There was absolutely no double entendre in his tone, but her mind immediately went there anyway, conjuring up all the things he could give her with his body. Slamming her eyes closed, she took a deep breath and tried to get ahold of herself. She was supposed to be resisting him. Right? At least, she thought she was. Those two parts of her were still duking it out. Maybe resisting him until she made up her mind was a better way of saying it.
Yet here she was, only three measly days after he declared his intentions, already in serious danger of melting into a puddle at his feet and begging him to take her now.
“Even one gift is too much. And you’ve been using Shelby as your spy,” she said, raising an eyebrow and praying her thoughts weren’t showing in her eyes.
“And?” he replied, a smirk on his lips. “All’s fair in love and war, right? And this is both.”
She stared at him blankly. Did he just use the word love in context with her? Breathing deeply, she tried to calm her racing heart. It was just a phrase. It didn’t mean anything, especially since there was no way he could have meant it like that.
This man was turning her from a sensible, logical twenty-six-year-old into a silly twelve-year-old who read into things that weren’t really there.
“Speaking of Shelby, isn’t she waiting on you? You should probably run along so she’s not waiting in the car for you.”
Leaning against the side of her desk, he crossed his massive arms and shook his head. “Amelia picked her up. I’m going to look at some properties for a gym, and a plot of land I might be able to build one on.”
“A gym? You’re opening a gym? What about the barn?” she asked in surprise, just then realizing that other than fighting every weekend, she had no clue what he did for a living, or if that was it.
“I’m thinking about it. I haven’t totally decided, but I’m leaning more and more toward it. And we’re still going to repair the barn, but we’re not open to the public there. This would be a gym for everyone. I thought I’d ask you to come along.”
“Me? I know nothing about gyms. Other than rehab years ago, I’ve never been to one.”
“You can still recognize a good building when you see it. I want this to appeal to women as well as men. You’re a woman, so you qualify to give me an opinion on that basis alone.”
“Why don’t you ask one of the women in your fighter crew?”
“They?
?re all busy this afternoon, and this was the only day I could get access to all the properties. Come on, come with me.”
“I don’t know…”
“I promise to keep my hands to myself, if that’s what you’re worried about,” he said, a twinkle in his blue eyes.
Searching his gaze, she frowned as she realized the silver specs she saw earlier were nowhere to be found now. Deciding it wasn’t a big deal, she thought hard for a moment before slowly nodding against her better judgment. His eyes, and the look in them, should really be made illegal, for the good of all womankind.
“Okay, I’ll go with you. But I’m holding you to that promise. Keep your hands to yourself.”
A smile curled his lips as he watched her stand up, gathering her things. “I promise. No cane today?”
Shaking her head as she pulled her sweater on, she replied, “No, it’s a good day, although it’s in my car just in case.”
Grabbing her bag and the box of brownies, she shook her head when he held out his elbow to take. She wasn’t going there, wasn’t going to touch him even for something as innocent as that. No touching, or she’d risk losing herself to him even more. And she was already further down that road than she wanted to be, especially since she was still wavering on what she wanted.
Okay, maybe she knew what she wanted already. Maybe she didn’t want to resist any longer.
The panicky part of her was on high alert, screaming for her not to lose herself more to him, but it was too late. This could be bad. This could be disastrous. But it didn’t look like she was going to be able to help herself.
Following him as he led her to the parking lot, she came to a halt in from of the large black pickup truck in front of her. It was huge, which made sense, because a guy as large as him needed something equally big to get around in. But it was jacked up, and that was going to be a problem.
“Um, maybe we should take my car,” she said, staring at the distance between the ground and the bottom of the truck. It had step sides, which would help a normal person, but with her leg, it still seemed impossible.
“I’ve seen your car, and there’s very little possibility of me fitting in it. It might as well be a clown car compared to me.”
Pursing her lips, she had to admit his statement was pretty accurate. “I don’t think I can go with you, Ian. With my leg, there’s no way I can climb in there.”
“I’ll help you,” he said, opening the back door of the truck. He took her bag and the box of brownies from her, putting them in and shutting the door. Surprised, she watched him open the front door and beckon her forward.
“How are you going to help me?” she asked warily, taking a few steps forward.