I blinked. “What?”
“When I visit in two weeks. We’re gonna do belated birthday drinks for Iain, and you can come now because you’re legal to drink.”
“Oh, right. Wait. You’re visiting in two weeks?”
“Yes. Christ. Haven’t you been listening to me?”
No, I thought, not even dismayed that Iain was fully dressed now because holy hell, he looked good in that light blue shirt. His silk tie was blue as well, but darker and striped, and it looked painfully hot just draped around his neck as he frowned so handsomely at something on his phone. God, I just wanted to blow him while he worked at his office.
Wait. What? Holland. Jesus.
“So you’ll be around, right?”
I grimaced as my brother’s voice disturbed my very dirty thought. “Yes, totally. But listen, I gotta get going now, okay? I’m running late, and I just… I’ll talk to you soon,” I said so hastily that I could still hear Adam protesting in confusion as I hung up.
And as soon as I put my phone back on the nightstand, Iain spoke.
“Good morning,” he said, the rich sound of his voice flooding me with instant warmth and arousal.
“Good morning,” I returned, looking up and finding myself slightly dismayed that he wasn’t looking at me. He was busy multi-tasking, leaning over the table where he’d set his phone and reading a text as he looped and knotted his tie.
God. So hot.
Every little thing he did was hot.
Wetting my dry lips, I eyed the garment bag hanging on the door.
“Did you… have a change of clothes sent over?”
“I did. Last night while you were asleep.”
“Oh.” I bit my lip at the mention of last night. “I meant to stay up for you,” I said truthfully. “But I guess you wore me out pretty good
.”
He looked over at me with a faint smile, making my heart flutter as he studied me for a moment. The sun lit the green of his eyes to something spectacularly clear, and I swore it was an out of body experience for about two-and-a-half seconds.
But then he looked away.
As if he hadn’t just stolen all the air from my lungs, he turned right around to finish getting dressed, and all I could do was watch as he pinched the knot on his tie, sliding it up and tightening it around his neck, and simultaneously making my heart skip a beat when through the mirror, his gaze met mine. There was a serious look in his eye, and I could suddenly feel him gearing up to say the words I didn’t want to hear. Something like, “This was fun, Holland, but it ends here.”
I went through a dozen variations of the line in my head, steeling my heart for it, trying to force myself to be a grown-up about this.
As Iain flipped his collar down and crossed the room fully dressed, my mind raced to get myself fully prepared for impact. Still, a sinking feeling twisted in my stomach as Iain stopped at his nightstand to put on the final touch on his outfit, picking up his shiny Rolex and draping it over his wrist.
My pulse picked up as I waited. But just as he began fastening his watch, he looked up at me and said, “I’m going to need to see you again.”
So matter-of-fact.
My heart skipped two beats as I hugged the pillow to my chest.
“Okay,” I breathed out fast. And I knew I was doing a crappy job of acting normal, because he gave a short laugh and a smirk.
“I take it that was Adam on the phone.”
“Yes.”
“He’ll be here in two weeks.”