volunteer to help them. She was thrilled when he didn’t.
“Can you drive a car across your property instead?” Red asked.
He laughed. “Not unless you want to get your spine out of whack. It’s pretty bumpy out there.”
“Oh.”
The rest of the conversation turned to the fitting tomorrow and which designers they liked best. Ian was a good sport. He asked one or two questions but pretty much just listened. She figured for a guy like him that was hard.
After they finished, they tossed their plates in the big trash bin. There was still a lot of work that had to be done before the show on Saturday, but this crew appeared to be well directed.
Toward the end of dinner, the hammering and drilling resumed. Ian placed her hand in his. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
They took off toward the main house in a trot. She liked how Ian was spontaneous. They skipped up the steps and across the large wooden porch. He brought her into the house and swung her around until her back was against the wall. She was a bit out of breath when his lips descended on hers. She wondered if someone would walk in on them, but at the moment, she didn’t care.
The surprise, the rush, and the forbidden nature of the kiss shot adrenaline through her system. She expected him to be forceful and demanding. Instead, his kiss was sensuous and alluring. She should have stopped him, but the prickles of delight filling her whole body made halting the event impossible. In fact, her hands seemed to wrap around his back on their own. She pressed into his powerful chest and slipped a hand up to the back of his head.
“What the fuck are you doing?”
She stilled, and Max pulled Ian off her. Oh, shit . From the fury in the man’s eyes, there was going to trouble.
She stepped forward and held up her hand. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what came over me.” While she wasn’t blonde, she was good at playing the femme fatale. She fanned herself even though the outside temperature wasn’t hot. “I asked Ian to show me where the bathroom was, and I kissed him.”
She reached over and squeezed Ian’s hand, hoping he’d understand that he didn’t need to blurt out the truth. From the way Max’s hands were clenched, he was about to go off on Ian. Ian had said Max sometimes treated him like a child. She could see why, but today the poor guy didn’t need to be embarrassed for sneaking a kiss. If she hadn’t wanted the affection, his balls would have been in his throat.
Max’s hands unfurled and glared at Ian. “I came to tell you that the stage needs some reinforcing. The lighting crew knocked something out of whack. Neither Dustin nor Colby are here. Mom asked if you could take a look.”
“Sure.”
She thought he’d take off, but when his shoulders straightened as if to challenge his brother, Max stomped off.
The footsteps retreated quickly. Ian spun around. She thought he’d be grateful, but there was a hint of anger lacing his eyes. “Why did you tell him you’d kissed me ?”
She ran a hand down his chest. Seeing this side of Ian upset her. She hadn’t expected him to care so much about his brother’s reaction. “Max was about to lay into you, and I didn’t think it was any of his business.”
His steely gaze stayed on hers for a moment then softened. “Thank you, but I can handle my brother. I’ve been doing it all my life.” He looked over her head, and his gaze lost focus for a moment.
She didn’t want to leave their interaction on a sour note. She kissed his cheek. “I never said you couldn’t take care of yourself. I was thinking of me. I’m so used to people jumping to the wrong conclusions. I’m sure Max saw you kissing me and thought that I was another loose model who couldn’t stand up for herself.” He opened his mouth, probably to defend the model image, when she placed a finger on his lips. “I, too, can take care of myself. Now, don’t you have a runway to fix?” She winked, and a grin broke out