by J. H. Croix
With that nervous dread only Dr. Parkhurst could elicit spinning in her stomach, she fiddled with her bracelets and tried to consider how the meeting with Garrett went. “I guess I should say it went well. Garrett thinks I don’t need to worry. He was pretty blunt that Dr. Parkhurst could make things difficult just by filing, but he says as long as I have representation, he can shoot it down quickly. The thing is I can’t afford an attorney, and I don’t feel right not paying him. I want to deal with this on my own and…”
Owen leaned forward again and shook his head sharply. “Too late. I’m not letting you deal with this on your own and neither is Cam. If you’re worried about paying Garrett, you can let me pay him up front and we’ll figure it out later.” His voice was low and held a hint of warning.
He’d finally pushed too far. Ivy stood up swiftly, anger flashing inside. “No! You’re not paying legal fees for me. Why do you care so much? You wanted to keep things simple between us. This is not simple. You don’t chat with my brother about what’s going on, call my former employer and offer to pay legal fees when you want to keep things simple.” She was flushed through with anger and paced back and forth by the table. “This is exactly why I said we had to back off. This is way too personal and that’s not your thing. You can’t do things like this! I can’t… ugh!” She couldn’t bring herself to say aloud she’d fallen in love with him and needed him to stay firmly in the category of friend from work who happened to be her boss as well, contract employee details be damned.
She stopped her pacing and leaned her hips against the table, her arms crossed tightly. Hot tears pricked at her eyes. This tangle of her worlds was too much. The mess with Dr. Parkhurst was something she’d thought she’d left firmly in her past. To have him still finding ways to rattle her was beyond infuriating. To have Owen interfere and think it was okay to tell her what she needed to do hit her where it hurt. She’d tried to create some distance between them, and his quick acceptance of it reinforced her choice. He didn’t want more, and she needed to learn to be okay with that. He couldn’t get this involved in her life without making her wish for more. She was so focused on trying to breathe slowly and get a hold of herself, she didn’t hear his approach.
His touch startled her, and her eyes flew up. He curled his hands over her shoulders and slid them down her arms. The warmth and strength of his touch felt so good, it was hard to bear. She couldn’t have brushed him away if she tried. He slowly slid her arms apart and stepped to within an inch. Her heart beat wildly, and fire roared through her veins. Inside, she was unraveling—every bit of her resistance went up in smoke. All she wanted was Owen. Now.
He lifted a hand, and with a flick, the knot holding her hair back fell loose. He sifted his hand through the loose locks and dusted kisses over her face. When he spoke, his voice was like rough velvet. “I know, I know. It’s not simple, and I can’t figure out how to make it that way,” he whispered.
Butterflies amassed in her belly as she looked up into his eyes, his gaze a stormy sky, emotions flickering like lightning. The look in his eyes and the feel of his arm sliding down her back, pulling her against him, chased away the loneliness, the ache of missing him, and how she felt when they were together. His eyes searched hers, as if he was asking a question. Whatever he saw there must’ve given him an answer. He fit his mouth over hers in a raw, hot, possessive kiss. In a blink, her body was screaming with need. With their tongues tangling, they plastered themselves together. At the feel of his hard, hot length against her core, she gasped into his mouth. He arched his hips into the cradle of hers, and she cried out at the sharp spike of pleasure. He tore his lips free and stepped back. She felt bereft at the sudden absence of his body against hers.
Owen strode quickly to her door and slammed it shut, locking it and closing the blinds. He was back in front of her in a flash. The air around them was so charged, she felt the vibration to her bones. She wore a bulky sweater over a fitted skirt. She’d kicked off her boots on her way into her office. With his eyes locked to hers and his gaze sending a sweet blaze of heat through her, he hooked a finger under the edge of her sweater and lifted it slowly. The cool air hitting her skin further inflamed her, inside and out. Her nipples were so taut, they ached. He tossed her sweater to the floor. The feel of his gaze was so intimate, it felt as if he was actually touching her.
