“Sorry, who are you?” My head was spinning hard. I literally had no idea who she was.
“Oh, sorry. You must think I'm a nut. I'm Emma, Chase's wife. Ian and Chase go way back, but Ian couldn't make it to our wedding a couple years ago because…” She trailed off, not finding the polite way to say that Ian had been too drunk and depressed to get on a plane back when they had gotten married.
“He's doing much better now,” I said. She hadn't sounded critical of Ian, but I felt a slightly defensive reaction rise up in me. Ian had struggled with so much. I hope they understood that.
Ian stood up with the other groomsmen, and Emma explained who they were. Chase was up there and he looked a lot like she did, fit and blond with a chiseled jaw. I remembered Ian had told me he was a professional athlete, and from his build alone, I believed it. Next to him stood a handsome, smiling man with twinkling blue eyes. “That's Liam,” she pointed at the firefighter, who’d also been on the boat with them. I guessed that accident had forged lifelong friendships. That was maybe the one good thing to come out of that horrible night.
“And who's he?” A slightly shifty looking, heavily tattooed man stood at the end of the line.
“A friend of Jax’s from California.” She leaned in closer to whisper, “Jax hasn't always walked the straight and narrow like he is now with Sky.”
Sky, the bride, looked bursting with joy as she stood there at the rehearsal. She kept having to wipe a happy tear from her cheek. Jax held her hands, with eyes only for her.
After rehearsal, the party assembled under a large white tent strung up with little white lights. More people hugged me than I could ever remember, telling me how happy they were to meet me, how thrilled they were that Ian and I were able to make it. Ian stayed by my side, occasionally bringing a hand to my lower back, or asking me if I wanted something else to eat or drink. I felt surprised and so confused I barely knew what I was saying to anyone.
“I want you to meet my mother,” Ian said as middle-aged couple approached us. “You already know my father, of course.”
“Good to see you again, Annie.” The elder Mr. Douglas shook my hand, none of the pomposity or superiority that he'd displayed when he'd hired me on as caretaker. Now he seemed happy and relaxed. “You've worked wonders on our Ian. We’ll forever be in your debt.”
His mother looked as if she was barely holding it together. She reached out and took my hand in hers, swallowing back tears. “You brought back Ian to us.” She started crying. Looking down she added, “I promised I wouldn't cry.”
I had no idea what people were talking about. Stunned, I merely stood with a slightly frozen smile on my face, trying to make sense of it all.
Sophie came and joined us, beaming. “You know what my favorite part is about you two? The program you started at Kensington. I think that's so wonderful.”
“The program?” I asked, blankly.
“The special needs—”
“Sophie.” Ian frowned, shaking his head to silence her. Jaw officially dropped, I stared at Ian in shock. What was she talking about? Did he have something to do with the new special needs program Brian was in?
“If you'll please excuse us.” Ian took my elbow and led me across the lawn to a waiting car. I followed him in a confused daze, climbing in as he gave the driver the name of our bed-and-breakfast.
“I don't understand. What's…?” I rubbed my head. I seriously felt like I had woken into a dream, or dreamed about being awake. I’d been so unprepared for everything I’d just seen and heard.
“I'll explain everything, I promise.” At the inn we got out and headed up to our room. He poured me a glass of water and we sat down together at the edge of his bed.
“What did Sophie mean?” I asked after taking a shaking sip. “Did she mean Brian’s program at Kensington?”
“She did.”
My eyes widened. Mum had mentioned an anonymous donor who started the special needs program. It honestly had never occurred to me that the anonymous donor might be Ian. “Why?”
“You,” he replied simply. “You told me how your brother was suffering in his current school, and how your mother couldn't make ends meet. I knew you felt obligated to help and it was holding you back. So I made a donation.”
I was speechless. “You created the special needs program at Kensington?”
He nodded. “I hope that's all right. I didn't want to tell you because I thought you might think it was too much. Or tell me not to do it.”
