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He raised a thick brow and looked down at my camisole top before he averted his eyes without a single tell. Had I gone over there in my skimpiest camisole on purpose?
Absolutely… not.
But my breasts were the elephant that now sat on the puppy at hand.
Disco lay quietly in his grip.
“See, she just needed some love,” I said, feathering her soft fur through my fingers. I leaned down and kissed her forehead before I looked up at a surprisingly close Ian. “Disco needs you, crocky.”
He rolled his eyes as I spotted a large dry erase board behind him.
“What’s this?”
Ian cradled Disco in his arm and stepped in front of me to obstruct my view of the board. “Just something I’m working on.”
I tilted my head. “Why so secretive? I’ve already seen you at war, Marine.”
His lips twitched in amusement. “That was years ago.” His eyes strayed down to his stomach. I saw his disappointment and felt my heart rip slightly at the degrading evaluation he gave himself. So he’d gained a few pounds since his service. No big deal. He’d already lost quite a b
it of it in the month he’d been on the island. And I found it admirable that he served at all. Little love handles aside, the man was drop-dead gorgeous. He had to know that. But I wasn’t going to leave it unsaid, I’d been a victim of self-image awareness my whole life. So, what did I do to make sure he knew he still had it?
“Ouch! What in the hell are you doing, woman?”
My hand burned as I lifted my reddened palm away from his firm ass and presented it to him, “Still got it, eh?”
Not my best move, but when Ian Kemp threw his head back and laughed, a wave of pure bliss washed over me.
Ignoring the urge to kiss his prominent Adam’s apple, I shrugged as if I went around slapping men’s asses on a daily basis. I sidestepped him as he kept Disco snug in his arms and looked at the board. There was a list of lecture topics and keynotes.
I nodded toward it in question.
“It’s a course shcedule. I teach.”
“Shcedule?” I grinned, and he grinned back.
“Right, you always had a thing for my accent.”
“Doesn’t every red-blooded American woman? I bet you cleaned up with the ladies very well in Texas.” I gave him a wink and his answering grin didn’t deny it.
My whole body tensed at the sight of his smile. Angry with my horny self, I moved to the defensive. “And your accent has faded a little, what a pity.” He gave me that all-knowing stare again. The one that told me he knew my next words before I spoke them. I walked over to the board and felt his eyes on me.
“I blame Texas.”
“South Africa to Dallas, what in the world made your parents make that move?”
“We went there initially to wait for my brother, the birth mother lived there.”
“Your parents told me a little about him last summer, I forgot his name…?”
“Adam. He’s adopted. My parents and I waited in Dallas for the length of the pregnancy. They got acclimated. I hated it, but we stayed.”
“Too hot?”
“I can handle hot,” he said, looking over the list on the board before he took a step forward with Disco cradled in his free arm and erased one of the notes. “The academics were lacking. I was several levels ahead, and it was all very boring.”
“I remember you griping about not being able to safari on the weekend. No chance of lions invading Dallas then?” He threw his head back at my shitty attempt at his accent. I felt like I was batting a thousand every time I heard that sweet rumble erupt from his chest.
“No, there wasn’t much adventure for me in the concrete jungle.”
