AJ went to go take a shower a little while later and Cassidy stayed in bed. She decided to give Alissa a quick call just to make sure she was going to pick her up at the airport. She picked up the phone and dialed the number. Alissa answered after a couple rings.
“Hey Liss, it’s Cassidy.”
“Hi! How are you doing? Ready to come home?”
“Yeah, I miss you guys.”
“And?” she asked, knowing there was more on Cassidy’s mind.
“What do you mean, ‘and’?” Cassidy smiled.
“Cassidy, I can see that smile through the phone, now spill it girl,” she teased.
Cassidy giggled, “Oh Alissa, I feel like a teenager!”
“I take it you worked everything out with that knight in shining armor you were all upset about yesterday?”
“Oh yeah, things are so wonderful!" She gushed.
“Wow, I’m so happy for you! So when do I get to meet this man?”
“Umm, well, I’m not sure. Things are kind of complicated. He’s not, um, like us.”
“Cassidy, what the hell does that mean?”
“It’s such a long story, I’ll explain everything to you when I get home.”
“I don’t even get a little hint?” she pleaded.
Cassidy sighed, “Okay, but I’m not going into detail, I don’t have time. I have to check out soon. What I will tell you about him is that he’s ummm, got a lot of tattoos,” she smiled.
Alissa sighed in defeat, “Cassidy Elizabeth, you’re a pain in the ass, do you know that?”
Cassidy laughed, “I know. I have to get going though, I want to jump in the shower.”
“Okay, it’s 11 o’ clock and you haven’t even gotten in the shower yet? That’s not like you at all. Now I’m REALLY dying for details!”
“You’ll get them, don’t worry, but not now. I’ll see you later tonight?”
“You sure will, we’ll be at the airport, and you better be prepared to spill your guts!”
Cassidy laughed. “Bye Alissa!”
She hung up the phone and lay back on the bed. She contemplated getting in the shower with AJ when she heard the water turn off. He walked out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. Watching the water dripping down his chest made Cassidy want to throw him on the bed and forget all about checking out. She wrapped herself in the blanket and lay on her side, looking at him.
“I was just about to jump in there with you,” she smiled.
“Why didn’t you? I could’ve used the company.”
“I called my sister and by the time I got off the phone you were getting out,” she frowned.
He got on the bed and crawled over to her. He smelled so good Cassidy thought she might never be able to break herself away from him. He leaned over her and kissed her gently on the lips. Cassidy let out a soft moan in his mouth as she wrapped her legs around him. She ran her fingers down his back softly and it made his body tingle. He pulled from her and looked at her as he stroked her hair.
“You drive me crazy, do you know that?”
"In a good way, I hope,” she said slyly.
“If we keep this up, we’ll never leave this room,” he joked.
“Yeah, and I need to get in the shower before we check out.”
She ran her fingers slowly down his chest.
"Well, you can always take a shower at my place. I have a nice big shower, MORE than enough room for two people...we have some time to kill before your flight...” He wiggled his eyebrows.
She smiled at him as he kissed her neck thenpulled her into a passionate kiss...

At noon, Cassidy got her belongings together and waited for the bellhop to come and take her things. AJ had called for a limo to pick them up and take them back to his house. Marcus came up to meet AJ and led him out a back entrance as Cassidy checked out.
The car pulled around to the front to wait for Cassidy. As she approached the car, the limo driver got out and she recognized him from when he brought her to the hotel when she first got into town.
“Miss Cassidy,” he smiled as he opened the door for her.
“Jim, right?”
“That’s right, it’s nice seeing you again.”
“You too, thank you,” she smiled as she got into the car and he closed the door.

