Skin Tight (Skin Deep #4) (4 page)

“Aw, hell no!” one of the guys hollered. “He put it down his pants? That’s just messed up!”

“I know, right?” I replied, still in disbelief that it had actually happened. “I got him to hold still and asked him to please carefully take Gerry out of his pants. He did, and handed me a very clearly traumatized, but no worse for the wear, gerbil. But the poor kid was crying, saying that Gerry bit him so I had to get someone to cover my room for a minute and walk him up to the office to call his parents. They had to come down and check him with the nurse, you know, since it was in a delicate area.”

“Oh, God!” I heard a mix of groaning and laughter coming from the other end of the line and figured that the guys were probably cupping themselves protectively, same as Ian did last night when I told him what happened.

“He didn’t really get bit on his little…you know. It was more like Gerry just nipped him on his thigh, didn’t break the skin, no marks, nothing. Do you know how mortifying it is to have to explain to a parent that their son put a gerbil in his pants?” I cried, feeling my face flame red with embarrassment once more, just thinking about it.

“What did his parents say?” Emma asked.

“They just asked him why he put Gerry in his pants and he told them he just wanted to take him home so he could have a gerbil. No other reason.”

Luke called out, “Well, Leah wins most interesting day, hands down.”

Sadly, no one disagreed.

With that conversation over, Emma and I talked for just a couple more minutes and hung up, but only after I promised that we would be at Mom and Dad’s for Sunday breakfast. That was something we’d always done, but since the group had grown so much and everyone had their own things going all the time, we didn’t do it as often, but Mom had put her foot down and said she was reinstating Sunday breakfast, or else. We didn’t ask or else what. We knew the answer.

Because she said so.

Chapter 7

I stood in the doorway to Ian’s office, completely dumbstruck by what I saw.

It was Friday once more, and the week since the “incident” as we were calling it had passed without event. I was grateful for that…until now. I’d come down to Ian’s office, which I did from time to time, just to see him, especially when I knew he’d be there and not out on a job.

But it wasn’t Ian in his office chair.

Nope. Far from it.

And as I stood there, frozen to the spot, unable to say a word, though rage was working its way through my body, coursing through my veins until they were almost boiling, I felt warm hands circle round my waist, pulling me back against a hard chest.

The velvet, deep voice that I so loved spoke in my ear, saying, “Hey, baby…”

That’s when his eyes followed my gaze and his whole body stiffened. “Fucking hell!” he roared, gently pushing me to the side out of his way. He strode into his office, reaching for the zippered hoodie he had hanging on a hook just inside the door and threw it at Victoria, who was lounging in his chair, feet propped up on his desk.

Naked. With the exception of a hard hat and high heels.

“Get the fuck outta my chair and cover yourself!” Ian growled, clenching his fists and glaring at the woman.

She just giggled and slowly lifted herself out of his chair, taking her time wrapping herself in his shirt. “Hey, lover!” she said, cheerfully. “I came by to surprise my boyfriend at work but,” she paused and turned to look at me.

I’ve never been scared of Victoria. Nothing about her had ever given me pause that maybe, just maybe, she was a little more dangerously unhinged than we thought…until that moment.

The moment her eyes hit me, chills raced down my spine and goosebumps crept along my skin. There was a deeper calculation in her eyes that I’d never seen before, and it didn’t get any better when she spoke. It was like a totally different woman from the one I’d been dealing with for the past year.

“But, someone obviously can’t take the hint that we’re together,” she continued. She turned to Ian then and said, “You know, I’ve let you have your fun, but don’t you think it’s time you were done sowing your wild oats? I’m ovulating, so it’s the perfect time to start our family, and your mom has been holding your grandmother’s ring for you to give me. I even had it sized already, so it’ll fit perfectly when you finally propose.”

She preened and minced over to Ian, reaching up and running her hand down his t-shirt covered chest. She pouted when he flinched away, knocking her hand down.

The shock wore off enough that I finally found my tongue. “Don’t touch him!” I said, sharply. She turned to look at me again, a disturbing gleam in her eyes. “Get your shit and get the fuck out of here. You aren’t wanted here by anyone, Victoria, especially Ian. Get it through your fucked-up head,” I said, my voice low with warning.

