The appointment time crept up, and then past.
They weren’t going to call.
She needed to calm down. It was only a minute past the hour.
The ringing that came from her computer speakers made her jump. Calm. Cool. I’ve got this.
She hoped.
She answered, and a woman just a few years older appeared on screen.
Her hair was dark and cut short in a pixie cut. She wore light makeup, and looked completely at ease.“Ivy? Hi, it’s Jade. Sorry I’m late.”
Maybe Ivy should cut and dye her hair. Really start over. “No worries.” She summoned her sweetest smile and most professional voice. “It’s great to hear from you.”
“I’m so glad you made time for me. I love your work. I want to know all about you. Okay, maybe not all, but fill me in. Why do you draw? Where are you from? All those wonderful interview-ish things.”
Some of Ivy’s tension faded, and her confidence slipped into the empty space, thanks to Jade’s chipper mood.
For the next hour they talked about so much. Ivy’s art. Single Status’ mission. The best places to order coffee if for a remote employee who didn’t feel like they could walk away.
At the end of it all, Jade had an offer ready. It was work-for-hire freelance. Ivy had a contract and rates, and Jade was more than happy to pay the asking price.
The successful call, and Ivy’s desire to do something, anything different with her life, pushed her toward boldness. “Is there any way I can get a fifty percent deposit on my first project?”
“Of course. That sounds reasonable.” Jade didn’t hesitate with a response. “Email everything over, and we’ll get the ball rolling.”
That meant Ivy could afford to have her car fixed.
She was smiling for the first time in a week when she disconnected. A cloud still loomed over her. There was no Miles to celebrate with.
Fuck it. She looked cute. She could drag herself out of the house long enough to go out and live it up on her own.
Or she could text him. See if they could make things better. He’d sent her another text yesterday. She hadn’t been able to help herself, and read it.
I’m here when you’re ready to talk.
No. She was doing this on her own. She didn’t need Miles in her life.
But I want him there.
He’d lied to her. For years.
He didn’t do it to hurt you.
It didn’t matter what his intentions were.
Doesn’t it?
She wasn’t in the mood to go out to dinner after all. She’d go pick up some ice cream, and binge watch something with a lot of explosions, death, and monsters of the week.
The Valentine’s Day she should have had.
He did that for you. He does a lot for you.
But good couldn’t always outweigh the bad.
He’s sorry.
So he’d said. About a million times.
She yanked off the nice top she’d worn to look good on camera, and pulled on something more comfortable.
The two of you are good together.
It was true. They got each other’s jokes. He was always there when she called. He’d gone out of his way for her on Valentine’s Day, first with the Single Status letter, and then ditching his entire day to keep her company.
Miles encouraged her art. He surprised her with dinner when he knew she was struggling for cash. He was her shoulder to cry on every time she had enough relationship end in mehness.
He’s incredible in bed.
Heat flooded her cheeks at the memories she’d tried to suppress.
If she did this—if she called him back—it would take time to rebuild the trust.
But it’s possible. This is the kind of thing he can prove himself with.
Fine. She’d do it. But only because her brain was right, and she desperately wanted to make things work.
Someone knocked, startling her. She crept to the front door. Why hadn’t she ever had a peephole installed? Miles would do it if she asked.
Ivy answered, and her heart leaped into her throat. Miles stood on her landing with a red envelope in his hand.
She swallowed her reaction and tried to keep her expression calm. Let him make the first move.
“I’m trying to let it go. Give you time. It’s hard to do. Impossible, apparently. But if you tell me to go to Hell, I’ll leave now, and you won’t hear from me again unless you reach out.”
She hated the idea of not hearing from Miles again. Few fates seemed worse. She nodded at his hand. “What’s that?”
He handed her the envelope. “I was going to have someone else deliver this... Mostly to guarantee you’d read it. I’m done hiding from you, though.”
She tentatively slide a finger under the flap, and popped the single spot of glue sealing it shut. Her heart was hammering against her ribs. Could he hear that?
There was a card inside. Her artwork from her site.
Nice touch.
There was a note inside, scrawled in his messy block lettering. She loved it.
You didn’t get the Valentine’s Day you deserved.
So let’s try this note thing again.
Have dinner with me.
At your favorite place.
Let me help you make new memories.
A smile tried to break through at the simplicity, but Miles-ness of it. She needed more than a cute note to make this right, though. If they were going to work, they couldn’t resolve things in a single conversation.
However, this was a good start. She meet his gaze, blank mask in place.
“Well?” he asked.
“It’s not a great poem. It doesn’t even rhyme.”
He gave her several exaggerated blinks, and twisted his mouth like he was trying to fight a smile.
She couldn’t hold back her smile. “You’re setting me up with some hefty expectations.”
“And you deserve every one of them to be met. You should demand the world. Nothing less is good enough for you.”
Heat flooded her cheeks at the passion in his word. “I wouldn’t go that far.”
