by Katee Robert
Holy shit, he’d actually gone and done it. The asshole called her bluff. While he sat on the phone and made noises of agreement, she stared at her omelet as if it were the source of her downfall. Why did it have to be so tempting? If she hadn’t been so weak when it came to good food, she could have avoided this conversation for at least another week, enjoying more Ian-created orgasms instead.
She already missed those orgasms.
“Roxanne.” He squeezed her hand. “Rox, my sister wants to talk to you.”
Of course she did. Numb, she took the phone and pressed it to her ear. It took three tries to actually find words. “Hey, honey.”
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you were going out with my brother.”
“Think about that statement for a second, and I think you’ll understand.” It was on the tip of her tongue to say they weren’t going out at all, but all that would do is open up a conversation about Roxanne having a one-night stand that wasn’t a one-night stand with Ian. Not exactly a comfortable topic to cover with his little sister.
“Do you think it’s serious between you two?” ’Cause this topic was so much less uncomfortable.
“Now’s not really a good time to get into it.”
“I see.” Elle was quiet for all of a heartbeat.“We’re going to talk soon, okay?”
Wow, that sounded a whole lot like a threat. This was a side of Elle that she’d never dealt with before. Hell, she didn’t want to deal with it now—or ever. “Sure. See you.” She hung up before her best friend could change her mind and decide they were going to talk right now, and flung the phone at Ian. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
The bastard caught it as if she hadn’t been aiming at his head. “You said you wouldn’t go out with me because of Elle. I removed the obstacle.”
“Did you ever stop to think that maybe I liked the obstacle right where it was?” Now she was going to be forced into a seriously uncomfortable conversation she didn’t want to have. She started to get up, with every intention of storming out the door, but Ian handed her a new fork. She glared at it, then at him. “I hate you.”
“No, you don’t. You kind of like me.”
“You’re going to throw that in my face a lot, aren’t you?” Strange, but it didn’t bother her as much as she’d have thought.
He grinned. “Yep. But don’t forget, I kind of like you, too.”
She sank back into her chair. That actually made things worse. It was going to be so much more difficult to keep her head with him falling right alongside her. The guy she’d dated before the cheater had said he’d fallen in love with her—had even shed a single tear when she confessed she’d fallen for him, too. And then he’d gone out to his car to get her “a surprise.”
And never came back.
“So, about dinner.”
“We already had dinner.” Goddamn her weakness, but this omelet was seriously good. She took another bite.
“I want to have dinner again.”
“What if I don’t?” She mostly asked the question out of curiosity. He’d pursued her pretty doggedly at this point. Would he keep on chasing her even if she kept saying no? She wasn’t sure which answer was the one she’d prefer.
Only the tension in his shoulders gave away how annoyed he was right now.“Okay, I’ll bite. Do you want to go to dinner with me, Roxanne? Several dinners? Maybe a few other dates to mix it up?”
“I—”
“Because if you say no, I’ll drop it. Right here, right now, I’ll walk away and leave you alone, and I’ll let this whole thing with you go.”
Was that was what she wanted? If he left her alone, she wouldn’t have to worry about things like why her heart beat faster just from being in the same room as him. Or why the thought of never seeing him again made her eyes burn in a way that so wasn’t almost- tears. All she had to do was tell him that she didn’t want to go out with him, and all her problems were solved.
So why couldn’t she force herself to say the words? “That’s not fair.”
He held up a hand. “It’s a pretty simple question.
Do you want to go out with me again or not?”
“I…” Goddamn it, but as much as she hated it, there was only one answer. Roxanne pushed her plate away and mumbled, “I want to go out with you.”
“You’re going to need to speak up.”
She glared, kind of wishing she could shoot laser beams out of her eyes, though it would be a tragedy to waste that body. “I want to go out with you.”
He grinned as if he’d never doubted her answer. “Was that so hard?”
“Don’t push it.”
“Can’t help it. It’s my nature.”
“Yeah, well, your nature sucks.” She crossed her arms over her chest, realized she was pouting, and uncrossed them. “I have things I have to do today, and none of them involves lazing about with you.” Even if that sounded like a dream day.
He kissed her, the sweetness of the touch nearly taking her breath away. When he finally moved back, he was grinning like a fool. “You’re a terrible loser.”
It was difficult to keep glaring in the face of that grin. Stupid unicorn, taking away her steam before she got a good mad rolling. “You should see me play Monopoly.”
“God help anyone standing in your path.”
She finally gave in and dredged up a smile. “Pretty much. It’s all smiting and the ruination of my opponents.”
“We’ll have to play sometime.”
The kicker of it was, she wanted to play with him. Ian was an intelligent guy, and it would be fun to match her wits against his and see who came out on top. She could picture nights spent like that, playing games or watching television or verbally sparring over silly things. The sheer amount of want that coursed through her at the image of that future nearly made her sway.
He smoothed back her hair.“You should get going before we get distracted and you lose your entire day.” “Yeah… You’re right.” It was more of an effort than it should have been to turn away. Considering she didn’t want this to begin with, that didn’t make any sort of sense, but her head was going to start hurting if she examined it too long.
