Page 61 of Fated Mates and How to Seduce Them
“Oh, thank you.” Ian sat on the love seat adjacent to her, accepting the mug she poured for him. The warmth sank into his cold hands, which he appreciated. His hands always got cold when he was nervous.
She put her work aside on the table before turning to him, giving him her full attention. “What’s this about? You seem nervous, darling.”
“André going with you to France.” Ian stared down into the tea for a long second before forcing his eyes back up to hers. “I realize you’ve argued about it.”
“Yes, we have. It’s rare André argues with me about anything. I’m very surprised he’s being so stubborn about this.” She looked away, mouth flattening, and unless Ian was wrong, he detected a slight wobble in those lips. “If we’re being honest, I’m a little hurt by it, too. This will be one of the few chances I have in the future to take him with me. Once he’s graduated from law school, he’ll start his own career, and I won’t have the freedom to take him. He’s wonderful company when traveling, and for so many years it was just the two of us on my work trips. I wanted one more trip with him, but he’s utterly refusing.”
Shit. This was a little worse than he’d feared. “I’m sorry. It’s entirely because of me that he’s afraid to go.”
She pulled a sad smile back in place, reaching over to put a delicate hand on one of his. “Ian, this isn’t your fault.”’
“I’m sorry, it really is. I don’t know if André’s explained this to you, not fully.”
“The only thing he’d say to me is he can’t be away from you for so long.”
Yeah, he hadn’t explained a damn thing. Ian mentally aimed a kick in André’s direction. “I’ve had to put the pieces together myself, so I’m not surprised. Let me start from the beginning. Are you aware that we’ve only been dating for two weeks?”
Her jaw dropped, blue eyes flaring wide. “What? I thought you’d been dating for almost three months!”
“No. Nowhere near that.” Ian grimaced. “It’s…You have to understand, as I mentioned before, I didn’t believe your son when he first approached me. He has such a reputation oncampus, I didn’t think him sincere. I’d thought I was just his latest interest. It’s taken him months to prove to me he meant every word. I can’t lay everything entirely on him. I had my own insecurities to battle through. As another obstacle, I didn’t believe you’d accept me as his boyfriend. You or your husband. I didn’t want to set myself up for that kind of heartbreak.”
Stunned sympathy flooded her face. “Ian. Oh, honey, of course, I’d like you. Why wouldn’t I appreciate a man as good as you?”
Ian ducked his head, so happy with her response he felt like he might embarrass himself by crying for a second. She had no idea how orphans were normally treated—as if they were lacking somehow because they didn’t have parents or were neglected by the people who birthed them. She didn’t know of the hell his adoptive father’s family had put him through, their disdain for him because of some unfounded bias to older kids in the foster system. It had left its scars, and he hadn’t healed from them, although he was trying. Her warm, utter acceptance of him helped. He at least felt more comfortable being honest with her. “Thank you. You have no idea how relieved I felt when you accepted. But because of all this, he basically spent two months trying to win me over. I don’t know if he truly understands why I agreed to date him. He might think he just wore me down. I fear he thinks that.”
Looking back up at her, he tried to phrase this right. To convey it all without upsetting her further. “He has no real faith in us right now, that we’d survive long distance. It’s entirely my fault, but I can’t easily fix this. We need time. Right now, he’s afraid I might change my mind if he’s away from me for anything more than a day. I see his fear, and I don’t know how to combat it except to give us time.”
She sat back, expression troubled. “I didn’t realize any of this. He didn’t explain it. I kept getting an adamant refusal every timeI brought it up. Normally, I’d let this go, especially after what you’ve said, but Ian…half the reason why he needs to go is that his scholarship program has its presentation next month. As the main organizer, he needs to be there. It runs for a week, with all the kids giving presentations on business proposals. He truly can’t afford to miss it.”
Aw shit. “He didn’t breathe a word of it to me.”
She looked surprised. “You know about this?”
“He’s told me about how he has another charity. I didn’t realize the presentations were coming up this soon.” Ian pinched the bridge of his nose and resisted the urge to swear. Dammit, André. You should have said something.
A calculating look flashed over her face. “Ian. I have a counterproposal for you. Instead of leaving him here, why don’t you come with us?”
Ian’s head snapped up. “Eh?”
“I’ll, of course, pay for all expenses. Don’t worry about that. But you’re so good with kids. I think you’d be perfect at helping André. Wouldn’t you like to see him in his element?”
Ian didn’t have to think about her proposal very hard. “I’d love to, but is it really all right?”
“I promise you it is. It does mean you’ll be gone for a month. Can you take that much time away from work?”
“I should be able to if my boss is all right with it. He probably will be. He’s used to his student workers disappearing during the winter holidays. I’d need to get a passport, though.”
“There’s enough time if we start now and push for an expedite. Plus, I’m sure my husband can pull a few strings.” She shot him a conspiratorial wink. “Why don’t we consider this a done deal? I think once you tell André you’ll go with him, he’ll happily reverse his decision.”
Ian agreed with her one hundred percent.
She clapped her hands together, her scheming expression back. “You should come over for dinner tonight. We’ll tell him then.”
“You mean we’ll ambush him then.”
“It’s what he gets for not properly explaining anything to me.”
Well, Ian found it rather fair. André should have. His mother was entirely reasonable and would have understood if he’d actually opened his mouth.