“Then I’ll do it for you.” He took the envelope from her and set it on the stand next to the door, the grasped her fingers. “I’ll say this again and again, for as long as it takes. I’m sorry. About what I did. For what it cost. And that I didn’t tell you. Let me make us right.”
“No.” She needed to adjust his language.
He frowned.
“It’s not your job to make us work,” she said. “It takes both of us to decide what we are. Words won’t fix this. Only work will fix this.”
“You’re right.”
She liked the concession, and that it came without hesitation. “But I do want to work on it.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
He brushed his lips across hers, and sparks lit up her senses. His groan made her pulse race. And then he knotted his fingers in her hair, tugging hard, and crushed their mouths together.
Ivy whimpered into the kiss. She’d missed this an awful lot for only having tasted it a few times. She gripped his shirt, needing something to cling to.
He danced his tongue with hers. Everything about this was fire and ice and need and salvation.
Miles dropped one hand to her waist, and under her shirt. When he brushed her bare skin, another spike of desire spilled inside, tightening in her nipples and throbbing between her legs.
She wanted to sink into this. But he’d earned the right to sweat a little more.
Summoning what little willpower she had left, she planted a palm on his chest, pushed him away, and stepped out of reach. “You mentioned dinner?” She had no idea how she kept her voice steady.
Dinner was so far at the bottom of her want list, she didn’t want to mention it. Sex with Miles took every other available spot.
But there was time, if this went well, and she needed things to start on the right foot. What did he think her favorite place to ea
t was? She’d never told him in so many words, but her best memories of dinners were the ones at his house, where he cooked, and they chilled and watched movies after.
If that made her a basic bitch, so be it.
“I did.” His voice was strained. He held up a satin scarf the same color as the envelope. “Our destination is a secret.”
“Let me change.”
“Never.” He grabbed her wrist before she could turn away. “You’re perfect the way you are.
“That’s cheesy, but sweet.” And it warmed her from the inside out. But she was also wearing the shirt that never stayed on both shoulders at the same time. It was baggy. Not really appropriate for dining out. Especially someplace nice.
“I mean it. Both in the sweet, cheesy way, and in the literal way.” He grabbed her keys from the hook by the door, tugged her outside, locked the door, and stuffed the keys in her pocket.
Her curiosity grew with each step toward his car. They paused by the passenger side, and he slipped the blindfold over her eyes.
As he helped her into the car, her heart was pounding so fast it threatened to burst through her chest.
But she was loving every minute of the attention. Especially the part where Miles was back.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Miles wanted to holler to the world when Ivy heard him out. He’d put a lot of time into tonight, and the one thing he worried about was approaching her.
He was glad he’d made that decision.
He held her hand the entire drive back to his place. When they got there, he helped her from the car, and guided her carefully up the front walk. They paused with each step, and then they were at the door.
“Where are we...?” Her question trailed off when he unlocked the door and led her inside.
The heady scent of homemade cheese dip and calzones hung in the air.
A smile spread across her face. He’d missed that so much.
She moved to take the blindfold off, but he captured her hands, holding them behind her head. He leaned in to steal a kiss.
She sighed against his lips.
When he pulled away she said, “You’ve made a Miles addict.”
“Of course I have.”
She stuck her tongue out. He poked it back in, kissed her on the nose, and removed the blindfold.
“How did you know this was my favorite place?” she asked.
“I put a lot of thought into everything. Spent the last week wondering how to approach you. How to reset our friendship—and more. I kept coming back to the fact that the happiest I’ve ever seen you, the happiest I’ve ever been with you, is hanging out here. Watching movies. Eating. Enjoying each other’s company.”
“You’re brilliant. I love it.”
He wanted to grumble about having to eat first, but he was going to make this evening last. They both left their coats and shoes by the door, and headed into the dining room.
Over dinner they caught up. It didn’t seem like there would be much to talk about after just a week, but it had been years since they went that long without speaking.
When she told him about the new contract, he had to grab another kiss. And then several more. The zing that hummed through him each time their lips met wasn’t getting old any time... ever.
After dinner, he led her into the living room. As he dropped onto the couch, he did something he’d always restrained himself from in the past—he tugged Ivy into his lap.
She laughed as she fell, and settled in quickly. It was a perfect fit.
“What are we watching?” she asked.
“Firefly.”
“The entire series, plus Serenity?”
He wrapped his arms around her waist, and grabbed the remote. “Is there any other way to watch?”
Miles brought up the first episode. Ten minutes in, and he hadn’t registered anything. The only thing he could focus on was Ivy’s warm weight in his lap.
He paused the show.
“What’s wrong?” She twisted to look at him.
The squirming pressed into him, making him half-hard in a heartbeat. “I don’t want to wait any longer. I need you now.”
“I’m good with that.”
He nudged her to her feet, paused to grab the red scarf from where it sat next to the front door, and led her into the bedroom.
Miles positioned her near the bed, and stepped behind her. When he fitted the blindfold over her eyes, she tensed.