“You’re so damn beautiful,” he said, his words low and gruff. He stepped closer and lifted a hand, tracing along the soft skin of her neck, down into the valley between her breasts and curling along the soft underside of her breasts. He cupped both breasts with his hands. Her breath came out in a sob when he started stroking his thumbs back and forth over her nipples.
Restless with need, she slid her hands up under his shirt, a soft, cotton jersey shirt that clung to his muscled chest. His skin was hot to the touch. His breath hissed as she slid one hand up and the other down to curl over his cock. With a muttered curse and a flick, her bra fell open and he dipped his head to swirl his tongue around a nipple, his teeth nipping softly as he drew away.
She was lost in the maelstrom and frantic for more. Her channel throbbed as he turned his attention to her other nipple, while she swiftly unbuttoned his jeans and slipped her hand into his briefs, sighing at the feel of his velvety skin under her touch. With a growl against her skin, he shoved her skirt up and lifted her against him. Her legs curled reflexively around his waist, a soft cry escaping when he adjusted her so the hot, slick core of her felt his cock. She was so close, she almost came just brushing against him.
He leaned back and tangled his hand in her hair, his blue gaze branding her. “I missed you. So damn much,” he all but snarled.
Emotion crashed through her. With her legs gripping his hips, his cock hard against her, and his arms wrapped around her tightly, she lifted a hand to cup his stubbled cheek. Tracing his lips with her thumb, she swallowed against the tight feeling in her chest. “I missed you too.”
His lips crashed against hers again, and they spun back to where they’d been—caught in a deep, overpowering, drugging kiss, so hot she was aflame inside and out. He adjusted her in his arms and turned, reaching behind her to shove everything out of the way and stretching her out on the table. He slowly eased his lips away from hers and stood. Her hips rested at the edge of the table with her skirt bunched about her hips. The cool air against her thighs sent shivers through her. He slid his palms slowly up her legs, parting her knees as he did. By the time his hands reached the juncture of her thighs, her hips were restless and she was near desperate to feel him inside of her.
He dragged his finger back and forth across the silk between her thighs, wet with her need. After several passes, he shoved the silk out of the way and delved into her folds. With two fingers stroking into her channel, he brought his mouth against her. She cried out, gripping his hair with her hands. She’d thought she was nearly mad with need already, yet he proceeded to notch her need up so high, she didn’t know if she could bear it. She was shaking, her hips rocking into his mouth, when he finally swirled his tongue over her clit and sent her flying.
He slowly eased away and smoothed a condom on after fumbling in his pocket. He gripped her hips and pulled them just past the edge of the table. With her body still shuddering from the aftermath of her orgasm, she could barely open her eyes when he spoke.
“Ivy.”
When she met his gaze, the air around them went taut, alive with the depth of their connection. In one surge, he seated himself within her, holding still for a moment before he began to move. With a slow rhythm, he brought her to the brink again. Pleasure spun inside of her, coiling tighter and tighter. With every stroke, he sank deeper. She curled her legs around him, pulling him closer. She lost all sense of anything but him. The pounding of his hips against hers, the delicious stretch of his cock inside of her, filling her again and again, and the feel of his eyes on her, holding her in the web of passion binding them together. He dragged a hand down her abdomen and circled
his thumb over her clit—and sent her flying again. This time he flew with her, his body going taut before a final surge into her throbbing channel.
Their breath came in loud heaves as he slowly curled forward and feathered kisses on her belly, her breasts, her neck and finally her lips.
Chapter 17
Owen walked into Joan’s office the following afternoon. He was less irritable than he’d been for over a week. To be specific, since Ivy had politely tried to break things off with him. He almost winced at the thought because he didn’t get himself into situations where breaking things off was even a passing consideration. Yesterday in her office, he just couldn’t hold back anymore. Even if he tried to convince himself it was nothing more than sex, he wasn’t that stupid. Oh, the sex was flat out amazing, but what made it that way was the intense connection that beat as if it had its own heart between them. He hadn’t quite figured out what to do about that, but he was relieved beyond relieved she hadn’t pushed him away yesterday.
