Chasing His Rejected Wife
Chapter 57 -

Jessica

We had arrived in the middle of a presidential campaign rally in Texas, so hotels and Airbnb's were fully booked, including the one where we were staying. So, when the hotel messed up our booking, what should have been a simple rectification became very complicated as all available rooms on the executive floor had been snapped up.

Aiden had gotten on the phone with Fletcher to fix the problem, but even the highly efficient assistant couldn't do much until the next day when the rally ended and most people would be gone.

So, much to my dismay, we were stuck with the single-room suite for the night.

It shouldn't be too bad, I tried to reassure myself as I slowly walked around, checking the place out. Fortunately, while the sofa looked too short for Aiden, it was just right for me and looked comfortable enough to manage for the time being. I sat down on it to test and sure enough, it felt soft and cushy to serve my purpose. Aiden had gone into the bedroom to freshen up, but I could hear his footsteps heading this way.

"I can sleep on the sofa," I told him when he came back into the room. He'd discarded his jacket and tie, his hair slightly ruffled and he still looked pissed off. I patted the cushions and forced myself to say brightly, "It looks comfy, I can order for some extra bedding and it'll do quite nicely."

His critical gaze shifted from me to the sofa, his eyes narrowed in displeasure and he replied in a voice that brooked no argument. "You'll take the bed."

As though the matter was settled as far as he was concerned, he picked up the remote and turned on the TV, which was showing a live broadcast of the presidential rally. He scowled and changed the channel then settled into an armchair. I decided to try to convince him of my way of thinking.

"You obviously can't sleep on this," I said, giving the cushions another pat. "It's too short for you, but perfectly fine for me."

He looked away from the screen, his eyes dark and unfathomable. I wished I could tell what was going through his mind at the moment. "I'll take the floor then. The rug looks fine and thick, so that's fine, a bit of extra blankets should do the trick. You need to rest well for tomorrow, so the bed is yours."

I opened my mouth to argue, but a knock sounded on the door. Aiden went to answer it and the Concierge stood on the other side, holding a beautifully wrapped gift basket.

"Apologies for bothering you, Mr. Brown. But please accept this token of our sincere apology." He brandished the basket with a flourish. "We are also offering a complimentary dinner and breakfast, so please do not hesitate to place your orders when you're ready."

Aiden hesitated for a moment and I got the sense that he wasn't in the mood to play nice. I quickly hurried to the door, wedging myself next to him and accepted the basket with a wide smile.

"Thank you, we really appreciate the effort," I said graciously. I almost dropped the basket; it was so heavy. Beside me, Aiden made a sound of disagreement and I nudged him subtly with my elbow and shoved the basket into his arms. "Could you put this on the table please?" I asked mildly, he looked down at me and I raised an eyebrow, silently telling him to please, behave nicely. He grunted grumpily - why did I replace it so adorable? - and went to do as I asked. The Concierge gave me a relieved smile and bowed. "Thank you, Mrs. Brown. Please rest assured that we are doing all we can to rectify the issue."

"That's fine," I replied. "Thanks."

He left after another round of apology and I shut the door, looking around for Aiden. I found him on the balcony, leaning against the railing as he made a phone call. Leaving him to it, I went to check out the gift basket. To my delight, it was a veritable collection of goodies - delicious fruits, chocolates, and cookies, including healthy and vegan options. I ignored the healthy stuff and went straight for a box of Hershey's Kisses, then wandered into the bedroom, planning to take a shower.

The bed was an extra-large king, big enough for three grown adults to sleep on without crowding each other. I stared at it for several seconds, got an idea, and quickly discarded it before it could take root, blushing a deep red. I forced my gaze away and entered the bathroom and decided to take a shower. Afterward, with my hair and body wrapped in fluffy terry robes, I walked back into the room only to screech to a halt, my eyes widening.

Sometime while I was in the bathroom, Aiden came into the room. He stood near the windows with his back to me. As I watched, transfixed, he shrugged off his shirt and I almost aspirated there and then. Yet, my greedy eyes ran all over the sight, at the way his broad shoulders tapered down to a well-defined waist. As though showing off for my benefit, he flexed, toned muscles moving smoothly beneath the smooth expanse of skin, sculpted by a strict exercise regime and good genes.

