She didn’t weigh much. She made a snuffling sound and wrapped her arms loosely around his shoulders.
When he walked inside, Asher and Julian were watching a movie. They both stood up as he walked through the room with a slumbering Ivy in her arms. “Is she okay?” Asher asked.
“Yeah,” Brent said. “You guys can go. I’ll get her to sleep. Violet okay?”
Asher nodded. “She’s asleep. We had a good night.”
“Ivy pay you?”
Asher nodded again. “Yeah and bought us pizza for dinner.”
“Good. Thanks for doing this, guys. I think she needed the night off.”
They waved and locked the door behind them on the way out. Two doors were open in the hallway. Brent looked in one and saw clothes everywhere and then spotted Alex’s work boots in the corner. He moved on to the next bedroom, which was neat and tidy and . . . rather empty. He figured that was Ivy’s.
He laid her on the bed and took off her heels. He was pulling the covers over her when she spoke. “Brent?”
He put a fist on the bed near her head. The moonlight spilling in from the curtain made her eyes shine and her hair sparkle as it fanned out on her white sheets. “Yeah?”
“Vi okay?”
“Asher said she’s fine. Asleep.”
She blinked and didn’t say anything for a minute. Then she tugged on his arm. “Come in bed with me.”
He didn’t move.
“Come on,” she said softly. “Alex is off with her lumberjack. Violet is asleep.”
“Ivy—”
“I like how you touch me,” she whispered. “I like how you make me feel.”
No way could he do this, no matter how much he wanted to. “Babe, I might be a dumb fuck, and I might make some shitty decisions, but no way am I going to get in bed with you when you’ve had this much to drink.”
“But—”
“No buts—none. When I get in bed with you—and yeah, I’m saying when and not if—we’ll both be sober and absolutely 100 percent sure. If I slept with you tonight, I’d be taking advantage of you. I’m not always the best man, but I’m not that kind of man.”
She stared at him, and he didn’t know if she was going to curse him and tell him to go to hell or if she was going to cry. It could go either way. He’d take it, though, because even though his whole body was screaming at him to crawl under the covers and take her, he knew he was making the right decision.
Ivy groaned and covered her face with her hands. “Why?”
He wrapped his fingers around her wrist and lowered her hand so he could see her eyes. “Why what?”
She let her other hand fall to the mattress with a thunk. “Why do you have to be a good guy?”
“I don’t have an answer for that.”
“But why?” Her voice was earnest now. “Why couldn’t you be like all the rest of them? Like Mike, who planned Vi’s pregnancy with me and then changed his mind and told the whole damn town that he didn’t know whose kid she was?”
He sucked in a breath and wished the guy had a less common name than Mike so he could track him down and pound his face in.
“Why couldn’t you be like Robby,” she said, eyes wet, “who destroyed my sister and scared Violet so badly that she’s afraid of all men?”
The tears were falling now, and he reached up with his thumbs, brushing them from her cheeks.
“Why couldn’t you be like them?” Her voice caught on a small sob. “Then I could avoid you. I thought they were dangerous, but you’re more dangerous. Because even now, after all the shit I’ve been through—we’ve been through—I can still feel myself falling for you.”
He didn’t know what to say because she was crying, and she’d just opened up her heart to him, and he was having a hard time keeping his anger at the faceless Mike and Robby under control. “I’m sorry for what they did. But I can’t be sorry that you’re falling for me. I just can’t. Because I already fell.”
She clearly didn’t want to hear that—she looked away, unable to meet his eyes. It fucking sucked because Brent not only had to climb the vine of Ivy for himself, but he had to battle the demons caused by the other guys along the way.
He understood her hesitation now, her resistance. He had hope now, though. She was falling for him. Him. He had to keep proving how serious he was about her. He had to be there for her.
And right now, he needed to leave so she could sleep off the alcohol and hopefully remember their conversation.
What if she didn’t remember?
“Ivy.”
She rolled her head to look at him. He brushed her hair from her forehead. “Will you kiss me at least?” Her voice was so small.
