Hot Christmas Nights by Farrah Rochon Page A

and groaned up at the ceiling. “You weren’t unfaithful. It was one kiss, Nyla.”
    “It was more than just a kiss,” she whispered. “We both know that. If I hadn’t stopped us...”
    An instant ache settled in his groin at the mention of that night. The memory of how close they had come to finally sleeping together was one he’d had to endure much too often these past three years.
    It hadn’t been just about sex. He wasn’t the renowned ladies’ man his brother had been, but getting sex had never been a problem. It had been all about Nyla, about being with her in the most elemental way. They had been connected on an emotional level for months leading up to that night. He’d needed that physical connection.
    “Does this mean we’re finally tackling the eight-hundred-pound gorilla?” Aiden asked.
    She blew out a deep breath and dropped her forehead to her knees. “Please, Aiden. This is awkward enough as it is. Bringing that up will only complicate things.”
    “Maybe it would do the exact opposite. You ever consider that? We’ve been tiptoeing around this ever since I found you on Facebook, Nyla. Think of how much simpler things would be if we just got everything out in the open.”
    His skin tingled with expectancy as he waited for her response.
    “You should try to get some sleep,” she said. “You’ve had a long day and we have a lot to see tomorrow.” She clicked off the bedside lamp and huddled back under the covers. She turned on her side, facing the opposite wall.
    Aiden ran both hands down his face. He stared at her stiff form, highlighted by the moonlight streaming through the window.
    Everything within him was clamoring for him to press her about this. The only reason he hadn’t brought it up in the past few months was that she could have simply stopped responding to him on Facebook. But she was here now. They could finally hash everything out, face-to-face.
    But he couldn’t do it. Not yet. She would only clam up and go back to blaming herself.
    Shaking his head, Aiden trudged over to his bed and slipped under the covers.
    “Good night, Nyla,” he whispered into the stillness.
    After several weighty moments, she answered, “Good night, Aiden.”
    He turned onto his back and stared up at the ceiling, knowing sleep wasn’t about to come his way, not with Nyla lying just a few feet away from him. After several minutes passed he heard a slight snore coming from her side of the room, and couldn’t help the smile the sound brought to his lips.
    What he wouldn’t give to crawl into that bed with her. To wrap his arms around her, pull her against him, feel the rhythm of her breaths as she slept soundly. He wanted to wake her up in the middle of the night and make love to her, the way he’d dreamed of doing for years. He wanted to keep her in this hotel room for the next two days and show her just how much they belonged together.
    Instead Aiden turned onto his side and stared at the few snowflakes still falling softly outside the window. It wasn’t his ideal scenario, but at least he had this time with her right now. He would take what he could get.

Chapter 4
    A iden tried his best to maintain a stoic expression as he placed his knuckle underneath his chin and stared off into the distance.
    “Would you stop it already?”
    He looked over at Nyla, who’d plopped the hand that wasn’t holding the camera onto her hip.
    “What? You don’t like my ‘thoughtful’ pose?” He gestured to the stone columns of the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina in the Roman Forum. “I’m channeling all the great minds that used to walk around this place. Can’t you see me and my man Julius Caesar shooting the breeze over a couple of beers?”
    Nyla just stared at him, her face the picture of weary impatience, though her grin ruined it. It was the first smile he’d managed to extract from her today.
    After the chilly atmosphere that had encompassed their hotel room this morning, even that small glimpse