Invidious Betrayal (16 page)

Aria hadn’t said a word since sitting next to him. Ian also noticed she hadn’t eaten much either, so he attempted to get the night back on track. “Are you not hungry, Aria?” he asked her. When she looked over at him, he saw that her eyes were glossy. She was trying not to cry. He slid his hand across the table to take hers, but she quickly stood, barely giving him time to get to his feet, let alone pull out her chair. She ran from the room before he could say a word.

Still standing, Ian looked down at his plate. “She hates me,” he said, under his breath and more to himself. “I shouldn’t have come.” Defeated, he dropped his napkin onto his plate and flopped down in the chair.

“Believe me, she doesn’t hate you.” Mr. Cole placed his hands behind his head and rocked back in his chair. “If she hated you, she would have let me arrest you for what you did to Bucky and Calvin.”

It was a sign of weakness, but Ian wanted to know, needed to know. “Does she like one of them? I mean, is there a history between her—”

“I know what you mean,” Mr. Cole interrupted. “I guess you could say she has a history with both of them. Ree has known Calvin since they were eight. And Bucky, well, he’s been sweet on her for a few years now. He keeps his hands and intentions to himself, and gets to breathe the way God intended in return.” Mr. Cole leaned forward. “Most of the boys in Land’s End know not to try anything with my Ree. Guess I should have extended that circumference of fear to the surrounding states.”

“I would never consciously hurt Aria, Mr. Cole,” Ian tried to assure him.

“Yeah, well, the unintentional shit hurts the worst.” Mr. Cole grunted.

“Would you like some dessert, Ian?” Mrs. Cole asked, as she walked back into the room. Her eyes were a little red and her makeup had been freshened up.

Wonderful
. What had he expected? This night was a total disaster. He’d made two women cry in less than an hour.
This is the reason I never get close to people
?
Yup, this is the reason
. “No thank you, Mrs. Cole. I think I should be leaving.” Ian stood.

“Oh, no you don’t.” Mr. Cole stood. “You and I need to talk first. Follow me.”

Why not end the night with a bang...or a hanging?

Ian looked around the basement man cave at all the law enforcement decor. A computer station sat in a far corner of the large room and a sitting area in the center to which they were heading. Two small windows that he could squeeze through if he had to, were to his right and a back door that led to the outside was in the rear. It was his training that had him planning a defensive strategy and mapping possible exits.

“Sit down and make yourself comfortable, Ian.”

Ian sat, but not before noticing the papers on the coffee table with his name and photo on them. Mr. Cole sat across from him, so they were face to face.
Let the interrogation… begin
!

“How did you meet Aria?”

“Through her friend Gail,” He wasn’t sure how much Aria told her father, so he needed to be as honest and as vague as he could.

Mr. Cole lifted the papers off the table and looked them over. “You know Gail?” Mr. Cole sneered when he said the girl’s name. “Gail doesn’t seem like your type,” he said, focusing on the papers in his hands, “nor does Ree for that matter.”

“I don’t really have a type, but if I did, Gail isn’t it, and to be honest I hardly remember meeting her. Aria is different, unforgettable.”

“I bet.” Mr. Cole rolled his eyes. “What do you think is going to come of this relationship? Does Ree even know who you are, Ian?”

Ian knew that being a Sheriff, Mr. Cole would have researched him if he ever introduced himself. He just didn’t know things would happen this soon. “Honestly, I don’t know. It isn’t my intention to hide who I am. It’s just that the conversation has never come up.”

“It says here that you’re some kind of genius. You graduated high school at thirteen and have a Master’s in engineering and you’re only twenty-one, impressive.” The look on Mr. Cole’s face was blank, which sort of said how unimpressed he was. “Your family comes from old money, have their hands in just about everything. Your uncle runs Howl Industries and your father is a U.S. Senator. How do you expect Aria to fit into your world?”

“Mr. Cole, I don’t want her to fit in my world. I just want her to allow me into hers. Aria’s strength is like none I’ve ever witnessed. She’s beautiful, kind, caring, and forgiving. She stands out no matter where she is and no matter how much I try, I can’t seem to put her out of my mind even though she wants nothing to do with me.”

Aria wanted to hate Ian. Now more than ever, but every time she tried to convince herself, he did something to make her want to feel otherwise. When he wasn’t in the same room, or zip code for that matter, it was easier to create reasons to dislike him. But with him so close and telling her things about his life, sad things, she had no defense. He’d helped her escape, was willing to help her in any way he could even if that meant giving up his own freedom. Ian could have dropped her off at a bus stop and gone on with his life, but he hadn’t. And now he was here, checking on her.

The situation was hopeless. She was falling for Ian.

The knocking on her bedroom door caused Aria to tense, but she relaxed, remembering where she was. Her father would never let a guy upstairs or in her bedroom for that matter. “I don’t feel like talking, Mom. Can you tell Ian I’ll see him later?”

“You can tell me yourself.”

