Skin Tight (Skin Deep #4) (13 page)

Chapter 20

I heard whispering as I laid on the couch, curled into a ball, staring off into space as I tried to get a little bit of sleep.

I’d managed to doze off for a little bit, but couldn’t stay asleep because the phones were ringing off the hook and people were in and out to check on us. Sleeping on the couch in practically the middle of the day isn’t very conducive to peaceful rest, but that’s how it was going to be until I decided if I was going to burn my bed or not.

I knew what the whisperers were saying—I could hear them, even though they tried to keep their words from reaching my ears.

‘
She’s never been like that before, that I know of. I can only imagine she just snapped.’

‘I know…she was the captain of the cheerleading squad, perky as all get out, and everyone loved her in school. She’d never lift a finger to anyone!’

‘Personally, I’m glad she did. I’d have probably killed the bitch…but damn, Leah tried…’

I couldn’t discern who was saying what because they were whispering, but I was definitely not going to be getting any sleep with them all sitting around talking about me. I huffed and got up, stomping into the kitchen to stand in front of them, tapping my foot and glaring.

“I can hear you,” I said, unnecessarily.

A couple of them had the decency to look ashamed, but most of them just grinned unabashedly.

“We thought you were sleeping,” my sister, Emma said.

“Clearly, I’m not,” I replied, being a total smart ass. It’s kind of required in my family.

I glanced around to see where Ian was, finding him leaning against the counter. Emma was sitting at the table with Chloe, Brandon, and Calland, and Allie was perched on my countertop by the stove.

“Why aren’t any of you at work?” I asked, sounding surly.

“Damn, being arrested made you mean,” Allie quipped, jokingly.

Chloe’s eyes got huge as she gave Allie an ‘I-can’t-believe-you-just-said-that’ look and rushed to say, “Because we’re all off today and wanted to check on you rather than braving the craziness of Black Friday. Are you okay?” Chloe asked, her voice sincere.

I walked to Ian and wrapped my arms around his waist, nodding to Chloe in reply. “Yeah, I’m good. Just…I mean, did that really happen last night?”

I felt Ian sigh, his arms tightening around me reflexively. “I wish it didn’t. Goddamn, I wish it didn’t.”

I shook my head, not even wanting to think about it, but the memory, still fresh, swam to the forefront.

Ian had grabbed the phone last night as soon as I lunged at Victoria. He’d called the cops, so that’s who had pulled me off of her, but when they’d walked in, everything had been so crazy that I’d ended up handcuffed and in the back of the cruiser. The cop wouldn’t listen to Ian at first, so Ian had called my brother-in-law, Noah, who’s a detective.

Noah had rushed over and helped to calm the situation down enough that I was let out and the cuffs were taken off, and instead, Victoria had been loaded up in the ambulance to go treat her injuries, but she was being charged with burglary and sexual battery.

When we’d gone to bed in such a hurry, neither one of us had set the alarm. The door was locked, but that didn’t matter. She’d broken out the window in the spare bedroom like she did before and crawled into bed with us.

It made chills crawl over my skin when I thought about that bitch skulking through my house, and the fact that we didn’t hear a thing.

We’d found out that she was drunk, and it only fueled her delusions. Now she was laid up the hospital under lockdown with a dislocated jaw, broken nose, and two black eyes. Not to mention a nice little bald spot where I’d ripped out her hair.

And me? I was the proud new owner of a restraining order and a prescription for nerve pills. I hated the fact that she’d be back on the street in no time, out on bond, and probably out for blood and a piece of paper wouldn’t stop her.

Ian had called Victoria’s parents to let them know where they could find their daughter. They weren’t happy, and when they kept denying that she would do something like that, Ian put the cop on the phone with them. Needless to say, they believed then.

I burrowed a little closer into Ian for just a brief moment before I moved away from him, heading for my Keurig. I had a feeling that I’d be putting a serious dent in my coffee supply before the day was out.

