by Madison, Mia
Fortunately, I didn’t have to answer any more questions about the upcoming date because a voice called Gabi’s name. Two voices, actually, both young.
To my surprise, two children, a boy and a girl, ran right up to Gabi. Though they didn’t look alike, they had identical smiles on their faces.
“Hey guys!” Gabi said, reaching out and patting the girl on the arm. “Good to see you. This is my friend Sierra.”
The kids looked up at me with bright, eager eyes. “Hi,” I said, though I had no idea who they were or why they knew Gabi.
“Sierra, these are my good friends Ava and Brandon.”
“We’re twins,” Brandon announced, confirming my suspicions. They were the same approximate weight and height.
“Nice to meet you. Umm… how do you all know each other?”
“I come here a lot,” Gabi said. “At least a couple of times a week when I get off work early.”
I frowned. Poor Gabi needed a better job. Her temp agency didn’t pay well to begin with, and if she didn’t even get forty hours a week, she couldn’t be earning much.
Brandon spoke up again. “We come here a lot, too, right Ava? Nearly every day in the summer.
His sister nodded, her brown hair in adorable pigtails. “The swings are the best part. Sometimes Gabi pushes us.”
“That’s nice.” Talking to kids was definitely not a specialty of mine. But it was of Gabi’s.
She talked with them for a few minutes. I smiled and nodded along, but it really wasn’t my scene. When my phone chimed, I tried not to be obvious about checking it. It was from my mom, not Ian, dammit.
Gabi and the kids were still chatting.
“Did you bring us any cookies?” Brandon said, looking at Gabi with something like hero-worship.
“Not today, but how about next week I make the chocolate ones with butterscotch chips?”
Wait, was she supposed to do that?
“That would be great!” Ava said, and Brandon seemed to agree.
“Why don’t you two go swing while I talk with Sierra, but we’ll come say goodbye before we leave.”
The two kids agreed and ran off. The whole exchange left me baffled. “You bring them cookies?”
Gabi shrugged. “I bring everyone cookies.”
“But you’re a stranger.”
“They’re my friends,” Gabi said, looking offended at the thought that anyone could consider her a stranger.
“Of course you’d never do anything to harm them, but it is really wise to teach them that they can take food from someone they don’t know?” I didn’t mean to sound harsh, but we lived in the real world, not a fairy tale one.
Gabi looked upset. “Honestly, we’re friends. I’ve been coming here for months and I see them several times a week.”
I sighed. There was no use browbeating Gabi. She was just the friendly sort. “Have you met their parents?”
“They live with their dad in a house just up the street.” She pointed vaguely at a street off to the left. “Umm… did you get a text from Ian?”
I knew she wanted to change the subject, so I answered fully. “It was from my mom. She wanted to remind me about Aunt Margaret’s 50th birthday party.”
“When’s that?”
“Week after next.”
“That sounds fun,” she said absently. “Isn’t your Aunt Margaret the one who sent us the box of chocolates last Valentine’s Day?”
“Yeah—how’d you remember that?”
“Well, it was an eventful evening,” Gabi said. “It’s when we made our pact.”
“True.”
Gabi sighed. “Seems like that’s working out for everyone but me.”
“You’ll meet someone.” I wasn’t just saying it, I truly believed it. Gabi was funny, pretty, and the friendliest person around. I still didn’t understand why she didn’t get asked out more. Then again, her job situation wasn’t helping. She was sent many places and wasn’t at any of them for very long.
“It’s not just about men or the lack of them. You and Kait have both gotten a new job since then. But for me, I don’t even know what I want to do.” She laughed. “I sound like Ava and Brandon. I don’t know what I want to do when I grow up.”
I patted her on the arm. “You’ll figure it out. And you know, despite our pact, it doesn’t have to be this year. I mean, you should look for a job, but if it doesn’t work out, then you can just find another. You’re not locking yourself into anything.”
Gabi looked over at me and smiled. “That’s funny… I was about to say the same thing to you.”
“What do you mean?”
“That our Valentine’s Day pledge was to work toward making our lives better. And we’re all doing that. It doesn’t mean that we have to be exactly like Kait though. If we don’t meet the man of our dreams this year, we’ll meet him sometime. So I guess what I’m saying is don’t feel that you have to be with Ian just because of our pact.”
“I know,” I said hurriedly. “But he really is fun to be with. And after the year I’ve had… fun is definitely a step in the right direction.”
Gabi grinned. “No one deserves it more. But don’t dismiss the idea of a real relationship, either. He seems like a really good man.”
I laughed. “First you tell me not to feel pressured to be with him, then you tell me not to dismiss him. Make up your mind, girl.”
“Sorry. It’s just—Kait and I were talking about it this morning.”
I nodded. I wasn’t much of a morning person, and both of them were usually up before me.
“Tyler’s told her some stuff about Ian. His father owned a very successful advertising firm, and after Ian finished graduate school, his dad wanted to make him a partner. But Ian insisted on starting his own company all on his own. And now it’s a success, too. Aren’t there about thirty employees?”
“More,” I said, as we got up to say goodbye to Ava and Brandon.