Then I noticed the tattoo on his upper back and my senses basically shut down and I gawked at the image of an eagle, its wings spanning past his shoulder blades in intricate detail, a wreath of thorns floating over its proud head. It was unexpected. It was breathtakingly beautiful.

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I had never seen it before. Matter of fact, I had never seen my husband without his shirt all the way off. That night in the study didn't count. Did it?

Until now, I had always assumed that Aiden wasn't the sort to get tattoos - too straight-laced for that sort of thing, but here I was being proven wrong.

My pulse quickened and despite my recent shower, the room felt incredibly hot and my skin suddenly felt too sensitive, too tight.

Desire flooded my bloodstream, slow and heated like lava, setting ablaze in the pit of my stomach, my mouth suddenly felt dry and my lips parted and to my horror, a small sound that was between a squeak and a moan escaped. Aiden, alerted to my presence, went still for a beat, and then, while I was melting into the ground in mortification, he slowly turned around and I forgot to be embarrassed as I was treated to a glorious, full frontal view of his chest.

If I had thought his back looked incredible, his chest was, for lack of a better word, magnificent. He obviously followed some sort of fitness regimen, going by the perfectly sculpted pecs and washboard abs that could give any male model a run for their money. Unwittingly, my eyes strayed down to the light dusting of dark hair that narrowed down from his pecs into a happy trail that disappeared into the waistband of his pants.

I wanted to know where it ended.

Sadly, at the moment, Aiden pulled on a fresh, loose t-shirt, hiding all that magnificence. "Sorry, I thought you'd be in the bathroom for longer, so I thought I'd quickly change into something more comfortable."

It took several tries to get my mushy brain to come up with something intelligible to say. "No, no, it's fine, umm...I was just...it's fine."

Was that amusement that just flitted across his face right now? I couldn't be sure because it had been a fleeting change, gone before I could fully register the emotion. Certain that I must be beet red by now, I picked up my skincare bag and crossed to the mirror, trying to pretend his presence didn't leave me feeling unbalanced.

However, I continued to steal surreptitious glances through the mirror as he rifled through his bag. When he finally left the room, I groaned and buried my head in my arms.

This was going to be torture. In all the times that we had been together, Aiden and I had never had to deal with each other in such close proximity for extended periods like this and I didn't know how to deal with my body's reaction to his presence. I felt like I was walking on pins and needles, hyper-aware of everything he did, every move he made and it stirred me up, left me feeling too heated, too wound up, too sexually aware of him.

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I raised my head and studied myself in the mirror. As I suspected, I looked flushed, my pupils were slightly dilated and I looked exactly how I felt.

Horny.

I groaned again and pressed my hands to my heated cheeks, silently willing myself to calm down.

"It's just a side effect of the pregnancy hormones," I whispered. "It's not what you really want, it's just your brain trying to trick you into releasing feel-good endorphins."

I repeated those words over and over until I calmed down a little. Unwilling to risk triggering another horny moment, I stayed put in the bedroom, crawled into the bed, and spent the next hour scrolling through social media, until I fell asleep. When I woke up, it was way past noon and the sun had already begun to set and I was hungry. I climbed out of bed and got dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, then headed to the sitting room. Aiden was seated at the dining table, his laptop open before him and he was engrossed in work.

He had a scowl on his face and the glasses he only wore when his headaches bothered him too much and my traitorous heart skipped a beat at how good he looked in them. I shook my head to clear my wayward thoughts and softly cleared my throat to get his attention.

He looked up and squinted at me for a moment, then took off his glasses. "You're up."

"Yeah," I confirmed then gestured at the laptop. "Have you been working all this while?"

"I guess so." He sighed and reclined on the chair, and pinched the corners of his eyes. I noticed how tense and exhausted he looked and felt a ping of worry for him. "Are you hungry?"

"I am." I was also thirsty so I brushed past him to get some water.

He stretched and grimaced as stiff muscles protested then closed his laptop and stood up. "I'll order for dinner, what would you like to eat?"

I thought for a moment, cradling the glass of water in my hands as I stared at the view through the window. Then I turned to ask before my courage failed me. "Would you like to go out with me?"