Aria whipped her head around to see Ian easing into her bedroom. She hopped off her bed. “No, no, no… you have to get out of my room. If my dad catches you up here he will fry your balls in oil and feed them to you,” she said, placing her hands on his firm chest. Aria tried to ignore how good it felt to touch him as she push him back, but he didn’t budge even with her using all her strength.

She felt Ian shudder under her palms, then he wrapped his hands around her wrists and pulled her palms to his lips. Gently kissing them, he smiled. Surprised by the intimate action, Aria tilted her head up and was instantly ensnared by the heat in his eyes.

“Your mom said it was okay for me to come up and say goodnight,” he said, stepping forward.

Of course mom is under his spell
. Ian’s good looks and manners would have any mother planning her daughter’s wedding day. Aria knew right then she had to stop this. Feigning anger was her only recourse. They could not be friends or anything else for that matter. Things were even more complicated now. He had to go away.

Aria pulled her hands free of his grip and shifted back. He moved inside, following her. “Why did you come here?” She scowled, as she walked to the other side of her room.

Ian casually leaned on the wall next to her door and placed his hands in his pants pocket. “I told you, Aria. I was worried about you. You left without saying a word.”

“It was better that way.” She rushed forward, glancing out into the hallway before easing her door closed to just a crack. She sat down on her bed, facing him. “You can’t be here, Ian. How did you find me anyway?”

“You said that your father was a Sheriff in Land’s End.” He pushed off the wall and sat down next to her. “Look, I’m sorry for hurting your friends. I’ll apologize to both of them if you want.”

Aria shook her head. “It’s not just that, Ian. This is my life. I had one before…before that night, you know. School was great; I was happy, and even though my dating life sucked, Bucky kissed me. Now, I go to school but I can barely stay focused. Prom and graduation should be my top priority but I could care less. I freak out when I see men I don’t know, and Bucky and I—”

Ian gave her a droll stare. “You can’t possibly have designs on that guy. His name is Bucky, for Christ’s sake.”

“What? No!” She couldn’t even think of anyone else but Ian, and that was driving her crazy.
Is he smiling right now
? “Why do you even care anyway? I’m not questioning you about Amy.”

Ian frowned. “Who’s Amy?”

“The waitress; you swallowed her tongue at the diner in front of me and the entire world. I bet it’s on YouTube under ‘guy swallows waitress whole.’” Aria stood to get to her computer, but Ian pulled her down on his lap. “What are you—” Before she could finish, Ian covered her mouth with his.

Tiny electric messages fired in her brain, telling her to push away. Only she didn’t listen because her mouth wanted more, more of him, more of this. Aria braced her hands on his chest, griping his shirt in her fist. The fact that she was sitting on his lap slowly began to register, but his kiss was so passionate and gentle that her fear of being that close to a man again was chased away. Ian led, but gave her room to explore his sinfully delicious mouth with her tongue and she did. This was Aria’s first real kiss, and oh how she wanted it. Her body was on fire.

How could someone who was a part of what was so cruelly done to her even elicit this kind of response from her? He should repulse her. The thought of sex with him, with anyone, should drive her mad. But she wasn’t thinking of having sex with just anyone. Aria was thinking of sex with Ian, and it didn’t scare or repulse her.

Ian pulled away first. He gently kissed her lower lip, and then her chin. “I’ve been dreaming of doing that since I got here. That was worth the two-week wait.”

“You’ve been here for two weeks?” Her voice sounded strange, like she was in a daze. He had that effect on her, especially when he looked at her with those intense eyes of his.

“You left Sunday morning. I arrived Monday night.” Ian had one arm around her waist, securing her to him as he caressed her cheek with his other hand.

Sighing, Aria closed her eyes and leaned into his touch. She felt then that his was a touch she would always crave. The realization of that scared her to death. Pulling away with a curse, she got to her feet. “Why did you kiss me? What are you doing, Ian?”

He looked confused for a moment, then he stood. He shrugged, holding his hands up, “Your parents think we’re dating, right? Why did you tell them we were dating?”

Aria didn’t exactly tell her father that she and Ian were dating. Her father just assumed they were because of what she’d told him when he was about to arrest Ian. She began pacing. “My dad is so by-the-book. He would have arrested you. If that happened, your next of kin may have been notified, and if your uncle is looking for me… I can’t let them find me, so I had to tell him something that would make him think before arresting you.” The brightness of Ian’s gray eyes seemed to dim a little. She looked away.

“Do you feel any attraction toward me at all, Aria?”

“I…what do you want me to say, Ian? This situation is so messed up.” She turned her back to him. “I can’t think of you like that,” she whispered. Everything in her told her she couldn’t, but she did.

“If we had met under different circumstances—”

She sighed. “If we had met any other way than how we had, a guy like you wouldn’t have noticed me.” She heard him move and was afraid that he was going to touch her. If he did…
Please don’t touch me
, she silently begged. The sound of her door opening caused her to turn around.

“I know this,”—he motioned to himself then her—“isn’t normal. I’m not the kind of guy that wants to meet the parents, but you’re…” Ian shook his head. “That’s where you’re wrong, Aria, I would have noticed you immediately,” he said, moving through the door, closing it as he left.