Free Ink Reunited by Carrie Ann Ryan Page B

speak.
    This was what he’d wanted all
those years and yet hadn’t known he craved it. Sassy was his and Ian’s. He just
prayed to God they didn’t leave him.
    Again.
     
     

Chapter Seven
     
     
    Ian ran his hand down his
chest, smoothing out his tie. He had no idea why he felt so stiff and
uncomfortable right then but it bothered him. He closed his eyes for a moment,
taking a deep breath. If he didn’t get his act together, he’d scare the other
patrons of the restaurant. With his dark looks and even darker scowl, most
people knew to comply to his demands.
    That’s how he’d made his way
up the ladder of high-end real estate.
    That and the Steele name.
    Tonight he would use that name
to get the table he desired but would do his best to lose the scowl. After all,
he didn’t want to scare away Sassy on their date.
    “Ian? Are you coming?”
    He blinked away the doubts
that seemed to creep in when he least wanted them, and turned to his date, his
Sassy.
    It didn’t matter to him if she
wore cutoff jeans, a flowing hippy dress, or nothing at all—he loved the way
his woman looked.
    Right then though, her beauty
made him so lightheaded he thought he’d pass out.
    They were dining out at one of
the nicer restaurants in New Orleans that night, and she’d apparently decided
to go formal. Her long black dress hugged her curves in all the right places.
The heart neckline accentuated her breasts but didn’t make her look cheap. No,
there was nothing cheap about Sassy and he loved that about her.
    She’d left her hair down. Rafe
told him she’d tried to put her hair up when they visited his parents and he’d
taken it down. Ian sensed she left it down this time for him, something that
not only surprised him, but made him fall for her all over again.
    Her wild hair had one simple
streak of black in it to match her dress, understated for what she normally did
with it, but he still liked it. Rafe had mentioned how sexy she looked when
he’d taken down her hair though, and Ian knew that they’d have to play with
that sometime.
    Right now, however, it was all
about Ian and Sassy. They might have been a triad, but they were also comprised
of three coupled relationships. That made it imperative that they not only
spend time as the three of them, but on their own as well.
    It wasn’t that he liked one
more than the other, he just knew that he needed both. He needed time alone
with Sassy as much as he needed time alone with Rafe. When the three of them
were together it was like they’d put all those pieces together forming a
finished puzzle only they understood.
    Complicated didn’t even begin
to cover it, but he didn’t care.
    He loved the two of them, and
he’d be damned if he’d walk away again and lose it all.
    “Ian, what is wrong with you
tonight?”
    He shook his head, then tucked
her hand in his, bringing it to his lips. He brushed a soft kiss against her
fingers and smiled.
    “I’m sorry, love. I can’t seem
to get out of my own head tonight.” They were standing in front of his car as
the valet stood by them, his hand outstretched. Ian gave a cool smile and a nod
to the younger man, as well as his keys, before taking Sassy’s arm in his. “Now
let me get you inside before I stand here all night woolgathering.”
    She frowned at him but
followed, her arm tucked beneath his. “You can woolgather all you want Ian, but
if you’d rather stay at home tonight, we can leave.”
    There was something in her
tone that sparked a memory and he cursed himself. Before, when he’d pulled away
emotionally, he’d acted aloof, locked inside his own head. If he wasn’t
careful, Sassy and Rafe would think he was doing the same now.
    It wasn’t even close to being
the same mindset for him, but he understood their fears. It might have grated
that they didn’t trust him not to walk away, but he couldn’t blame them.
    The hostess sat them at a
table in one of the secluded corners as requested. With a nod to the woman,