Jersey Six - Jewel E Ann Page 0,60
my room, if you want to.” Amusement teased Ian’s face once Chris disappeared from sight.
“I don’t.” Jersey showed no amusement.
“Suit yourself.” He sauntered to the kitchen.
She dropped her bag at the bottom of the staircase and followed Ian. “Interesting choice of dogs.” Jersey glanced around his open kitchen, meticulously cleaned and decorated in all white with a wall of windows overlooking a pool.
“I lost a bet. Two actually. The first one got me the dogs; the second allowed Jordan to name them. I have a love-hate relationship with my bandmates. They like bets. Me? Not so much.” He opened the glass door to the refrigerator.
“What are their names?”
“Lola and Foxy, but I usually just call them my bitches.”
Jersey laughed. This wasn’t a side to Ian she could have ever imagined. “Were you raised with a strange bottled water obsession? Or did you get the runs from tap water at some point? Happened to me at Marley’s. When I first started staying there, I drank the orange-tinted water and nearly crapped out my intestines for a week.” Jersey wedged her body between Ian and the open door to his huge refrigerator with rows of perfectly lined glass bottles of water. No food … just water.
He grabbed a bottle in one hand and her ponytail in his other hand, yanking her back so he could shut the fridge door. She batted him away, and he chuckled.
“I just prefer it.” He unscrewed the cap, leaned back against the island and drank the whole bottle as Jersey studied him.
“Anything else?” Shane poked his head into the kitchen.
“No. Thanks, buddy. Go enjoy your family for a few days. We’ll be wheels up again before you know it.”
“Where’s Chris?” Jersey asked.
“Tossed his bag on the floor upstairs and collapsed onto the bed. Said he needed a nap.” Shane shrugged. “Later.”
Jersey’s gaze slid up to Ian’s face. He gave her the look he usually wore just before kissing her. That look made her heart race and her skin burn. She hated … truly hated that any man had that effect on her.
A look.
His spiced wood, mildly scented cologne.
Minty breath.
Hands that played a guitar and her body like they were made to do those exact jobs.
“Tomorrow Max is taking you to a couple of appointments.” He turned, ripping away that I’m-going-to-kiss-you look while making his way to the windows overlooking a swimming pool.
Ridiculous. The look she hated was gone, yet it angered her that he let it die as just a look. No kiss. She really needed to stop liking his mouth on hers so much.
“Appointments?”
“A physical and the eye doctor.”
“You want to know that I don’t have STDs, and you want to know that I can see your dick from across the room. Correct?”
“You should want to know that you don’t have STDs, and we already know you can see my dick from across the room.”
“You’re right. As I stand here in this very spot, I can definitely see a dick across the room.”
Ian turned, slipping his fingers into the front pockets of his jeans. “You seem a little more … edgy, aggravated … confrontational than most days. Have I done something to upset you?”
Her focus shifted over his shoulder to the pool, and she shook her head. “I … I don’t know yet.”
“You don’t know yet if I’ve done something to upset you?”
She shrugged.
“When will you know?”
“When I do.” Her gaze returned to him.
“And you’ll tell me?”
“Oh …” She blew a quick breath out of her nose. “When I know, you’ll definitely know.”
“Can’t wait.”
Biting her lips between her teeth, she lifted her eyebrows and nodded several times.
“Hungry?”
Jersey grinned, jabbing her thumb behind her. “I just saw your fridge, Coop. I’m pretty sure I’m only allowed to be thirsty at your house.”
“There are nonperishable items in the pantry.” He pointed to a large cabinet door and opened it. A light automatically came on in the room lined with shelves of food, wine behind glass cabinets, a second sink, and a counter with a toaster and a coffee pot. “Chips? Nuts? Crackers?”
Her wide eyes surveyed the hidden room. “Where are the non … whatever things?”
Ian chuckled. “Nonperishable items?”
Jersey nodded.
“That’s what most of this is considered—nonperishable. Things that won’t spoil quickly.”
“Then why not just say that? Why try to make me feel stupid?”
Ian shook his head, forehead slightly wrinkled. “That’s not what I was doing.”
“Never mind. I’m not hungry.” She turned, marching out of the pantry. Snatching her bag, she stomped up the stairs.
“Jersey!”
She ignored Ian closing in on