Everything You Are (18 page)

A blue ball rolled over the green felt, hit the frame of the billiard table and rolled into the right middle pocket. With a cue in his hand, Ian studied the position of the rest of the balls. He was playing an eight-ball game with his cousins, Kalen and Camden, and Kalen’s best friend Ashton.

“The six looks good,” Kalen, who was teamed with Ian, said. “It should be easy to get it into the left upper pocket.”

“Yes.” Ian took aim and the cue hit the ball. It flew across the table, brushed against one of the balls, which slightly altered its direction and slammed against the pocket's inner corner, before it slid toward the middle of the table.

“Better luck next time.” Ashton, a black-haired man, patted Ian's shoulder before he pushed his way past him, leaned his cue on the table and bent over it.

Ian stepped closer to Kalen, watching Ashton as he sent the ball into a pocket.

“Ann told me that you and your father are the ones occupying Southern,” Kalen said.

“Yes.” Ian nodded. “Why are you asking?”

“He's not as available as he used to be. I don't mind dealing with his employees, but I prefer him to be in charge of my projects, not his subordinates.”

“He might not be available for quite a while,” Ian said. Southern had been working on digging through the background of their prime suspect. It was weird suspecting their housekeeper, Martha, but she was the one who had taken care of Ian's apartment before his father hired Jane, and she was the one who had unlimited access to the estate and his father's library and office.

Ashton managed to sink another shot.

Ian crossed his arms and scowled, but not because Ashton lessened Kalen and Ian’s lead, but because he had been entertaining an idea of asking Kalen for advice, but he hadn't found a good opportunity yet. “You're getting married soon.”

“Yes, I am.” Kalen glanced at him before his gaze was back on the table. “And you are going to have a child in seven months.”

“So you heard. Ann?”

“Yes,” Kalen said.

Ian nodded.

Ashton missed and now it was Kalen's turn.

Ian leaned on the wall behind him and picked up his gin and tonic from the table beside him. He took a few long gulps, his eyes on the pool table.

Kalen got rid of a few of their balls before he joined him beside the table.

Ian lifted his glass again and emptied it. With his gaze he searched for a waiter and then followed him with his eyes. “Hey,” he said to Kalen. “How did you two, Rose and you, get together?”

Camden took the cue leaning against the wall and with it bent over the table.

“You know...” Kalen's hand went through his short blond hair, mussing it.

“Actually, I don't, that's why I'm asking you.”

“It's a long story.”

The ball with a stripe flew into a pocket.

The waiter looked in Ian's direction.

Ian lifted his glass and in a circular motion gestured at the bottles on the table.

The waiter nodded.

“Left upper corner,” Camden said and set his cue against the black ball.

Ian faced Kalen. “I know there were some problems with Ann trying to buy Rose off. What I'm interested in is how you convinced Rose that you were the right guy for her.”

“With persistence.”

“Hey, are you two going to play or chit chat?” Ashton asked.

Ian's eyes went to the table where the lean blond had just sent the black ball into the pocket. “Chit chat, since Camden has just finished the game.”

“I'll set a new one.” Camden went around the table. “The same teams?”

“Yes.” Kalen nodded.

Ian watched as Camden, facing them over the table, put the triangle onto the green surface and Ashton, just a step away, started to stack the balls from the table into the frame. He leaned closer to Kalen. “How did you persuade Rose to date you?”

“He didn't.” Ashton chuckled and glanced at them over his shoulder. “Rose thought that he was an escort and she was the one who was pursuing him. Not to date him, of course, but to use his services.”

“Really?” Ian hadn’t been aware of that. “I guess that means you didn't have any trouble getting her to sleep with you.”

“Why are you so interested?” Kalen lifted his eyebrows suspiciously.

Ian shrugged, glad to see the waiter coming toward them, a tray of drinks in his hand.

“Are you having problems with your girl?” Ashton asked.

The waiter reached them and lowered the drinks onto the table.

Ian noticed the label on one of the bottles. “Ginger beer?”

“Kris isn't fond of alcohol and things that come with it, like alcohol breath,” Ashton said.

The waiter left.

“So, are you having problems with your girl?” Ashton repeated.

“Maybe.” Ian took a sip of his gin and tonic.

“She isn't giving you any?” Ashton asked.

“Something along those lines.” He had never had a problem with getting a bed partner, but that was because he had been picking from among women who openly showed their interest in him, not trying to get somebody who hadn’t showed any desire to be with him. How do you even pursue somebody who doesn't notice you?

“She's pregnant,” Camden said.

“Yes, so?” Did that mean that pregnant woman didn't or shouldn't have a sex drive anymore? In the books he read about pregnancy, it actually said that some women's sex drives increased. Ian drank from the glass again. He should have waited for Kalen to be alone before he tried to get advice from his cousin.

“Just tell her you’d like to have sex with her,” Ashton said. “It worked for me.”

Camden gave Ashton a glare before his eyes turned to Ian. “He sounds like such an insensitive jerk, doesn't he?” He pointed his chin at Ashton.

Yet, he doesn't drink alcohol because his girlfriend doesn't like it
. Ian smiled.

“Don't listen to him. I mean, you can tell her that you would like to have sex with her, but also explain yourself, your feelings and what's bothering you, and why.” Camden lifted the triangle and put it away under the table, leaving the balls neatly set.

“He's single,” Ashton said, his gaze on Camden, a small smile on his lips.

“Yet, he knows more about women and how they think than all three of us combined,” Kalen added, then said, “Ashton, I think it’s your turn to break.”

