Chapter Six

Aiden had all but leapt from the cart just as soon as they'd ridden onto the outskirts of town. He remembered where the tailors shop was from the day before when he'd explored the streets and he managed to make it there without seeing anyone he knew; an easy feat since he only knew three or four people here in town.

Once at the shop he went to the back corner of the store, hid behind a bright silver dress that seemed fitting for the queen of England's wardrobe and wished the ground would simply open up and swallow him whole so he would never again have to look at Nick.

What had he been thinking!? Of course it wasn't his fault that his hand had landed on Nick's lap but it most certainly was his fault that he hadn't pulled it away instantly and it was also his fault that he had—oh dear mother of pearl--he had rubbed the man's arousal.

Aiden bit his lip and tilted his head. His rather impressive arousal... but wait one moment! Why had Nick been aroused? Aiden's hand had landed on his lap and instantly Nick Junior, (little Nick wouldn't be the proper term because there hadn't been anything little about it), had sprung to attention.

Aiden flushed bright red and slumped down even smaller behind the overdone dress with far too much poof, lace and satin. Was Nick like him? Could that be the answer? Did Aiden dare to hope? Not that Aiden had any interest in taking Nick as a lover (or any other man for that matter—that could prove to be deadly if folks found out), but it would be awfully nice to know at least one other person who suffered from the same disease as he did.

But then again Nick certainly hadn't seemed happy when he'd flared his nostrils and bellowed loud enough to scare the birds out a nearby tree.... How in the hell was Aiden supposed to face him in order to get a ride back to the ranch? Maybe he'd just walk—how long could it take? Three or four hours? That didn't seem so bad when put up against the alternative.

"I don't think they have that dress in your size," a female voice full of amusement spoke from the other side of the horrid, silver contraption. "And silver really doesn't seem like your color. I think you're more of a green or gray."

Aiden swallowed hard, tried hard to make his face look as unemotional as possible and stood up straight, popping out from behind the dress quickly. He recognized the woman who had been with Wendell the day before—his 'not-fiancee-who-had-once-been-Ryder's-fake-fiancee'. This town had some strange people for sure.

"Hi," Aiden threw his hand up in a wave and then called himself a socially inept idiot a million times in his head.

The woman laughed lightly, rolled her eyes and waved back at him, "Hello."

"I'm Aiden."

"I know," she replied, "I'm Kaitlyn. I didn't mean to bother you and interrupt your um.... shopping, but I was looking for Wendell."

"He's at the ranch," Aiden replied quickly and he saw her face fall as she picked at the lace on the silver dress.

"I suppose I'll just have to talk to him later then," she crossed her arms under her impressive breasts (just because Aiden was attracted to men didn't mean he didn't notice when a woman looked good), "Are you back in town for good or did the Atkinson's hire you on."

"They hired me," Aiden shrugged. "I'm not real sure why."

"Because you needed a job and Susie said so. She's part owner of that ranch, you know."

"No, I didn't know that," Aiden admitted.

Kaitlyn's eyes sparkled teasingly as she smiled and tilted her head toward the silver monstrosity. "So are you dress shopping for yourself or someone else?"

Aiden flushed red and took three big steps away from the dress, "Liz said I needed clothes—"

"I don't think that's what she had in mind," Kaitlyn interrupted with a laugh.

Aiden's lips curved in a smile, "No, you're probably right."

"Well thanks for talking to me, Aiden. You seem like a real nice fella. Maybe I'll see ya around sometime."

Aiden nodded and watched Kaitlyn walk out of the tailor shop. His mind momentarily off of what had happened on the way to town, Aiden was able to quickly pick out two new pairs of trousers and two new shirts—all of which needed to be altered but would be done by Saturday, which was three days from now.

He left the store wearing a new pair of boots and with a good thick pair of leather gloves in his back pocket. It wasn't until he saw Nick sitting in the cart on the road in front of the tailor that he remembered exactly what he'd done on the way to town.

Aiden froze. He swallowed hard. His hands shook. His heart thundered. Then the strangest thing happened. Nick looked up, his eyes met Aiden's and those firm lips of his curved into the smallest of smiles just before he gruffly hollered, "Come on then if you're coming! We're burnin' daylight!"

