An hour later, as Eden went through her evening routine with Aiden, she was still reeling from her hot encounters with his father.
"Ducky!" Her son screeched with excitement as he held up his bath toys and splashed water everywhere, and for a little while, Eden just watched him play, floored by the immense love she felt for him.
His father might be an asshole half the time, but he knew how to please her for sure, and it's only a matter of time before she crawled back to him, begging to be pleased like he was so convinced she will.
Mortified at the direction her thoughts were taking, She mentally shook herself, "No!"
She couldn't and shouldn't allow this thing between her and Liam to burn out of control like Clara warned her it would.
He's married, and he still hated her. However painful they were to accept, those two facts hadn't changed; no matter how intense his desire for her had grown over the past month.
It's true what
Eden had just gotten home and kicked off her shoes when her bell rang. She leaned on the door and groaned, annoyed with whoever was on the other side. She wasn't in the mood for company; the last thing she wanted was uninvited guests. What she did need though was a long bubble bath in her clawfoot tub, some peace and a good bottle of wine to drown her sorrows. Exactly what the doctor would order for the end of another week of terrible decisions and heartache. She wasn't destined to get either. The bell rang again, shattering any illusions of a peaceful evening she may have had. "Gosh!" She groaned as she straightened her back and turned to confront the intrusion. Ice cold fury seeped through her veins when she flung the flimsy door wide open and found her parents on her front porch with worried frowns on their faces and numerous gift bags in their hands. Of course, Eden thought as she leaned on the doorjamb and appraise
Across town, at a family-owned restaurant whose speciality is all things Italian, in a secluded corner booth reserved for very important people like his parents, Liam was just as miserable as the woman he'd kissed on impulse in the printing room earlier in the week. He was seriously glad his shitty week is finally over. Now he can drink himself to a stupor and forget all the shit with Eden. He glumly picked at his starter—a hearty minestrone soup— and silently fumed over their latest confrontation in his office. He'd called her in because he'd wanted to have an open, honest conversation with her about their relationship, and offer her an olive branch of some sort. But the minute Eden put up walls around her again, the same walls that took him over a month to break down, the lengthy apology speech he'd prepared flew right out of the window— "—Darling, is everything okay?" His mom’s voice cut through his thoughts, and Liam looked up from his soup, start
"If it isn't the Andersons! Aren't you all a sight for sore eyes!" Professor McBride's booming voice and hearty chuckle resounded through the room. As much as Liam didn't want to, he found himself looking up from his phone; the man's laugh was infectious, and he sounded genuinely pleased to see his parents. For the longest, confusing second of his life, Liam thought his eyes were playing tricks on him when they fell on Eden. This is new, he thought, blinking up at her. He scratched his head, baffled by this turn of events. He's been blind drunk before and saw double everything. Hell, some of his worst and best decisions were made whilst he was deep in the semi-comatose stages of inebriation. But seeing people, more specifically, the one woman whose touch set him ablaze and whose body he desired with a passion that terrified him, was certainly a new occurrence. "Liam!" His mom rammed him hard in his ribs with her elbow, jolting
Eden had never been so glad to see a jug of ice-cold water in her life. She attacked it the minute they all sat down in their VIP room, her body trembling with relief at the realisation that she's managed to avert disaster yet again. She couldn't keep having these close encounters and near misses, though. Her luck was bound to run out at some point, and it's only a matter of time before the truth about Aiden's paternity came to light. "You were in such a hurry to get away from the Andersons. Is there a reason you didn't want to dine with your boss and his family?" Steve asked, interrupting her panicked thoughts, a concerned look in his eyes as he patted her shoulder gently. Erica barely noticed the mini-crisis Eden's in. She was still floating on air, elated over the tons of compliments the Andersons had showered on them. "Honey?" Steve touched her arm gently, trying to get her attention. "What is it? Did Anderson Junior treat you badly? Do yo
Utterly astounded by her parents’ announcement Eden stared at them with complete shock etched on her face. Weren't they too old to separate? What did separate even mean? "You mean like a divorce?" She asked in a strangely alien voice; there's no way this thin, trill sound belonged to her. "Yes, honey," Erica reached for her hand to give her a reassuring squeeze. Eden snatched it away before she could. In that awfully thin voice she barely recognised, she carried on with her questions, "but why? Why are you doing this?" "We don't love each other," her Mom said calmly and dabbed her napkin on her lips before discarding it on the table beside her half-finished food. Eden laughed. At least that's what she wanted to do. But it came out more like a snort. "Don't love each other? Of course, you do. You've been married for twenty-six years. If that isn't love, I don't know what is." Sure, her parents were not shining examples o
Mystified by the last three minutes, Liam watched Eden dash off. One second she's crying buckets on his chest and the next she's babbling all kinds of strange things about Laura. He stared at the emergency exit she'd just slipped through, debating whether to follow her or not. She's clearly distraught, but as her least favourite person in the world at the moment he should just let her be. Shrugging his broad shoulders, Liam turned to the bar, where a bottle of something—cognac, maybe bourbon—with his name on it, waited for him. But he paused when panic stirred in the pit of his stomach, threatening to suffocate him. "Fucking hell," he groaned. She wouldn't. But this is Eden. Anything's possible with her, especially in the emotional state she's in. Without putting any more thought into it, Liam ran after her, bolting through the emergency exit and up the stairs. By the time he reached the rooftop, he was
"Why are you standing there?" "Just," Liam said and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Don't tell me you're afraid of heights?" Eden tilted her head slightly as she gawked at him. "I'm not!" He's definitely not afraid of heights, but if he came any closer, he didn't think he could stick to the boundaries she'd set. She'd made it very clear in his office he shouldn't kiss, touch or hold her in any way, and he's trying very hard to respect her wishes. So he stayed right where he was, rooted to his spot a few feet behind her. "Tsk tsk tsk," she laughed mockingly. "The mighty Mr Anderson is afraid of something." "I'm not afraid of anything!" Liam lied for the second time that evening. There's a lot he's terrified of, and Eden is high up there on the list. He was so afraid of losing his heart to her, terrified she'll take it and vanish again and leave him far worse off than he was when she disappeared two years ago.
The minute she was alone again on the rooftop, Eden burst into tears and cried harder than she has in a while, the howling wind and the constant stream of cars ten stories below drowning out her loud, heart-wrenching sobs. She'd told Liam she wanted to be alone, but the truth is she would gladly take his company any day over this feeling of aloneness gnawing at her heart. "Pull yourself together," Eden told herself over and over. But she couldn't. She didn't know how to. She's twenty-six, with a baby of her own, and her parents' divorce shouldn't affect her so much. But it did, and in ways she'd never have imagined or would ever wish on anyone. Maybe it was the suddenness of it all or the complete randomness, but her parents' announcement had devastated her world beyond measure and shattered all the illusions she'd had about love and relationships and family. Yes, her family was dysfunctional at the very least. But, there was a sense of safety