Talk to her, explain my feelings and what’s bothering me
, Ian silently repeated. But Jane was aware of his feelings, wasn't she? He had made himself clear, not only with his words, but also his actions; however, she still hadn't allowed him close. She had kissed him that time, at his family estate, though. Maybe that was her way of telling him that she welcomed his advances, but she was too shy to show him that more openly or to say anything about it out loud.

#

Ian stood before his bathroom door, frowning. It was four in the morning and he had spent the last two hours in a club, drinking, disinterestedly watching people dancing and being bored, wishing to be home. Camden skipped the club completely, while he, Ashton, Kalen, and Chris slipped out of it at three o'clock. They stopped in another bar for a short drink and then Ian went home. He had just showered and changed into his pyjamas, a white tank top and flannel pants, when he heard somebody padding past his room. He went to the door of his bedroom and glanced out into the hallway to see Jane strolling into her room, a bottle of water in her hand. He followed her. “You’re up?”

She glanced at him over her shoulder, her eyes blinking, she murmured something before she stepped into her room. She shut the door behind her.

He came to the door, knocked and, without waiting for her invitation, strode inside. “Do you have a minute? I need to talk to you.”

She sat on the bed and the light on the nightstand caressed the outline of her face and the side of her torso. She yawned. “Can't it wait until morning?”

“It's already morning.” He went to the bed. Her bedroom, the other guest bedroom, and the three bathrooms were the only rooms without bugs, and since he preferred to have his talk with her without a third party eavesdropping, this was not only a prefect time, but a perfect place for his talk with her.

She glanced on the clock beside the lamp. “It's four in the morning.”

“It won't take long.” He went around the bed and sat down on the mattress, so that he was facing her and the head of the bed.

“Are you drunk?” She pushed the pillow higher against the headboard and slid under the covers.

“Do I look drunk?”

“No, not exactly, but you do sound a little weird.” She reclined back against the pillow.

“I never get drunk, no matter how much I drink.” When he drank too much, he only got sick. “I usually only get a little tipsy.”

In the weak light, her eyes scrutinised his face. “Are you tipsy now?”

“Maybe a little. Anyway, what I wanted to talk about is...” His voice trailed off. How do you say, ‘I would like to sleep with you’ without sounding like a complete ass?

“Yes?”

He should just tell her, talk to her, explain himself like Camden had advised. He was a big boy and a tough businessman, while she was just a slip of a girl. A slip of a girl that he adored. He took a deep breath, then spoke up, “I'm a man, Jane, and men, as you may be aware, have needs.”

“Yeah?”

“Certain needs.”

A crease cut into the skin between her eyebrows. “You mean...”

“Yes.”

“Why are you telling me this?” A scowl drew her eyebrows together and down. “Just because I asked you not to bring girls here, that doesn't mean that you can't meet with them elsewhere. Just go and find yourself a blonde bimbo for that, just like you used to do.”

“Bloody hell.” Ian pressed his mouth together. Why would she suggest he find somebody else? He was in love with her, he didn't want anybody else. “I don't want a blonde bimbo.”

“Then what?” She crossed her arms and fixed her gaze on the blanket as if it hurt to look at him. “A brunette bimbo?”

“I want you.”

Her head snapped up. “What?”

“I want you.”

“You want me?”

“Yes.”

“Me?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Why? Why! Because I love you. I'm in love with you. You know that.”

“What?” She blinked.

“What?”

“You're in love with me?”

“Yes.”

“Since when?”

Since when? He frowned and thought about it. “Since Italy, I think.” He had been lusting for her before that, but the love he now felt for her, it had started to bloom in Italy, and then it strengthened through their phone conversations when he was in Norway.

“You loved me since Italy?”

He shifted closer to her. “Why are you acting as if you weren't aware of it? You said that you know why I kissed you at the airport.”

“I thought... I thought that you kissed me to get rid of that woman.”

“What woman? Oh, that annoying woman.” Jane hadn’t known that he was in love with her. He moved even closer to her, until his hip touched hers. He ran his fingers over her hair at her temples, pushing it away from her face. “I love you, Jane. I wish I was more poetic, or knew some sonnet to recite it to you to tell you how precious you are to me, and how much I want you.”

She covered his hand with hers, stilling it, her grey eyes wide and sparkling, while a smile embellished her mouth.

“When I found out that you're pregnant with my child... It was the happiest moment of my life.” His hand glided down her jaw to her neck. He cupped it and drew her closer.

She swallowed before she said, in a rush of words, “I'm in love with you, too.”

“That is, the happiest moment until now.” Jane loved him back! Inside him, joy erupted like volcano, filling his chest, filling his head, making him light-headed. With his fingers on her neck and the other ones caressing her cheek, he drew her closer. His lips descended on hers and his tongue slid inside her welcoming mouth.
Jane loves me!

Her arms wrapped around his middle, pulling him against her, she reclined backward, drawing him down with her.

He tilted her head and devoured her, drowning in the love he felt for her and in the bliss of knowing she loved him back. His Jane, his sweet little Jane. His mouth shifted away, but only so he could press it against her cheek and then glided down the soft skin of her neck. “My sweet little Pukki.”

“My sexy big oaf.”

He chuckled and lifted his head, his breath caught at the radiance on her face. “Beautiful.”

Redness flushed her cheeks.

“You're finally blushing because of me.”

“You say that like you’ve never made me blush.” Her fingers went to his forehead and they combed his hair up. “The last time, at the guest room at your parent's place, I was blushing because of you and the situation we had been caught in, not because of your brother.”