Free River's Escape (River's End Series, #2) by Leanne Davis Page A

came inside her room before.
    “Are you?”
    She glanced up. “Am I what?”
    “Okay?”
    She quickly dropped her gaze and kept it firmly down. “Yes, just a little shaken.”
    He didn’t say anything more or ask what happened. He didn’t ask how Drew’s pants came to be undone. She could feel his gaze running over her so she kept her hair over her face and made it cover her breasts. He finally started for the door. What must he think? Of her? And what he witnessed? His total lack of reaction, and presence to still remain there was enough to spark her anger.
    “Where are you going?”
    He stopped dead and quirked an eyebrow up. “To keep my promise.”
    Promise? What? She waited a second after he walked down the hall. Did he mean… the whole warning thing about Drew not bothering her? What did he mean? No way. There was no way that Ian was going after Drew, or was there? That would have been crazy. Nothing really happened. It was over now. Done. But still… that quiet, lethal strangeness of Ian’s. And Drew did call Ian a faggot. She suddenly jumped to her feet and started towards the door.
    Drew’s taillights were fishtailing down the road as he sped away. Ian was just stepping into his truck so she ran after him. She grabbed his arm just as he began to sit, and yanked him around until he had to step back on the ground and face her.
    “Wait. What does that mean? To keep your promise?”
    “I told him to keep his hands to himself.”
    Technically, he did keep his hands to himself, he just tried to use her hand to do the work. “You don’t even know what you walked in on.”
    “Don’t I?” he asked softly. “It wasn’t a hand job you didn’t want to give? When you either stopped, or refused, he called you a bitch?”
    His voice was soft and silky. He had never spoken about anything personal with her before. Hearing him talk about her giving a hand job was so, so wrong. And awful. She dropped her head again in shame.
    “Wasn’t it?” he pressed.
    “It kind of was. I just didn’t want to right now.”
    “And I told you he wouldn’t take no easily. But he should have.”
    Ian turned again, set on getting into his truck. She nearly threw her hands up. Was he for real? What was he planning to do?
    “You can’t go… do whatever you’re thinking of. That would be assault or something. I mean, stop. This is crazy we’re even talking about this.”
    “I don’t tolerate guys who don’t take no for an answer.”
    “I don’t either. But this time, it’s over. Nothing happened.”
    He held her gaze. “Everything happened.”
    She swallowed. “Okay, it wasn’t my favorite evening of all time. He was a little pushy, and things kind of got out of control. But it’s over now. Please, Ian. I just want it to be done. If you do anything, it will soon be all over the valley. That would humiliate me. As it stands now, we can bet Drew will tell no one. I mean, I bit him. How proud of that could he be?”
    The side of Ian’s mouth twitched. “Biting was good.”
    “Please. Quit talking about him. Just let me forget him.”
    Ian tapped his fingers on his steering wheel for several long moments. How did he do that? So thoroughly prolonging a moment? Finally, he gave a short nod, and she blew out a sigh of relief. Thank God. She just wanted to go to bed and pretend this never happened.
    She started to turn away to leave when Ian’s voice stopped her dead.
    “Hey, Lynnie?”
    Slowly lifting her gaze to him, she waited expectantly. He also rarely, but quite purposely, tried to talk to her after the end of any conversation. “Choose better. Your last few boyfriends have been complete assholes. Pick smarter next time.”
    With that, he set the gear shift into reverse and turned around, tearing out of there almost as aggressively fast as Drew. That was so not like Ian. She watched his taillights fade, thinking this had to be the worst night she could remember. Worse even than the homecoming dance, when her