***

Nick's mind had been racing uncontrollably since Aiden had accidentally touched his crotch in the cart. Nick hadn't meant to yell at the other man like that but damnation the feel of his hand on the part of Nick's anatomy that was already far too aware of his presence had nearly had Nick coming undone completely.

One thing was perfectly clear to Nick and that was he had been denying his urges and his body for far too long. Unfortunately for Aiden, Nick's control had slipped this morning and his arousal had been more than obvious beneath the man's hand.

Nick needed to get control of himself. If anyone in this town knew his secret—he shivered as he remembered what had happened the last time he'd been found out. He and his lover had been ripped from their tiny cabin. They had been dragged into town where the townsfolk, such nice and charming people, had harassed them, screamed obscenities and thrown rocks, food and anything else they could grab at the two of them.

Then they had tied a rope around Tyler's neck and hanged him from the big oak at the edge of town. Nick had wept as he'd watched the man he loved die of suffocation right there in front of his eyes. Desperate to get away, Nick had fought hard and taken off as fast as he could on a stolen horse.

He'd taken a bullet to the side but had managed to escape with his life, though just barely. It was too much to risk going through all of that again. Nick could not allow himself to fall in love with another man, only to have that man ripped away from him as well..... And Nick didn't lie with men he didn't love.

He had only ever loved one man and only ever laid with one man.

And hell Aiden was probably like most other men in the world—he probably preferred waking up with a soft woman in his arms rather than waking up in the strong arms of a man.

Nick shook his head to try to clear the tangled thoughts filling it as he pulled the cart up beside the tailor's shop to wait on Aiden. The man had acted scared to death of him and Nick didn't blame him after the way he had yelled. Aiden was like a little, whipped pup scared of its own shadow—Nick should have known better than to yell at him. Nick would like to have those soft brown eyes looking at him with something other than fear.......

Nick grumbled under his breath and shook his head again when his thoughts strayed to Aiden's big brown eyes. Dammit why was this happening? Nick hadn't let himself focus this much on a man in six years; not since Tyler had been taken from him. Why now? Why Aiden? Why when Nick had finally found the town and the ranch he'd like to settle down in?

He would just have to fight the attraction, be civil to the man, and hope that Aiden would be leaving Bakerstown and Atkinson Spread soon.

Nick glanced over and his heart did a slow roll in his chest when he saw Aiden step out of the tailor and onto the boardwalk. Under six feet and built almost boyishly lean, Aiden was a lot like Tyler had been; at least in build. But Aiden's dark hair, his boyish smile, his innocence and awkwardness those were all his own; as were those soft brown eyes.

Aiden's eyes met his and Nick swallowed hard. He didn't want to smile, tried really hard not to smile, but it was no use. His lips took on a mind of their own and curved anyway. Irritated and annoyed with himself Nick hollered for Aiden to hurry up and then turned his head away from him.

The cart dipped a little as Aiden clambered up onto it and Nick flicked the reins to start them back toward the ranch, "Thought you were going to get clothes?" Nick asked, desperate to make some sort of conversation to end the awkward silence.

Aiden was sitting there as far away from him as he could get on the wagon seat. His hands seemed to be shaking a little as he picked at a hole in the knee of his trousers. "I did," Aiden replied quietly, "But they had to be altered a little to fit right. Mr. Peabody said I could come pick them up Saturday."

"Did you get the boots and gloves then?"

Aiden gave him an odd look and then raised his pants leg to show the new boots on his feet. He pulled a pair of gloves out of his pocket and laid them over his lap. "I got everything I was supposed to," Aiden assured him.

Nick found himself chuckling when they hit a small bump and Aiden's oversized hat fell forward. Nick's hand took on a life of its own when he reached out and fixed the hat, a smile on his face, "All except a hat."

Aiden's throat bobbed as he swallowed hard and shifted in the seat, "Yeah, I forgot the hat."

Another awkward silence fell over the cart and Nick decided it would be best to focus on the road. One thing was for sure—ignoring these feelings of attraction for Aiden was gonna be a thing easier said than done.