Something So Unexpected

Chapter 8

Jamie’s POV

I sat down and buckled up. Looking around the Mercedes, it was quite nice. A black leather interior with heated seats and a sound system that played what I could only describe as probably what luxury sounded like. Aiden joined me, buckling up.

As soon as he closed the door, the smell of rainstorms and raspberries permeated throughout the car. It was more subtle in the diner, but because we were in an enclosed space, it seemed all I could smell was him. I wasn’t complaining, mind you. He smelled fantastic. He glanced my way and smiled, which caused the butterflies in my stomach to take off. I got a little nervous under his piercing stare, like he couldn’t get enough of me. I looked down, breaking eye contact and fidgeting with the hem of my sweater.

He looked forward as he shifted the car into drive and pulled off, I couldn’t help but feel like there were eyes on me. Lately I’ve been feeling this more. Especially when I’m at the diner.

We started driving north, away from the city. I was very curious where he made reservations. Aiden started making small talk with me, first asking about my family. I had explained briefly about my mom passing away and it being just me and Jillian for a while.

“So the niece you were watching this morning at the park is Jillian’s daughter?” he asked. I liked that he seemed to remember little things about me. He didn’t just remember that I was there with a child, but how she is related to me and even her gender.

“Yeah, my niece’s name is Bella and she’s two. Jillian got pregnant while she was in college. We solved it together and created a schedule that works for us. I work nights and take care of Bella in the mornings while her mom works. Jillian are the two most important people in the world to me. Besides Jillian and Bella, I really don’t have anyone else that I call family,” I explained. I realized I started to say a bit more than I intended, but Aiden is really easy to open up to. He makes me feel very comfortable. When I had mentioned that I didn’t have anyone else to rely on, I heard a deep noise coming from Aiden, but he cleared his throat. I decided to flip it around on him a bit and have him open up. “Tell me about your family.”

“My mom and dad live at the p- ahh, live in my neighborhood. We’re fairly close. And I have a younger sister too. She’s 17.”

“I’ve been wondering, what do you do for a living?” I asked, looking around the car that I felt so out of place in. Since Jillian and I were always tight on money, we didn’t really have much for assets. We shared a car, a little Honda that was reliable to get us to and from work.

“My friend and I started a tech company. It’s done pretty well the last few years. Are you familiar with Digital Guardian?” He asked, glancing over at me? My mouth hung open. I definitely knew about Digital Guardian.

They were an up and coming business that I wished I had money to put into their stocks. The business seemingly came out of nowhere developing state of the art technology. There were high definition cameras on motion sensors, alarms, and other security tools that I was super interested in. We had looked at getting some items for our apartment, but never had the extra money to put towards it, unfortunately.

I regained my composure, closing my mouth and looking at him, disbelief still evident in my face. “Very familiar. They have excellent reviews, definitely one of the best.” Aiden grinned, pride in his product evident. I realized that though this was a date, we hadn’t actually touched yet and the thought crossed my mind that I wanted to, as smoothly as possible, try to hold his hand. Jillian was always better at these sorts of interactions. To me, it just felt… well, about how you’d expect a first date to go. Definitely a bit of awkwardness.

I bit my lip in anticipation as I slid my hand away from the hem of my sweater and towards his hand, which was on the stick shift. I slid my hand a bit closer. Just before I could touch the back of his hand, he looked over at me and chuckled. I must have looked really silly over here with my hand hovering in mid air building the courage to touch him. He put me out of my misery and took his hand off of the stick shift and placed it on my hand gently.

That sensation was back. The one that kind of feels like a shock, but nice. It’s tingly, like a smooth humming sensation across my skin. Almost like… sparks. My inner voice, which seemed to be more active today, contentedly hummed along with the tingles. MMM. If I didn’t know any better, I could almost feel a smile in the corner of my mind.

I looked down at his hand on mine. He was rubbing small circles on the back of my hand with his thumb. Everywhere he touched, the tingles appeared. It was very soothing. I’ve never had this happen before, but I liked it. I smiled to myself, still looking at our hands together.

We continued to get to know each other, as he continued driving away from civilization. After another twenty minutes, Aiden pulled to a stop by a large lake. The view was breathtaking. The sun was starting to fall. It was almost six o’clock.

“I thought we had reservations?” I asked, curiosity lining my voice.

Aiden smiled, walking to the trunk. “We do. These reservations are hard to get, but I know a guy!” he said with a laugh, and I looked at him, curiosity deepening. He pulled a picnic basket out of the trunk with a navy blue blanket. I smiled at the gesture. Growing up not having much, it doesn’t take fancy bells and whistles to impress me. The picnic by the lake was definitely a cute date idea.

Aiden laid the blanket out by the lake with our dinner spread out. There were multiple takeaway containers in the basket, still warm and smelling delicious. Conveniently, they all were labelled. There were two dinners, a chicken and a steak, plus a few appetizers and salads for each of us. Leave it to Aiden to pack a multicourse meal in a cute little picnic. I chose the chicken dish. The appetizers were delicious, a variety of offerings present. There were mozzarella sticks, mac and cheese bites, stuffed clams, and a saucy chicken dish. Aiden also poured us some wine from a brand I’ve never heard of before.

I moaned at the flavors of the food. Even the biscuits he packed, which were layered with an herb butter and cheese, were phenomenal. Unfortunately, by the time I got to my meal, I was almost full. As the sun got lower in the sky, Aiden got up and grabbed my hand. The pleasant tingles returned with each touch. He led me around the curve of the lake around some trees that had blocked my view. In the clearing, there was something I’d never actually seen in person. Aiden prepared a hot air balloon for us!

“Are we flying somewhere?” I asked nervously.

He smiled reassuringly at me. “We can if you wanted, but I wanted to just float up high as we watched the sun set.” He looked deeply into my eyes. Gosh, he was so handsome. His slate grey eyes looked golden with the sunlight reflected in them. I was a little nervous about the height, but with him holding my hand I knew I’d be ok.

We entered the hot air balloon where the attendant was waiting for us. He untied the sandbags and we started to rise. I closed my eyes, scared of looking out. Aiden hugged me from behind, his body fitting like a puzzle against mine. With that, my fears melted away. I opened my eyes from the balloon, and gasped at the view. It was stunning. The sunset reflecting over the lake with the mountains in the distance was absolutely breathtaking. “Wow,” I whispered, partially in disbelief at the beauty laid out before us.

“It’s beautiful!”

Aiden adjusted himself so his head was right next to mine. “Yes, it’s beautiful. But it still doesn’t compare to you.” I turned my head to look up at him, rather in his eyes. My mouth slightly parted, his arms around me, Aiden brought his face closer to mine, leaned forward, and kissed my lips. His lips held the same tingles as he poured his passion into a simple kiss.

This moment was magical. My inner voice growled a possessive Mine.