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Although it sounded like Daniel had put his attention to something that was worthwhile and he was finding his way, both of those two bumbling along the right path, however right, they were still bumbling, didn’t give me good feelings.
“I had barely any breakfast,” Ian said. “And no lunch. I’m going to go down and get something to eat, then I need to find Dad and set some time to talk about the handover of the earldom.”
“In other words, it’s shaping up to be another sterling day for you, baby,” I murmured sympathetically.
He made no comment to that. He just came around to my couch, bent to me and kissed the top of my head.
Then he said, “I’ll have to see to some work after that. But I’ll see you at dinner?”
“You will.”
“I’m looking forward to whatever you’ll be wearing.”
I decided just what that would be, and I smiled.
He let out a low growl at my smile, a growl I felt in several places in my body, before he moved to the doorway.
He stopped before he used it and turned back to me.
“I feel shit he didn’t come to me from the very beginning. Worse, because I knew he was looking for funding, but I dismissed it not really knowing what it was or how dedicated he was to getting it done. He said he wanted something of his own, but I know I’ve made him feel like the idiot he acts a lot of the time, and he believes in this project, put everything he has behind it, time and money. Thus, he didn’t want me throwing what I thought about him in his face.”
My poor baby.
“This isn’t your fault, Ian,” I assured him.
“I miss my brother, and I’ve convinced myself he’s the whole of the issue that’s keeping us disconnected, not seeing I might have a part to play in it.”
I didn’t think it was the time to remind him that his brother thought he’d stolen Ian’s girlfriend and then went about the effort of parading that in his face with this long visit. That same girlfriend he now might be considering marrying. And all the other rash decisions Daniel had made after reckless actions he’d committed, one of which meant I still had plasters on my temple.
Instead, I said, “You’re a good brother for thinking that way. And now it seems this visit for us both has us reconnecting with our siblings in good ways, so let’s just go with that.”
He did that affectionate chin lift I loved so much, this time with a lovely, soft expression on his face, before he left the room.
Thirty
THE BED
I gauged it was time to emerge out of the closet (literally) after I gave it some time when I heard the shower turn off.
I was in there when it went on, struggling with my dress in an effort to get ready for dinner, and I didn’t think it was prudent to walk through the bathroom with the possibility of seeing a naked Ian in it. If the rest of him was as good as his chest, I’d jump him for certain, and we’d never make cocktails in time.
I’d come up earlier to prepare for dinner to find to my surprise that Ian was not in the room, but even if I was surprised, I took advantage.
So now I was fully dressed, rather than slipping my black Louboutin pumps on and putting on my jewelry in the sitting room as I’d planned to do, and he’d had plenty of time to get decent, I walked into the bathroom.
And stopped dead.
Ian was bent over the basin, finishing shaving, hair wet and combed back, wearing nothing but a towel.
I started salivating immediately, and it got worse when he turned his head to look at me, razor suspended, and he froze, the look in his eyes driving so deep somewhere pleasant, I grew wet just staring at him.
I was in a strapless black shift. Simple but form fitting, with cleavage at the top that I considered not too much, not too little, just right.
Ian apparently agreed.
I paired this with my ruby pendant, earrings and bracelet, and the pumps. I’d left my hair down but curled it so it was big and bouncy, and the deep part I put into it, I thought, made it a sexy sweep across my forehead, serving double duty to hide my wound.
And I’d gone full smoke with the makeup.
