indulging in a bath.
It was incredibly distracting. He kept picturing Ivey in the tub, her flyaway hair pinned up haphazardly, her smooth skin wet and warm, her body relaxed.
At the same time he enjoyed that visual, he tried to rein in his mother’s gusto, while also fending off her matchmaking efforts. Now that Lang wasn’t in the hot seat, he appeared to enjoy seeing Corbin put there.
Hope hadn’t joined them for dinner tonight, and Corbin wondered if his brother had warned her away. It had become the norm for them all to eat together. Given that Hope was still so reserved, sometimes more so than Justin, Lang probably thought it would be better to introduce them once their mom had wound down a little. Corbin would ask his brother about it in the morning.
The unexpected visit had really thrown off his plans. He’d wanted to go through the box of stuff he’d amassed from Darcie’s car: photos of Justin, a few things he’d drawn, an old toy. The idea of sitting with Ivey and looking at everything together had appealed to him.
Instead he’d walked into a circus. Nothing new with his overly exuberant mom. She brought a whirlwind with her wherever she went.
To his relief, she and Hagan had declined the offer to stay in the house, and instead planned to sleep in the RV parked in the driveway. Hagan claimed they already had everything set up. Corbin had the feeling they wanted their privacy—but yeah, he didn’t want to dwell on that too much. He liked Hagan, the two of them got along well together, but he didn’t want details of his mother’s romantic adventures.
Tomorrow they’d need to recharge the RV, so their plan, according to his mother, was to find the nearest RV park for a nice long stay, then they’d rent a car so they could drive back and forth in frequent visits.
It hadn’t taken long for Justin to warm to his mother, a fact that surprised Corbin since she could be overwhelming. Or maybe Justin hadn’t been able to catch a breath to object.
He grinned at that idea.
Either way, his mother doted on Justin and he seemed to like it.
As far as Corbin was concerned, his son couldn’t get too much love from family. His mother came with a lot of chaos, but she also brought a lot of love.
Finally, the house was quiet again. His mother and Hagan were settled in the RV, and after seeing Justin ready for bed and giving him a good-night hug, he’d left Lang reading to him.
Corbin went into the master bedroom and tapped at the bathroom door. At Ivey’s lazily murmured “yes?” he stepped in.
With damp curls all around her face, she smiled. “Oh good, you survived.”
No matter how much time they spent together, it never failed to strike him just how perfect she was for him. “By the skin of my teeth.” Coming to stand by the bath, Corbin looked down at her utterly relaxed posture. “You’ve been in there over an hour.”
“So? It was a hectic day.” She heaved a long sigh. “You should try it next. You still look tense.”
Walking in to hear his mother trying to marry him off could make anyone tense. “I already took a quick shower.”
“Too bad.” Ivey closed her eyes as if she planned to be in there longer still.
Bubbles circulated around her, constantly stirring the water but not doing a damn thing to obscure her body. “Enjoying yourself?”
“It’s very relaxing.”
Letting his gaze roam over her, Corbin felt her never-ending effect sink in. That, more than a jet tub, worked to unkink the stress knots in his shoulders and neck. “Ivey?”
“Mmm?”
“Did my mother embarrass you?”
“Of course.” Her mouth curved in a small, secret smile. “I like her, though. She’s funny, boisterous and well-intentioned.”
Yup, that summed up his mother. “She likes you as well.” To resist reaching down to touch her bare body, Corbin flattened a hand to the wall. Ivey wasn’t yet ready to leave her bath, and he didn’t want to cut her time short. “About what she said—”
Green eyes that looked amazingly bright opened to stare up at him. Very softly, she said, “I do love you, you know.”
His breath stalled. She loved him.
As if that weren’t enough to level him, she added, “Someday, when you’re ready...if you’re ever ready, I would love nothing more than to marry you. With you, Corbin, I feel more like me, if that makes any sense.”
“It does.” He pulled off his T-shirt and,