Anne Ha - Husband Next Door

“Is Eric going to be there?”

Shelly shook her head. “No. He had to fly to Sacramento this afternoon—to lobby for that grant again. He won’t be back till next week.”

“So you have plenty of time to make up your mind.”

She nodded. She would have at least five days to think about her decision, and she knew Eric wouldn’t ask for her answer the moment he returned. He’d told her to take as much time as needed, and she would. Shelly was determined to make the right choice because, when she married, she wanted to be married forever. She didn’t want to fall into the same trap her mother had, rushing into matrimony with heedless passion only to realize, too late, that she’d made a mistake.

Of course, Eric wasn’t anything like Shelly’s father. But she was going to be careful nonetheless.

“You know,” Aaron said, startling her from her reverie, “I was thinking of asking you the same question.”

Shelly frowned, trying to pick up the thread of the conversation. “What are you talking about?”

He sipped his coffee. “I was thinking of asking you to marry me.”

Caught by surprise, Shelly felt her heart speed up. Finally she managed a laugh.

Aaron brought all four legs of his chair back to the floor with a thud. “I guess that means no,” he said, his tone ironic.

“You haven’t asked me the question.” Only when the words were out of her mouth did she realize she’d given him the perfect opening.

Aaron pushed aside his coffee cup and leaned across the table. Before Shelly could pull away, he grasped her hands in his and gazed soulfully into her eyes. His touch was warm and firm, and she could feel the slight roughness of his fingers against her palms.

“Shelly,” he said, “will you marry me?”

She gulped. Even though she knew he was kidding— and knew she’d never want to marry him—hearing Aaron say those words made her feel unaccountably shaky. She withdrew her hands from his grasp and said, as casually as she could, “Very funny, Aaron. You’d run screaming if I answered yes.”

“Probably.” He shrugged.

Shelly frowned. Had there been the briefest flicker of something in his eyes just then? She examined his features. No, she told herself, of course not. He leaned negligently back in his chair, his expression bland. He was the same unconcerned Aaron as usual.

His next words, spoken in a musing tone, confirmed her assessment

“It’s too bad, though, since there are tons of advantages. We could get a house together and never have to ring a doorbell to talk. I could cook for you every night. We know each other well, so there wouldn’t be any surprises—not to mention you’d be spared the heartache of deciding whether or not to take my name.”

“There’s no heartache involved,” she said, recovering her composure. She was used to this sort of nonsense from him. “No matter what happens, I’m keeping my name.”

Aaron drummed his fingers on the table. His eyes took on a mischievous sparkle, and he said in a stuffy voice, “For your professional life, certainly, dear. But I really think you should use mine in our social life. It’s so much simpler that way.”

Shelly shook her head, smiling.

“Of course, if you really wanted to be fair, we could hyphenate. Both of us. We’d be Shelly and Aaron Carpenter-Carpenter. How’s that?”

“Please, Aaron. Give me a break already. You’re only doing this to tease me.”

He didn’t deny it, she noticed.

She sighed. “Not to mention the fact that it makes you seem desperate when you ask a woman to marry you right after another man has proposed. Desperation is not attractive.”

Aaron shrugged again. “So I’m desperate.”

“Right.” The idea of Aaron being desperate was ludicrous. Even if he could bring himself to commit—which was highly improbable—it wouldn’t be to a plain old security seeker like her. “What happened to all that soul mate business?” she challenged. “Somehow I can’t believe your knees went weak and your stomach tied itself in knots the first time you saw me.”

Aaron didn’t say anything.

“Anyway,” she couldn’t help adding, “if we were soul mates, you’d have proposed to me a long time ago. Soul mates don’t wait until the last minute.”

“How was I supposed to know it was the last minute?” Aaron got up and poured himself another cup of coffee. “If you’re not going to marry me, will you at least do the dishes?”

Obviously, she thought, he’d grown tired of the conversation. Which only proved how lightly he’d taken it. He always took everything lightly.

“Of course,” she said. “You cook, I clean. Sometimes I think that’s the only reason you invite me over.” She pushed back her chair and went to the sink.

Shelly told herself to forget his talk of marriage. After all, it had only been another of his jokes. What would Aaron want with her when he could have any woman he chose?

After the past year, it was clear he had no interest in her. Sure, he’d asked to kiss her the first day they’d met, but since then, even in the most romantic situations— candlelight dinners, walks along the beach, intimate evenings watching movies together on her sofa—he’d never done anything more than smile at her in that charming way of his. In all the hours they’d spent together, he’d always been a perfect gentleman. It would be absurd to assume she’d suddenly become irresistible to him.

Shelly knew that. Yet, on the other hand, she couldn’t help wondering if Aaron was truly happy with his constant stream of girlfriends. Maybe, she thought, he did long for someone special in his life, even though it wasn’t her. Maybe he longed for someone who’d be more than a casual date, a person who could give him the deeper satisfaction of trust and commitment….

