Chasing Mrs. Right by Katee Robert

not be willing to admit as much to Ian, but she could at least admit it to herself. And, if the scene in the bathroom was any indication, the spark that lay between them was just waiting to be ignited again.
    Which was why she needed to stay as far away from him as possible. “Elle, I don’t know.”
    “Come on. You’re so good at getting people out of their shells—you did it for me.”
    “Yeah, because you’re a sweet woman who just needed a little kick in the ass to go out and get what you wanted out of life.” Roxanne took another drink. “I don’t know if you noticed, but your brother isn’t exactly a sweet woman.”
    Elle snorted. “Maybe not, but it’s entirely possible that he needs the same treatment.”
    “Maybe.” Again, she thought back to how haunted he’d seemed when he let his guard down. As furious as he was with her right now, she wasn’t sure it was a good idea to take her normal, blunt approach. “I’m not really good at coddling. I’m better at bullying people into doing what I want.”
    Elle frowned harder. “Maybe he needs that, too. Actually, I’m not really sure what he needs right now.”
    If Roxanne had her guess, she’d say he wanted some peace and quiet to settle into his life and find the rhythm of things again. But Elle wouldn’t want to hear that the big brother she’d missed so much wanted nothing to do with her for a little while. And God only knew what their mother would say. Roxanne shuddered to even think of it.
    She should stay out of it. They were all adults, and Ian had been fending for himself for years. He could handle the women in his family.
    She bit her lip, picturing the look in his eyes when she first talked to him last night. He’d been so out of control, almost panicked. Goddamn it. “Fine.”
    Elle lit up like she’d just won the lottery. “You’ll help?”
    “No schemes and no plotting. I’ll talk to him, but that’s all I’ll promise.” God only knew what she’d say. When she left that note this morning, she’d had no intention of ever seeing him again. Now she was supposed to seek him out.
    He’d probably tell her to take a long walk off a short pier. Which was good, because if he did that, she could go back to Elle in good conscience and say she’d tried. Then she would move on with her life and forget all about the confusing mass of emotions being around Ian Walser made her feel.
    It was a great plan. Absolutely nothing could go wrong.

Chapter Seven
    She could do this. Really, she could. She could walk in there, smile, and ask Ian to dinner. Lunch. Coffee. Breakfast. She shook her head. No, not breakfast. Breakfast would only remind him of her taking off before he woke up. Which she was totally justified in doing as far as she was concerned. One-night stands, by definition, only lasted for one night .
    Maybe she should just call him instead?
    She paced outside the door to the gallery, debating with herself. Call or go in there? She couldn’t decide if calling him meant she was a coward or just really smart for avoiding temptation. But the latter didn’t exactly ring true because she was trying to get hold of Ian to meet him, which sort of defeated the purpose. God, she was overthinking this to a criminal degree. She’d never cared enough to get riled over something as silly as talking with a man—even a man as hot as Ian. It wasn’t her style.
    Thinking about how hot he was didn’t do a damn thing for her control because, instead of focusing on all those delicious muscles, she kept getting sidetracked by the look on his face when she’d tried to brazen her way through their encounter in the bathroom. If she didn’t know better, she’d think she actually hurt him. The man had enough going on without her adding to the weight he carried on his shoulders.
    It was better for both of them that she’d left when she did. Yes, there had been an intense kiss in the coffee shop, but she was more than capable of pretending that didn’t