Page 18 of Outside the Lines
Ian laughed and seemed to take stock of us both. “See, that’s the thing. I’ve also dated married guys who pretended to be single. And pretended to be straight to theirwives.”
“Cheaters,” I said. “Closeted.”
He nodded. “You’re not that. Ilikethat you’re not that.”
“No. I’m bi. I’m married. I’m poly. I don’t hide any of that from my partners.” Never had, and I wasn’t about to start now. Ihatedlying. And keeping secrets. “I get it, though. A lot of the guys I dated before I met Lydia were men who wanted a little meat on the side, but loved living the het lifestyle.”
He sat forward. “You dated dudes?”
I rolled my eyes, and Ian had the wherewithal to look sheepish.
“Okay,” he said. “So, how does this work?”
“Haveyoudated guys before?” Ilovedthe taken-aback expression carved into Ian. “Dating me works the same way.”
“But—” He eyed Lydia.
She shrugged. “Anything goes. Just don’t break him.”
He blinked a few times and a grin that boiled my blood appeared. “Could you definebreak. . . for me?”
“Oh,” Lydia said in that lovely sultry voice of hers, “you two are going to have so much fun.”
Ian’s chuckle curled my toes, as did the sparkle in his eyes. Yeah. Lydia was probably right about that. She usually was.
After lunch, we all headed back to the shop, and Lydia checked in with Dexy to see if she needed anything.
“I’ve got about another hour’s worth of work in the studio, but if you want help, give a call.” Lydia nodded at me and Ian. “Don’t bother the boys unless it’s modeling-related.”
Dexy nodded. “Figured that might be the case.” Once Lydia had vanished into the back, she shuffled some papers and gave me a coy once-over. “You guys going to be working on thatWolf’s Landingthing?”
“Probably going to be the schedule here until . . .” I met Ian’s gaze.
“. . . Tuesday,” Ian said. “Anna wants to do the shoot Wednesday night.”
A flicker of envy danced through me. Ian got to seeWolf’s Landingshoots. “So, not too long, then all will be back to normal.”
“Well, most nights when you’ve worked the morning shift, you paint anyway.” Her smile was sly. “The only difference is you have a partner now.”
Such innocuous words, but yeah, she knew something was up. She was a smart kid. Next to me, Ian shifted, his shoes scraping against the industrial carpeting. I clapped him on the shoulder. “Let’s get back to work.”
When we settled back in around the grove, he fiddled with the base for a second. “Does she know?”
“About us?” I shrugged. “She’s good at deduction, and she’s aware Lydia and I have an open arrangement.”
“You, umm . . .” He glanced back at Dexy, then at me with a mixture of horror and curiosity.
Oh my God. “No! She’s nineteen. I have T-shirts older than her!” I was thirty-five. Yes, it was legal, but I’d known Dexy since she wastwelve. Did not compute. Nope. Nope.
The relief in Ian was palpable. He coughed. “Sorry, I . . . but sheknows.”
I suppose me having dated Dexy was one conclusion you could draw from that, even if it did freak me out. “Lydia had a relationship with Dexy’s father a few years back. They were pretty serious, so we all talked about how that would work, and told Dexy what was going on.”
Ian looked like I’d hit him in the head with a brick. “Oh.” He chewed on his thumb, which was endearing, but man, I hoped he didn’t do that while playing with paints.
“She knows to keep it quiet, and she can also read me like a book.” I plopped into the chair by the pieces of the model I’d been repairing. There were a few rocks to touch up, and I wanted to tackle those before starting on the important parts, like the altar.
There was Ian’s sexy laugh. “You haven’t exactly been subtle about your interest in me.” He spoke low and damn close to my ear. His fingers brushed the back of my neck, sending shivers down my spine, straight to my balls.
