Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
IAN
Jane peered up at me, pressing her glasses up on her nose. “Ian, I don't know.” Her lashes swept down, and her toe tapped nervously on the floor.
“You don't know what?” I prompted as I reached for her hands.
“It just feels weird.”
“You’re going to spend Christmas with us. Thea will love it,” I pressed.
“Yeah, but then she's going to wonder.” Jane circled her hand in the air and looked back up at me.
“Wonder what?”
“If we're together.” The flush that rose swiftly on her cheeks set my heart to thumping hard.
“That's fine with me. Let's just have this conversation right now. This”—I gestured back and forth between us—“is not ending just because you're going to start your new job in Boston and I'm going back to DC.”
“That’s against the ground rules,” she said, her lips curling into a saucy smile.
I shrugged. “I don't care. We made those ground rules before we knew things were going to change.”
Her gaze was skeptical, and she let out a soft breath. “Ian, you have a whole life in DC.”
“I don't have to stay there.”
I hadn't talked to Jane about a lot of things.
In particular, one giant issue—the stupid whistleblower investigation I was caught in the middle of.
I wanted to tell her, but I literally couldn't, or I would get in legal trouble.
The knowledge of that secret felt like a sharp splinter caught under a nail.
Ignoring that worry—because I truly could do nothing about it for now—I stepped closer, releasing one of her hands and nudging my knuckles under her chin. “Look at me,” I murmured while my heart banged against my ribs.
I hadn't even thought through what I wanted to say. It still bothered me that I hadn't recognized her instantly that first night here at the house. Because, now, I'd never forget her, and I knew if I let her slip away, I'd regret it for the rest of my life.
Maybe I hadn't planned this, and maybe I hadn't known the chemistry that had started a bonfire between us was about so much more. Everything with Jane felt right, and I didn't want it to end. I wasn't sure how we would make it work, but I was determined we were going to make it work.
“You know what I mean,” I whispered when she lifted her eyes up to mine. Her gaze softened. My lips were moving against hers when I spoke again. “I'm falling for you. I don't think I'm alone.”
I forced myself to stay quiet and wait, although impatience was clawing at me.
“You're not,” she finally whispered back.