I drank two cups of coffee after I hoisted myself up on the counter beside where Ian was leaning as we all talked about what had happened, but then my stomach growled loudly, causing everyone to stare at me.

“Was that you?” Emma asked.

I shrugged. “I’m hungry.”

With the declaration, Ian told me to go get dressed so we could go get some food, and everyone else took their leave, finally, leaving us alone for what seemed like the first time in forever. I ran back to the bedroom and threw on a pair of jeans with my hoodie and shoved my feet into my tennis shoes and we were out the door and on our way to IHOP.

When we were seated and had ordered, I glanced up to see Ian watching me, concern etched into his handsome features.

“Ian,” I said, softly. “It’s okay, baby. I’m fine. Are you okay, though?”

He nodded sharply. “Yeah, I’m good, but I just can’t believe…” he cut off on a bark of disbelieving laughter. “You think you know someone. She’s been around practically my whole life. A nuisance, but…she’s so fucking unbalanced and I had no clue.”

I reached across the table and took his hand in mine. “Ian, you can’t beat yourself up about this. She’ll get what’s coming to her.”

He sighed, but the conversation waned as the waitress came with our food, turning to more mundane items.

“Are you excited about the wedding?” Ian asked, cutting another bite of his pancakes.

“Ours or Chloe and Brandon’s?” I smiled and winked at him.

“Ours, silly girl.”

“Yeah, I am. I’ve seriously been thinking about eloping, though. Do you think my parents would kill us?” I joked.

Ian’s eyes widened. “Elope? What, like Vegas or something?”

I shrugged one shoulder as I forked a whip-cream covered bite of blueberry pancake to my mouth. I chewed thoughtfully, then swallowed before answering. “Sure. Or Niagara Falls, or Gatlinburg. I just don’t want to be married by Elvis.”

Ian let out a heavy breath. “So, are we really discussing this, like you really want to run away and get married?”

I giggled and gave a half-hearted shake of my head. “Nah. We probably shouldn’t. Chloe would kill me if my parents didn’t. I think she’s more excited about it than we are,” I said on a laugh, but I couldn’t help the wistful tone of my words.

“You said we shouldn’t. You didn’t say we couldn’t. Leah, let’s do it. Let’s go get married!”

I blinked at him in surprise. “Seriously? You’re being serious right now. Really?”

He nodded, then threw down his napkin and got to his feet. He moved to my side before he dropped to one knee and took my hand in his, staring up into my eyes beseechingly. “Leah, will you run away and marry me?”

I grinned, my eyes filling up with tears. “You’re so goofy,” I said, my voice clogged with emotion. “But yes, you crazy man, I will run away with you and marry you!”

I leaned down and kissed him briefly, but only because pure pandemonium reigned around us as people broke into cheering and applause. I glanced around, my cheeks flushing as I found that we were the center of attention for the whole restaurant.

Ian took it in stride, standing up and pulling me up into his arms as he grinned widely at all the well-wishers.

I finally got him to sit back down and we finished breakfast, all the while nailing down the details of when we were going. I pulled out my phone and did some checking, but before we left the IHOP, we had a plan: by Christmas, I would be a married woman.

***

The next week flew by in a flurry of last minute preparations for Chloe and Brandon’s wedding the following weekend. We had the bachelorette party to look forward to just a day away, on Saturday night, and then it was the seven day countdown until The Big Day. Chloe was bouncing off the walls with excitement, even more so than usual, but who could blame her?

I had scheduled to have the Friday before the wedding off so that I could help Chloe out, much to the dismay of my students, but honestly, I think they were more upset that Gerry would be coming home with me on Thursday since I’d be gone on Friday and it was the weekend. I felt bad about it, because the kids absolutely love Gerry, but no way in hell would I leave him at the mercy of a room full of rambunctious kids and a substitute teacher that may not catch someone trying to smuggle him home in their underwear. (Thankfully that hadn’t happened anymore since the last time.)