She only tossed her hair and giggled again, her eyes never leaving mine as she stepped forward, deliberately moving toward Ian, who backed away from her advance, hands still clenched at his sides. She kept going, watching me as she backed him into the wall and pressed herself against him, rubbing her chest against his. She dropped my gaze long enough to lean forward, aiming her lips toward Ian’s face and, when he turned his face away, licked along his jawline until she pressed her lips against his cheek, leaving a bright red imprint of her lips behind before he brought his hands up and cupped her shoulders, gently but firmly pushing her away from him.

In that moment, I wished, just for a second, that Ian was the type of man to hit a woman. Because there was no woman on the face of the planet who deserved it more right then.

Unable to control myself, I stepped forward, my hands fisted at my sides so I wouldn’t jerk her away by her hair and pound her in her face until she was unrecognizable. “Bitch,” I said, tightly, but I didn’t get any further.

Ian moved away from her, grasping my arm and pulling me into him, his arms wrapping around me for two obvious reasons. One, to keep me from attacking, and two, to show Victoria,
again
, that he was choosing me.

His words, when he spoke, were sharp and brutal. He pulled no punches this time, all thinly veiled attempts at niceness completely out the window.

“I’ve told you time and time again that there is nothing between us. There never will be. Any schemes that you have with my parents, or even on your own, that you’ve cooked up in that Godforsaken bubble of a brain, just forget them. It’s NEVER going to fucking happen. Do you understand?”

I could feel him trembling against me, knew he was beyond pissed.

Victoria cocked a hip and pouted, sticking her lip out comically, like a five year old would. Her eyes filled with tears and she stood there staring for just a second before she stomped her foot and shrieked in her throat, literally throwing a temper tantrum.

I couldn’t help it. Disbelieving laughter bubbled from my lips. I mean, seriously, was this 30 year old woman really acting like a toddler?

As soon as she heard me laughing, the pout left her face and I bit my lips, all traces of humor gone in an instant because that cold calculation was back in her eyes. She drew Ian’s hoodie close around her and walked to the door, swaying her hips exaggeratedly. She stopped in the doorway and looked over her shoulder at us.

“I tire of these games, Ian. I’ve overlooked all of your little affairs over the years, knowing that you just had to get it out of your system before we got married and started our family, just like our parents have always planned. But this one? She’s overstayed her welcome. I’ll give you six months to deal with this…this…” she waved her hand at me, her face twisted in disgust before she continued, “
girl.
But then I expect you to come home to me. And trust me, I’ll be checking in in the meantime to make sure that you’re scraping her off.”

After delivering her ridiculous ultimatum, she flung her hair over her shoulder and strode out.

I glanced up at Ian and saw him staring out the doorway, a muscle in his cheek twitching. I slid my arms around his waist and buried my face against his chest, shaking my head, utterly baffled by what had just happened.

I felt Ian pull me closer, then his head came down and he rested his cheek against the top of mine. He held me like that for a moment, then lifted my face to his with a gentle finger under my chin.

“You know that she’s completely delusional right? There’s no way in hell that I knew she was going to be waiting here in my office…”

“I know. But…God, Ian, did you see the way she looked at me? Like, I felt chills. Does she have a history of torturing household pets, or any other characteristics of a serial killer? Because, seriously, she just gave me that vibe.”

A ghost of a smile crossed Ian’s face and faded quickly. “No, she’s not dangerous. But she’s obviously got a screw looser than I thought. Don’t worry, baby. I’m not playing around anymore. I’m calling my parents and letting my mom know exactly what I think of her conniving little ploy, and then I’ll be calling Victoria’s parents and telling them just what she’s been up to.”

I kept silent. There was nothing to say to that because I think we both knew that it wouldn’t help. We’d thought she’d given up and she came back with a vengeance.

And now, I was a little afraid to see what she’d come up with next.

An hour later, it was still the foremost thought on my mind as I threw together a salad while Ian grilled some steaks and corn on the cob for dinner. We really hadn’t spoken any more about it; I don’t think either of us wanted to bring it up.

Ian came in the back door and sat the platters of perfectly cooked meat and corn down on the counter, then placed a sweet kiss on my shoulder as he moved behind me to the cabinet to get plates out for us to eat on.

We sat at the table to eat rather than eating in the living room in front of the TV, which is what we usually did. But then again, it’s easier to eat corn on the cob and steak when you’re not balancing a plate in your lap. Trust me. Or, I guess it could be just that my whole family is just accident prone…

Ian was the first to break the silence. “So, the big party is tomorrow, huh?” He waggled his eyebrows at me, making me roll my eyes and grin at him.

“Yes, the party is tomorrow. Why?” I asked him suspiciously.

