I'm trying not to hyperventilate, but seriously, the guy sitting next to me, in my car, is straight out of a book on Greek Gods. The God of muscle and sex would be my guess. And my car. Holy hell, it's a damn pig sty. I should learn to lock my doors. At least that way I might have had a chance to toss the junk from the front floorboard to the back before he climbed in. Although, if he hadn't let himself in, I probably would have driven off and left him on the sidewalk already, purely out of nervousness.

My whole body is trembling with anxiety and...electricity. Every time he touches me, I'm struck with both. Anxious that he'll realize what a huge mistake he's made trying to get to know me and electric because there's some sort of energy radiating between us that's all-consuming, at least for me, anyway.

"'Scuse me," I say, leaning over and trying to grab some of the discarded coffee cups from between his legs before I realize almost instantly what a huge mistake that is. He's got the legs of a linebacker, solid muscle just like the arms that were wrapped around me earlier when I nearly fell to the ground and he caught me.

"No problem," he says, and I swear his voice is at least an octave deeper than before.

I only manage to grab two cups before I jerk back up in my seat and toss them in the back without looking because I'm not sure I can handle making eye contact with him right now.

The heat in my cheeks tells me my face is flushed, and the goosebumps on my skin are like a neon light advertising my reaction to being so close to his body for the second time in a matter of minutes. Besides, if I look at him, I am afraid of how I might react. I don't trust myself with him, he makes me too jittery, and I just know I'm going to say or do something stupid. I always do. Cole and Corey constantly remind me of that. Especially today. After ditching work the other night, they've been relentless in torturing me for it.

Putting my car in drive, I head out to drop off the pizzas that are now sitting in my back seat and are hopefully still hot.

I can feel his eyes on me, and it is both intoxicating and nerve racking. How could someone so hot think I'm cute? And if he's really the guy who owns that place on Lakeshore, he's obscenely rich, too. No way him being here isn't some kind of elaborate prank.

I would blame it on Cole and Corey, but they aren't smart enough to arrange anything as intricate as a once in a lifetime delivery to the elite of San Marcy, accompanied by a sexy man willing to pretend he's attracted to me. Their best idea of a sophisticated prank would be putting a whoopee cushion in a chair right in front of me when I'm about to sit down. No matter how many times I just knock it out of the chair before I sit, they keep giving it a go in hopes that one day, I'll go blind or decide I just don't care and sit on the thing, anyway.

When I finally work up the nerve to glance over at him, I can't believe he's still staring at me. I don't even know who this guy is, yet he says he's been trying to meet me to ask me out.

"I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Aiden."

I look over at him really quick, and he flashes me a smile that would knock my socks off if I was wearing any. And, God, even his voice does things to my body that should only happen in private.

"Uh, yeah," I say, focusing on saying each word correctly. "I guess so. I-I'm Eli."

"Yeah," he says flatly. "One of the guys at the pizzeria mentioned it the other night."

Something in the tone of his voice makes me look over at him again. The sexy baritone is gone, replaced by an edge that confuses me, and when I look at him, he's not watching me for the first time since he got in the car. Instead, he's looking straight out the front window, his jaw is clenched, and I have to wonder what dumb thing my stepbrothers did to piss him off. Whatever it was, he doesn't seem to ponder it long before he looks back over at me.

He smiles again, and I have to remember that I'm driving so that I don't get lost in it. But goddam, it sends a shock wave straight through my chest, then down to my cock.

"Eli."

Holy hell. The way my name rolls off his tongue. It's like he's making love to it, and I never knew how intoxicating just hearing someone say my name could be. If my heart wasn't beating fast before, it's running a marathon now, and that marathon isn't doing anything to help keep my cock in control, either. Today would have been a good day to pick my loose-fitting jeans instead of my favorite fitted skinny jeans. I try to adjust myself in my seat so things aren't obvious, but one glance in Aiden's direction and the smirk on his face tells me it's too late.

We don't say anything else on the drive, but the silence is electrifying. Every time he moves, even if it's just tapping a finger on his knee, I feel it even before I look. The current traveling between us as I pull up to the frat house where I need to make my delivery has done nothing to dissuade the rising situation in my jeans. If anything, it's making the situation in my pants clearer by the minute. Nothing like delivering pizza to a frat house full of college jerks while sporting a semi and a face the color of a fresh caught lobster.

"I'll be right back," I say as I climb out of the car, but by the time I open the back door to grab the pizzas, Aiden is right there.

"I'll come with you."

Rubbing the back of my neck, I look away from him. "You don't have to do that. It'll only take a minute."

"Nonsense," Aiden says while pulling the pizza bag out of the back of my car and shutting the door. When I look back up at his face, he winks at me. "What kind of man would I be if I let you go on your own on our first date."