But if that was the case, would he ever admit it?

Probably not. Unchallenged, he’d probably continue with his womanizing ways forever, unable to face the fact that something was missing.

She couldn’t let him do it—couldn’t let him ruin his life like that.

Shelly finished loading the dishwasher, then cleaned and dried Aaron’s cookware. Finally she faced him with a damp towel in her hands.

She had to save him.

Shelly twisted the towel around her fingers. Aaron wasn’t going to like what she had to say, but she couldn’t let that stop her. His future happiness was at stake, and she had to get him to see the seriousness of his situation.

She met his eyes across the kitchen. “I’m worried about you, Aaron.”

He blinked. “Oh? How’s that?”

“Do you really want to be alone your whole life?” she asked gently. “Because if you keep this up, you will be. This continuous line of women parading through here the past year…It’s bad news, my friend, and eventually you’re going to get a reputation you can’t live down.”

“A reputation?” he asked, looking amused.

She ignored the sparkle of humor in his eyes. This wasn’t a laughing matter. “Yes, Aaron, and I’ll tell you how. Imagine this—a woman meets you…she thinks you’re handsome…she’s pleased when you ask her on a date. You show up for the date—well dressed, attentive, a witty and accomplished conversationalist. Another night she comes over for dinner, enjoys a sumptuous meal and who-knows-what other pleasures…” Shelly took a deep breath. “Are you with me?”

Aaron nodded. There was an odd expression on his face.

“So—” she paused for effect “—maybe the third time she’s with you, if she’s lucky—or maybe much later, if she’s like Marcia, and isn’t all that observant—she begins to notice things. Your address book has ten female names for every male one. You tell her the funny story about the time you accidentally scheduled four different dates for the same night. Maybe she finds someone else’s earrings in the medicine cabinet…”

“You saw those, did you?”

“All three pairs, Aaron.” She shot him a look of reproof. “Don’t forget that by now the lady is probably planning for the future. When she takes a close look around, she sees these clues, these little warning signs that show the magnitude of what she’s getting into. She realizes she’s about to spend the rest of her life with a hopeless philanderer. Am I right?”

Aaron raised an eyebrow but didn’t answer.

“I’m glad you don’t try to deny it. We’re friends, and friends tell each other the unvarnished truth.”

“Which is what, in my case?”

“Which is that, well…” She trailed off, then tried again. “From a woman’s perspective, you’re a…a nightmare. There. I’m sorry if that hurts, but it’s the truth.”

Aaron laughed. “That’s hardly new information, Shelly. You’ve been hinting at it for the past year.”

“I didn’t think you’d noticed.” She hung the damp towel over the edge of the sink and joined him at the table.

“Maybe I should make myself a sandwich board saying Aaron Carpenter, Nightmare for Women. I’d certainly spare myself the expense of all these lavish dinners.”

She smiled. “You know, Aaron, your sense of humor is one of the most attractive things about you. But it doesn’t make you a lifetime proposition. You need to follow it up with some substance.”

“So my lack of substance is the problem?”

Shelly scrunched her forehead in concentration. “Not exactly. It’s that you take advantage of the fairy tale that people create around you. You allow these women to imagine you’re the perfect man—by dressing well, listening to them, cooking for them, and so on—and then you drive them away by revealing you’ve done it all before. It’s a brilliant strategy, actually. You never have to dump your girlfriends. They dump you, feeling they’ve had a narrow escape. And you walk away.”

He gave her a sheepish look.

She sighed, exasperated. “Somewhere out there is a woman who can make you give up your carefree ways— but she won’t have anything to do with you once word gets out. You’ll lose your only chance at happiness, if you don’t reform yourself immediately.”

Aaron was silent a moment, absorbing her words. “Okay,” he said at last. “Maybe you’re right….” He tilted his head. “But how do you know I’m looking for something permanent?”

Shelly groaned. “Everybody looks for something permanent. Everybody needs security and companionship. You’re no different from the rest of us, Aaron Carpenter.”

“True…. I don’t like to admit it, but my old life-style isn’t as satisfying as it used to be.”

Her eyes widened in surprise. She’d suspected as much, but never thought he’d say it out loud.

“If the right woman would have me,” he added, “I’d be happy to settle down.”

The right woman? Could it really be as simple as finding the right woman? A strange knot formed in her stomach, but Shelly ignored it. “And she would have you,” she said. “If you’d start doing things right.”

Aaron studied her without speaking. He seemed to be sizing her up, his blue eyes reflective, his quick mind obviously racing along some line of thought she couldn’t begin to imagine.

She stared back at him, waiting.

“Okay,” he said finally. “I suppose there’s nothing to do but bend to your wishes…. When do we start?”

“Start what?”

“My lessons. On being less of a nightmare for women. On becoming a lifetime proposition.”

She held up her hands. “Oh, no. That’s not my problem.”