Ian backed up two more steps, crossing his arms over his chest as he rested against my car door. His body conveyed “casual air” at first glance, but I felt the spring-loaded energy coming off him even from that distance, and saw the intensity in his eyes.
Like no time had passed.
And yet it had.
I stepped forward again and gestured to him to move away from my car door. He didn’t flinch or blink as I crossed personal space, just followed my eyes with his.
“Savi.”
“I’m serious, Ian,” I said, steeling myself and looking flatly up into his eyes. “You owe me nothing.”
Up close the pull was stronger, but I refused to let it show. I lifted my chin before I could get weak.
“I may be here a while,” he said finally, his voice softer.
“So I heard.”
“We have to coexist,” he said. “I just don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
I laughed out loud at that, making him look at me with amusement.
“And showing up here like this—you don’t find this uncomfortable?”
“No,” he said, a smile coming back into his eyes. “I find this normal.”
“Of course you do,” I said, forcing a smile on my face. “Look, we’re grown-ups here, right?”
A tug pulled at one corner of his lips, drawing my eyes there. Damn it. “That’s the rumor.”
“We can coexist just fine,” I said. “Now, I have a life to get to, if you don’t mind getting off my car.”
He looked behind him with a smirk. “Still backing in for a quicker getaway, I see.”
I felt the twitch in my shoulders. “From my own house?” I said. “Not really.”
“Old habits,” he whispered, leaning forward a few inches.
Goose bumps sprinkled over my skin, and my mouth went dry. I licked my lips and watched his eyes drop to catch it.
“It’s a busy street,” I managed to say. “Just easier than backing out.”
Ian nodded, not blinking. Then he pushed off the car, forcing me to take a step backward.
“For what it’s worth,” he said as he walked to a bike that made my heart speed up, not stopping, not looking back.
“He’s a lucky guy.”
I watched him straddle that thing in the dusky dark, turn over the throaty engine, and drive away before I slumped against my door.
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