Joan glanced up from her desk, her warm brown eyes wide when she smiled at him. “Hey boss, what’s up?”
He rolled his eyes as he sat down in the chair across from her desk. “I might technically be your boss, but I hate when you call me that.”
Joan winked and spun her chair to face her computer again, resuming her rapid fire typing. “Get over it. You started this company, so that makes you the boss.”
“Maybe so, but you’re like family.”
She lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “Whatever. Anyway, what brings you to see me this afternoon?”
“Any more calls from Parkhurst?”
“Just one this morning. He asked for you instead of Ivy. I didn’t put him through and took a message.”
“What’s the message?”
“That he called,” Joan said with a sly grin.
Owen had filled her in on the situation, so she’d gone into full protective mama bear mode with Ivy. She was enjoying stringing Parkhurst along with messages. He couldn’t help but chuckle. He got furious every time he thought about Parkhurst’s threat to sue Ivy, so he certainly didn’t mind Joan annoying the hell out of the guy.
She stopped typing and spun her chair to face him again, her grin fading and worry entering her gaze. “It’s kinda funny to put him off, but what’s Ivy going to do?”
He leaned back in his chair and sighed. That was the problem. He might have temporarily slaked his burning need for Ivy, but they hadn’t spoken further about Parkhurst afterwards. If anyone could help him sort out what to do about Ivy and his decidedly disconcerting feelings for her, it would be Joan. As much as he didn’t want to go there, he was that frazzled about it.
“I wish I knew. She says she can’t afford to consider paying Garrett and doesn’t feel right accepting free legal services from him. I offered to cover the cost, but she didn’t like that idea so much.”
Joan picked up a pen on her desk and flipped it back and forth between her fingers. After a moment, she pinned her eyes on him. “What’s going on with you and Ivy?”
He shifted his shoulders and met her gaze head on. “Why do you ask?”
Joan rolled her eyes with a soft shake of her head. “Because I know you, and I’m not stupid. I see the way you look at her, and it’s obvious she likes you. Things seemed, hmm, okay for a few weeks and then you got all cold and distant, your usual MO, around her. Now, you’re all up in her business about this issue with her former boss. Don’t get me wrong, I know you’d be happy to help out with anyone who works here, but it seems like you might be going a bit above and beyond on this.”
He absorbed her comments and forced himself to stay calm. He wanted to tell her to back the hell off and forget about it, but this was Joan. If there was anyone he leaned on, it was her and by extension, her husband Reggie. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, she was still flipping the pen back and forth. “Fine. If I knew how to explain what’s going on with Ivy, I would.”
“How about you start by telling me what’s happened?” Joan was nothing if not persistent.
He lifted his hands in surrender and sighed, his chest knotting with anxiety. “Fine. I like her. A lot. I had this crazy idea it was just some chemistry we needed to burn off. Problem is… it’s not burning off and it’s not just chemistry. A week or so ago, she said we had to back off. So I did. I hated it and it made me crazy.”
Joan’s expression was unreadable and then she threw the pen at him. “What the hell is wrong with you?!”
He caught the pen and stared at her. He felt awful. He knew what he was doing wasn’t fair, but he didn’t know how to stop. “I don’t know. I thought…”
“Ivy doesn’t deserve some schmuck who just wants to get his rocks off. She deserves far more than that. You happen to be capable of much more than that, but you won’t even consider it, so you need to stop now. Let’s not even get into the potential HR nightmare we could be facing.”
The sinking feeling inside churned wildly in his gut. “She’s a contract employee,” he said dumbly.
