Tied Up in Knots (Marshals 3)

She’d been waiting a while to tell this story, I could tell.

“How was I supposed to turn down attention from that man?”

I understood. Ian’s attention, once given, was something one developed a taste for. Just his eyes on you was enough to illicit surrender.

“I’ve never been kissed like that in my life.”

I smiled at her because, yes, I agreed. Ian had a wicked mouth, and he knew how to use it.

“But when it was time to….” She looked uncomfortable.

“Pull the trigger?” I offered.

“Yes,” she breathed. “When it came time to do the thing… he couldn’t.”

I caught her wandering gaze and held it. “Couldn’t, or wouldn’t?”

“Wouldn’t,” she amended. “He said he didn’t want to compromise me, and he couldn’t do it to Jace and still look him in the eye.”

“But?” I heard the “but” in her voice.

The tears came fast. “I was mad, right? I wanted to be compromised. I wanted to be Ian Doyle’s conquest.”

“So you lied,” I concluded, releasing her hand.

“I lied.”

“And your husband told his buddies and everything that happened, happened, and then Ian came back and left, and today’s the first time you’ve seen him.”

Quick nod of her head.

“Does anybody else know?”

“I told Jace when the divorce became final two years ago.”

“How did he take that?”

“Not well,” she said quickly, so I was guessing that was an understatement. “We’re no longer speaking.”

“And where is Jason now?” I asked formally, using what I assumed was the long form of his name.

“He moved to Florida.”

“Not a soldier anymore?”

“Oh no,” she said hotly, and I could hear the lingering anger. “He got out and married some teacher he met there. They’ve got a couple of kids already.”

“And you?”

“I have a type,” she replied, her voice crackly. “But most men my age who serve are married or have someone.”

“Sure.”

“And everyone talks a good game about cheating, but once it’s there, on the table, you’d be surprised how many men chicken out.”

Or were just good guys who were caught up in the moment but came to their senses before it was too late.

She crossed her arms. “I saw Ian and I didn’t see a ring.”

“Right.”

“He looks better now than he did six years ago.”

There was no doubt Ian would get better looking with age. He’d have people propositioning him right and left when he was seventy.

“I thought I’d been given a gift, a second shot at what I’d missed out on the first time around.”

“Makes sense.”

“But now he’s gay.”

I wasn’t about to correct her a second time.

“Or bi,” she added. “Right?”

“He was always bi.”

“What about latent homosexuality and all that?”

“I dunno,” I answered, because having been gay all my life; I had no idea how anything else worked and honestly never cared to learn. Since Ian liked both women and men, and now liked me best of all—that was really the extent of my interest in any discussion of his sexuality.

“But he’s bi, you said, so that means he likes women too.”

Was she asking me or telling me?

She tipped her head, studying my face. “That doesn’t scare you? That it’s not just one or the other, but both?”

I didn’t need to let her in on my thoughts, on the fears that sometimes still plagued me because, just as I’d thought the night before, even though Ian was equally attracted to both genders, I was the one who had his heart.

“That would scare me to death.”

I would have answered her, but Ian was striding in from the middle of the backyard where he’d been talking to Delaney, and was now closing in on the door. Slipping around her, I was there when he reached it and opened it for him.

“So?” I asked him.

“I need to go to the office before we hit Portillo’s,” he said, grabbing my bicep and yanking me after him.

“Wait,” I argued, pulling free so he had to turn and face me.

“What?”

“Is there actually someone out there that you think is trying to kill you and whoever else?”

“Not me, but Delaney’s spooked, because of the six of us who went out with Lochlyn the night he freaked out, Laird and Regan have both died in hit-and-run accidents over the past five months.”

“Okay, but who’s this Lochlyn guy?”

“I’ll explain at the office, I swear.”

“Then let’s go now.”

He smirked at me. “You saw that I was trying to get us out of here, right?”

I glared at him and he opened his mouth to defend himself.

“Ian,” Danita called out to him.

He turned from me and waited as she moved around in front of him.

“Before you go, could I get your number? I’d love to get a drink and catch up.”

His squint would have made me smile, but I bit the inside of my cheek so I wouldn’t. “What for? We don’t have anything to catch up on.”

“I would—” Her breath hitched like she was nervous. “—love to see you.”