Temporary (Indelibly Marked #2) (16 page)

“I have no choice.” Ivan stomped to the door and opened it.
“Never mind. You’re exactly what I thought.”

Billy rushed toward him, hit the door closed and got up in
his face. “I am going to tell you two things only one time.”

Ivan glared him down, but for the moment stayed put.

“One.” He lifted one finger. “I am more than happy and more
than capable to help. I would guard the damn shop with my life, not for you,
but for me and for Shane and for Emily.”

“What’s number two?” Ivan asked, though he had the answer in
front of him.

“I am telling you now that I did not infect that kid, and if
part of you didn’t believe me you wouldn’t allow me to be at the shop at all.”

Their eyes met.

“The last call Emily made today before the one to me was to
James asking about the jerk. The mediation will be any time soon, and we can
only hope this won’t go to trial. She hasn’t eaten, and I even found her
favorite cookies on the front seat of her car. Give us anything to prove you’re
right.” He lifted his chin.

“I’ll find it.” For the first time since they met, Billy
held his hand out to him.

Not willing to give in, he dropped the keys into Billy’s
palm.

“Worry is a horrible thing. Though right now you can’t fix
the root of the problem, you can help and it will eventually dissipate.” Billy
slid the keys into his pocket and put his hand out once more. “You need to take
care of Emily and make her feel safe, then she’ll be better.”

“What if I wasn’t there and she passed out behind the wheel
of her car?” His throat constricted as his mind conjured the horrifying image.

“What if I didn’t ink that guy that day? What if we never
got out of bed for fear something would happen?”

“Take care of the shop.” He shook Billy’s hand.

Billy took a firm hold of his hand and nodded. “I’ll take
care of it and I’ll check in.”

“Thanks.” He let Billy out, picked up his phone and texted
James to let him know the latest. Finally, he returned to Emily.

Once more he found himself staring at her. With the sun
lowering in the sky, the last bit of light seemed to kiss her.

The questions entered his mind again followed by some new
ones.

What if he wasn’t there when she passed out?

What if she was driving when it happened?

How did his dad survive when his mother died?

Where did Emily go the other night?

What if he gave in to what Emily wanted?

When would things ever get back to normal?

~~*~~

Black, red and gold swirled around Emily. “What happened?”
The last thing she remembered was not being able to parallel park. She blinked
Ivan’s bedroom into focus. Some things never changed, including his and Shane’s
artwork on the walls intermingled with pictures of all of them, his stack of
vintage record albums in the corner and the red fluffy blanket on the bed. She
toyed with the satin edge.

“You passed out is what happened.” Ivan came in carrying a
tray. “We’re taking a day off is what is happening.”

“Passed out?” Maybe something had changed. She never
remembered a tray in his house. From her angle he appeared even taller. He was
the man who could reach any shelf, could take over a room by simply entering,
the person who represented safety. She tried to sit up but her head spun,
weighed her down, forcing her back on the mound of pillows Ivan insisted always
be in the bed. “Oh, no.” She put her trembling hand over her eyes. “I feel
weird.”

“Dr. Wilcox was here.” The bed dipped as he joined her.
“Take a breath and then we can talk”

She inhaled, let the spinning wane and lowered her hand. The
way Ivan stared down at her with his hair hanging around his face, reminded her
of those moments right before he kissed her. “I can’t take a breath. I have too
much to do.” All she wanted was to close her eyes and fall asleep among the pillows.

“Not only are you taking a breath, we are taking some time
off.” He picked up a mug and stirred the contents with a spoon.

“We can’t take time off.” The distinctive aroma of chicken
and spices and comfort overtook the room. Her stomach rumbled as if being woken
up from a long sleep. She prayed for a matzo ball, but it had to be the right
one. “Did you call Harvey’s?”

“I’m not technically taking time off.” With a raise of his
eyebrows, he lifted the spoon.

“What are you technically doing?” She got the question out
before parting her lips and allowing him to feed her. The soup warmed her, but
better yet the salty savory bit of heaven traveled over her taste buds. “That’s
my favorite.”

“I know.” He lifted one side of his mouth in a smile. “It
could be a million degrees out and you will still have this soup.”

She allowed him to feed her the rest of soup, and he
finished off his ministrations by giving her a few sips of water. “You never
told me what you were technically doing.”

He put the dishes back on his magic tray, stood and took off
his shirt.

Though weak, she still found the energy to twist the blanket
in her fist. Some might be impressed with his tattoos, true works of art
created by the best in the business, including her brother, but she only took
in his chest. A mixture of strong and slender, better than any pillow on any
bed. Why did she have to want him so much?

“Ivan, what are you technically doing?”

He slid in bed next to her and scooped her up into his arms.
“Technically I’m going to be taking care of you.”

For one moment she basked in the fact she was where she
longed to be, and then common sense to overrule her desire. They needed to make
some decisions. “Ivan.”