“I guess I’m just saying that he seems smart and successful and like a good guy, so maybe you should give him a real chance.”
15
Ian
“Would you like some more wine?” I asked the stunning woman sitting across from me. Sierra was almost unrecognizable. She was the picture of sophistication in that dress. She looked ready for an evening in Paris or a gala at the Met. Her hair was done up in some kind of elaborate style, piled high on her head. The only thing that dangled down were the earrings she wore.
“Maybe when the food comes,” she said, smiling at me. She had more makeup on, too. It made her blue eyes pop, but it also made her look different. Less approachable, somehow. But maybe all men felt that way about women this beautiful.
“Right, when you get your… what did you order again?”
A corner of her mouth pulled upward and for a moment, she looked like herself again. “I’m not entirely sure. It has truffles in it, I think.”
I grinned, taking a sip of my wine. “The menu seemed designed to make an impression. Clarity was probably an afterthought. Still, I would’ve thought you’d understood it. With a degree in communications.”
“What was your degree in?”
“Business.”
“That makes sense.”
I was learning more about her—slowly. But maybe that wasn’t a bad thing after the way we’d rushed things lately. Still, this kind of felt like an informational interview instead of a date. I couldn’t fault the restaurant. Everything was elegant with ornate flourishes and huge flower arrangements. It was probably the perfect place to spend an evening if you were into those things. I wasn’t, but perhaps Sierra was.
A waiter arrived, placing appetizer plates in front of us. He left, leaving us staring at the tiny portions.
“Umm… what’s that?” Sierra asked.
“I think the thing in the middle is a scallop. Not sure about those little things leaning against it.”
“Me either.” She picked up her fork and peered closer at her plate. “Do you get th
e feeling that we could’ve gotten pizza for the whole office for the price of this one scallop?” She moved a little crispy thing off the scallop and cut into it.
“This really isn’t your sort of restaurant, is it?”
Her eyes flew to mine. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude. It’s lovely. Thank you for bringing me here.”
I held her gaze. “You didn’t answer my question.”
She looked down. “No, it’s not really my sort of restaurant.”
“Since we’re supposed to be getting to know each other better, I’ll let you in on a secret. It’s not really mine, either.”
Her eyebrows rose. “Really? You look like you belong here with that suit…” her words trailed off, but her eyes swept across my chest and arms and then back up to my face again. It was flattering, but not the point.
“You look like you belong here, too. Seriously, Sierra, you look absolutely stunning in that dress.” I’d told her that before, but the flush on her cheeks and her slow smile made me want to say it every five minutes.
“Thank you. For the dress, I mean. And the shoes.”
“You’re welcome.” I leaned forward, reaching for her hand. She placed hers in mine, and I squeezed my fingers around her. “I’m going to ask you something, and I want you to answer honestly.”
Her eyes darkened at the intensity of my tone. “Okay.”
“One hundred percent honesty,” I warned her, and she nodded. “Do you want to get out of here?”
She pulled her hand back, surprised. “I didn’t mean to make you think I wasn’t enjoying myself. I’m glad we’re spending the evening together.”
“It might be time for me to find that ruler,” I said, shaking my head. “You didn’t answer the question at all. I didn’t ask if you wanted to spend time with me. I asked if you wanted to get out of here.”
“Oh,” she said. She took a deep breath, clearly not wanting to offend. “Yeah, kinda.”
I grinned. “Then let’s do it. Let’s go back to my place and continue our date there.”
Her eyebrow raised as she matched my smile. “Kind of like a Netflix and chill thing?”
“Not sure,” I said, winking at her. “Can you do that in a hot tub?”
Her grin widened. “Let’s find out.”
* * *
Half an hour later, we were at my penthouse. Clad in swim trunks, I checked the temperature of the hot tub again. Perfect.
Sierra was in the guest bathroom. I’d told her my hot tub was clothing optional, but unsurprisingly, she hadn’t taken me up on it.
Instead, she asked me for a t-shirt. The one I’d found was one of my smallest ones, but it would still be pretty big on her.
A door opened, illuminating a corner of the living room, and then the light shut off. And there she was, padding toward me, barefoot and looking unbelievably beautiful.
She’d looked good in the restaurant, but in a different way. The dress had fit her like a glove, but she hadn’t looked like herself in that outfit. She’d looked like she was trying on a costume, or perhaps trying on a different personality.
But this? This was a natural beauty all her own. Her long legs were bare, her toenails painted a soft pink. My t-shirt was big and baggy on her, but she still looked gorgeous. The outline of her black bra and panties showed through the thin white fabric. The hem of the shirt came down to the middle of her thighs, but every time she too a long-legged step, it rode up, offering a tantalizing view.
Her hair was different, too. Less formal than in the restaurant. I think she undid some of the fancy stuff from before, because now it was in a loose, messy updo. For some reason, I liked it a lot better this way. It looked casual and carefree. My hand twitched—I longed to bury my fingers in her golden mane as I had at the office last week. The loose bun made it even more intriguing. It looked like tugging just one strand would cause the whole thing to cascade down around her shoulders and breasts. It would be like pulling the ribbon of a birthday present.
