“Yes,” he said so immediately I laughed.
“Okay, but for the record, we’re not having sex tonight.”
“That’s fine. I was going to say the same anyway.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Wait, what? Why?”
It was his turn to laugh at me. “Because I don’t want you thinking I came over tonight for any reason besides the real one,” he said earnestly.
“Which is?”
“That I wanted to make sure you were okay,” he answered easily. Then his brow furrowed. “I needed to.”
It was all I needed to hear.
And so we went upstairs.
So this is really happening, I thought, walking in front as we climbed the stairs of my third floor walk-up.
Iain Thorn is here. At your apartment. About to spend the night.
If only you knew, I thought as I turned my key in my door, wishing I could tell teenage me that her fantasies weren’t actually that crazy. That one day, I’d not only have my own place but be in there alone, at night, with my childhood crush. The man who’d first taught me what it was to want.
“Well, here we are,” I said once we got into my apartment, kicking off my shoes and flicking on the lights. I already had a smile on my face because I was curious to see what Iain’s reaction was to my modest but, in my opinion, adorable living quarters.
But when I turned around, I saw that his troubled eyes had yet to move from me. He hadn’t even registered my apartment, because he was still watching me. Like he was still making sure I was okay. I frowned with a pang of guilt as I realized that I was over the events of the day.
But he wasn’t quite there yet.
Stepping forward, I laid my palms flat on Iain’s chest, feeling him exhale, but feeling how tense he still was. “You’re so wound up,” I murmured, feeling so sorry but at the same time amazed as I stared forward at his rock-solid chest then up at him.
“I was worried about you today,” he said as he gazed down at me. But he was breathing easier under the touch of my hands, looking just a little less tense now.
“What were you afraid was going to happen?” I asked, watching his eyebrows pull into that handsome frown.
“I don’t know.” His shoulders were still rigid, but his touch was gentle as he pushed a lock of my hair behind my ears. “But I know your mom,” he said quietly. “She has a paranoid view of the world. She doesn’t perceive reality the way it actually is. And I know what can happen when people like that snap.”
His words made a shiver travel up my spine, because I knew he was right.
And I knew he was talking about his dad.
My heart clenched as I looked up at Iain, because I did know things about that man.
Iain Senior.
I’d overheard a lot of talk when I was younger. Bits and pieces between Mom and Dad when Dad argued for why Iain shouldn’t have to go home for the holidays. Why he should get to spend them with us. Plus, I’d once overheard Adam saying Iain’s dad deserved to rot in hell.
Well. I guess he is now, I thought, feeling bad about it for all of second before I reminded myself of the disgust with which Adam talked about Iain Senior, and it took a lot to get my brother to be angry and serious like that.
“I promise I won’t let her hurt me again, Iain,” I murmured to break the silence. Sliding my hands behind his neck, I massaged a little, smiling wide as he closed his eyes and visibly relaxed in front of me.
Note to self. Massage this man, I thought, realizing that while Iain Thorn was insanely hot when he was mad, he was actually even hotter relaxed.
“I’m really glad you’re okay,” he murmured, eyes still closed, his lips hanging just a bit parted even after he finished talking.
I smirked. “I’m beyond okay. In fact, I think this might be the best day ever.”
Opening his eyes again, he laughed. “Really?”