“Em. I’m doing this. We’re doing this. Just let me do this.”
He pulled the covers up over them.

The silence in the room wasn’t the calm euphoria like after
the times they made love. Instead the air was charged with words unsaid, but
needed to be voiced. “What are we doing?” No more limbo.

“I don’t know.” His words were too quick.

Tears heated her eyes but she pushed them back. Their
so-called relationship didn’t work for either of them. She needed something
definitive one way or the other. The way they were, served only to make them
both crazy. She turned to her side. “Do you know anything?”

He moved in closer, spooning her. “I know that when I saw
you collapse I wanted it to be me instead.”

His breath brushed her ear and she arched her back in the
shudders he created. She twisted around, catching site of him out of the corner
of her eye.

“Until there was you, I only ever hoped it wasn’t me alone.
Now I know what it means when someone says they would take a bullet for you.”
He took her hand.

Yes, she leaned forward and found his lips.

Soft and dreamlike, his kiss reminded her of when he
sketched a tattoo freehand. His kiss had no goal, no means to an end. Rather,
the kiss became the purpose, the melding of mouths, a little taste and above
all, a connection.

He held her tighter and pressed his palm to her cheek.
Instead of deepening the kiss, he pulled back and rested his forehead on hers.

With the way he acted, she would never be able to stop them.
No one else created the drop in her stomach, the way her breath caught. It was
always only Ivan. “Then I think you know or you don’t.” Either he gave her an
answer or she would have to find a way to walk away for real. “We both deserve
more.”

For several minutes they remained silent. He simply stared
at her, brushed her hair away from her face, and traced her bottom lip with his
fingertip. “Where did you go when you showed up with Dillon last night?”

“The answer you get depends on who I’m speaking to.”

“What if it’s your brother’s best friend?”

She dug her nails into the pillow, but chose to play his
game, if it was a game. “Then I’ll tell you to mind your own business.”

The corner of his mouth twitched, fighting a smile. “What if
it’s the guy you sleep with?”

Okay, he was testing her. They were testing each other. “I
would tell you not to ask the questions you may or may not want the answers
to.” She raised her voice to sound hyper feminine for effect.

He stared into her eyes and took her chin in his hand. “What
if it’s the man who will tell you that after the lawsuit is over and the baby
is born, that I will talk to your brother?”

Welcome, wonderful, healing air filled her lungs, better
than any chicken soup or medicine he could have given her. While he wasn’t
making a firm commitment, he wasn’t shying away either. “Then I would tell you
that I had a job with Mark Markson the designer, and I did the makeup for his
show for LA Fashion week.”

“Emily.” He shook his head. “Why wouldn’t you tell me that?
That’s amazing. It’s what you’ve worked for.”

“I didn’t want to disappoint anyone if I couldn’t cut it.”
She studied the image of his parents tattooed on his chest. All she remembered
about his mom was she was really pretty and really happy. His dad was her
second father. Before Ivan, she wanted to marry Mr. Sig Harlow. Either way,
maybe she was always destined to be a Harlow.

“You can do anything, Em.” He gave her a light kiss. “You
don’t know how smart you are.”

“What if after I did it, I wasn’t sure? Now he wants more
work and I don’t know if I can say yes, but what I am supposed to do?” She
closed her eyes. “That’s all I talked about and now I don’t know if I like it.
I’m such a mess.” Maybe that was why Ivan could never move forward with her.

“Emily,” he said with a sigh. “Look at me.”

She tilted her face up.

“You are one of the most reliable, stable people I know.” He
kissed her once more. “It’s not that you don’t stick to things, rather I think
you never found exactly what you wanted to do.”

All her life she wished she could be more like Shane,
Carson, and Ivan, artistic and focused. She was more like Dillon, a lost dog
circling and circling on the bed hoping to find the exact right spot to lie
down.

“What do you want to do?” He turned to his back and took her
with him, settling them both down with her head on his chest.

“I love helping you at the shop.” She wrinkled her nose at
letting it out, but figured she could tell Ivan anything. He was going to talk
to her brother like some old-fashioned movie, and she wondered what that made
his official title. “It’s the only time I feel like I know what I’m doing.”
Damn her for not hating the lawsuit. It gave her so many chances to work with
Ivan. She was almost terrified of what would happen after.

“I don’t know what I would have done without you by my side
these last few weeks.” He slid down until they were nose to nose. “When you’re
there, I can run the show.”

“You could do it without me.” Even in the dim room his eyes
sparkled.

“No way.” He shook his head. “We’re a team. We’re better
together.”

“Do you mean that?” She ran a finger over his shoulder. If
passing out meant a turning point of such magnitude, she would do it again in a
second.

“Absolutely.”

She succumbed to his kisses once more, praying she wasn’t
simply making another circle around. Maybe she found her spot. Maybe it was by
his side. Maybe.

