“This place is gorgeous,” I say, still in awe. It’s like he went into my head and built the house I’ve been dreaming of my entire life. It’s an open floor plan masterpiece with vaulted ceilings. To my right is a massive fireplace flanked by two windows. In front of the fireplace, he has what looks to be the coziest rug. I have to stop myself from running to it to feel it under my feet. He also has big, comfy reading chairs artfully placed by each window and a huge sectional taking up most of the room. On one wall he has a painting and the other a library; a library that’s actually filled with books. I take a note to ask him about that later.
To my left is a staircase that brings you up to what I’m assuming are the bedrooms. I keep walking deeper into the house, noticing a small powder room before I get to the kitchen. Like Levi, he has everyone’s dream kitchen, with dark woodcabinets and a deep black farm sink under a huge window overlooking his backyard. A nice long island with multiple leather seats that look more inviting than they should resides in the center, and to the left of the kitchen, behind the staircase, is a formal dining room with a table that easily fits ten people.
“This is quite the bachelor pad.” I gape as I take a small spin around the place again.
“Thanks,” he quietly says, blushing even more, looking almost uncertain with himself. I’m starting to realize I’m getting to see a side of him I’ve yet to discover. Usually, he’s the biggest person in the room, or at least to me he is, but right now he seems shy almost, like he doesn’t want to overstep. It’s as if I make him nervous, and there is no way that a girl like me is making a guy like him nervous.
“Thanks for letting me stay here tonight. I don’t know who told you I was afraid of thunderstorms . . . I really appreciate it,” I say as I place both bottles of wine on the counter.
Unpacking the food, he tells me, “You told me. The first time we met, you told me you were terrified of storms.”
Looking at him in a whole new light, I say, “You remember what I told you the first night we met?”
Completely ignoring my question, he says, “The wind and the rain are getting pretty bad out there. How about I pop this in the oven while we shower and put on some dry clothes in case we lose power?”
“You think we’re gonna lose power?” I say, hearing the shake in my voice.
“No, but I would rather play it safe. I have a generator, but I prefer to use it for the necessities only,” he says as he puts the food in the oven.
“Yeah, I guess that makes sense, and I’d love to get out of these wet clothes.”
Halfway up the stairs, I realize I forgot my bag in his truck. “Shit! I forgot my bag in your truck!”
“No worries, I’ll go grab it,” Ian says as he goes to turn around.
Stopping him with my hand on his forearm, “I’m not gonna make you go out there. I’ll—”
“There’s no way I’m letting you go out in this weather to get your bag. I’ll go get it,” he interrupts me.
“Well, there’s no way that I’m letting you go out in this weather either,” I object, still holding onto his arm.
Laughing, he shakes his head and says, “Fine. I’ll grab you a T-shirt and stuff. That okay?”
“That's exactly what I have in my bag, so it’ll do,” I say with a smile of my own.
Once we’re at the top of the stairs, he points to the second door on the right and says, “Here’s the guest bathroom, towels are in the closet and everything you need should be in the shower. My sister sleeps over often, so she has me stock it with everything she likes. There are also extra toothbrushes in the first drawer. I’ll just leave the clothes on this side of the door.”
“Perfect, thank you,” I answer, closing the door behind me.
Grabbing a towel and hanging it on the hook by the shower, I turn the water on before taking off my clothes. Looking at myself in the mirror above the vanity, the doubt starts creeping in. All I can see, as I try to wrap my mind around why Ian came to pick me up and why he went out of his way to seek me out tonight, are the tits that are no longer as perky as they were when I was twenty-three, and the slight stretch marks and cellulite dotting my ass and thighs that come with being almost thirty. The longer I look in the mirror, the clearer it gets that Ian is just a nice guy under all that big-dick energy, he just really didn’t want me to spend the storm alone. I’m sure Levi called him to make him babysit me.
I’m pulled out of my thoughts by a knock on the door. “I brought you a T-shirt and some sweatpants.”
“Thank you,” I answer, shaking my head once more as I step away from the mirror and into the shower. Tilting my head back and closing my eyes, I let the water wash everything away. At least, that’s what I tell myself to let all those insecurities wash away. Really, who cares about less-than-perky tits, it’s not like he’s going to see them.
I think you protest too much, the little voice in my head says.
“Oh, shut up,” I say out loud as I grab the bottle of shampoo. God, his sister has good taste, and she doesn’t go for the cheap stuff. Smart girl.
Once I’m towelled off and securely wrapped in what I can only describe as a cloud for a towel, I open the door and see a neatly folded pile of clothes. Grabbing it, I can see that he brought me a T-shirt, sweatpants and a pair of boxers. I slip on the shirt and it smells vaguely of him. Even his smell is attractive.
Sliding on the boxers, I grab the sweatpants and immediately notice that they’re gonna be way too big. I put them on, but even with folding the waist a few times, I can see that they aren’t going to stay up. Deciding to just leave them on the counter, I double check to make sure that I’m fully covered in only the shirt and boxers. The shirt ends a few inches under my butt and the boxers are even longer, hitting me mid-thigh. Nothing different than the baggy T-shirt and bike shorts I had in my bag.
After braiding my hair real quick, I head down stairs.
Chapter 18
Maybe I should have just brought her to the ranch instead of bringing her to my house. I don’t want to make her feel uncomfortable.
