“Your mom did. She’s still watching the front door.” He grinned, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “Just kidding. She was still upstairs when I left. If you hurry, you might miss her.”

“Oh. Thanks.”

“I think we need to have a talk later, Gabby.” Uh-oh. He might be in his most dangerous mood right now, actually—the disarming jovial façade to hide the hard-ass within. Those words had never boded well for any of his three kids whenever he uttered them.

“Sure. Okay.”

“See you tonight.” He rolled up his window and moved on. She continued up the driveway, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth.

The “talk” he wanted to have was no doubt about her behavior of late—tattoos and staying out all night. She could understand. If one of her children began behaving in a way that was totally opposite from the way they’d behaved before, she’d be worried too, no matter how old they were. She only wished she had more of an explanation for them than wanting to try new things. With new people. Her love life had been nothing but one failed relationship after another—the last one spectacularly failed. If nothing she’d ever done had worked for her, then why keep doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results? That was the comical definition of insanity, wasn’t it? There was nothing wrong with changing it up a bit.

It had damn sure worked for her last night.

She would just reassure her parents tonight that she was okay, not to worry, and if they couldn’t be placated, then maybe she would open a discussion about going back to Dallas early. Finding an apartment and settling in before M2 began. A summer of hiding out in her hometown had seemed like a good idea when her world came tumbling down, but now…she wasn’t so sure. She’d woken up this morning with Ian’s arm over her, feeling so much better than she had in the weeks since her failed wedding. She felt as if she could take on anything, defeat any obstacle, that she had no reason to hide her face in shame.

She just didn’t like that it had taken a man to make her feel this way. Even worse? It was a man she couldn’t have.

Her dad had been right, and she managed to make it to her room without catching sight of her mother. Despite her exertions last night, she was restless and full of energy, going for a late-morning jog, grabbing lunch and doing some idle solo shopping. When she did finally try to settle and do some reading that evening, her mind kept drifting, and she tossed her book aside on her bed with a huff.

Maybe she could go out. Maybe he’d be at the bar again. Maybe—

No. Holy shit, what was she doing?

Her body remembered his touch almost as if his hands were still on her. Mmm, the way he’d looked when he’d f**ked her in front of the mirror…

A knock at her door jerked her out of her fantasies. “Come in!” she called, sitting up and hoping she wasn’t flushed. The door eased open, and her dad peeked in.

“You busy?”

“No. I was reading, but…can’t keep my mind on it.” She fidgeted uncomfortably. Her mom was usually the one to lecture her. For her dad to come up here, it was a little scary. He usually handled the boys.

He shut the door behind him, crossed his arms over his broad chest and leaned back against her desk across the room from her, the stance reassuring her that he didn’t mean to stay long. “Are you okay, Gabby?”

Sighing, she nodded. “I’m fine, Dad.”

“Last night was the third time I know of that you didn’t come home since you’ve been back.”

Yeah, he was on the money. She preferred for him to think she was out doing what she did last night than to know the truth: sometimes she just had to run away. He probably wouldn’t believe her if she told him.

She wasn’t happy in Dallas. She wasn’t happy in her childhood bedroom. Whenever she was feeling emotionally raw, a hotel was preferable to this. If her parents saw her break down, they were going to worry even more. So she would rather escape and do it in private, away from their prying eyes. Get the tears out and dealt with.

“Please don’t worry. I’m really not behaving any differently than I do back home. I’m just under your nose for you to see it. I still go out with friends and have a good time.”

“Did you get tattoos back home?”

Of course her mother had told him. “Why is that a big deal? Millions of people have them. It’s weirder to not have one these days. I thought it was good timing.”

“I’ll admit your mother is more riled up about that than I am. I just thought I’d check in with you and make sure everything is okay.”

“Not snorting coke or shooting up or engaging in felonious activities. You don’t have to worry.” She grinned at him, and he chuckled.

“We love having you back, you know,” he said. “By no means do we want to make you feel like you can’t go do your own thing.”

“You’re just typical nosy parents,” she teased.

“Got that right.” He straightened and eyed the row of medical books on her shelves. “Everything still good for you going back in August?”

“Oh yeah. In fact, I was thinking I’d go ahead and look for my apartment. Maybe go up there and crash with Tina for a couple days. I can get out of your hair sooner.”

He walked over and dropped a kiss on her head. “You’re not in our hair, Gabby. Promise you’ll let us know if you need anything, okay, kiddo?”

“Sure, Daddy. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

As he went out and shut her door, she raked her hair back with both hands and took a deep breath. Okay. Things were in motion. She’d started what was going to be a gorgeous tattoo, and she’d had her world rocked by a bona fide hottie. The parental units were uneasy but dealing. She only had to ease her way back to Dallas, get back to work and rebuild her life again. It would be hard. It would take some time to scrape together all those scattered pieces. But she had hope for the first time in a while, and she couldn’t shake the feeling that she had Ian to thank for most of it.

Maybe she’d talk to Brian about giving him a raise. After all, the man was so freaking hot, sex with him was therapeutic.

Chapter Eight

July

The Fourth passed in a haze of sweltering heat, barbecues and family get-togethers. Evan and Kelsey came in with Alex for a brief visit, and if anyone could stay mopey around Gabby’s energetic little nephew, there wasn’t any hope for them. So when Gabby strolled into Dermamania a couple of days later for the second and hopefully last session on her tattoo, she was feeling rather good about life.

And good about seeing Ian again. Although she was going to keep her cool, not blush like a giddy sixteen-year-old, and definitely not tip off her little brother that anything had gone on.

Yeah, it was a good plan. If only she could stick to it.

The second her gaze found him standing across the room, the air-conditioning might as well have been off for all the good it did her, or maybe the July heat was clinging to her skin, or…hell, it was him. It was the hotter-than-hell memories. He wore jeans and a black AC/DC shirt, and was laughing at something the bald guy—Ghost?—had said. Damn, he had a sexy laugh. Not that she’d seen a single thing about him that wasn’t sexy.