My jaw drops, and I quickly pick it back up and force it in place. There's isn't anything I can do about the renewed blush creeping up my face, though. Instead of saying anything, because really what am I supposed to say to that, I take the pizza bag from Aiden, walk up to the door, and ring the bell. As promised, Aiden walks right along with me, standing back just slightly to my left while I wait for someone to open the door.

"Oh, what do we have here?"

The shirtless and very drunk frat boy who opens the door is just like all the rest. The minute he lays his eyes on me, his fratboy must torture the more feminine gay guy duty kicks in, but I'm used to this, so I just ignore him and start pulling the pizzas out of the box.

"You owe me $43.50," I say, holding out the pizzas and tucking the bag under my free arm.

Apparently, the scent of pizza, or the douchebaggery coming from the mouth of the guy who answered the door, lures over some of his housemates because two more shirtless guys join him. He laughs and nudges them both with his elbows.

"Maybe it's more like you owe us," he motions down his shirtless torso, and the drunk brigade who have now joined him mimic his moves, "ya know, for the show. I bet it's not every night you have the chance to see three hotties on your delivery. But we're a look, don't touch kind of show. We don't get down your way."

I roll my eyes and try to push the pizzas closer to them. In my experience, these guys' stomachs are stronger than their small-brained minds, so if I can just get their hunger to speak up I can get out of here.

My arm is moved to the side gently, and Aiden moves from his position just behind me so that he's beside me, but leaning in just a bit ahead of me, like he's moved into a protective stance.

"Apologize to him," Aiden says. His voice is low, almost menacing, and it is clear that this is a demand. "Now."

He towers over the three frat brothers on the other side of the door, and they freeze, staring at him like he's a monster straight out of their nightmares and they can't catch their breath. I can't blame them. One glance at his face, and I have to dig in my heels to keep from taking a step back and away from him myself. He truly is a mountain of a man, and not someone anyone, let alone three drunk college guys, would want to be at odds with.

"We, were, ugh, we were just playin' around, my man," says the ring leader.

Aiden's eyes narrow even more, surprising considering the glare he'd already been laying on them. "I didn't hear an apology in that."

"We're sorry," all three of them say.

Aiden points to me. "He's the one you need to apologize to."

They slowly move their eyes to me, and like a synchronized team say, "We're sorry."

I just nod because, really, what the hell am I supposed to say? I'm just as shocked right now as them.

"Better," Aiden says as he pulls the pizzas from my hand. He smacks the boxes into the guy's chest. "Now, you owe him $43.50 for the pizzas. That does not include the tip." He leans in really close to them. "And I suggest you make that tip a very generous one."

"Yeah, yeah. Sure thing."

I watch, my eyes darting back and forth between Aiden and the three guys as they frantically dig through their pockets pulling out money until I'm sure they've pulled out every dime they have on them, and they hand it over to me.

"Is that enough?" their ring leader asks. His head is turned toward me, but his eyes barely leave Aiden.

I quickly straighten out the wadded bills and count out enough for the cost of the pizzas and an extra $40 for tip money, and nod. "Yeah. That'll do," I say.

Aiden doesn't move until I turn and head back to the car, and he follows beside me.

After I toss the pizza bag in the back seat, I tuck the tip in my wallet and put the money for the pizza in an envelope in my cup holder. When Aiden gets in, I picture the faces of those frat guys again and start laughing.

"Thanks for that," I tell him. "Not used to having a bodyguard along for my deliveries. Their faces were priceless."

He doesn't respond, and I'm thrown by how tense he still is. He continues to sit stock still, staring straight out the front window, and when I look closer, I realize his jaw is locked yet also making slight ticking movements like he's grinding his teeth together. At the rate he's going, he'll have all the enamel worn off in minutes.

Tentatively, I reach over and put my hand on his shoulder and try not to think about the tight, hard muscles under my fingertips. "Hey, are you alright?"

"The way those guys treated you." He pauses and his jaw ticks again. "Nobody should ever treat you badly."

"It sucks, but some people are just ignorant."

Abruptly, he turns in his seat so he's facing me. My hand drops from his shoulder when he moves, and he grabs it in his as his eyes bore into mine, and I swear I can feel him inside me. Like he's looking right into my soul. "No buts, Eli. Nobody should treat you like that. And I promise if I have anything to do with it, you'll never have to put up with being treated that way again."

His words bring me a strange comfort. We just met, and I know it doesn't make any sense, but it's like I can feel his commitment to those words just like I felt his eyes looking into my soul. Like he genuinely cares about me. Even though I know he cannot change people. People can be cruel, and in my experience, a lot of them take joy in being cruel to me. Despite knowing that Aiden can't be there for me every time I run into situations like this one tonight, it still gives me a strange sense of happiness knowing he wants to keep me safe from people's hurtful actions.

