by Dani Wade
Right then and there, he determined to get himself out of the past long enough to appreciate what might just be his future. But he had a feeling his family wouldn’t follow suit.
* * *
Paxton listened intently to the shower running in the master suite, wishing he could join Ivy under the warm rush of water. Technically things between them had returned to normal on the surface, but the underlying strain of uncertainty kept them from truly coming together.
The ease Paxton had started to feel with Ivy had disappeared. He found he missed it, even though he’d told himself they shouldn’t get close. There wasn’t a clear way forward on their relationship after the revelations about her family. He should keep his distance.
But the deep, aching need for her didn’t follow any logic. Listening to the shower running, thinking of joining her in it, was torture.
His moment of indecision was solved when the doorbell rang. Paxton felt a brief panic. The house was in a gated community, so his visitor wasn’t going to be a random salesman. His neighbors rarely came over. Those interactions usually came at unexpected moments, when they were out in their yards. It could very well be one of his relatives, though they’d rarely been here since he’d moved in. Then what would he do?
As the bell rang again, Paxton knew he couldn’t ignore it. All the lights were on. No one would buy that he wasn’t home. So he opened the door and found Sierra on his doorstep.
He hurried to relieve her of the heavy toddler draped over her growing belly. “Sierra, what are you doing here?” he asked, panic truly taking hold. What should he do about Ivy? He had no way to warn her.
His niece wrapped her arms around his neck and snuggled close. The drive must’ve made her sleepy. Then Sierra stepped inside and the light glittered over the tears on her cheeks.
“What’s wrong?” Everything left his mind in that moment except helping his sister.
“I just don’t know what to do anymore, Paxton.”
A vision of Alicia in his office flashed through his mind. I just wondered if you had noticed anything off with Sierra?
“Tell me what happened,” he urged her.
“It’s like he’s decided I’m invisible or something.” She waved her arms around to emphasize her point. “I wake up and he’s gone. He doesn’t come home until after I’m in bed. Honestly, if it wasn’t for the dirty dishes, I wouldn’t even know he’d been there.”
More tears spilled over.
“You haven’t spoken to him about this at all?” He led her through the front hallway to the breakfast nook.
“I haven’t seen the man in a week.”
That wasn’t good. What husband went a whole week without seeing his pregnant wife and daughter? This had to be something serious, or she was right: he’d completely lost interest.
He got Sierra settled into a chair, then eased into another one himself and leaned back so that his niece could lie more comfortably. It was well past the toddler’s bedtime. What would Sierra’s husband think when he came home to an empty house?
Paxton gave a heavy sigh, then jumped in with the most obvious question. “Do you think he’s cheating?”
Sierra slowly shook her head. “I don’t think so. Otherwise why bother to come home at all? I mean, yes, his clothes are there, but he could take them with him at any time. It’s not like I do the laundry.”
“Do you think maybe he’s worried about something? About a project at work? His move on the board? What about his family?”
Sierra frowned for a moment, then shrugged. “Well, I don’t know.”
Though the McLemores made marital decisions based on logic, and what was best for the family and the company, that didn’t mean that the relationships were cold or heartless. Sierra and her husband had formed a merger, but they got along well enough to produce two children.
“We never really talked about that,” Sierra continued. “You know, problems or what’s going on at work.”
Hmm... “What do you talk about?”
“Her,” she said, nodding toward her daughter.
“What about before she came along?”
“Well, we were building the house, and I guess mutual acquaintances. We went out to a lot of parties.”
Paxton was beginning to see part of the problem. It might not be the complete issue, but it was definitely a start.
“Maybe you should talk to him,” he suggested, thinking back over his and Ivy’s own issues. “If you haven’t let him know that he can come to you if there’s a problem, then why would he?”
His own words hit him with a jolt. Was that how Ivy had felt? Like she couldn’t come to him because he wouldn’t care enough? Because he would always side with his family over her? Especially after he’d left. He felt like such a dolt.
With a little frown, Sierra said, “I guess that’s true.”
Paxton leaned forward, but was careful not to jostle his precious bundle too much. “Do you want to stay? Or is this marriage not what you want anymore?”
Sierra glanced away, the frown becoming more pronounced. She absently rubbed her distended belly. “I guess I wouldn’t be upset if I didn’t really want this. Right?”
“So, this isn’t just hormones? Or some kind of possessiveness thing rearing its head?”
“No.” She looked up and held his gaze. “No, it’s not.”
As soon as the words were out, she raised her brows at him as if asking for his approval. But she didn’t need it. He reached across to squeeze her hand, which had finally come to rest on the table. “If it’s what you want, then maybe you should start fighting for it instead of just wondering and worrying.”
She opened her mouth to respond, but suddenly her gaze snapped to the doorway behind him. “Who is that?”
It took Paxton a minute to realize what was happening. He glanced over his shoulder to see Ivy in the kitchen. She had a pretty cotton nightgown on and a towel wrapped around her damp hair as she looked into the refrigerator.
How on earth could he have forgotten about her?
