“Well screw that.”
Ivy smiled to herself. She’d been wondering how the two of them would ever start speaking to each other again after they’d left everything so muddled and confused between them. Then this little dog had appeared and in their shared concern, that last night together was, if not forgotten, then at least set aside. For now.
She’d have to be honest with him eventually, tell him who she was and then she’d have to live with the knowledge that anything they might have had together was ended. But that was for another day.
Tanner King might not be very fond of people, she thought. But, as she watched him with the dog, she knew that he had a full and generous heart, no matter how he might pretend otherwise.
“Okay then,” she offered, “if you’re going to keep him, then we should take him to the vet and get him checked out. And buy him a leash and a collar.”
He shook his head slowly as the dog finished his meal and turned to Tanner, leaning up against him with a heavy sigh of relief at having been found and accepted. Laughing, Tanner said, “And shampoo. Definitely shampoo.”
The dog sighed with contentment again and stretched out on the kitchen floor, completely at home.
Tanner waited until just before Ivy was leaving for home to say, “Thanks. For helping with the dog. He probably hasn’t slept in a week. He’s practically unconscious.”
“He likes his new bed then?”
Tanner grimaced. “No. He likes my bed. Anyway, thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” She hitched her shoulder bag higher and looked at him.
Weren’t they being polite?
He hated that things were so strained between them. He hated that their incredible night together had ended so abruptly. Mostly, though he hated that they hadn’t repeated it. Just having her here in the house, Tanner’s body was taut and ready all the damn time. Now that he’d had her, the desire he’d felt, rather than being sated had only been enhanced. Now he knew what she felt like, tasted like and he wanted her again and again.
Hell, he could hardly draw a breath without inhaling her scent—real or imagined. His dreams were filled with her and every waking moment was a study in torture. He had to find a way to get her back into his bed.
“About the other night,” he said.
“I know,” she said softly. “It was a mistake.”
He jolted. “A mistake?”
“God, yes,” she breathed. “It never should have happened, Tanner. It just makes everything so…complicated.”
That’s what he’d thought at first, too. That’s why he’d bought her the stupid watch. But it wasn’t. The mistake, he thought, was not making love to her again. “Doesn’t have to be,” he said, “it’s only complicated if we make it that way. If we just take it for what it is—”
She looked up at him and in the bright kitchen light, her eyes looked impossibly pure and deep. “Which is what?”
Her features were wary, and there was a shadow of regret in those beautiful eyes of hers. He didn’t know what she was thinking. How the hell could he? He knew what he wanted though. Now all he had to do was convince her that he was right.
“It’s two adults who want each other. Why does it have to be more than that?”
She laughed sadly and shook her head. “Because it’s not enough. Not for me.”
“It could be.”
“I don’t want it to be,” she countered quickly, then reached out to lay one hand on his forearm.
Heat skittered along his skin and Tanner sucked in a deep breath to calm the suddenly raging sense of need clawing at his insides. He took her hand in his and stroked his thumb across her knuckles until he saw her shiver in response.
He should have expected this. Ivy Holloway was not his usual kind of woman. She was home and hearth. She was the forever kind of woman, not the pick-her-up-at-a-club-and-forget-her-the-next-day type. Which meant Tanner was out of his element completely. He didn’t do forever. Hell, he barely did months.
But he wanted her in a way he’d never wanted anyone else. So who could blame him for trying to convince her to step out of her comfort zone and try something different.
“Why the hell not, Ivy?” He drew her in closer, needing to feel her in the circle of his arms. Her br**sts pillowed against his chest and he wanted her more than his next breath. “We were good together. Great.”
“Yeah, we really were,” she said, swallowing hard as if she, too, were feeling the swamping flood of heat that was roaring through him. “That night was…really fabulous, Tanner. I mean that. But I’m just not the fling kind of girl, you know? Besides, there are other reasons why this should not be happening.”
He caught her scent and thought nothing in the world had ever smelled better than whatever the hell it was she used to wash her hair. Everything in him was hard and tight and desperate to hold onto her. He didn’t know what she was talking about, but as far as he was concerned, there was no good reason for turning your back on what they’d found together.
“I didn’t say this was a fling. Who says that anymore?” He gave her a slow smile filled with the promises of what he’d like to be doing to her at the moment instead of talking. When she didn’t respond, he said, “Fine. So I’m not talking about forever, but there’s no reason you have to label this—whatever we have—as a fling. I’m talking about now, Ivy. What we feel. What we want. What we could be to each other.”
“Yeah,” she said with a laugh that had no humor in it. “I get that. And that’s why I can’t. One of the reasons, anyway.”
“Give me another.” He ran his hands up and down her back and felt her move languorously beneath his touch.
“I work for you?”
“I could fire you.”
“You probably should,” she whispered.
“What?”
“Nothing,” she said and reluctantly stepped back out of his embrace. Turning her face up to his, she said, “I really can’t, Tanner. Trust me when I say one day you’ll understand.”
He didn’t know what was going on with her, but damned if Tanner could ever remember a time in his life when he’d had a woman turn him down so neatly. Along with taking a ding out of what some considered his too healthy ego, her rejection slapped at what he was feeling for her. Because if she was trying to pretend she wasn’t as turned on as he was, she was a liar.