The Author and Her Bodyguard

Chapter 14

I turned to look at Aiden with a raised brow. "I take it you two are close?" I couldn't keep the grin off my face. "Come here all the time?"

He didn't look at me, his glued to the place where the woman had disappeared. "I don't. That's probably why she reacted so strongly." He sighed looking uneasy. "I should make an effort." He shoved his hands into his beautifully pressed dress pants pockets.

"Well, let me fall down in a few more alley's and I'm sure I'll be back very soon," I replied with an encouraging smile.

He gave me a side-eyed glance. "You and I both know that falling in an alley was the least of your problems that night."

I crossed my arms. "Woah, what happened to having a nice day? You've been crabby ever since I told you I needed to come—"

"That should be fixed in a few hours," the woman replied as she came back into view.

I sighed with relief. "Thank you so much!"

"Of course!" She walked around the counter and handed me a pickup ticket stub. Then she turned to Aiden. "Now about what happened—"

"She—" Aiden responded in an attempt to defend himself.

"Do not interrupt your mother," she responded with her hands on her hips.

MOTHER? Oh, this makes more sense.

She shook her head and clicked her tongue in disapproval. "Goodness me, if your father had just seen that, you would have been punished to no end."

Aiden snapped his mouth shut and lowered his head.

"It wasn't his fault," I replied.

She turned and leveled me with a mother's hard stare. The kind that silenced you and made you suddenly believe that every argument you've ever concocted was utterly useless. "Did this happen on his watch?"

Aiden offered me an apologetic look. One that made him look so utterly human and so relatably normal that I had to work to keep the smile off my face. I cleared my throat. "Yes."

"Then it was his fault," She responded with a gentle poke on his chest. "I love you dear, but if you can't keep this clever one from falling all over yourself you may need to think of a career change."

Aiden smiled and held up his arms in defense. "I yield!" He laughed, his face lighting up. "I will do better mom, I promise." He leaned down and whispered loudly in her ear. "She has proven to be a very tricky one to keep track of."

His mother glanced in my direction, suddenly curious. "Is that so? What do you do dear if you don't mind me asking."

I blushed, and looked down, overwhelmed by the warm care Aiden's mom seemed to have for complete strangers well being. "I'm a writer," I managed after a moment.

I heard her burst into laughter before she took my hands in hers. Her blue eyes twinkled with amusement. "Oh my dear, if my son can't keep track of a writer, then he is truly in the wrong line of work."

Aiden walked up to us, looking 'me level' flustered, and gently placed his hands on my shoulders. The sudden feeling of his hands on my shirt, sent chills down my spine. I could feel the warmth radiating off of his body behind me, the strong fingers only a thin cotton blend piece of material away from my skin. Oh my gosh, please don't let his mother see how this is affecting me.

"I will think about a career change," Aiden said, his deep voice a breath away from me. "In the meantime, Ms. Summers has an appointment at a bookstore."

I managed an awkward nod. "It was nice to meet you..."

"Katherine. Katherine Dalton."

She gave my hands a warm squeeze, sending a feeling of home. A feeling that was so rare that I was forcing tears away and tucking the feeling into my heart to enjoy for as long as I could remember what that tenderness felt like.