I hadn’t taken the Friday off before the bachelorette party, because, let’s face it; I didn’t really need a whole day prep time to get ready to basically get wasted, and I already had all the favor bags packed up and waiting to be passed out.

Ian was going out with the guys for Brandon’s bachelor party on the same night, but we knew nothing about the details of it. They said that they were keeping it a real secret this time so we didn’t all end up at the same place. Chloe was worried because, of course, my brother got involved in the planning, just like he had been for Luke’s. I put her mind at ease a little bit, though, reminding her that Luke’s hadn’t been too over the top.

You know…except for Emma and Allie waking up on various kitchen surfaces…

Anyway. Thankfully, things had been quiet on the crazy stalker front. We’d been told that Victoria was out of the hospital and had been taken downtown to be booked and then released, because her dad was already there with the bond paid so she didn’t have to spend any real time sitting in the jail. We’d also been told that she looked positively dreadful with a swollen jawline and nose, and two sickeningly dark black eyes.

Those descriptions came via Ian’s Mother, who’d called and “apologized” (in her own roundabout way) for the way she tried to throw her son together with that “madwoman.” Ian had listened, rolling his eyes the whole time, and had ended the call with, “As soon as you apologize to Leah, then maybe we’ll see you at Christmas.”

I wasn’t holding my breath. I had a feeling I’d be dead by the time that happened.

Ian hadn’t mentioned anything about our engagement to her, nor had he told her that we were going to be married before Christmas down in Tennessee. We’d decided Vegas just wasn’t for us, wedding-wise, and Niagara Falls, while it would be absolutely breathtaking, would just be way too cold (because no way could you go there and not visit the falls), so Gatlinburg it was.

We’d found the cutest chapel down there that had gorgeous pictures of Christmas weddings they’d performed there. With the decorations and the snow, the place looked like it was straight out of a dream, absolutely breath-taking in its simplistic beauty.

I’d even managed to sneak away on Wednesday night and found a wedding dress that was perfect. It was basically a simple, white strapless gown, slim fitting at the top, then slightly flaring out at the hips into a full skirt, but it had an overlay of tulle to give it more of that floaty kind of look. The top of the dress had a long-sleeved, fitted overlay of scalloped lace that buttoned up the back, with a wide, boat-neck style that left the tops of my shoulders bare. Add in the white lace, peep-toe bootie shoes with the four inch heels I’d found and I was set.

What Ian didn’t know, though, was that I couldn’t go wedding dress shopping without my mom. It was hard enough to keep it a secret from my sisters and my best friend, but I think my mom would have had a coronary if I’d gone without her. So, she knew about the wedding, and I’m pretty sure she’s already got a plan in motion to attend.

I was completely okay with that, especially because it meant my dad could walk me down the aisle. I was pretty sure that, once I told Ian, he’d be okay with it, too. He’s kind of a great guy like that.

The day of the party dawned bright and beautiful…and super early, due to an overeager bride-to-be pounding on my door at a time no one should be up, especially on a Saturday. When I answered the door, I glared at her, but that didn’t dampen her spirits in any way.

“Why are you here at…what time is it?” I growled at her, squinting in the sunlight.

She shot me a weird look and glanced at her watch. “It’s almost nine. What the hell are you doing still sleeping?”

I yawned. “Uh, I don’t know, I was up late last night? But seriously, why are you here so early? I thought we weren’t meeting up until later this evening.”

She shrugged. “Yeah, well, I thought you and I would go to breakfast and hang out for the day, if that’s okay with you? Did you have something else planned before the party?”

“No,” I replied, moving aside to let her in. “C’mon in, just give me a sec to get dressed.”

She practically skipped into the kitchen, calling back her intent to make me a cup of coffee to get me going while I got ready.

Ian was awake when I walked into the bedroom. “What’s going on?”

“Chloe wants to hang out for the day before the party. Are you good with that? We’re gonna go to breakfast, right now. You could probably tag along, if you want. At least to eat…”