She pulled on her shoes, grabbed her purse, and headed for the door. She had it open when Ian’s voice stopped her.
“Roxanne.”
She gave him innocent eyes when she turned around. “Yep?”
“I’ll see you next Wednesday at seven. And don’t worry about forgetting. I’ll call later and remind you.” He grinned and waved his phone. “Which means I’m going to need your number—unless you want me to call my sister and ask for it?”
And run the risk of Elle flipping out? No, thanks. Roxanne sighed and rattled it off. Her best friend was a problem for another day. “See you later.”
“Yes, you will.”
14
Ian spent the next few days tying up loose ends with his house. The monstrosity sat on five acres just northwest of town and would require quite a few months of intense renovations before it became the dream house he wanted. Most people wouldn’t be interested in a total overhaul, but he wouldn’t have it any other way. In his mind, he and the house had quite a bit in common. Both of them were works in progress, and it would take the work of careful hands to make them reach their full potential. It seemed kind of silly, but he couldn’t shake the belief.
Beyond that, the physical toll it would take to get this place in shape was one he welcomed.
Which was why he was here, walking the property, right now. He’d just come out of a meeting with father, and he had a lot to think about. The offer
stood before him—come back to the family business, with the understanding that he’d be taking a more “administrative” role. Ian knew what that meant. His dad was getting close to retirement, and he was tired of all the traveling required to keep up with all their contracting companies around the country. Taking the job meant taking his father’s place, which meant Ian would be seeing the inside o
f a lot of airports and conference rooms.
Accepting the job was more than just risking bowing to family pressure, though. Right now, his entire future stood before him as one big blank page. Yes, there were endless possibilities, but possibilities didn’t mean a lot in the face of all that nothingness.
He could go anywhere, and the sheer scope of options daunted him on a bone-deep level. Ian knew what his therapist would say—that he was chained by his past and unwilling to move forward with his life— but he didn’t agree with her.
He spun his phone in his hand, acknowledging the truth of the matter—he wanted to call Roxanne and talk to her about it. They’d been texting on and off since he saw her last, but he’d been the one driving those conversations. Still, she hadn’t disappeared off the face of the earth, which he took for a good sign.
What would she say about his father’s offer? He didn’t know, but he wanted her opinion. Or a distraction. Hell, he wasn’t sure exactly what he wanted from her right this second, but he knew he wanted her.
Before he could talk himself out of it, he dialed her number. The phone rang half a dozen times before clicking over to voicemail. You’ve reached Roxanne Stokes. Please leave your name and number, and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. She even managed to sound sexy as hell on her answering machine. He shook his head and put the phone back in his pocket before he could give in to the temptation to call her again, just to hear her voice.
She might be complicated as all get out and excitable and dramatic and temptation personified… And there he went again. Every time he tried to objectively look at her pros and cons, he got sidetracked with all the pros. The woman wasn’t perfect, no, but everyone looked at Ian and saw what they expected to see—brother, son, soldier, future of the family business. Everyone except Roxanne. She alone delved past the surface level to the mess beneath, to the parts of him he was barely holding together. When he was with her, he wasn’t worried about the future or haunted by the past. He just…was.
At some point she’d have to make the decision that she wanted this. Yes, her agreeing to another date had been a step in the right direction, but he wasn’t sure it meant what he’d hoped. She obviously cared about him, but that emotional connection might not be enough to balance out her fear of the future.
He kicked a rock as he circled back toward his truck. Roxanne aside, he needed to decide what he
was going to do about the position his dad had offered him. It’d be good money—better than good money— but it also meant being out of town more often than he was in it. He wasn’t sure he was up to getting back on a plane, not when he still felt so off-balance. And he’d already seen too much of the world—something he’d admitted as much to Roxanne the night they met. Settling in one place, giving himself the stability he’d lacked for the last ten years…that’s what he craved.
His phone rang and for one hopeful second, he was sure it was Roxanne calling him back. Caller ID proved that wrong. Though he considered not answering, there was no avoiding this conversation indefinitely. “Hello, Mom.”
“Hello, darling. I wanted to be the first to congratulate you on taking the job your father offered you.”
He sighed. “I haven’t accepted it yet.”
“But you will. You always do what’s right.”
Though he really didn’t want to talk about this right now, he made an effort to open up to her. “It’s a lot of traveling. I just got home.” Just found Roxanne. He wouldn’t reject the job out of hand for her— especially with how up in the air things were between them—but he was so goddamn tired. What was wrong with wanting a few years back in Spokane before he took off again?
Not to mention, his current problem with crowds. “It’s an excellent opportunity, Ian. You’d be foolish to reject it out of hand.”
She didn’t understand. She didn’t even try. All his mother could see was her plan for his life, and he wasn’t sure he wanted any part of it. “I have to go. I’ll talk to you soon, though.”
As soon as he figured out what the hell he was going to do with his life.
