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“Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
I bit my lip and nodded before he disappeared out the door.
HOURS LATER, FLESH BURNING FROM the wine, alcohol-induced insomnia had set in. I rose from bed still in my dress and washed my face in the bathroom. I cranked my AC unit up high and spent a few minutes in front of it, cooling my skin from burning thoughts.
Ian’s eyes haunted me, and in being honest with myself, they were what kept me awake. His eyes, his voice, the way I felt at ease with him. He looked at me like I had something he needed. I wondered briefly if he saw the mess inside of me would he look at me that same way. I loved the heat of his stare when he thought I didn’t notice, and in my wine-induced haze, I felt sexy when I remembered catching that gaze before it flitted away. I opened my porch door in the pitch-black night and shut it softly instead of letting it snap close.
As I tread across the sand, I glanced at the Kemp house where Ian slept. In the past few days, he unknowingly revealed so many truths about me and accepted them like no man in my life ever had. We’d been at odds a majority of his time on the island and in just a matter of days, he’d unearthed so much. I should have felt uncomfortable, instead all I felt was relief.
Holding my dress to my thighs, I walked through the cool water in a daze, splashing around to cool the inferno that was building inside with thoughts of him. Finally able to feel some relief from my Ian-induced heat wave, I was taken by surprise when an unexpected wave had me scrambling to keep on my feet. Over the breeze, I could have sworn I heard his chuckle and narrowed my eyes in the direction of his house. I couldn’t see past his porch stairs, but I had the distinct feeling I was being watched. Before I had a chance to investigate, another rogue wave smashed into me and leveled me flat onto my back.
Choking, I snapped to my feet before I was yanked in by the undertow. Freshly sober and trying my best to clear my throat, I heard Ian’s porch door and in seconds he stood in front of me as I made it to shore.
“I’m trying—really, really trying hard not to laugh. Are you okay?”
“Yes,” I answered, shaking off the pain like a wet dog before I looked at him accusingly. “You were watching me?!”
Shirt-free, tousled and deadly sexy, Ian stood in front of me, his eyes hooded.
Wiping my hands on my chest, I discovered one of my breasts was peeking through the shoulder of my dress. I twisted my body and righted it as Ian’s breath hit my face. “Isn’t that what you wanted?”
“I was hot!”
“Fucking right you were, until you wiped out,” he said playfully as he pushed a heavy wad of hair off my forehead. “It was a good start, shitty finish. If someone put a gun to my head, I’d give it a six out of ten!”
“What is it with the freakish waves today? That came out of nowhere!”
“Just obeying the moon, I suppose,” he said with a chuckle as I righted my dress while his eyes lingered on my bare shoulder.
“Or their muse,” I whispered inaudibly, but he caught it.
“Muse?”
“I have a thing for Greek mythology,” I said defensively. “Nothing wrong with that.”
“So that’s it? That’s why you walk around dressed like Aphrodite?”
I rolled my eyes though I wasn’t sure he could see.
“Old habits die hard I suppose,” he said before lifting the strap of my dress back to my shoulder. “You are a right mess, Miss Vaughn. I suppose it’s good fate we ended up on this island together.”
“Agreed. But you must admit, you’re the victor of the mess this month.”
“Not arguing with that,” he said softly.
“Can’t sleep?”
“Not tonight.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“No, I don’t. So please don’t ask.”
“Okay.”
I didn’t get a chance to blink before he turned the tables. “You tell me. What brought you here?”