“Nothing. Just wondering.” He shot me a cocky smile and I narrowed my eyes at him.

“You’re up to something,” I stated, pointing my finger in his direction. “What did you do? Or what are you going to do?”

He pretended to look affronted, gasping, “Me? How dare you assume that I’m up to something? You know what they say about assuming…”

“I’m keeping my eye on you,” I told him, and he only laughed at me and finished eating.

He helped clean up the kitchen and just as we were about to sit down in the living room, there was a knock at the door.

Ian went to answer it, stepping back and letting my brother inside.

“Since when do you lock the door?” he asked me.

“Uh, since the last time you walked in here unannounced and…well, you know what happened.” I could feel my face turning red, even though it’d been a while since.

Calland visibly cringed and shuddered. “Yeah. Truth. Thanks for reminding me of the reason I willingly gave up my key.”

See, Ian and I were getting busy on the kitchen counter one afternoon and Calland dropped in. Needless to say, he got an eyeful of Ian’s bare ass (thankfully that’s all he saw) and hightailed it out like his own ass was on fire. I hadn’t been able to look him in the eye after that until just recently.

“What’s up?” I asked him, thinking it a little weird that he was at my house, alone, on a Friday night.

He blew out a breath and moved past me, falling onto the couch and saying, “I think I’m in trouble.”

I glanced at Ian, seeing the same surprise etched on his face that I knew was on mine. We both sat back down, Ian in the recliner, and me on the couch beside Calland as I asked, “What do you mean, you think you’re in trouble? Calland, what’s going on?”

“You know that girl I’ve been seeing?”

“Lucy?” I asked him, hedging on the name. I can’t keep track of all the different ones he dates all the time.

He shook his head. “Lily, but nice try. Okay, so you remember the girl I dated before that?”

I raised my hands, shrugging and shaking my head as I tried to think. “I don’t know, Fluffy? Muffin?” (To my credit, I managed to keep a straight face while teasing him.)

He glared at me. “Ha ha, funny. No, Grace.”

“Yeah, Calland, I don’t really remember. I can’t keep all your women straight. Have you thought about settling down? Maybe keeping one for longer than a month or two?”

“Oh, got jokes tonight, huh?” he said, then turned to Ian and asked, “How the hell do you put up with her?”

Ian just grinned and replied, “Cause she’s awesome and I love her.”

Calland pretended to gag. “Anyway, so I just found out that Grace is Lily’s sister.”

I stayed silent for a moment, letting the logistics of that sink in. “So, you dated Grace. Now you’re dating Lily, and they’re sisters. I mean, that’s kinda low, moving from one sister to the next, Calland. I mean, what the hell is Grace saying about this?”

“Well,” he hedged, “That’s where the trouble is. I just found out. I knew Grace had a sister, but they didn’t get along the greatest. I never met her, never knew what her name was. But then Lily was just talking about
her
sister, who’s named Grace, and how they’ve gotten closer lately and she’s so happy about it.”

Ian chimed in. “So? There’s a lot of Graces in the world. How do you know that she’s talking about the Grace you were just seeing?”

Calland sighed. “Maybe because she showed me a picture of her sister who apparently is so heartbroken over the douchecanoe that broke up with her a couple months ago. I’m not kidding. She held up the picture and asked me, ‘
Look? Isn’t she so pretty? How could that ass just toss her away like that? She said he’s already dating some other skank. Can you believe it?’”

I snorted, trying to contain my laughter, but failed miserably because he had raised his voice and delivered “Lily’s” speech in a creepy, valley-girl inspired falsetto. “Please tell me that’s not how she really sounds?” I asked him, mockingly.

“Does it matter? How the hell do you tell the girl you’re seeing that the skank who’s dating her sister’s ex is her?” Calland threw his hands up and sat forward on the couch, running his hands through his hair agitatedly.

“Wow.”

He glared at me. “Is that all you have to say? Wow?”

“What do you want me to say, Calland? You’re 29 and practically a confirmed bachelor. You’re a serial dater who always seems to find the most vapid females around to date. What you need is to find a good woman who won’t put up with your shit, and who’ll knock you down a peg or two when you need it.” I cocked my head at him and widened my eyes as I continued, “Which is always.”

He curled his lip up at me. “God, you sound like Mom. But that’s not going to solve my problem right now. What do I do?”

“You’re gonna have to tell her the truth. You can’t keep dating her after just breaking her sister’s heart. What are you gonna do when she wants to double date with her sister? When she wants you to set her sister up with a friend?” I asked him.