Spell Protected (ON HOLD)

Chapter 9

'I’m not letting you go.’ It may have meant something else to him but to me I couldn’t help but think of him actually telling me that as if I were the only girl he ever wanted to hold.

Whoa! Back up. Since when did I ever want to be his only girl? I need to stop daydreaming like one of those obsessed chicks who always drool over a guy. Jeez, I barely knew the guy. I was thrown out of my delusion when Ian spoke up.

“Since you’re kind of useless right now I can’t possibly leave you on your own. So I’m taking you home with me.” Ian said with a straight face.

Did he honestly not hear what he just said? He’s taking me home with him? What the hell do I say to that?

“What?” I practically screeched. I guess that’s what I say.

“Your food is cold and still lying on the floor back at the entrance of the store and you’re not well enough to drive back home, so I figured I’d bring you home with me and feed you. If that’s okay?” Ian said, while setting me down on the passenger seat of his black Nissan Titan. Closing the passenger door, Ian then ran around the front of the truck to the driver’s side and jumped in. Looking at me, Ian stated with a smirk, “You really are hopeless aren’t you?” He then reached over me to grab my belt buckle. I could instantly feel the heat radiating off his body, sending chills down my spine. I didn’t remember him being this hot when he was carrying me, but then I was probably too shocked to feel anything at that moment. Ian then pulled the seat belt down over me until it clicked in place. “Now you’re all safe.” Ian added with a smile before moving back into his chair and starting the truck.

It took about five minutes to get to Ian’s house, which surprisingly didn’t look as ratty as it did before he had moved there. I guess they had done some renovations. As we stepped into his home, I immediately noticed the dog statue that I had first seen Ian carrying into his home. At the thought of that first day, I remembered the cold hard stare he had given me before running inside. I know he had apologized but it still bothered me.

“So what’s up with the dog?” I asked Ian, pointing to the dog statue.

“It’s not a dog it’s a statue of a wolf.” Ian said matter-of-factly. Not bothering to explain the wolf, he led me into a small kitchen where he immediately began to set the groceries out. There was a jar of spaghetti sauce, a pack of spaghetti noodles, and parmesan cheese already grated.

“I take it your making spaghetti?” I asked, chuckling to myself.

“Hey, don’t diss my spaghetti. You’re lucky enough to get the chance to eat it.” Ian said as he pulled a small container out of the fridge. He then dumped the contents into a small sauce pan and I saw that it was pre-cooked ground meat. Pointing a large spoon at me he added, “Most people would kill for my amazing spaghetti. It’s one-of-a-kind.” Ian said while winking at me.

Going back to his meat, he stirred it around before grabbing a large pot and filling it with water. He set it down on the stove, added some butter, and left it to boil. Going back to his meat he then added the spaghetti sauce to it and left it to simmer. Adding the spaghetti to the boiling water he left it to cook.

As I watched Ian prepare the food, I couldn’t help but watch in amazement. He made cooking look like the most interesting thing in the world. I couldn’t imagine Seth ever cooking to save his life, or any guy for that matter, but watching Ian cook seemed the like most natural thing.

Ian caught me staring at him and threw me a wink, making my cheeks turn a dark red. I quickly looked away trying to avoid his gaze. A couple minutes later a bowl was set in front of me full of spaghetti, Ian then added some of the parmesan cheese and handed me a fork. The smell that rose from my bowl sent my mouth watering for a bite. Looking up at Ian I saw that he was waiting patiently for me to take the first bite. Not wanting to wait anymore I dug in and was completely taken back by how good it tasted. It may have been a simple spaghetti but it was the best spaghetti I had ever tasted.