Chapter
Fourteen

“Sit here.” Emily skipped across the living room and
motioned to the couch.

“Okay.” He glanced around the same space he’d lived in for
nine years, but it had changed.

“I rearranged a couple of things.” She pointed to the chair,
the table, and the dining area.

Everything seemed to shine, and the aroma of lemons and
something else swirled in the air. “It works.” He shrugged, bent down and
kissed her. “Just don’t overdo it. You’re supposed to be resting.”

“I promise.” She kissed him again, opening her mouth and
giving him a little sampling of her tongue.

They spent the day before in bed, taking it easy, and he
decided they needed an extra day. Without the rush of trying to get to work he
woke to making love to her, twice. Resting or not, he could go for round three.
At least they would be lying down. He wrapped his arm around her waist and
pulled her body flush against his. “I tossed your clothes in the closet, shoved
the rest of your stuff in the dresser, and then I took all those things you had
in that bag in the bathroom and dumped it in the drawer.”

“Ivan.” She took his face in her hands. “You tossed, shoved
and dumped my stuff with yours?”

“I did.” Before he had a chance to tell her he used hangers
for the closet stuff, she covered his mouth with hers.

Their tongues tangled and his body reacted instantly. He
cupped her backside in his palms and picked her up.

She held on and curled her legs around his hips. “Ivan, I
have something to tell you.”

Unable to wait, he lifted her shirt over her head. “Were you
going to tell me you’re not wearing a bra?” He licked his lips at the feast she
presented for him.

“I was going to tell you I cleaned up and cooked dinner.”

Well, that explained the smell in his apartment, and why it
was foreign. He tore his focus away from her tight, ready nipples and looked
into her eyes. “I need to take you into the bedroom now.”

“Afterwards I can change the sheets.” She bit her lip.

His body was ready to burst out of his jeans. “I can’t
wait.”

Their quest to the bedroom was interrupted by a knock at the
door.

She gasped and covered her breasts. “Who’s here?”

“Why do girls freak every time there’s a knock at the door?”
He frowned. “I don’t care who’s here, it’s our day off and they can wait.”

Once more there was a knock at the door. “Ivan!” A man’s
voice boomed through the apartment followed by another knock. “I know you’re
here. Your SUV and bike are in the lot.”

“Oh no.” He shook his head.

“Sig!” Emily wiggled out of his grasp, pulled on her shirt
and ran to the door, flinging it open and jumping outside. “Sig!”

“Lee!”

Ivan tapped his foot, but at last his father entered
carrying his…his Emily.

“Son.” His dad nodded and put her and some bags down. He
held her at arms’ length and tilted his head from side to side and inspecting
her. “I suppose you did an adequate job keeping her alive, but I’m here now.”

“I love you.” Emily hugged him again.

“I love you, Lee.” His dad encompassed her in his arms and
she seemed to disappear inside his leather jacket. “My son gave me quite a
scare when he told me what happened. He made me promise not to ride down
yesterday, but he said nothing about today.”

“Yeah, I sort of forgot that detail.” With his lower half in
a calmer state, he went to his father and shook his hand.

All smiles, Emily finally emerged from the huge form of
leather and denim that made up his dad. The man always seemed as if he was
ready to take a cross-country road trip on a Harley at a moments notice.

“Sig?” Her eyes sparkled at the man she dubbed her second
father. The sentiment was shared. As the only girl between the Harlows and the
Elliotts, Emily was definitely Ivan’s dad’s princess.

“Yes.” He took her chin in his hand and moved her face left
and right.

“I made stew.” She grinned. “And biscuits.”

Somehow with his father there, the cooking and cleaning
wasn’t nearly as erotic. Ivan leaned back on his heels. The two of them
together were sweet.

“Well that’s good because I brought my appetite and
presents.” He patted her head.

Her grin grew. “How about the two of you sit down, and I’ll
bring you something cold to drink after your long ride.”

“Sounds perfect.” He gave her one last kiss on the forehead.

Emily trotted into the kitchen.

“I’ll be right back.” His father lifted his finger and
walked into the bedroom toward the bathroom.

Ivan flopped on the couch and went to flip on the
television. The soft clinks and clanks of Emily doing whatever females did
while they fiddled in the kitchen, caused him to simply hold the remote in
midair.

“Well this seems all homey.” His dad returned, tossed his
jacket on the couch and took a seat in the chair.

As if she’d rehearsed her next move, Emily appeared from the
kitchen carrying two bottles of beer and a bowl. “Here you go.” She gave each
one of them a drink and put the dish of nuts on the end table. The end table
both of them could reach with Emily’s new arrangement.

“Thank you.” His father took a sip and tilted the bottle in
her direction.

Ivan smiled and raised his eyebrows.

“Do your father/son stuff. I’m making something with
chocolate.” She winked at him and left again.