“Is that a woman?” Sierra headed to the kitchen with a grin. Paxton was slow to follow, hampered as he was by the toddler hanging on him.
“Hey, there.” But Sierra’s voice trailed off as Ivy turned around, her eyes bright blue and wide.
“Paxton!” his sister said, her gaze darting between the two of them. “Are you sleeping with your secretary?”
Fourteen
Over the next week, Ivy waited anxiously for the other shoe to drop. Though Paxton assured her he’d sworn his sister to secrecy, she knew it was only a matter of time before word got back to his family that a woman was living in his house.
That would probably be worse for them than just knowing that he’d slept with her. Living here implied some kind of permanency. How humiliating would it be to listen to Paxton explain the uncertainty of their current arrangement?
She was just thankful it had been Sierra who had walked in that night, rather than Alicia. The latter was a mini-replica of Paxton’s mother, Elizabeth, neither of whom were the nicest women to deal with. Sierra, on the other hand, tended to be more personable. It helped that she usually had her little girl when she came into the office, which lightened things up quite a bit.
But Sierra’s surprise, and referring to Ivy as Paxton’s assistant, had left Ivy in no mood to talk that night. Not to mention being caught in her pj’s. Startled, Ivy had rushed out of the kitchen and into the downstairs bedroom, staying inside until Paxton joined her almost an hour later.
Listening to him talk about Sierra’s visit had made the lack of a heads-up much more understandable. Yes, Paxton could have excused himself for a quick trip to the bathroom and warned Ivy to stay upstairs. But her tears had tripped Paxton into big-brother mode, ready to help Sierra slay any dragons that she needed help with.
While Ivy ha
ted that Sierra was having trouble with her relationship, she was more worried about what her little visit to Paxton’s house would mean for Ivy. And eventually Ivy’s baby.
It only took a week to find out.
The morning had been slow and smooth in the office. Paxton had no meetings he had to attend. They were making steady progress until Paxton had a conference call, so Ivy settled in to work up some notes he’d asked her for. The part-time assistant would come in that afternoon so Ivy could go home to rest. Paxton had insisted, because she hadn’t been sleeping well.
She hadn’t had the heart to tell him it was worry keeping her awake, not her pregnancy.
The quiet morning made Elizabeth McLemore’s arrival all the more jarring. Her appearance was usually a no-brainer. Though she was a forceful woman, she understood having to wait while Paxton was in a meeting or on the phone. Her words to Ivy were always short and to the point, making their interactions easy, even if they were uncomfortable on Ivy’s part.
Today was a whole other matter. Her march through the door and trained gaze set off a wave of nausea for Ivy. Still she pasted on a smile and said, “He’s on a phone call, Mrs. McLemore, but I’ll message that you’re here.”
“No need. I’m not here to see him.”
“Excuse me?” Ivy was horrified to hear her voice come out as a squeak.
Paxton’s mother raised a haughty brow as if that little noise just confirmed her superiority. “I just want to know if there is something you hope to gain by sleeping with my son?”
Keep it a secret, my foot. So much for Sierra keeping her mouth shut. Ivy raised herself slowly to her feet, even though her body suddenly felt like lead, in hopes it would help her project confidence. “Mrs. McLemore, what happens between Paxton and I—”
“Is of complete interest to me, since I serve on this company’s board.”
“Why?” For a moment Ivy didn’t quite understand the correlation. “You’re going to reprimand your son for being involved with his assistant?”
“No. Not my son.”
Ivy had only a moment to absorb the panic that streaked through her. Thankfully Paxton opened his door. Taking a page from Alicia’s book, Ivy asked, “Are you threatening me?” Petty, but she wanted Paxton to hear exactly what was happening. For himself.
“Ivy—Mother. What’s going on here?”
Suddenly his mother was all smiles. “Darling, your sister was telling me about your new—well, I came down to meet her.”
Ivy cocked her head to the side. “I’ve worked here for a year and a half. You’ve met me before,” she insisted.
His mother ignored her, as usual. “Sierra tried to tell me, but I knew you would have told me first.”
Paxton didn’t seem as concerned as Ivy would like. Deep inside, panic tightened her every muscle.
“You wouldn’t have listened,” he said simply.
“I always have time for—”
“You wouldn’t have listened, because you wouldn’t like what you heard.”
Startled, Ivy noticed a deepening of his tone, as if something hidden was slowly coming to the surface.
“Ivy was at my house by my choice. Our choice. And it’s nobody’s business but ours until we are ready to share it. I simply wanted to wait until I knew there was something to tell.”
“Is there? Because Sierra seemed to think this person, your assistant, was living with you.” Her gaze shot straight over to Ivy as if she could not believe that would be true.
“I believe so,” Paxton said quietly.
The odd note in his voice had Ivy looking his way. He looked back, his expression oddly hopeful. Hesitant. In that moment it was as if all the recent distance between them had dissolved. The connection of their gazes suddenly had a sizzle, as if her psyche had just been waiting for his to accept what they both knew was happening between them.
