Broken Wings

Part 16 - Pressure Building.

Chapter Sixteen

"You can't avoid me forever."

Aaron watched Julia stop dead in the middle of the lounge. As had happened every day since the 'incident' on the weekend, she had waited until she thought he was out. He'd had to rearrange his diary, but it had been worth it just to trick her. He hadn't been able to get her out of his head since their kiss...it was more than a kiss, it had been...he couldn't put it into words. But he did know that he wanted to get his hands on her, and his mouth...and tongue...in a much slower and more detailed exploration than he'd been offered. Touching her, tasting her...it had become his obsession, and that was making all aspects of his life a nightmare.

Now he had her, caught like a rabbit in the headlights, not knowing where to go, her eyes darting around the room in panic.

He stepped towards her, "we don't have to analyse it, but can we not avoid each other like this?"

She shook her head, but before she ducked away, he reached for her hand, "Julia. We're both adults...and the fact that I want to drag you up to my bedroom every hour of the day and night to finish what we started is something we need to discuss."

She shook her head, "it shouldn't have happened, and it won't happen again."

He lifted an eyebrow and stared at her, "really? Cos I thought we were BOTH into it pretty full on."

Snatching her arm free, she kept shaking her head, "I was drunk. It shouldn't have happened."

Stepping closer, he didn't let her escape, "you may have been drunk, but it felt right."

It was then he spotted it, shame. She was embarrassed about her behaviour. This was at complete odds to the way she'd pounced on him, almost aggressive in her desperation.

The woman was a contradiction on all levels and whereas he thought that would put him off, there was something about her that was intriguing...he wanted to know more.

"It was a mistake!" Her voice rose and she rushed away, head still dropped, eyes averted.

Huffing out a breath, he stayed in her path, "it wasn't. A mistake is drink driving, not looking when you cross the road or spelling something wrong in an email. So don't try to relegate what happened to that level."

Shaking her head, she finally pushed past him, muttering "sorry", before bursting out the door.

Julia's heart still hadn't returned to normal by the time she crossed the city to her workplace. What he'd said...she shuddered, he wanted her. She hated that, it scared her. She's lived her life without that, managing things so that no one ever got that close, close enough to know her, to want her. Everyone other than Abi was at a safe arm's length. Now this man...he'd breached her safety zone, and she didn't know how to deal with that.

Avoidance. It was the only way.

He sent her messages, several times a day, but she didn't look at them. Abi and Luke were arriving soon, she'd have to speak to him then, but she'd keep her distance until she had to. That was how it worked best.

Plus there were only two days until the launch of the exhibition, her bosses flew in from London later that day, she was meeting them for dinner, before the dinner the following day in the museum for specific dignitaries and guests, all before the full launch, all of which she was a huge part of. By lunchtime, she had managed to put Aaron and all that he was out of her mind.