Heart-Shaped Hack(49)

“If he can’t be in his own home on Christmas Eve, my dad would prefer to spend it in a steakhouse with my mother, sipping whiskey. I do not begrudge him that desire. They had a seven-o’clock reservation at Manny’s.”

“Well then, your dad and I have something in common already. We’re both spending Christmas Eve with Watts women and whiskey.” He took a drink and set the glass on the coffee table.

“How is it?”

“Excellent. You chose well.” He kissed her, and Kate found the combination of his warm mouth and the smoky yet buttery flavor of the bourbon highly arousing.

When they’d finished their drinks, he went to the kitchen to refill them, and she slipped into the bedroom. She put on the bustier, zipping it up the side and admiring what it did for her cleavage. Kate thought she might be in danger of spilling out the top, but the ribbing kept everything in place. She stepped into the thong and then reached into her closet for her black stilettos. Her long limbs and full breasts were made for lingerie, and she felt sexy and bold.

Ian was going to combust.

She walked into the living room and watched his face as he took in the sight of her. He’d been in the process of raising his glass to take a drink, but he paused and stared. “Wow.”

“I was dying to try it on.”

“I’d say it fits perfectly.”

She walked toward him, and he didn’t stop looking at her even when he finally brought the glass to his lips.

“I need you to lace me up.” She sat down on the couch and turned so that her back was to him. He ran his hands through her hair, gathered it, and laid it over her shoulder. She took another drink from her wineglass while he cinched the ribbons tight and placed a kiss on the back of her neck.

Leaning back on the couch, drink in hand, he watched closely as she made several trips across the room, chest out, hips swaying, one hand trailing along her neck and collarbone. Kate grinned when her back was to him because he appeared to be in some kind of trance. Men were so visual, and she had a hunch that while Ian took immense pleasure in seeing her naked, there was something about seeing her half-naked that really turned him on. She made a few more passes in front of the couch, reveling in the way he never took his eyes off her.

“What do you think?” she asked.

“I’m incapable of forming coherent thoughts because all the blood has rushed from my brain to a different part of my body. I’ve never seen anything so hot.”

She sat down beside him and took a sip of her wine while he unlaced her. He reached around and cupped her breasts, squeezing them. Sighing, she leaned back and twisted her neck to kiss him. “Think you can handle the babydoll?” she asked with a mischievous smile.

“Only one way to find out.”

She went into the bedroom and slipped into the babydoll nightie and the tiny briefs. It covered more of her than the bustier had, and the off-white color made the garment seem more demure, but if Ian looked closely he’d be able to see her entire body through the nearly transparent fabric. Her nipples were dark pink buds under the tea rose pattern.

When Kate returned, Ian was semi-reclined on the couch, holding the bourbon glass loosely in his hand. He stared, eyes half-lidded, lips parted. “Come closer.”

Maybe it was the way he was looking at her or maybe it was the wine, because at that moment Kate suddenly found herself with very few inhibitions. Slowly she approached him and then turned in a circle so he could see her from every angle.

“Beautiful,” he said, his voice heavy with desire. “Now take it off.”





CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

When Ian came out of the bathroom on Christmas Day, Kate did a double take and clutched her chest as if she were having a heart attack. “You’re killing me. You know that, right?”

He grabbed her hand and dragged the back of it along his clean-shaven cheeks.

“No, no, no,” she said. “Way too smooth.”

“Respectable,” he countered.

Kate watched as he pulled a suit out of her closet and got dressed. “One minute you’re a free-spirited hacker, and the next you’re suiting up to meet the parents,” she said. “I never know what I’m going to get.”

He tightened his tie. “That’s because being with me is never boring. I believe I promised you that, Katie.”

“That it would not be boring was a bit of an understatement. You might have downplayed a few things.”

Kate stood in front of the dresser mirror and ran a brush through her long curls, loosening them slightly. Then she applied her lipstick and spritzed on some perfume.

“You look gorgeous,” Ian said. He watched as she stepped into a modest pencil skirt and pulled on a sweater. “What about the dress I gave you?”

“That one’s a bit short for Christmas Day.” She paused. “And my dad. Plus I’m saving it for New Year’s Eve. It’s perfect for downtown.” Paige had invited Kate and Ian to join her and her husband at a party at the W Hotel. Audrey and her fiancé would be there too. Kate stepped into her shoes, grabbed her purse, and said, “Okay. Let’s go.”

They were meeting Kate’s parents for dinner at Nicollet Island Inn. She had no worries regarding any questions that might arise over dinner about Ian’s occupation, but it had been a long time since she’d introduced them to someone new, and she took a deep breath to calm her nerves as they got out of the car.