***

Aiden stays with me the whole night. Riding back and forth between Ma's and all my deliveries. I'm not going to lie. It's the best date I've ever had, and part of me doesn't want it to end. The problem is, the deliveries are over, and that means it's time to head back inside Ma's for more than a quick pick up and dash back out to the next drop off.

There aren't any cars outside Ma's when we pull back up except for Cole's. Even Corey's car is gone, so he must have decided to let Cole have all the fun bossing me around on his own tonight. The last thing I want to do is send Aiden away, but there is no way I can let him come inside with me to witness how Cole talks to me while ordering me to clean up shop. Just thinking about how that might go down makes me feel like I might break out in hives. Cole embarrassing me, talking to me like I'm the scum on his shoe while Aiden watches and decides I'm clearly not good enough for him and walks out. Although, if I consider his reaction earlier tonight, he might not do that at all. But he might kick my stepbrother's ass, and as much as I'd enjoy that in the moment, I don't think it would do anything good for me in the long run. After all, Aiden won't always be here, but Cole and Corey will, and I don't think I could handle things getting any worse than they already are.

Aiden's smile when he looks at me almost has me talking myself out of what I know I need to do now. "You guys are closed now, right? Let's go grab a drink or something. Do something where we don't have to stop to drop off a pizza every few minutes."

I chuckle but shake my head. "That sounds great, but I have to lock up and make sure everything's ready to go for opening tomorrow."

"No problem." Aiden unhooks his seat belt. "I'll come with you. We can get it done in half the time together."

Before he can turn to open the door, I reach out to him and squeeze his arm, and when he looks at me, I smile, and for once it isn't forced. Weirdly, he makes me want to smile. "I'd love to spend more time together, but I think we need to call it a night. I need to get this done so I can get some rest. I'm sure you worked all day today, too."

Aiden's smile briefly falters, replaced by disappointment for just a moment, and in that moment I nearly lose my resolve, but as soon as it's gone, it is back again.

"Tomorrow, then," he says. "Let me see you tomorrow."

He doesn't really phrase it like a question, but I honestly don't care. I have a feeling I'd let this man tell me to do just about anything that involved me getting to spend more time with him.

"Yes!" I nearly shout, and I swear my voice goes up a couple octaves, and so does the flush on my face, yet again.

He just stares at me for a minute, and my nerves start to get the better of me. I was way too eager when I said yes. Worry starts to creep in faster than the excitement that he wanted to see me again. Maybe my eagerness turned him off.

"You're so beautiful," Aiden says, his voice low and gruff.

He keeps his eyes locked on mine while he says these words, and my heart just stops. It takes a minute for some part of my brain to kick back on—the part that reminds me to breathe so that my heart gets to pumping again. This is the second time in one day this gorgeous man has called me beautiful, and I seem to have suddenly forgotten how to use words to speak. How someone like him—gorgeous, smart, and rich—could find me worthwhile is beyond me.

Aiden leans slightly closer to me, and my heart skips another beat. "I'm going to kiss you now, Eli."

My breath catches, and he leans in further, but as soon as I feel his breath against my lips, I pull back. "Sorry," I say. I feel heat spreading through my cheeks, and I want to kick myself. Stupid, stupid Eli.

I look over Aiden's baffled expression and instantly hate myself. Why couldn't I have just let him kiss me? Cole and Corey are right. I'm a worthless idiot.

"It's just..." I drop my gaze, suddenly feeling too embarrassed to look at him. "I-I've never been kissed before."

"Oh." Aiden's eyes fall to my mouth for a second, and when he looks back up at me again, there is a new hunger in them that nearly sets me on fire. "I see." He reaches out to tilt my face back up to meet his eyes. "Oh, baby, there is nothing to apologize for."

I swallow. The softness in his eyes almost makes me believe him. "No?" I ask.

"No." He smiles and runs his tongue over his bottom lip. "It just means we'll have to make sure your first kiss is very special."

He leans in again, but instead of kissing me like I expected, he softly presses his lips to my forehead, and then sits back in his seat. "How about I pick you up after work tomorrow? Spending time with you tonight has been great, but I'm really looking forward to spending time with you without all the interruptions."

I nod even though I'm still not sure I believe this absolutely perfect god of a man really wants to spend time with me. "Yeah, I'd like that, too," I confess.

"Good."

Aiden smiles, reaches over, and gives my hand a squeeze before he gets out of my car and heads over to his. I rub my chest, trying to get my heartbeat under control, a smile plastered on my face. I have no idea what he sees in me, but knowing I get to see him again tomorrow is going to make it a hell of a lot easier to get through whatever Cole throws at me tonight.