He smiled. “Of course I can kiss you.”
He leaned down, cupping her neck, and nipped at her lips until he felt her go lax under him. And then he parted his lips and licked into her mouth, slowly. There was no second act to this kiss. This was the whole play, so he had to make it a good one. She moaned beneath him, gripping his biceps, digging her nails into his shirt. When he pulled back, her eyes were glazed over, her legs shifting beneath the sheets.
“That sure was a kiss,” she said, a smile tugging on her lips.
“Yeah. Yeah, it was,” he said softly, straightening up. “Sleep well, babe.”
He was walking down the hallway when he heard a quiet “Thank you” from her room.
Chapter Thirteen
WARM ARMS WRAPPED around Ivy’s waist, but it was hard to focus because her damn skull was splitting open and spilling her brains all over her bed.
Or that’s what it felt like.
She groaned, and Alex’s chuckle came from behind her head. “Hungover?”
“Mmmph” was all Ivy could manage.
“My baby sister never could handle her liquor.”
“Shut up,” Ivy said, although she was pretty sure it came out more like, “Mup up.”
She was on her stomach, so she rolled her head to the side to face her sister. Alex’s hair was wet, her face clean of makeup. She wore an oversized T-shirt and a pair of loose camo cargo shorts. “When did you get home?” Ivy asked.
“Just now. Took a shower and crawled in bed to cuddle with you.”
“I’m not in the mood to cuddle,” Ivy protested. “Is Vi okay?”
“Still sleeping.”
Ivy sighed and closed her eyes, which made the room spin. So she opened them back up and focused on her sister. “Did you have a good night?”
“Sure. Dave was fun.”
“Dave’s the lumberjack?”
“He’s actually an accountant, but yes.”
“I’ve never seen an accountant who looked like he should be . . . wrestling grizzly bears.”
Alex rolled her eyes. “You get home okay, then?”
Did she get home okay? Ivy closed her eyes, and thankfully, the room didn’t spin this time.
Last night . . . what exactly had happened? She remembered dancing with Brent. God, his arms in his shirt and his butt in those jeans. His eyes in the light of the bar.
He’d held her like she was something precious. And he’d told her she was making him crazy. And she’d told him right back.
And then . . . she sort of remembered his truck. And now she was here, in bed.
She rolled onto her side quickly, ignoring the pain in her head and glanced down her body. All her clothes were still on from last night. Rumpled, but on. Okay, so she’d thankfully not been dumb enough to sleep with him.
“Ivy?” Alex asked, her brow furrowed.
She blinked at her sister. “Yeah, I definitely got home okay. I think I fell asleep in the truck. And . . . I think I remember him tucking me into bed. But I don’t remember what I said. You know how I get when I drink.”
Alex laughed. “Yeah, you’re too honest. You probably told him what a cocky bastard you think he is.”
Ivy smiled but she sure didn’t feel happy. Because she knew the truth of how she felt about Brent. So if she told
him anything . . .
The bed bounced, and Ivy groaned as her entire body protested the jolt.
“Good morning!” Violet crowed. She scrambled up the bed on all fours and then plopped down between Ivy and Alex on her stomach. “I missed you, Mommy.”
“Missed you too. Did you have fun with Asher and Julian?”
Violet nodded. “They played LEGOs with me.”
“That’s great.”
“Your breath smells.” Violet wrinkled her nose.
Alex cackled, and Ivy shot both of them a glare. Her mouth tasted like she’d eaten a dead animal. She groaned and rolled onto her back. “I need water and Advil and a shower.”
Alex ran her fingers through Violet’s hair. “How about we give your mom a chance to wake up, and we’ll go make pancakes?”
Violet squealed, which didn’t help Ivy’s headache. She gritted her teeth as the bed shook and the sound of Violet’s feet padded out of her bedroom.
She opened her eyes to see Alex leaning over her, her expression earnest. “I hope you had fun last night. You earned it.”
“I did.”
