Well, if I was on a roll, I might as well push my luck. "And no laughing at me when I get flustered?"
Ian chuckled. "No promises. Do I get to hold your hand in public now?"
"Yeah."
He smiled. "Maybe steal a kiss?"
This time I just nodded.
"How about fantasizing about what you're hiding under the robe?" He bent and quickly kissed the side of my face. "And I meant what that nighty looks like, in case you were wondering."
"Liar."
"Oh yeah," he agreed. "Well, partly - because I was wondering about the nighty, the sheets, and the woman who should be in bed, tangled up in both." Stepping back, he caught my hand. "But that's a very dangerous place to let my mind go. It's probably after three in the morning, and some of us need our beauty sleep."
"Like me," I agreed.
But Ian just shook his head. "No, baby. If you look any better, you'll kill me. Come lock me out so I don't worry."
I let him lead me out of the kitchen and down the hall toward the back door, but I stopped him before he opened it. With a tug of my fingers, I pulled him back to face me and stepped in. Immediately, his arm slid around my lower back, and his mouth claimed mine. This time wasn't as frantic. No, he made this kiss feel like a promise, and one I really hoped he'd keep, because it was the kind that made me feel just a little off-balance.
"Go to bed," he whispered against my lips. "Because if you kiss me again, I might start begging to go there with you."
I let my fingers slide across the side of his face, following the line of his beard. "Next time."
"That's my girl." And then he opened the door. "I'm also going to check the screen on that window Gabby used. Goodnight, beautiful." And then he was gone.
I may have stood there for a moment watching him walk across the shadowed lawn, smiling like a teenager. I certainly felt like one. Tonight, I'd gotten the gorgeous guy. I wanted to squeal, giggle, and dance in place. I didn't. That would've been childish. Instead, I simply sighed and hoped I hadn't made a massive mistake.
Just as my head hit the pillow, I heard a wolf howl in the distance. Somehow, it seemed appropriate.
CHAPTER 31
After all that excitement, I had an entire weekend to deal with a very pissed-off teenager. Gabby was on the warpath. I wasn't sure if it was because she'd been caught or if this was just that stage every parent dreaded. The one where her hormones took over and made her into something truly evil.
Saturday morning, I made sure to thank Seth for coming to help, but Ian chose to stay away. He said it was probably safer to let Gabby have her tantrum; that way she wouldn't turn her anger on our relationship. Granted, that still felt strange to me. For the first time in twenty years, I had a boyfriend. Well, five of them. Five sexy, younger ones at that. At some point, I was going to have to figure out what I'd tell Gerardo.
Needing an ear, I finally gave in and begged Ashley to come over Saturday afternoon. She arrived with snacks, more wine, and a list of movies for us to hunt down on Netflix. Gabby may have locked herself in her room, but each time she came out to use the bathroom or get something from the kitchen, she made a rather impressive production of it. She was pissed - and wanted to make sure I was exactly as miserable as her.
After she stormed out the last time, Ashley huffed out a heavy breath. "I'm pretty much convinced you're a saint right about now."
"She just wants the reaction," I explained. "In her mind, she thinks that if she can annoy me, then she'll get out of trouble. I have to remind myself that this is a lesson, and the point is for her to learn to act civil. Rewarding her for that?" And I gestured at the stairs she'd thundered across a few minutes ago. "Would have the opposite effect."
She cast a sly look over at me. "How do you think she's going to take the news about Ian?"
"He told you about that?"
"Of course he did." She waved that away. "I don't know how to break this to you, Elena, but my brother and I actually talk when you aren't around."