The next morning I get up before Sophia. I decide the room coffee sucks, so I make my way down to the cafeteria to grab a coffee.

I'm pouring me a cup and a deep voices surprises me, "Good Morning beautiful." I turn to see Aiden, looking sexy. He's wearing a tank top and basketball shorts. My eyes travel down to his chiseled pecks and toned abs. They are engraved in my mind...mmmm.

"See something you want Mia?" His intense eyes, watching me check him out. I blush. Dear God, I cannot handle another day of sexual tension.

"Nope." I smile and turn to walk towards the elevator. I need to get far away from him right now. My body will betray me.

I get to the elevator and push the up button. Aiden comes up and stands directly next to me. Is it me, or did someone turn up the heat?

The door opens and I step in, Aiden following. The door closes and it's just us two. I watch the numbers at the top...I could cut the tension with a knife. I can see him watching me out of the corner of my eye. I take a deep breath, "I don't hate you Aiden."

His eyes rake over me, searching for something. He steps close to me, facing me. My body is burning at a million degrees, with our faces an inch apart. The butterflies are swarming my stomach and he hasn't even touched me. He looks down at my lips and before I could even say anything he claims them. His hand intertwines in my hair, pulling my face closer. I wrap my arms around him, careful not to spill my coffee. Our kiss becomes more passionate and needy.

Aiden breaks our kiss and leans his forehead against mine, smiling ear to ear. "Thank you." He breathes deeply.

"For?" I asked.

"Not hating me and...letting me in. Even if it's just a little." He says with hand on the side of my face. His intense gaze leaves me mesmerized. The elevator dings and we both walk out. Damn it...this was not supposed to happen. Everything is going to be awkward.

I walk into our room. "Hey! Where's mine?" Sophia whines, referring to my coffee.

"In the cafeteria." I smirk.

We get dressed and head down to the lobby. Aiden is standing next to Caleb, wearing shorts, a t-shirt and a ball cap. As we get closer, he's smirking at me. I can tell he's pleased with himself for the kiss in the elevator. I cannot let him get to me anymore. Although...he looks really good.

Caleb speaks up, "okay, where to now Mia?"

I sigh, "well, I want to visit a person that helped me the night I ran."

Caleb grabs Sophia's hand, "alright, what are we waiting for?"

We grab a cab and make our way to Gigi's house. I'm not even sure she lives there anymore, or if she is even home.

We drive into the middle of nowhere. "God Mia, are you sure this is a safe place? We are out in the middle of nowhere. How did you even get here?" Sophia asks.

We get out of the cab and a lady walks out to the front porch. I ignore Sophia and walk towards Gigi. She has her hand over her eyes and is squinting, trying to determine if she knows us. She looks directly at me and her eyes widen. "OH MY GOD! Mia, is that you?"

Tears start to run down my face. "Yes, Gigi."

She runs down the steps and grabs me, hugging me tightly. Everyone makes their way to Gigi. She let's go of me and eyes me up and down, "wow....I knew you were beautiful, but just wow."

I blush, "thank you, I probably look at lot different without all of the bruises."

She nods and turns her attention to my friends. "Hi, I'm Gigi." She shakes everyone's hand.

"Gigi, this is Sophia, Caleb and Aiden. They are friends of mine." I point to each person.

Gigi turns towards the house, "come on, I'll bring some tea and we can sit on the porch and talk." We all walk towards the porch.

Sophia and Caleb sit in rocking chairs, while I sit on a porch swing, next to Aiden. Gigi walks out with a tray of tea glasses and sits on a rocking chair next to Sophia.

"Well...lets just address the big white elephant in the room. Or outside, I should say. Where are Nick and Henry?" She asked.

I look down at my tea. How do I tell her I killed my husband. "He eventually found me. He beat me, but I fought back and ended up shooting and killing him." I say nervously.

She watches me with a concerned look, "and Henry?"

Aiden interrupted, "he had Mia against the wall and hit her. I took him down, trying to get him away from her. He drew his gun on me and I shot first. They will no longer bother Mia."

Gigi gets up and hugs me, "you did the right thing. He would have killed you that night. He probably had already planned on it, especially if you resisted him."

I nod and start crying. Aiden places his hand on my back and begins to run me. I look at Aiden and give him a smile.

A car pulls up in the drive way. I see Tyler getting out of his car. I stand up and walk down the stairs. He sees me and stops and gets a big smile on his face. I walk down and give him a big hug. "Thank you Tyler. Thank you for everything. You gave me my life back, you helped a complete stranger."

He hugged me back, "I told you, I would help any friend of Gigi's"

We walked back up the porch and I introduce Tyler to the group as the man that helped me get my life back together...to some degree. I can see Aiden's relaxed posture completely change. His facial features have hardened and he's not as mellow. It's almost like he's on guard and stiffened - weird.

We all sit and talk. I tell Gigi about everything that has happened in the past year, my job, Bob adopting me and me finishing my education. I didn't mention dating Aiden, I figure there's no point in opening that can of worms.

"Are you dating?" Gigi asks. I should have known she would ask me a forward question.

I see Aiden shift his eyes from me, to scanning the property. He probably doesn't want to know if I'm seeing anyone.

"At this moment, no. I'm not dating anyone. I was, but the lies of my past caught up and I hurt them immensely. I know I have some apologies to make." I said.

My eyes shift to Aiden and I see two ice blue eyes, staring into my soul.

Tyler stands up and offers to give everyone a tour of the property, while Gigi and I talk for a bit.

"You know Mia, not every man is like Henry or Nick." Gigi looks over at me and places her hand on my knee.

Aiden is walking off in the distance, but turns and looks at me. "He's in love with you, you know?"She says.

I looked at her surprised.

She smiles, "the way he looks at you says it all and he seems very protective of you. I thought he was going to jump over the railing and rip Tyler's throat out for hugging you."

I chuckle, "yeah...he's a little too protective."

She grins, "does he know you love him?"

I quickly look at her with widen eyes. "You can't fool me. You look at him, the same way he looks at you." She says.

I shake my head, "no, I haven't told him."

She purses her lips, "sometimes the biggest risks in life, have the biggest rewards. Let your heart take that leap. Hell, your heart is the one that told you to run that night. Look where it got you." She kisses the side of my head.

Soon everyone comes back from the tour. I hug Tyler and Gigi goodbye. Gigi has tears running down her face and I kiss her on the cheek. I promise to keep in touch with them on a frequent basis.

Sunday...

We get on the airplane and arrive in South Carolina. I couldn't wait to be home...I missed it. Home. Huh...I missed home. I can actually say I have a home and a family now. It makes my heart jump with joy.

We get into Aiden's truck and we make our way to Sophia and Caleb's place to drop them off. Once they are gone, the truck is silent. I have no idea what to say to him.

We pull up to my apartment. I unbuckle my seatbelt and head towards the front door. Aiden stops me from unlocking it. "Can I cook you dinner, Saturday evening at my house?"

My body is aching for his touch. I nod my head, "yes."

He cups my face and slowly kisses me. His tongue rubs across my bottom lip. I part my lips, giving him access. He deepens the kiss, as I wrap my arms around his neck and I slowly move my hands over his scalp. He breaks our kiss. "God Mia, I've missed you like crazy."

I smile and kiss his cheek, "I've missed you too."