Her sister smiled. “And I’m glad Brent got you home okay. I know I joke about him, but he’s a good friend. And I’m glad he’s a good friend to you.”
Ivy never gave a hand job to a “good friend” before. But until she knew exactly what had happened last night, it was best to keep everything close to her chest. Even if not telling her sister felt like the worst kind of betrayal. “He is a good friend to me.”
“I finally feel like we’ve found our home—where we belong. Don’t you?” Alex asked.
Ivy wanted a picture of Alex’s face, a mixture of hope and happiness and a little bit of pride. “I do.”
Alex squeezed her hand and then turned to leave the bedroom. “Hurry up, sleepyhead. Maybe I’ll make a pancake in the shape of a penis for you before you have to go to work.”
“Don’t you dare!” Ivy called after her.
BRENT HELD THE bag of doughnuts in one hand and the tray of coffee drinks in another. He didn’t know what kind of coffee Ivy liked, a problem he planned to remedy immediately, so he’d bought a whole bunch of different kinds. Delilah was easy. She liked her coffee bitter and black.
He pushed open the door to Delilah’s Drawers with his butt and scanned the store for the two women. The store opened at ten in the morning on Saturdays. And he imagined after last night, both of them had gotten moving a little late. Ivy was behind the counter, placing some clothes on hangers. Delilah emerged from the back room. Her face lit up when she saw what Brent held in his arms. “Oh, you wonderful man, you. Which one’s mine?”
“How’s it going, D?” He handed her the black coffee and the pumpkin-spice glazed doughnut.
“Oh, you know.” She took a sip and sighed happily. “Just working.” She gestured to Ivy. “This one’s kinda grumpy today, so have fun with that.”
She winked at Brent as she returned to the back room, biting into her doughnut on the way.
Ivy glared at Delilah’s back as she walked away and then turned to Brent, eyeing the tray of drinks and bag of treats. “Um, hi.”
“Grumpy?”
“I’m not grumpy. I have a headache.”
“Maybe caffeine will help.”
“You got me coffee?”
He pointed to the drinks. “I don’t know how you like your coffee. So that one is black, and there is cream and sugar in the bag. Then that one is a latte, and that one is their special pumpkin-spice coffee that they only carry in the fall.”
She blinked at the coffees. “Which one is yours?”
“I’ll drink whatever you don’t want.”
She smiled slightly. “That’s nice of you to get these. Thank you.”
“That’s me, nice guy.”
She rolled her eyes but then groaned and pressed her hand to her temple. “I think I’ll go with the latte.”
“Cream or sugar?”
“No, thanks.”
She sipped it and closed her eyes. Today, her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and he wasn’t quite sure, but he didn’t think she had any makeup on. She wore a pair of jeans and a tight-fitting purple shirt. And he thought again that he wished he could track down this Mike and this Robby and make them pay for her tears last night.
When she opened her eyes, the blue socked him in the gut. He cleared his throat and grabbed a coffee. “So you feel okay today?”
Her gaze immediately dropped. She peeked in the bag and pulled out a powdered-sugar doughnut, placing it on the counter on a napkin. “Uh, I have a headache.”
He laughed. “I’m glad it’s only a headache.”
Ivy peeled off a bite of doughnut and popped in into her mouth. “Thank you for taking me home.” She squinted at him. “You did take me home, right?”
He paused mid-sip as his stomach rolled a little. She didn’t remember? “Yeah, babe. I drove you home and carried you in your house because you fell asleep in my truck. You don’t remember?”
She chewed on her lip. “Uh, kind of?”
“Kinda?”
“I remember the bar and your truck, and I sort of remember you tucking me into bed.” She glanced away. “Did I . . . talk about anything?”
Shit. Shit. Shit. He grabbed a doughnut hole out of the bag and shoved it in his mouth to buy himself some time to think. Her face was pale, her eyes wary, and he didn’t think that this was the time to bring up her tearful confession. Selfishly, he worried she’d push him away once she realized how much she’d revealed. But he hated knowing something that she didn’t know he knew.
Shit.
