I grinned because, Goddammit, this felt good. Much better than Malachi’s perfect professionalism, the ease with which he turned away from me to attend to his gorgeous date. To have a guy as hot as Ian look at me like I was some sort of goddess wiped a little of the pain away.

“I’m glad you approve.” I reached out and took his offered hand, and he pulled me toward him. I narrowly missed stepping on his foot, and reminded myself to be careful. He probably needed his toes.

“Approve is a mild way of putting it,” he said quietly. “You’re killing me. Can we pretend like our conversation this morning didn’t happen?” His easy smile told me he was kidding. Mostly.

My cheeks warmed, and the way his eyes stroked over my face, I knew he hadn’t missed it. “I’ve got an idea,” he said, leaning over me. His lips brushed my ear. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Malachi’s head turn quickly. “Use me to make him jealous. Please?”

I pulled back, looking into his handsome face. “Even if that were possible, I’d never do that to you.” I reached up and touched his cheek. “We’ll have fun tonight, all right?” And hopefully, we’ll all come out of this alive.

He put his arm around my waist, and the heat I’d seen this morning had returned to his expression. “I want you to know something, Lela. Sooner or later, Malachi will go back to wherever he came from, but I’ll be here. And I can be very patient.” He bowed his head over mine, staring into my eyes until I blinked. Then he grinned, and the fire in his eyes was gone—or maybe hidden. “I just needed to say that. But for tonight, good clean fun, coming right up.” He kissed my temple. “You look beautiful.”

A flash startled me, and I looked up to see Diane wipe a tear from her face and aim the camera at us once again. I smiled as Ian threw a casual arm around me, still a little stunned by the way he could switch that intensity on and off. He turned on his easy charm as Diane took a few more pictures, stopping between each to wipe her streaming eyes. It was totally embarrassing—but in an awesome way. She was here. I mattered to her, and everyone knew it. Before she left for her night shift at the prison, she pulled me into a tight hug. “You deserve this happiness, baby,” she said quietly before she let me go.

I squeezed my eyes shut and willed myself not to cry. For a moment, and despite everything that was going on, I was happy, wrapped in the arms of my foster mom and feeling no desire to pull away.