With Ian on my mind, I make my way towards a table covered in blue, our favorite color. Plus, he seems to like the color on me; when we went bowling he mentioned more than once how prettythe color was against my hair. And it’s gonna look great against my tanned skin.
A light blue, almost white, matching set catches my eye. It’s almost the same color as the flowers he brought me last night. Holding up the light blue piece of lace, I start to blush, with its strategically placed sheer pieces it leaves little to the imagination. The lace is buttery soft, I can already tell it’ll feel like a cloud on. It has a wide lace band at the bottom that would finish a few inches below my breast with a deep V that dipped half way through the band. The thin delicate straps are made out of a lovely scalloped lace.
Grabbing the matching underwear, I hold them up to see that they’re a high waisted thong made out of the same buttery lace as the bralet. Even if I didn’t have anyone to wear these for, not that I necessarily do, I would still get both sets. I’ve never been one to splurge on lingerie, even though I’ve always loved the thought of wearing something sexy under regular clothes, but I do have a few sexy pieces that I picked up from the sales rack at Victoria Secret. I’ve never been to a store like this one, tailored to make you feel sexy from the minute you walk in. It’s making me almost giddy. Moving on to the other tables, I end up with four matching sets and an extra handful of underwear.
At the fitting room, the attendant leads me to the fitting room in the back. Getting undressed, I get caught on the way I look in the mirror. For the first time in a long time, I like what I see. I have a great tan going on, and I can see some results from going to yoga on a regular basis and from Levi’s healthy cooking. Smiling at my reflection, I shimmy into the red set I picked out. I feel my smile widen as I take in the cleavage the push bra creates, turning around I blush as I catch how well the bikini-cut red lace with peek-a-boo cutouts sits against my skin. Oh yeah, Ian is gonna love this.
Keeping the giddy feeling, I try on the other three sets and handful of underwear I grabbed. Once I’m done, I make my way to the checkout counter where I meet Lacey and Ellie who are also paying. Once we’re outside, Ellie swings a light pink bag from the tips of her fingers and proclaims, “Well looks like I have plans tonight!”
“I did not need to know that!” Lacey says, with a full body shiver and look of disgust on her face.
“If it makes you feel better . . . Levi will have the house alone tonight if I have it my way,” I answer, linking my arm through Ellie’s, swinging my bag from the tips of my fingers making Ellie giggle.
I can’t believe how much I’ve been missing out on over the years by not having any real girl friends.
Chapter 24
Back home, I text Ian to see what time he wants me to come over and if he needs me to grab anything on my way over. I didn’t have to wait too long before his reply came in that I was welcome whenever I wanted and that he had everything covered. So here I am, lathering myself in shaving cream to make sure I get every single part of my body dolphin smooth, after throwing all my new underwear in the washer.
Fifty-five minutes later, I’m sitting in Levi’s SUV, pulling into Ian’s driveway. I don’t even have time to knock before the door is opened for me by a smiling Ian.
“Hey there, Hannah. Come on in,” he says, leading me into his kitchen. “Want to eat now, or go sit outside?”
“We can go sit outside.”
“Want a glass of wine?”
“Sure,” I answer as I make my way outside to stand against the railing and take in his view. He really does have a gorgeous house. Taking a deep breath of fresh air, I feel myself relax in his space. A sense of peace washes over me, and I can’t help how comfortable and confident I feel in his space. As I take itall in, Ian walks up behind me, bracketing me against the porch railing. Leaning against him, I take another deep breath in, “I don’t think I could ever get sick of this view.”
“Me either, it’s the reason I bought this place. It makes this feel like home, like I never really left the ranch. Not that I went too far away from home but . . .”
“No, I get what you mean. Sometimes you need a little piece of home, something you can’t really explain to make everything feel like home.” As I finish, I realize why I’m so drawn to Ian. He feels like home. I can’t tell you why, or how, but it’s like every time he’s near, every look he sends my way, or every text he sends me, it’s like I can release a breath I didn’t know I was holding. I can feel my shoulders relax from a weight I didn’t know I was carrying. I feel light. I feel like myself again.
Without time to second-guess myself, I turn around to face him and wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him just a little closer to me as flashes of our shower flicker through my mind.
“What’s that look for, Pretty Girl?” I swear I melt a little every time he calls me that.
“What look?”
Pushing into me so I’m sandwiched between the hard planes of his body and the railing, he leans down to skim the side of my neck, leaving tiny little kisses until he reaches my ear. “I don’t know, you’ll have to tell me, but your eyes got a little darker and your cheeks flushed just enough to make me wonder what crossed your mind,” he answers as one hand leaves the railing to land on my hip, his hand so big his pinky sits just above my ass and his thumb lays low under my belly button. That one touch set my entire skin aflame.
Pulling him even closer, I tilt my head meeting his gaze, our lips barely out of touch. “I think you promised me something,” I say, kissing the side of his mouth, making his other hand grip the side of my neck and tilt my head back even more.
“And what is it that I promised you, Pretty Girl?” Again with the nickname. Lost in the feel of his thumb slowly drawing circles lower and lower, he gives my neck a little squeeze, prompting me to answer him.
“You promised that I’d get to touch you once we’ve been on a first date. We’ve been on a date. A few days ago now. Yet you haven’t kept good on your promise.”
The minute the words are out, his hand tightens on the side of my neck as his other hand snakes around me to land on my ass, he pulls my lower body tight against his.
Looking me in the eyes, I see his have turned a stormy blue, “Is that what you want—me to make good on my promise?”
I barely get to nod my head yes before his lips crash into mine. This isn’t like our last kiss. It’s not sweet or tentative. It’s consuming. He’s possessing me through this kiss. His tongue snakes around mine, and he hoists me up so I’m sitting on the rail. Wrapping my legs around his waist, I can’t stop my hands from sneaking under his T-shirt. Streaking my hands against his abs, I feel him flex against my touch as I trail my hands up against his pecks. Pulling away with a heated gaze, he looks down at my heaving cleavage before pulling off his T-shirt in one swift motion.
Not giving me the time to enjoy my new view, his big hands cup my butt, picking me up and walking me into the house, up the stairs and into his bedroom like I weigh less than a feather. Carefully letting me down his body, one hand stays on my back as the other knots itself in my hair pulling my head back so he’s looking directly at me.
“Are you sure about this? Because if this happens, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to let you go. I know you’re not ready for anything right now. I know we’ve agreed to something that’s more along the lines of friends-with-benefits, but I have to be honest with you. I don’t want to pressure you or put any pressureon you. I’m a big boy and I know the score. I just need you to know where I stand before we take this step. And to be honest, for you I’d wait forever, but just know that if we do this, you are mine, Pretty Girl.”
He’s right, I wasn’t looking for anything, I shouldn’t be agreeing to this. But being here in his arms feels right. Somehow, he’s sneaked his way into my heart without me knowing it. He’s brought me a sense of peace I knew I was missing but didn’t know how to find. He’s given me my confidence back, he’s encouraged me, taken care of me, and pushed me out of my comfort zone. Never judging, just there. I need to stop denying what’s here and just embrace it. Like he said, he’s a big boy, he’s made himself clear on what he wants, and he knows what I’m capable of right now.
