. I guess I should have seen her today, the image I have doesn't fit either of these descriptions." His laugh was interrupted by the intercom.

"Aidan, you have a call from Diane." He could hear the contempt in Ella's voice when she said the name.

"Why the hell is she calling me?"

"She says she needs to talk to you."

"Tell her I'm not in and that I left orders for her to never call here again."

"With pleasure."

"Still affects you huh?"

"No."

Aidan was annoyed that Diane would show up in his life when he was beginning to move on.

He and Win continued to work and finished by seven.

"Would you and Micah like to have dinner some weekend. I'd have to ask Toni if she's available first then get back to you with the details. I want you two to meet her."

"I'd love to. I'm sure Micah will be very excited to hear you have a lady love."

"Will call you about the details."

They each left the office for their homes. Joe was there to pick Aidan up.

"Where did you drop her off?"

"She wanted to go straight home sir. Alex says she never leaves her place unless she is with Claire."

"Never?" He sounded surprised by this. He didn't actually believe her when she said she doesn't go anywhere.

"Not so far. She gets a lot of deliveries form shops though, she probably does most of her shopping online."

"Thank Alex for me and tell him to continue keeping his eye on her."

"Will do sir."

"I need you to find out more about her past, especially her childhood. I've heard that she was once hospitalized after a mugging, find out more details about that too."

"Of course sir."

"Thank you Joe."

The rest of the ride to his apartment was quiet and filled with countless thoughts of Antonia and unwelcome thoughts of Diane. He couldn't understand what she wanted back in his life.