“You, uh, told me you liked my hands,” he said, and her gaze swung to him.
“Your hands?”
“And you also said you liked my butt and . . . my face.”
A laugh bubbled out of her lips. “I said that?”
“You definitely said you liked my face.”
She giggled. “Oh no. I’m so sorry.”
He leaned on the counter. “Don’t be sorry. I liked the compliment. Unless you didn’t mean it.”
She took a bite of her doughnut, and he traced her tongue as it licked powdered sugar off her upper lip. “I . . . I meant it. Alcohol is like a truth serum for me.”
“Well, that’s good information to know in the future.”
She pointed her finger at him. “Don’t use it against me.”
“Never.”
“What else did I say?” She studied his face, that wariness still lined in her features.
“Just some other stuff. Nothing important.”
She stared at him a minute longer and then dropped her gaze. “Okay.”
He reached out and touched her hand. “I liked spending time with you.”
Ivy cocked her head. “Yeah? Me too.”
“I want to take you out on another date. Can I?”
She went back to chewing her lip, and her fingers made patterns in the powdered sugar on top of her doughnut. Finally, she raised her gaze to him. “Why?”
He frowned. “Why what?”
“Why me?”
It bothered him she had to ask. “Because I like you. Because no matter what you told your sister, you don’t treat me like I’m a joke. I like how you look at me and how you make me feel, and I want to give us a shot. Just a shot, Ivy; that’s all I’m asking.” He threaded his fingers through hers. “I made it past your thorns a couple of times, and it was so fucking worth it.”
She swallowed. “I like you too.”
She’d told him last night, but he didn’t mention that. “I’m glad.”
Ivy stared at their hands. “Okay.”
“Okay what?”
“I’d like to go on a date with you again.”
He lifted her chin so he could see her eyes. “You know you don’t owe me, right? I only want you to say yes if you want to see me.”
She licked her lips. “I want to see you.” She took a deep breath. “Alex thinks we’re just f
riends now, and it’s complicated, but it’s better if that’s what she thinks. For now.”
If he hadn’t known about what she’d told him last night, he’d have been irritated. But the Dawn girls had been through a lot. “Is that what we are? Just friends?”
Ivy blushed. “You know we’re not.”
He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Will you tell her? Eventually?”
She nodded. “I will. After our date, probably. But just . . . give me a little more time with Alex, okay?”
“Okay.”
She smiled then and raised up on her toes to press a kiss to his lips. He’d wait. Of course he would. Because Ivy was giving him a shot. And he just had to make sure he didn’t blow it.
Chapter Fourteen
IVY WAS GLAD when she opened up the door to her apartment that she’d worn casual clothes—a simple maxi dress—as suggested, because she immediately was swarmed by an armful of Honeybear.
She almost collapsed under the dog’s weight, but thankfully, Brent pulled back on the leash, chiding Honeybear as she strained to tackle Ivy.
Then a flash of pink ran by Ivy, and a ball of fur and a little girl wrestled in a heap at their feet. Ivy glanced up at Brent, who was scratching the back of his head. “Uh, hey.”
Brent wore his ever-present jeans and a pair of boots. His T-shirt was light green flecked with gray. When did he ever look less than incredibly hot? She brushed some dog hair off her own dress. “Hello. So Honeybear is joining us?”
Brent laughed. “No, I’m dropping her off with Davis at the fire station on the way. He’s there visiting some coworkers, and he said he’d take care of her for me tonight. He wants to show her off to his friends. Even though she’s not his dog. Anyway, is that all right?”
“Sure.” Ivy grabbed her purse as Alex rounded the corner and headed down the hallway toward them.
Ivy had told Alex that Brent wanted to hang out, as friends. And although Alex had looked a little skeptical, Ivy said she’d felt safe with Brent, which wasn’t a lie. And Alex had always loved her alone time with her niece.
“Hey you,” Alex greeted Brent.
“Can you find bigger pants?” Brent asked, gesturing toward her oversized cargo shorts.
“Hey, they’re comfortable,” Alex protested.
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