Chapter 3 #2
It took him a moment to notice she was on her cell phone, and he heard her say, “No, really. It’s all right. These things happen.” She paused to listen to whoever was on the other end of the call. “Yes. That’s fine. Call me if you want to reschedule, and I’ll think about it. Bye.”
Ian realized she hadn’t known he was there until her pretty, green eyes met his and widened a bit before she gave him a shy smile and a little wave. “Hi, Ian.”
He was surprised she remembered his name since, as far as he knew, she’d only heard it the first time they’d met, and he craved for her to repeat it. He never thought hearing his name verbalized could be a turn-on, but that was before it fell from her plump, red l?ps.
“Hey, Angie.” He took a few steps toward the fence and was pleased when she did the same. “You look very nice tonight. Going somewhere?” He figured from her phone conversation that her plans had been canceled, but he was curious as to what they had been in the first place.
She shrugged, although she didn’t look too disappointed her plans had changed. “I was supposed to go on a date, but he canceled at the last minute.”
“Must have been a blind date.”
Giving him a curious look, Angie tilted her head. “It was, but how did you know?”
His blue eyes grew darker as his gaze raked over her from head to toe and back up again. “Because if he knew how exquisite you look right now, he never would’ve canceled. He’d be thinking of how to end the night with you in his bed.”
A blush stained her cheeks, and after a moment, she tore her eyes away from his, gesturing with her head toward her backdoor. “Well, his loss, I guess. I’ll just go change into a pair of sweats, pig out on a container of Ben & Jerry’s, and find some old movie to watch.”
“Or, you could let me take you out to dinner.” What the hell had made him say that?
Oh, yeah, the little head in his pants did.
He glanced down, happy to see his khakis were loose enough to cover his semi-hard-on.
He was also dressed nice enough, with his black polo shirt and loafers, to take her to dinner—if she said yes.
She was still blushing, and the pinkness was not only on her cheeks but on her upper chest as well. He wondered if it was the same color as her nipples, and the thought made his dick twitch.
“You don’t have to do that. I’m sure you have other plans,” she told him.
“One thing you should know about me, Angie, I never say things I don’t mean, and I don’t do anything I don’t want to do.
I just order one of my employees to do it for me.
” She smiled as he’d intended. “I’d like to take you to dinner if you’d let me.
” He tried to keep the desire he knew was in his eyes to a minimum.
If she knew how much he wanted to strip her naked, tie her to his bed, and do nasty, erotic things to every inch of her body, she’d run from the yard, screaming.
Her expression was more eager than shy, and he liked the combination.
“Well, since I’m already dressed, and I think I’m running a little low on the Ben & Jerry’s…
yes, I’d like to go out to dinner with you.
But this isn’t a date.” At his raised eyebrow, she added, “I mean, it’s not like this was planned, so we’ll go Dutch. ”
Shaking his head, he smiled at her. “Uh-uh. I asked you out to dinner, and it’s my treat. I’m not expecting anything in return, Angie, just the pleasure of your company for the evening. And maybe a goodnight kiss if you decide you had a good time.”
Now why did he tack on that last sentence? He was about to give himself a mental ass-kicking when she beamed at him. “We’ll see.” She turned toward her door as his heart beat a little faster. “Let me grab my purse, and I’ll meet you out front.”
Five minutes later, Angie was sitting in the passenger seat of Ian’s Ford Expedition, wondering how she ended up there.
Did he ask her to dinner out of pity for her having been stood up at the last minute?
Or did he truly want to spend some time with her?
When he’d said she looked exquisite, her girly parts had stood up and taken notice.
Could he really be interested in her? And what about his comment about a goodnight kiss?
Was he planning on kissing her later? Would she let him?
The way her body had tingled when he’d taken her hand and helped her into the high seat of the SUV, she knew if asked to kiss her right now, she would let him.
She thought about what little she knew about him from talking to Brody. Of course, when she’d asked her neighbor a bunch of questions the other night over their steak dinner, she’d made them sound as if she were curious about the whole team and not one member in particular.