“You all right?”
She nodded. “Just excited.” She reached back. “Give me your hand.”
He placed his palm in hers, and she tugged it forward to rest it against her ribcage. Her heart hammered against his touch.
“That’s what you do to me,” she said.
“I’m so good with that.” He let go of her. “Arms up.”
“Umm...?” She did as he said anyway.
Miles stripped off her shirt, unhooked her bra, and lowered her arms to let the lacy garment fall to the floor. He stood in front of her. Trailing a finger down the middle of her chest, he took in the stunning sight. Her chest heaved with each light touch. She was biting her bottom lip. And her round, pert breasts taunted him with erect pink nipples.
He dipped his head to draw one into his mouth. She gasped at the new touch, and pressed into him.
Today he was going to take his time. He alternated between breasts, sucking and nibbling one while he massaged the other. He kept up the attention until her hips were swaying, and her fingers were knotted in his hair, holding him in place.
He stepped back, breaking all contact, and watched as her breath hitched. He used the pause to quietly strip out of his clothes. She should be straining right about now, trying to determine where he’d gone and what he was doing.
When he dipped a finger under the waistband of her jeans, she gasped. He kept his touch featherlight, dragging to her bellybutton, then undoing her pants.
This time there were no shoes in his way. “Step out,” he prompted, as he shoved her clothes to the ground.
As she did, he tugged off her socks as well.
And then Ivy was naked and blindfolded in the middle of his bedroom. “Like a dream come true.”
“You too?” She smiled impishly.
He’d wasted so much time, trying to protect her, being dense instead. Fortunately, not so much time they couldn’t make it up.
He led her to the bed. “Lay on your back in the middle.”
Watching her crawl across the blankets, bare ass in the air, made his cock twitch. He wanted to stroke himself, but that would wait.
She laid down, arms over her chest and legs together.
That wouldn’t do at all. “Relax.” He tugged her arms to the side, leaving her on display.
“I’m trying.”
“Maybe this will help.” He nudged her thighs apart with his knee, and knelt between. Lowering his head, he lay a series of open-mouth kisses along her chest and down her stomach.
She bucked her hips when he moved below her stomach.
“Yeah, that’s not doing anything to calm me.” Her laugh was stuttered.
“Do you want me to stop?”
“No. Fuck no.”
He smirked and resumed his journey down. He kissed along her pelvis, but skipped her core to travel lower. The scent of sex teased him. This might almost be as torturous for him as it was for her.
Miles took his time kissing down the inside of one thigh, the back up the other. When he finally dragged his tongue along her slit, her sweet taste hit his tongue like a jolt. His groan mingled with her gasp.
He was so hard he could probably cut glass with his dick. This was incredible, and he wanted it every night.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Anticipation hummed along Ivy’s every nerve ending. Every sense beyond sight was heightened. Miles’ familiar scent in the sheets. His throaty growls. The cool cotton against her back.
And his tongue—holy fuck his tongue—each time he licked along her skin, a new shiver rolled
over her. Her hips bucked when he wrapped his lips around his clit.
He pressed a palm into her stomach, making it difficult to squirm. She couldn’t help twisting and turning, trying to get closer to his touch.
He sucked her clit and traced a pattern. This was incredible. The few boyfriends she’d had, only two went down on her, and neither did it willingly.
But Miles was buried between her legs, lavishing her with enthusiasm. He pushed her to the edge of orgasm, making her writhe with need.
And then he eased off.
Her whimper of disappointment faded into another moan when he plunged his tongue inside her. He pressed his fingers to her clit to trace circles around the button.
The new angle and sensations drove her to orgasm. She bucked against him, needing to be closer. Helium filled her head. She tumbled into pleasure.
She was lingering in the feeling, when Miles climbed his way up her body. What came next?
He kissed her. Her taste lingered on his lips. That was new. She dove into the kiss, tangling her tongue with his.
Miles wedged her legs open wider, and pulled his mouth from hers. He nudged her opening, then slid inside. He withdrew almost to the tip, before plunging back in again.
Then his lips were back on hers.
The glow of climax still hovered in her thoughts, making it easy to feel everything at once. He pounded against her, harder and faster, pushing her back toward the edge. She came hard, losing herself in everything.
She was vaguely aware of his familiar grunts. The frantic hammering and then the pause as he peaked as well. Those last thrusts that he dragged out, even though they were done.
He slowed to a stop, then pulled out of her. Then there was nothing again.
She was too adrift in fuzzy glee to wonder where he’d gone.
And then he was back, cleaning her up.
He helped her sit, and tugged the blindfold away. “Fuck, you’re incredible.” He trailed his mouth along her jaw and up to her lips.
“You’re pretty good yourself.” She loved everything about this.
Miles pushed the pillows against the headboard, and pulled Ivy back into him. She loved this. Being nestled against him, naked and warm. It felt safe and right.
Seeking More Page 6