“This is nice,” she said, her voice husky and low as she looked around my deck. There was a bar, a grill, seating, and, of course, the hot tub.
I handed her a glass of wine and clinked mine against it. “To our date, Part 2.”
“I usually like sequels better,” she said, taking a sip. Her eyes closed briefly as she savored it.
“Me too.”
Setting my glass down, I stepped into the hot tub and held out my hand for her. She entered cautiously, moaning a little as the warm, bubbly water covered her legs. When she was seated on the edge of the tub, only her lower legs in the water, I let go and moved to sit across from her. Sierra raised her eyebrows into a question.
“Annoyingly enough, I think our friends were right. We really do need to get to know each other better. So I’m setting a timer for sixty minutes,” I said, setting an alarm on my phone. “During that sixty minutes, we’re going to have a real conversation. No touching. No dirty talk. Just normal, getting-to-know-you stuff.”
She stared at me with an unreadable expression as she took a sip of wine. “What happens after sixty minutes?”
I raised an eyebrow, but I resisted the urge to say something suggestive. I was determined to be good for an hour—even if it killed me. “I guess we’ll find out.”
“Works for me.”
16
Sierra
“I can’t believe I never knew you were Scottish.”
Ian raised an eyebrow and launched into an exaggerated accent. “With a name like Ian Callahan, what did you think I was, wee lassie?”
I laughed, running a lazy finger along the side of the hot tub. “Were you born there?”
“No, in New York. My dad moved to the US when he was a boy.”
“Your dad who has nothing to do with fixing air conditioners,” I said, remembering how he’d been embarrassed to tell me that he’d helped out his teacher in high school.
“Right,” Ian said. “Trust me, Mr. Hanson was a lot nicer than my dad. After I finished school, he wrote a letter of recommendation for every job I ever applied for. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that home repair skills didn’t play a large part my field.”
“That’s sweet,” I said, my voice breathier than I meant it to be. “And what you’re doing feels amazing.”
The timer on Ian’s phone had gone off some time ago, but we were still talking, finding out more about each other. However, we’d abandoned the no touching rule. I was sitting on the bench of the hot tub, warm water coming up nearly to my shoulders. I was facing Ian, one foot in his lap. His thumbs kneaded the arch of my foot. Between that and the warm, bubbly water, I was in heaven.
My eyes closed in bliss for a moment as I enjoyed the sensations. When I opened them, I caught Ian looking at my chest. The t-shirt he’d given me lay in a sodden heap on his deck. It had kept billowing up, bunching up around my neck, so I’d taken it off. My black lace bra and panties covered as much as a bikini would, and Ian definitely didn’t seem to mind.
His eyes did sweep across my body from time to time while we talked, but I was doing the same to him. His broad shoulders and sculpted pecs glistened from the drops of water. I ached to reach out and touch him, to trace the contours of his muscles. To capture his full bottom lip in my teeth. To feel his hands all over me.
But in the spirt of the date, I held off, not wanting to be the one who made the first move—though I wouldn’t mind if he made it. “Umm, do you ever wear a kilt?”
“For special occasions, yes. Clan Callahan has its own tartan.”
I wasn’t entirely sure what that meant, but it sounded sexy. Of course, anything Ian wore looked sexy on it. “I’d love to see you in one sometime.”
He chuckled, shaking his head ruefully. “Here I am, wearing only these shorts, and the woman I’m with wants to see me covered in ten yards of wool.”
“Good point,” I said, sneaking a peek at his abs. “You must work out a lot.”
He grinned. “I do. Nice to kno
w the effort is appreciated.”
“I never said that.” I smiled innocently at him.
“Your eyes have been saying it all night.” Ian smirked.
He was right, but I wasn’t going to admit it. “I said you worked out, I didn’t say you were god’s gift to women.”
“You’re awfully bratty for a woman in your position.”
“What position is that?” Excitement sizzled up my spine.
“Well, for one thing, I’ve got your foot in my hands.” He tugged on my foot, yanking me forward just an inch or two, but for a moment, I thought my head was going to slip underwater and I yelped.
“You jerk!” I splashed him, the water hitting him in the face.
Ian shook his head back and forth, spraying water from his hair. “Again, not a smart thing to do to a man who’s taken one of your limbs captive.” His grin was wolfish and then I felt it… an agonizingly light, ticklish touch on the arch of my foot.
I shrieked as I tried to pull away, but I was laughing, too. When I couldn’t get my foot loose, I splashed him more, all the while trying to wiggle out of his grasp.
Instead of freeing me to stop the splashing, Ian somehow pulled me closer. With one hand on the edge of the hot tub for balance, I kept splashing him with the other as he reeled me in.
Suddenly, my foot was free, and I nearly crowed in triumph, but then he took me by the waist and pulled me onto his lap.
My laughter faded as I straddled his thighs, my chest heaving from our battle. I pushed against him, not because I wanted to get away but because it gave me an excuse to touch the smooth, hard skin of his chest. He must’ve taken my actions as a continuation of our wrestling match, because he caught my hands in his.
Effortlessly, he pinned my hands behind my back, causing my chest to stick out. Because I was straddling his lap, my shoulders and breasts were above the water line.