She knew Ian was single, never married, and thirty-eight years old.
He had a nineteen-year-old goddaughter, Jennifer, who lived with him when she wasn’t at college at the nearby University of Tampa.
Ian had taken the girl in after her parents were murdered a year ago in a brutal home invasion in Virginia.
His brother and business partner was Devon, who was engaged to a woman named Kristen.
Angie had gotten a glimpse of the other woman in passing when they’d visited Brody, but she hadn’t been introduced to her yet.
The other men were all single as well. They’d served together on the Navy’s SEAL Team Four, which she’d been impressed to learn.
She’d heard what SEALs had to endure physically and mentally to achieve the well-respected position.
Ian had held the highest rank in the group as Lieutenant, but only for the two years before he retired.
There had been a three-year period when all six had been together before they started retiring, one or two at a time.
Ian and Devon had started up Trident Security and hired their former teammates as trusted employees as soon as each one left the Navy.
Trident performed numerous security jobs for their clients, including bodyguard work, home and business security systems, investigations, corporate security, and recovery of kidnap victims or stolen merchandise.
The company also did the occasional job for the government, which Brody said he couldn’t elaborate on.
They contracted several agents from another agency who supplied manpower to companies like theirs, and they were talking about hiring six more people to create a second team.
Angie suddenly realized Ian had parked the car after their brief ride and was shutting the engine off.
She looked through the windshield and saw the quiet steakhouse they’d agreed upon.
Without saying a word, Ian exited the car, closed his door, and walked around to open hers while she waited.
Somehow, she knew he would do that, and she liked the gesture.
It’d been a while since someone other than Jimmy had opened a door for her.
As they walked across the parking lot, Ian took her hand and hooked it under his elbow.
He skillfully avoided puddles left over from the late afternoon shower which had passed through the area and held the restaurant door open for her.
She felt he wasn’t doing all those things to impress her, but he did them naturally for any woman he was out with.
The thought made her feel like this evening was between routine and special to him, but she hoped it was leaning toward the latter.
After they were seated and ordered their drinks, Ian rested his forearms on the table instead of picking up his menu and studied her for a moment. “So, tell me about this blind date you were going on, so I can get this jealousy I’m feeling out of my system.”
She laughed, figuring he was kidding, but played along.
“Well, there’s not much to tell. My friend hooked me up with Melvin Fromm, a thirty-five-year-old CPA with rude manners since he canceled on me ten minutes before I was supposed to meet him.
And the best excuse he could think of was ‘something came up.’”
The corners of Ian’s mouth twitched twice before he could no longer hide his grin and a quiet snort.
“Melvin, huh?” She nodded with her own amused smile.
“Okay, I don’t think I have to worry about him sweeping you off your feet any time soon, so I’ll tamp my jealousy back down.
I’ll just be grateful the idiot canceled on you because it gave me the opportunity to spend the evening with an incredibly beautiful woman. ”
Oh, Lord, why couldn’t she stop blushing around this man?
It wasn’t as if she’d never had a good-looking guy compliment her and flirt with her before.
She dated often, but for some reason, Ian took it to a whole new level for her.
Their drinks were delivered, a draft beer for him and a cosmopolitan for her, and they fell into an easy conversation about normal, everyday subjects.
It wasn’t until their waitress checked on them for a third time, did they pick up their menus to order something.
“So,” Ian said after the waitress left to place their orders, “tell me what you do as a graphic designer because I’ve never met one before. Wait… first tell me how you became one. Is it something you always wanted to do?”
Angie took a sip of her drink and then shook her head.
“I never realized I had any artistic ability, beyond doodling, until my sophomore year in high school when I had to take a mandatory art class.
My teacher, Mr. Abraham, was the first person to see I had talent and pushed and inspired me to learn more about every artistic medium out there.
He became my mentor, took me to art shows and museums, and helped me cultivate my own style.
I ended up with pencil drawings, oil painting, and computer graphics as my main interests, although I dabble in some watercolors and sculpting when inspiration hits.