“I’m sure Miss Baxter will be very disappointed,” Elizabeth said sotto voce.
“Through no fault of mine.”
“Yes, well...” Obviously she didn’t agree. Her expression tightened, with tiny frown lines appearing, along with a slight curl to her lip. “We shall see.”
She turned to the door, but Paxton stopped her. “Did you need to see me, Mother?”
Her gaze flicked to Ivy. “No. I got what I came for.”
She was almost out the door when she turned back again, causing Ivy’s stomach to lurch. She was definitely gonna need the afternoon off.
“I almost forgot, your grandmother expects to see you at the luncheon on Sunday. Both of you.” Her eyes widened in an innocent expression that Ivy wasn’t buying. “See you then.”
* * *
“Welcome.”
Alicia spoke with the appropriate formality, but the Cheshire grin was what had him worried. For the first time, he found himself on guard against his own family.
Protective instincts swelled inside him. Not for his child, as he would have expected, but for Ivy.
The unfamiliarity of it itched just beneath his Sunday suit. Still he couldn’t deny what it was. Without hesitation he laid his hand at the small of her back—a move of both possession and solidarity. Beneath his palm, her muscles relaxed just a touch.
An echo of the heat he felt whenever he was alone with her flashed through him, pulling him even closer to her.
They moved through the grand foyer, with its strategically hung chandelier, skylights and oversize palm plants placed for dramatic affect. Paxton turned left into the library where he knew the rest of the family would be having drinks.
Sierra was the first to meet him. “I’m sorry, Paxton,” she whispered as she slipped into his arms for a solid hug.
Leave it to Sierra to head a scolding off at the pass. She even turned to the woman at his side and said, “Welcome, Ivy,” her voice much warmer than Alicia’s had been.
Paxton shook hands with Sierra’s husband, who offered a somewhat strained smile before slipping an arm around her. Paxton noted the move with surprise. One thing Sierra and Jason had never exhibited was any kind of affection in public. None whatsoever. But as he watched his sister slowly relax into the touch, he hoped this was a result of a much-needed come-to-Jesus meeting. Whatever brought happiness to his sister was worth it.
Determined to give the right impression immediately, he cupped Ivy’s arm possessively and led her to where the elder McLemores congregated. They didn’t bother to stand, which made him frown.
“Mother, you know Ivy. Father, this is Ivy Harden, whom I don’t believe you’ve had the pleasure of meeting.”
His father had the class to get up and bow over Ivy’s hand. Father’s manners had always been impeccable.
“Grandmother, this is Ivy Harden. Ivy, Karen McLemore.”
Beneath his touch, Ivy stiffened as his grandmother nodded her head in a regal gesture, then returned to the conversation without any other acknowledgment. Paxton used his hold to pull Ivy closer into his heat, seeking to comfort her.
His grandmother knew exactly what she was doing. Her social persona was second nature; he’d seen it in action his whole life. Snubbing Ivy was her way of getting her point across—this person wasn’t welcome, even though she’d been commanded to be here.
Paxton suddenly wished he’d followed his instincts and left Ivy at home, confronting his family on his own. Less collateral damage.
Because Grandmother had just made it clear she was up to something. But what approach would she take? Mulling it over, he guided Ivy over to the younger set and joined their conversation.
When dinner was served, Ivy barely ate under his grandmother’s stare in the formal dining room. Paxton started to worry the nausea, which hadn’t made an appearance in days, had returned.
Conversation was smooth for the first half of the meal, but his grandmother remained silent, upping the tension.
“So, Paxton—” Grandmother’s voice echoed around the walls when she finally spoke “—what can you tell me about this young lady?”
Paxton was startled by the question, but decided it was in their best interest to simply answer. “Well, Ivy has been my assistant for almost two years, and keeps the office running better than anyone before her.”
Paxton noticed that Ivy simply gave up eating, and dropped her hands to her lap. But she refused to be cowed. Instead she kept her head high with a polite smile on her face.
“And your family, dear? I don’t believe I’ve heard of them.”
Paxton stiffened. There was no way his sister could’ve known who Ivy’s family really was. And Paxton was not ready to start World War Three over it until he had more information.
Ivy answered the question with a simple, “I’m orphaned, actually.”
“A secretary and an orphan. Well, isn’t that just pitiful.”
It should have sounded sympathetic, but it didn’t. Paxton narrowed his eyes toward his grandmother.
“From what I understand of your family, you’re solidly middle class.”
Ivy turned her head slowly to meet Paxton’s gaze, giving him a clear view of her resignation before she once again faced the head of the table.
“We make do... But if you knew that about my family, Karen, then why did you ask me about them?”
“A simple fishing expedition, my dear. A family like ours must keep protections in place.”
“Protections?” Ivy shook her head. “Isn’t that a bit melodramatic? You seem pretty well protected to me.”
“Oh, one can never be too protected from people like you.”
A sudden stillness invaded the room, causing Paxton’s voice to echo off the walls. “Grandmother, that’s enough.”
“I’m sorry, Paxton. You brought this on yourself.”