Page 43 of Aiden & Lily

“I know.”

“And you kept letting me call you Christopher. You let me believe you were a cowboy.”

His jaw tightened. “I shouldn’t have done that to you.”

Lily folded her arms, needing the barrier between them. “Then don’t stand there and act like this was one harmless misunderstanding.”

“I’m not.” His voice roughened. “I made a choice every time I didn’t correct you. A bad choice at that.”

That was closer to what she needed from him. Not enough. But closer.

Aiden swallowed hard. “There’s more.”

She stiffened, waiting for the final shoe to drop.

“Mathew is my best friend.”

She blinked. “What?”

He swallowed hard and inched closer to her. “I didn’t know you were his cousin when we met. But Mathew and I work together at the hospital.”

“And?”

Aiden closed his eyes like what he was about to say would be difficult. “He has rules. He doesn’t want me dating anyone in his family.”

She stared at him, dumbfounded. Then she barked out a laugh. “What?”

Aiden’s face turned an adorable shade of red. “I guess he doesn’t think I’m good enough… or maybe he just doesn’t want the drama being brought to work. I don’t know. I used to joke that I’d get Penny to date me one day. It was fun joking around with him until…” He closed his eyes briefly. Then, when he opened them, he closed the distance between them and reached for her hands. “Until there was someone worth breaking all the rules for.”

She sucked in a surprised breath.

“Lily, I found out you were his cousin, and the guilt tore into me. I knew I needed to cut things off with you. Or tell Mathew. I needed to do something, but I couldn’t find a way that wouldn’t end up causing pain.” His voice was hoarse, full of so much emotion that it nearly brought tears to her eyes. “Even though it was early, I knew I couldn’t lose you.”

Lily looked away, pressing her lips together. “Mathew can be a real idiot sometimes. I’m going to give him a piece of my?—”

Panic flooded Aiden’s eyes, and his fingers tightened around hers before he seemed to catch himself. “Don’t say anything, please. I think he was coming from a good place when he made those rules.”

Her frown deepened. “How can you say that? You’re a good man. Any girl would be lucky to have you.”

He offered her a pained smile. “At the time, I wasn’t exactly interested in settling down with one girl. Remember what I said? I didn’t normally do relationships. It made sense for Mathew to tell me to steer clear of you—or anyone he cared about, for that matter. He knew what I was like.”

“But… you’re not like that anymore,” Lily hedged.

She immediately wished she hadn’t said it quite that way. She believed Aiden cared for her. She believed he wanted this relationship to continue. But she had also believed she knew his name.

There was no one else for her. She felt certain of that. Still, her certainty felt more fragile than it had an hour ago.

He shook his head. “I don’t want to be like that anymore. Not with you.”

Her heart softened, though the hurt didn’t disappear.

Aiden blew out a sigh. “So that’s why I try to avoid town when I’m with you. I didn’t want any news to get to Mathew. And as for keeping you away from my brother?” He flushed a deep crimson color—one that almost made her laugh. “Well, you saw him. He’s just so…”

“Charismatic?”

“That’s one word for it,” he grumbled. “See? Not even you were immune to his charm.”

Lily reached up and placed a hand to his cheek. “I’m not interested in Parker.”