I watched Aiden as he stood shirtless in my kitchen, leaning against the counter, his back turned to me. He sipped coffee from the mug that he had told me was his mug as he read an article from Business Insider.

I looked at his back muscles flexing whenever he raised his mug to his mouth and I bit my lip, thinking of how good his muscles felt in my hands.

Grinning to myself, I typed out a text to him, seeing the empty countertops.

The severe lack of pancakes is just unbearable.

I heard his phone ding and he laughed.

Aiden turned, his bright hazel eyes finding me easily.

"Come over here and give me some sugar and then we'll talk about pancakes," he wagered.

I made a face, but went to him, anyway. "Give me some sugar?" I asked, "Are you from the seventies?"

Aiden pulled me in by the waist and pressed his lips to my forehead. "Pancakes?" he asked me.

I nodded, vigorously.

Aiden laughed. "Anything for you, Rosa."

Without a second thought, he walked around the kitchen, getting supplies and began making pancakes for me.

"One of these days," he said, "I might not make you pancakes."

"And that day I will know that you have been cloned and that your clone is evil," I told him and he laughed again, gloriously, pouring flour into a bowl.

Aiden never made pancakes with the pancake mix. He always did it from scratch. He told me that when you make it with the mix, you can't add in the love.

Aiden said asinine things like that sometimes and made me wonder how in the world he even became the business mogul he is.

He was never in a rush around me; he never tried to leave as soon as we had finished eating. When we sat down to have breakfast, we were actually able to have a conversation.

Aiden treated me like he wanted me to know that I was important to him.

After I got dressed, I wandered back into the kitchen and Aiden had already made a stack of pancakes.

Once we had eaten, Aiden kissed me softly and left to get back to his place to get ready for work.

We had only been together for about a month, so we hadn't moved in together. That didn't stop Aiden from spending every night in my apartment, though. He never even made it seem like something he had to do.

To Aiden, spending the night in my house and waking up with me was something he wanted to do. And I was happy to let him do it.

I packed some pancakes and took them for Jenna.

She was seated in my office, noting things down in her date book when I went.

"Hey, Jenna," I said to her, "For you."

I gave her the box.

She looked at me, suspiciously and put her date book down. Taking the box from me, she opened it and a slow smile spread across her face.

"Lover boy been spending nights and cooking for you, huh? He's really whipped, huh?" Jenna laughed, "So, does that mean someone's getting some?"

I rolled my eyes.

"Can you ever just eat the pancakes?" I asked.

Jenna shook her head, savagely stuffing a bite of pancakes into her mouth. "Nope. Now, tell me."

I shrugged. "There's nothing to tell. He makes me pancakes because I like them."

Jenna coughed, dramatically. "Whipped."

I gave her a look.

"So, did you get some yet?" she asked again, "Seriously, let me live vicariously. Just tell me when to stop my fingers."

She began to move her index fingers away from each other, a fiendish smile on her face.

"Jenna, stop!"

Jenna stopped moving her fingers and looked down at what seemed like a ten-inch gap. She raised her eyebrows. "That big, huh? So, not only is Aiden packing, he's also packing."

My eyes widened. "Jenna!"

She laughed like it was the funniest thing in the world.

"I'm not going to tell you that," I said, swatting at her.

Her expression changed. "So, you did get some! Oh, this is good. I love it. How good is he? I mean, I'm sorry, but your boyfriend had his share of girlfriends and we know how whipped they looked. He must be good."

I could feel my face heating up as I thought of Aiden.

"I see you blushing, Ro," Jenna sang, shaking the fork I had given her at me.

I huffed at her. "Don't you have something to be doing?" I asked.

Jenna stood up. "Okay, I can take a hint. Tell your boyfriend that I thanked him for the pancakes."

She walked out, leaving me in peace to do my work.

Even though Jenna left, the thoughts of Aiden didn't leave me. His face and everything he did swarmed in my brain and I couldn't help, but smile.

In that moment, like Aiden had also been thinking of me, my phone beeped with a message from him. The message me smile uncontrollably.

The severe lack of you is just unbearable.

* * *

Aiden had a late meeting, which meant I took advantage of that time to work.

It was late and the office was empty as I sat and worked.

A strange sound made me lift my head.

It sounded like it was coming from the door.

I listened.

It sounded as if someone was knocking on the front door.

