Someone Else's Ocean(43)

I knocked twice, and to my surprise, he met me with a faint smile before opening the door and inviting me in. Paint was smudged on his fingertips and across his bare chest and the floor was covered in plastic. The paint fumes filled my nose.

“Looks like progress in here. Good for you.”

“Yeah, thanks for telling my mother I was remodeling. She’s making a special trip soon just to see it.”

“My pleasure. And you should thank me, I was covering for your ass.”

He resumed his work to hide his smile. “Thanks. So what’s up?”

“Sorry to bother you, but…” Disco yapped from her box. I kept my eyes averted from a shirtless Ian and peeked over to see her bouncing off the sides for my attention. “Hey, baby. Want a break from the smell?” I picked her up and hugged her tiny body to me before I scanned his progress further. “It really looks great in here.”

Ian had replaced the cabinet doors with glass paned frames and was distressing the freshly painted wood with metal wool. “Rowan is going to love it.”

“Thanks,” he said as he resumed rubbing wool down the side of one of the doors.

“You have a talent for this.”

“I went through a few houses with my ex-wife.”

“Well, she definitely brought out the artist in you.”

Ian said nothing, so I decided to keep those comments to myself. “You were saying?” Briefly, I admired his budding physique as he lifted another door to fasten it in. He’d spent most of his hours since he’d arrived at the island working out and it showed. I had to catch myself to keep from being embarrassed when he looked back at me expectantly.

“Okay, so we need to talk.” He stopped the working of his hands and turned to face me. His shorts hung at his waist and were dangerously close to falling down. He was rapidly losing weight and his newly bronzed skin made his gray eyes pop. I cleared my throat.

“I need this house. I’ve diverted four couples and sent them elsewhere since you’ve been here, but I have this woman—she’s threatening us—and I kind of told her I would make sure her reservation was…”

He nodded in understanding. “I need to leave.”

“Well,” I pointed to my house as if he didn’t know where it was. “It’s temporary. But you can sleep with me if you don’t want to get a hotel.”

Ian raised a brow, his lips twisted into a small smile.

“I mean, you can sleep in one of my spare bedrooms.”

Jesus, why was I so nervous? I shook it off.

“Will you be done with this today?”

“I should be.”

“Okay, great.”

He crossed his arms and studied me.

Get those balls out, Koti!

“Look, I’m sorry. Stay at a hotel or take one of my rooms. Either way, I need you out of here by ten in the morning. Okay? This isn’t a request. I have a business to run and I can’t handle the loss of commission.”

Ian bit his lip.

“Well?” I prompted, waiting for a response, the shake in my voice making my demand seem ridiculous.

“Oh, I think you’ve made yourself quite clear, Ms. Vaughn.”

Deflating I took a step forward. “I don’t want to fight.”

“I’m not going to fight. I’ll take your room.”

“Good, because you’re exhausting.”

His eyes narrowed. “Thanks.”

“Just stating the facts. Okay, so here’s a key to my place.” I pulled it from my pocket and set it on the counter. “Feel free to come and go as you please but if you take wine, make sure to replace it.” The second he took a step forward to retrieve the key, his shorts went.

Our eyes locked right before I let mine drift down.

Commando.

I was staring at Ian’s cock. Ian was staring at his own cock. Disco’s eyes were on Ian’s cock and I quickly covered them to save her virtue. It took every bit of strength I had to look away but not before I took a mental picture. Ian cursed as he pulled up his pants and apologized.

I held up my hand surprising myself with a steady voice. “It’s fine, it’s nothing I haven’t seen before.” That was a lie, his dick was impressive and beautiful. I regrouped and reclaimed my tongue.

“But you should probably wear shorts that fit and underwear while you stay with me.”

“Agreed,” he picked up his wool and turned his back to me. “See you tomorrow then.”





The next morning, I heard Disco squeak at the foot of my bed and pushed off my covers just as Ian raced in after her. “Sorry, I tried to grab her before she got… fuck me—” his eyes lingered on my chest and I looked down and realized I wasn’t wearing anything but underwear and my cami. During the night it must have shifted above my miss sized tits. I laughed and pulled down my shirt to cover myself. “Now we’re even,” I yelled at Ian’s retreating back.

“Hardly. My cock is pointing north.”

“Still a Marine with that filthy mouth, huh?”

“I’ll keep it clean, Ms. Vaughn.”

I picked up a vying Disco from the foot of my bed. “Don’t worry about it, Ian. Thousands of people have seen these tits, Mardi Gras, not to mention hundreds of concerts. Alcohol has a way of temporarily curing anxiety. A few times a year, I could be quite the party girl.”