A little while later, they arrived at AJ’s house. They got out of the car and Cassidy couldn’t help but stare. His house wasn’t huge, but it was beautiful. AJ walked around and talked to Jim for a minute then made his way towards her. As they started for the house Cassidy stopped.
“Wait, what about my stuff?”
“It’s fine. You can just leave it where it is. Jim will take you to the airport.”
“But, I was just gonna take a taxi.”
“Cassidy, you have a ride, why would you want to take a taxi?” He chuckled.
“This isn’t MY limo, Alex. He shouldn’t be taking me places.”
AJ smiled and walked over to her.
“Please, let him take you. It’s not a problem, plus I would feel better knowing you got there okay. Also, I can go with you to the airport if we take the limo..” he took her hands and gave her puppy dog eyes. She laughed.
“Alright, you win,” she sighed in defeat.
He put his arm around her and they went into the house.
Cassidy couldn’t get over how much the house reflected AJ’s personality. Not so much AJ, but more Alex. It wasn’t decorated like she thought it might be. She half expected to see animal print everywhere or lava lamps and black lights or something along those lines. Instead, she saw a lot of white..carpet and walls, paintings and sculptures. In another room in the back of the house, there was a piano. It was decorated rather conservatively.
“Wanna go for a swim?” AJ suggested.
“Umm, well, my bathing suit is out in the car,” she said with her hands on her hips.
AJ looked at her and smiled. “Which bag is it in, I’ll go get it.”
“No, I can go get it, thank you.”
She started to walk towards the door, but AJ got to her before she could turn the handle. He pulled her into his arms.
“Will you stop being so stubborn and let me do things for you for crying out loud?” he joked.
“Alex, I don’t want you doing things for me. I’ve told you that before.”
“I know, but, just so you know, I can be stubborn, too. And I WANT to do things for you. It’s not a big deal.”
Cassidy looked at him and sighed. "You are too much, do you know that?”
“Yeah, I know,” he chuckled then gently kissed her. “And it only gets better.”
He winked at her as he pulled away from her, heading out the door.
Cassidy turned and walked through the house, into the living room. She saw some pictures on top of the TV and walked over, closely studying them. Most of them were of AJ and his mother or him and his dogs. One, in particular caught her eye. She picked it up and looked closer. She assumed it was his girlfriend. She was very pretty.
In the picture they were obviously outside. She had a big smile on her face and her arms around his waist. Although he wasn’t smiling in the picture, he certainly was far from miserable. She was so deep in thought that she didn’t hear AJ come back into the house.
“That’s her,” he said softly as he walked up behind her. It startled Cassidy, she looked up at him, then back at the picture.
“What’s her name?”
“Ashleigh.”
“She’s very pretty.”
“Yeah, she can be pretty ugly at times, though.”
“Wait a minute!” Cassidy exclaimed. “I almost didn’t recognize her, but now I remember! I ran into her at the airport, she almost knocked me over when she ran right into me! Then, she had the nerve to give ME attitude about it and tell me that I need to watch where I’m going!”
“Yeah, that sounds like her. What did you say?”
“I told her she needed to get the stick out of her ass and she told me to fuck off and stomped away!”
AJ laughed, “Why am I not surprised that you said that? That’s one of the things I like about you.”
“Oh yeah, what are the others?” she asked, putting the picture back on the TV, then wrapping her arms around his neck. He slowly ran his fingers down her arm and pulled her closer.
“Why don’t you slip into that bathing suit of yours, we’ll head put to the pool and I’ll tell you all about it.”
“Why, Alex,” she smiled, “if I didn’t know better, I’d think you were coming onto me,” she teased.
“Onto you, over you, under you..inside you,” he growled in her ear, “I’m not picky..” he joked, gently nibbling at her ear. It made her giggle.
“Okay, let me go get changed, we don’t have all day, you know.”
She pulled away from and grabbed her bag. “Umm, where is the bathroom?”
“Oh, second door to your right. I’ll go get changed and meet you outside.”
She put on her bathing suit and headed outside. AJ was already in the pool. He stopped what he was doing and stared at her. He couldn’t get over how she looked in a bathing suit. She took his breath away.
“What are you staring at, mister? These flabby thighs?” she joked and walked towards the edge of the pool.
“Flabby, whatever. Bring your sexy self on over here.”
“I don’t know, Alex, I really don’t want to get my hair wet,” she joked.
“Well, you don’t have a choice.”
He got out of the pool and ran after her. She screamed, trying to get away from him, but he caught up to her. He pulled her into his arms and gave her a sloppy wet kiss. She knew he was going to throw her in, so she held onto him so if he did, she could pull him in with her.
“What’s the matter, don’t you trust me?” he smiled.
"As you're holding me over a pool? No, I don’t.”
“I’m hurt,” he frowned.
“Don’t even try it, I know what you’re up to,” she chuckled.
“Okay, well fine then.” He grabbed her and threw her into the pool, she pulled him in with her.
“See, I knew I couldn’t trust you!” she exclaimed when she finally resurfaced. They were both laughing.
“Come here,” he said pulling her close to him. He leaned up against the side of the pool and she wrapped her legs around him. “I wanted to talk to you about something,” he said seriously.
“Sure, anything. What is it?”
He thought for a minute.
“I hope you know how much I truly do care about you,” he caressed her cheek.
“I know what you’ve told me..”
“You don’t believe me?” He asked, hurt.
“It’s not that I don’t believe you, Alex. It’s just..” her voice trailed off.
“It’s just, what?”
She sighed. “It’s just that I have a son, I have to put him first. And, you have a girlfriend.”
“So, what are you trying to say?” he asked, getting upset.
“I’m not trying to say anything, I just want you to think about everything. There’s a bigger picture here, there are more people involved in this than just the two of us.”
“Cassidy, listen. I love kids, I would love to meet your son.”
“Alex, you have to first decide what you want out of this relationship. Then you need to get out of the one you’re in. I can’t bring someone into my son’s life that may not be around that much, or at all. He needs stability."
AJ just looked at her, he knew she was right. He hadn’t really thought that far ahead. The truth was, he hadn’t thought much about Ashleigh, he wanted to break up with her, he just didn’t know how yet. He pulled Cassidy closer and rested his head on her shoulder.
“Cassidy, I’ve never been this happy with anyone before. I know this isn’t going to be easy, but we owe it to ourselves to try and make this work. That is, if you want to...” He looked into her eyes for an answer.
“Alex, of course I want to try. I..” she stopped herself before she went any further.
“You, what?” he prodded. He knew what she wanted to say, he just wanted to hear her say it.
“Umm, nothing.”
“Cassidy, please, finish what you were going to say.”
She looked into his eyes and couldn’t stop herself this time.
"I love you, Alex.”


Chapter 18
Back