Slowly and ever-so quietly, I got up and tiptoed over to the door to peer through the peep-hole.

Nothing in the world could have prepared me for the person I saw on the other side: Ian Jeffries.

I frowned, wondering whether to open the door or pretend that I wasn't there.

Before I could make any sort of decision, however, Ian spoke. "Rosalie, I know you're in there. Will you please open the door? Your car is in the parking lot. I know you're here."

I squeezed my eyes shut, annoyed at myself for taking my car, even though that was my primary mode of transportation.

He knocked again. "Rosalie, please. I want to speak to you."

Steeling myself, I sighed and stood tall. Slowly, I unlocked and opened the door.

Ian looked at me. "Hey," he said, softly.

I looked at him, questioningly. "Hi. Anything you need?"

"Can I come in, Rosalie?"

I sighed. "Ian, what do you need?"

He looked at me, pleadingly. "Rosalie, you were never like this. Please, just let me come in. I want to talk to you."

"I think we can do that well enough from here."

"Please, Rosalie?" he pleaded, stepping on to the threshold, forcing me to take a step back.

"Ian, that's far enough, okay? I'm sure we can have a conversation here," I said to him.

Ian sighed and he looked at me.

Things that I tried not to think about came rushing back to the surface; how Ian had made me feel like I was uninteresting and didn't deserve to be paid attention to; the way he steamrolled over so many things I said, making me not want to speak ever again; the way he used to treat me like I was a friend, but nothing more; the way he would sigh in the middle of kissing me, like he was doing it just for the sake of doing it and he would much rather have been doing something else.

I could barely believe that I had convinced myself that he loved me with the things that he had done.

"Rosalie, I need to tell you something," he said.

"Tell me."

He reached out and grabbed my hand. "I need you, Ro. You are the best thing that happened to me. I stopped smoking, Ro. For you. I want you. I want you to be with me. I want the way you would do things with me."

Pulling my hand out of his grasp, I sighed, tiredly. "Ian, I think we've been over this. We really aren't good together."

"Ro, we were great together. For two years, we had the best relationship I've ever had. We loved each other, Rosalie. I still love you," Ian said, "I think we should try this again."

"Ian, it's been weeks since we broke up. It's been weeks since I saw you last –"

"And I haven't stopped thinking about you since," he told me.

"I think what you're missing is how I did pretty much everything for you and how I paid attention to you," I sighed again, so tired of this conversation, "Look, you're a nice guy, Ian. You and I just weren't good together. I'm sure you'll find a nice girl who wants all this with you."

He picked up my hand again. "I don't want anyone, Rosalie. I want you."

"But Ian, we broke up for the best," I told him. Even though I wasn't in love with him anymore, telling him that I didn't want him seemed harsh. Once upon a time, Ian was good to me and I didn't want to shatter him.

"I know, Rosalie. I know that you're with Aiden, but I think you and I are better together."

"What?" I practically spat in his face, snatching my hand away from him.

"You and Aiden, I know," Ian repeated, "The way he was when I came here last. I know how a man looks at you when he loves you, Rosalie. That's what Aiden looked like. I heard about his split from Caroline. I don't care about any of it, Ro. You and I are great together."

"We were, Ian. As in, past tense. We aren't good together anymore. We've grown apart and that shouldn't happen. We were together for the sake of being together and neither of us deserve that," I reasoned.

Ian stared at me for a while, like he was thinking over a million things.

Once upon a time, when Ian stared at me, I used to want to smile, but now, all I could do was wish he would leave so that I could get back to work, or get home to Aiden.

Suddenly, Ian lunged at me, taking my face in his hands.

I jumped away from him, smacking his hands away.

"Are you crazy?" I asked.

He shook his head. "I want you, Rosalie. I need you in my life."

"You need to get the hell out of here, Ian. Before I call the cops," I told him.

That made him falter.

Ian was so obsessed with his pristine reputation as an investment banker and his drive to keep rising through the ranks that he would never want to risk a blemish on his record.

He took a step back.

"Okay, Rosalie," he said, holding his hands up, "I'll go."

My insides that had clenched seemed to loosen.

"But remember this, Ro. I'll get you back somehow, because I know we belong together."

*

Can Ian just not take a hint or what?

Don't forget to vote and leave a comment.

Check out my new story 'The Billionaire's Seductress'.