Her Heart's Desire
Page 71
“You’re impossible.” She hugged him, and then sat her ice cream on the other nightstand. “You’re a fool if you think that I’d prefer any ice cream over you.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, I care about you,” she said seriously.
“That’s good to know, because I care about you, too. Now, there’s just one more thing.”
Her smile faltered. “Is it good news?”
“Besides my wanting to tear your clothes off? Yes. I’m off for a while. You’ve got me all to yourself. No distractions.”
She relaxed. “I can handle that. Now, about that tearing my clothes off thing…when do you start?”
He kissed her. “Well, earlier I told you I’d be buried inside you five minutes after I got home.”
“Yeah, you bungled that with the Oberweiss run,” she said.
He moved forward until she was lying down on the bed, and he was hovering over her. “I guess now I’m going to have to make up for lost time.”
“Yeah,” s
he said enticingly. “I guess you will.”
Chapter 18
“Tiff, I have to tell you something—and you aren’t going to like it.”
Ivan and Tiffany were lying on the couch a few days later, watching the fire blaze in the hearth.
“Okay.” She sat up, instantly alert. “What is it?”
“I found out who the blocked calls were coming from.”
Tiffany pushed up from his chest and sat back. “Who?”
Ivan paused. “Debra.”
She stared at him. “Excuse me? Why in the world would she call me and keep hanging up?”
“The only thing I can come up with now is that she was trying to run you off.”
“From what?”
Ivan braced himself. “Me.”
“Wait a minute, you told me that you two were over years ago.”
“That’s true,” he replied.
“Well, apparently not, Ivan, if she’s trying to harass me via cell phone.”
“As far as I’m concerned, the only connection between us is her dead husband and the promise I made to help while she got on her feet.”
“Well, obviously she isn’t just interested in your support.”
“It’s irrelevant what she’s interested in. That’s all I’ve given her, and will ever give her. That, and I recommended that she speak with a therapist to work through some of her issues.”
Tiffany’s eyes widened. “Oh, this just gets better and better. This is what Cole meant, wasn’t it? Debra wants you, and has no qualms about doing whatever she can to keep you near.”