She returned the gesture with a quick kiss on his cheek. “It’s nice of you to be here.”
He shrugged. “I’m here for Avery and for you. Although why you two forgave him—”
“Uh-uh. Not here.” She wagged a finger in front of his face. “If I have to put on a dress, we’re going to act civilized.”
Ian stepped back and took in his twenty-four-year-old sister for the first time. Wearing a gold gown, her dark hair up in a chic twist, it was hard to believe she was the same bane of his existence who’d chased after him and his friends until they relented and let her play ball with them.
“You look gorgeous,” he said to her.
She grinned. “You have to say that.”
“I don’t. And I mean it. I’ll have to beat men off with sticks when they see you.” The thought darkened his mood.
“You do and I’ll have your housekeeper short-sheet your bed! Again, there should be perks to getting dressed like this, and getting laid should be one of them.”
“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that,” he muttered and took another sip of his drink.
“You not only promised to come tonight, you swore you’d behave.”
Ian scowled. “Good behavior ought to be optional considering the way he flaunts his assets,” he said with a nod toward where Robert Dare held court.
Around him sat his second wife of nine years, Savannah Dare, and their daughter, Sienna, along with their nearest and dearest country club friends. Missing were their other two sons, but they’d show up soon.
Olivia placed a hand on his shoulder. “He loves her, you know. And Mom’s made her peace.”
“Mom had no choice once she found out about her.”
Robert Dare had met the much younger Savannah Sheppard and, to hear him tell it, fallen instantly in love. She was now the mother of his three other children, the oldest of whom was twenty-five. Ian had just turned thirty. Anyone could do the math and come up with two families at the same time. The man was beyond fertile, that was for damned sure.
At the reminder, Ian finished his drink and placed the tumbler on a passing server’s tray. “I showed my face. I’m out of here.” He started for the exit.
“Ian, hold on,” his sister said, frustration in her tone.
“What? Do you want me to wait until they sing ‘Happy Birthday’? No thanks. I’m leaving.”
Before they could continue the discussion, their half brother Alex strode through the double entrance with a spectacular-looking woman holding tightly to his arm, and Ian’s plans changed.
Because of her.
Some people had presence; others merely wished they possessed that magic something. In her bold, red dress and fuck-me heels, she owned the room. And he wanted to own her. Petite and curvy, with long, chocolate-brown hair that fell down her back in wild curls, she was the antithesis of ev
ery too-thin female he’d dated and kept at arm’s length. But she was with his half brother, which meant he had to steer clear.
“I thought you were leaving,” Olivia said from beside him.
“I am.” He should. If he could tear his gaze away from her.
“If you wait for Tyler and Scott, you might just relax enough to have fun,” she said of their brothers. “Come on, please?” Olivia used the pleading tone he never could resist.
“Yeah, please, Ian? Come on,” his sister Avery said, joining them, looking equally mature in a silver gown that showed way too much cleavage. At twenty-two, she was similar in coloring and looks to Olivia, and he wasn’t any more ready to think of her as a grown-up—never mind letting other men ogle her—than he was with her sister.
Ian set his jaw, amazed these two hadn’t been the death of him yet.
“So what am I begging him to do?” Avery asked Olivia.
Olivia grinned. “I want him to stay and hang out for a while. Having fun is probably out of the question, but I’m trying to persuade him to let loose.”
“Brat,” he muttered, unable to hold back a smile at Olivia’s persistence.