“I can’t believe it.” Tears formed in my eyes as I pictured how happy Brian had been when I’d last seen him. In the new program, Brian had friends and people who cared about him and helped him grow and learn. I brought my hands to my face as I couldn’t help starting to cry. “I can’t believe you did that.”
“Shh,” Ian comforted me, wrapping an arm around me. “Was it too much?”
“Yes, I’m bloody well sure it was too much!” I half laughed, half cried, unable to even start imagining how much something like that must have cost. “How much did you donate to the school?”
“Don’t worry about that.” He rubbed my back. “It’s not really my money, anyway. It’s the Douglas family money I happen to have access to. And my father was happy to do it. It’s his Alma mater, you know.”
“I did not know that.” I sipped my water, increasingly aware of his physical presence. I couldn’t stop shaking, this new news rocking me to my core. I’d already felt overwhelmed by all the emotion and affection I'd seen at the party.
“Ian, does everyone at that wedding think we’re a couple?”
“I haven't told them anything that's not true.” His body stiff, his voice held an edge of defensiveness.
Looking at him, I asked, “Then what have you told them?”
“I told them that I love you.”
My eyes filled with tears all over again. He took my hand in his, stroking it with his thumb. “Don't cry, Annie. I never want to make you sad again.”
“I'm not sad,” I sobbed, wiping away a tear.
“Then why are you crying?”
“You said you loved me.”
“I do.” He leaned down and brushed away the tears on my cheek. “I love you so much.”
Smiling through my tears, I had to ask, “Don’t you think you should have told me first before you told all your friends and family?”
“I've never done things the way I should.” He shook his head and stood up, seeming to grow agitated. “The thing is, Annie, I'm in love with you. I fell for you last year and I’ve never gotten over you.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because I was such a shit to you. I wanted to show you I’ve changed, not just tell you.” He joined me back on the bed, caressing my cheek, looking into my eyes. “I wanted you to see me now and know you ca
n trust me when I tell you I love you.”
I threw my arms around his shoulders, kissing him with everything I’d held back for way too long. “I love you, Ian. All I’ve ever wanted was you.”
He embraced me, the two of us coming together like churning surf, tumbling together back onto the bed as we touched and wrapped around each other, me rolling onto him, him onto me as we kissed and repeated the words we’d both felt for so long but hadn’t been able to say.
I broke away for a moment, feeling his bicep. ““You're so big! What have you done to yourself?”
“I got healthy,” he smiled, not stopping touching me even for a moment, his hands on my waist, my back, my arms.
“That doesn’t begin to describe what you’ve done.”
“I’ve wasted so much time.” He brought both hands to my face, cupping me, looking down with such love it stole my breath away. “I should have told you I loved you the moment I saw you in the office last month.”
“That might have made the meeting awkward.”
“But I shouldn't have waited.”
“Then let’s not wait any more.” I kissed him, trailing a hand down his chest, stroking his abs through his T-shirt.
“It’s been torture.” He swept his palm down my low back, cupping my ass, grinding me against his thigh.
“Torture,” I agreed, grabbing his hip and pulling him against me. I could feel him through his pants, hard and long as he pressed into me, close but not close enough. His hands running down my back, into my hair, we kissed lips, throats with desperate fire. Touching the top button on his dress shirt, I looked up into his eyes.
“Ian,” I began, unfastening it. “I want...” Without a word, he sat up and removed his dress shirt, leaving just his short-sleeved T. He grasped my dress and I stood so he could bring it up and over my head in seconds, tossing it to the floor. We fell back to the bed, a tangle of hands and limbs. I mashed myself against him, grinding, all shyness gone, everything I’d wanted over so many months finally in my grasp.
He slid his hands over my ass, moving along the lace, teasing me with his strong fingers. I brought my hand to the base of his shirt, wanting to touch his skin. He’d never let me before. I wanted to show him how good he felt to me, how sexy I found him, no matter what scarring he had.