He watched her go, taking note of the bottom of her backside
peeking out from under her shorts. His mouth watered. If his dad had showed up
an hour later his visit would have been much better. Okay maybe an hour and a
half.

“You are a bundle of conversation.” His dad grabbed a
handful of nuts.

“I just don’t want her over working herself.” He shook his
head. “You know, with Shane and Carson tied up, someone has to look out for
her.”

“She seems like she’s holding up pretty well. Actually,
she’s glowing.”

“Maybe she’s still dizzy from passing out.”

“Maybe she’s giddy at getting to play house.” His dad tossed
a peanut up in the air, catching it in his mouth.

Ivan let out a laugh. They each took turns one-upping each
other with insane
maybe
scenarios. “Maybe she’s drunk after taking some
pulls of cooking wine.”

“Maybe she’s high on using your special toothpaste.”

Ivan pursed his lips.

“Maybe I saw her toothbrush next to yours in the holder.”

“Maybe she collapsed in front of me, and I got some of her
stuff.” He peeked at his father out of the corner of his eye.

“Maybe someone used the velvet hangers so her clothes would
be all nice.” His father let out a chuckle. “Maybe someone doesn’t want her to
leave.”

“Maybe my best friend may not take kindly to me being with
his baby sister. Maybe she’s really young.” Ivan ground his teeth together.

His father grunted. “Maybe someone finally needs to realize
what he wants.”

Ivan gulped down the beer, buying some time to come up with
anything.

Instead, his father took another turn. “Maybe she’s floating
around your apartment role playing as a wife because she’s in love.”

Between his mind coming up empty of any smartass response,
and his body breaking out into a sweat, he polished off the beer.

His father put the bottle down and leaned forward, setting
his elbows on his knees. “Maybe, just maybe, my son is quiet and not going on
and on about tattoos and motorcycles because he’s enjoying building something
else.”

He ran his hand along his chin, fighting the urge to run out
of the apartment, or alternately go find Emily. After all she was at least
fifteen feet away from him.

He focused on the window. Though the blind was down, the
gray peeking between the slats told him it was the perfect October overcast
day. Cool but not cold, crisp and fresh. Tomorrow would mostly likely be hot
and sunny. Weather changed fast in Southern California. “Nothing lasts.”

“Nope, nothing does. That’s called life.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Maybe it matters more than anything.”

He turned back and studied the man who raised him. Over the
years, a few more lines had appeared etched on his face, he became a little
puffy, but the man was still his father.

“I loved your mom.” He stared up at the ceiling and nodded.
“I really did.”

“Dad.” The mention of his mother weighed his chest down.

His father put his hand on Ivan’s shoulder. “Don’t be afraid
to go after what you want because you may lose it. What if you never get the
chance to have it again?”

“What about the lawsuit?”

“What about it?” His father laughed and sat back, locking
his hands behind his head. “You’re relying on lawyers and suits, when you
should be relying on yourself and your girl. You deserve what you get.”

“Billy insists something isn’t right. The lawyer said to let
him handle it.”

“What does Emily say?” His dad leaned forward. “She’s
genuine.”

“I need to ask her. She’s been twitchy about the whole
thing.”

“Maybe she wants to be sure her brother and her man have a
job. Women are weird. They like a roof over their heads.” His father drank down
the last of his beer and held out the bottle. “I could use another one.”

“Me too.” He grabbed both bottles and headed into the
kitchen.

With her back to him, Emily leaned over the counter reading
something on her phone. Her ass was practically an engraved invitation to the
Promised Land. Next to her was a bowl filled with chocolate goodness.

He put the bottles down and approached her, putting his
mouth by her ear and copping a feel of her bottom. “Can I have a taste?”

She shivered, but turned, scooping some of the chocolate
whatever up with her finger and putting it in his mouth.

“Um.” He sucked her finger, swirling his tongue over the tip
and possibly showing off a little of his technique.

A blush took over her cheeks, but she never broke eye
contact.

He finished by kissing her finger. “You used dark
chocolate.”

“It’s your favorite.”

“You would know.” He scanned the kitchen. She had managed to
unearth all his pots and pans. “Maybe we need to bring some of your kitchen
things here.”

“You like home cooked meals?”

He nodded. His father was right he needed to act.

“You okay?” She pressed her palm to his face.

“Tomorrow I want to get to work early.”

“Will you give me a ride?” She giggled.

“Yeah.” He took her hand. “What do you think about me doing
a little investigating on my own with the case?”

“I think it’s about time.” When she leaned back against the
counter, the way her back arched gave him a perfect view of her breasts.

Not wanting to rile himself up, he brushed his lips against
hers and backed up to the fridge. “Well, we’re a team.”

“We are.” She stifled a smile by biting her lower lip and
turned back to the counter.

He took in the view one more time before returning to his
father.