“You want the orchids?” Roxanne asked. “Those are going to press your budget.”
The teenager pressed her hands to her chest, her brown eyes wide and shining a whole lot. “They’re my dream.”
Of course they were. Every aspect of this sweet- sixteen party was her dream. While normally she was all about meeting her clients’ needs, this particular brat got on her last nerve. She wanted the best of the best, to the point that this party was going to be bigger than most weddings. Talk about being spoiled rotten. This party alone was going to pay Roxanne’s bills for the next three months, though, so she wasn’t going to complain. The girl’s demands wouldn’t be an issue, but her parents had put a budget in place. When she’d first seen the limit, she had almost laughed out loud.
That was before she met the teen diva.
Good thing Roxanne was up for the job. “Of course. I’ll get some samples, and we can look them over later this week.”
“Great.” The teenager beamed. She rose and beamed brighter. “Guess my mom was right—you really do know how to do your job.”
Roxanne waited for the door to shut before she pulled out her phone and looked to see whose call she’d missed. Her stomach erupted in butterflies when she saw it was Ian.
Before she could look too closely at how she felt about the whole thing, she typed out a quick text. Hey, Charming. What’s up?
She’d barely set her phone on the desk when it buzzed. Just thinking about you.
In the past few days, she’d come to terms with the fact Ian used perfect English in his texts. It was a weakness of hers—she hated the texting most people used these days. Intelligence was sexy, and so was correct spelling and punctuation. Roxanne tried not to be charmed by his lack of spelling and grammatical errors…and failed completely. Or maybe she was just charmed by the fact that he was thinking of her in the middle of the day.
Yeah…best not to go too far down that particular road.
With a grin, she typed, Dirty thoughts? Ha! Always.
Her smile widened. She glanced at her door.
Really? Tell me. Lots of juicy details please.
She set the phone down and started paging
through the flower options while she waited for his response. Orchids weren’t the best decision in her opinion, but the kid wanted what the kid wanted, and her parents had made it extremely clear that their precious daughter’s wants were to be met. It wasn’t her job to judge. It was her job to deliver.
Her phone buzzed. What are you wearing?
Oh, so they were going that direction? Roxanne tapped her phone to her lips, thinking. She could send him an elaborate description, but she was pretty sure his idea of description and hers were two different things. Not like Ian cared what brand her heels were.
A picture was worth a thousand words, though, right?
She stood and crossed to the large mirror across from her desk. Before she could think—or obsess— too much about it, she propped her hand on her hip and snapped a picture with her phone. She attached it to the text and sent it along.
Instantly, Damn, woman.
You like? As soon as she typed it out, she regretted it. Damn it, that made her sound so freaking needy. Someone needed to come up with a way to take back texts. It would solve a world full of problems.
I like. I’m seriously considering hauling ass over there and taking you to her.
Roxanne frowned and reread the message.To her? Who the hell was her?Was Ian seriously propositioning her for a threesome? She set her phone down and stared at it. How was she supposed to respond to that? Because, seriously, she might be down for some freaky-deaky almost-public sex, but bringing another person into it?
After a long minute, she decided to go with a simple, Her? No way to misinterpret that, right? If he went down the creeper route, then she’d just avoid, avoid, avoid and ditch him. And do her damnedest to keep it to her
self when Elle asked her why they’d gone their separate ways. Because she’d definitely ask.
Goddamn it, how did she get into these messes?
Her phone buzzed, and Roxanne considered pretending she hadn’t heard it. All sexy feelings from his earlier texts were gone, replaced by a vague sense of unease. Taking a deep breath, she picked up her phone and opened the message. Then she just stared, a snort slipping free. “Oh my God.”
Her? Oh shit! I meant BED. Stupid autocorrect.
Shit!
The snort turned into a giggle.“I can’t even believe this right now.” She shook her head. Priceless.
…The moment has passed, hasn’t it? Little bit, yeah.
Thought as much. Well, still thinking of you. Hit me up after your next appointment.
That sounded suspiciously like… God, her neuroses were exhausting. Roxanne typed out a quick agreement and set the phone aside. It was time to get some work done.
But, yeah, she’d be thinking of Ian for the rest of her day with a stupid freaking grin on her face.
15
Roxanne eyed the bottle of vodka on her counter and reminded herself for the seventh time in the last ten minutes that she couldn’t get sloshed before Ian showed up. It didn’t help that he was late. Okay, not late-late. He said he’d be here at seven, and it was seven ten.
Even knowing he was coming, she still jumped half out of her skin when Ian finally pounded on the door a minute later. She ran a hand down her dress, wondering if it was too late to change. Her loft was currently littered with clothes from her countless wardrobe changes. It had taken an hour, but she’d finally settled on a green halter dress with a deep plunge in the front and practically no back. Yes, it was probably a little much for a date, but the look on Ian’s face when she opened the door was totally worth it.
His dark eyes went wide, and his jaw actually dropped before he composed himself. “Jesus.”
“I’m going to take that as a sign of your approval.”