Joan glared at him. “Technicality. Especially with what she’s dealing with from her last boss. I can’t believe you’re dumb enough to allow this to happen.” Joan closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose before opening them again. “Owen, you’re almost like a son to Reggie and me. I realize mathematically it doesn’t work because we’re only about a decade older than you, but after your parents died, we just wanted to be there for you. I can’t count how many times I’ve told you I wished you’d find someone. I still wish you would. Ivy’s about as perfect as someone could be for you, but you can’t do this if you’re not going to really let it happen. You can’t do something halfway with her.”
Joan’s dark eyes flashed at him, her protectiveness and anger showing. He knew she was right, but he didn’t know what to do. Just thinking about actually saying aloud how he felt about Ivy scared the hell out of him. He’d never considered himself particularly selfish, but when it came to Ivy, he was. He didn’t want to give up anything he had with her, yet he knew he didn’t deserve her because he couldn’t give her all of him.
He looked over at Joan as he considered his words. “Look, give me some time. She means…aw hell, she means a lot to me. Let me figure it out, okay?”
Joan’s gaze softened, but only slightly. Joan might have a soft spot for him, but she would hold him accountable. “If you could actually give yourself a chance to love someone, well, I think you might finally get past your parents’ death. But don’t you dare hurt Ivy. If I get even a hint that you might be dragging this out without ever planning to give her a real shot with you, I’ll raise hell.”
Owen held her gaze and finally managed a nod. Merely trying to talk about his feelings for Ivy tied him up in knots.
Ivy lifted her face into the breeze and gulped in the salty air. It was late afternoon on a Saturday, and she’d hopped in her car and headed to the harbor for a walk along the beach there. She’d been restless all morning and needed something to break up her day. She’d been beating back the urge to go to the office, mostly because she worried she’d encounter Owen there and couldn’t trust herself around him. Between mulling over what to do about Dr. Parkhurst and Owen, she was almost perpetually off balance inside. She hated to even think of them in the same second in her brain, but those were the only two functioning trains of thought the last few days.
Cam had informed her last night that he didn’t give a damn if she didn’t want help from Garrett and invited Garrett and Delia over for dinner. She’d felt cornered and annoyed, although she’d finally caved on accepting Garrett’s help. She might not like that she needed legal help, but she’d do just about anything to find a way to get Dr. Parkhurst out of her hair once and for all. Garrett had the green light to start working on pre-empting Dr. Parkhurst’s threat to sue. She’d mostly seen Garrett’s teasing manner before, yet the minute he started talking law, she didn’t wonder about his reputation. He was aggressive and r
eady to pin Dr. Parkhurst to the wall. With the wheels in motion on that, she was mildly relieved, yet she couldn’t seem to shake the dreadful tension the whole mess elicited inside.
Then, there was Owen. She was so annoyed she’d given into him the other afternoon. She hadn’t been able to stop herself. She wanted him too much, cared too much. She shied away from the word, but she knew she’d fallen in love with him and she had to find a way to get a handle on her feelings. If she couldn’t, she worried she’d have to look for work elsewhere. She loved her job like she’d never loved a job before, but she couldn’t stay there if she didn’t find a way to push her feelings aside. If she had to leave her job, that meant leaving Diamond Creek, which depressed her terribly. It felt so good to finally be close to her brother again, and she’d quickly grown to love the welcoming circle of friends. There was only one engineering firm in Diamond Creek—it was a small miracle Off the Grid happened to be here to begin with.
She gave herself a shake and resumed walking, idly kicking a round pebble on the sand as she did. This section of the shoreline offered a more open view of the bay than the shore by Ginger and Cam’s house. All of Kachemak Bay spilled out into view here with the mountains rising tall on the far side and Mount Augustine standing sentry in the distance. Otter Cove Harbor was tucked into a small cove nearby, the boats rocking quietly in the water, and gulls and eagles stationed along the docks. The walk did help clear her mind, if only because she managed to stop thinking so much. As she made her way back to the parking lot, weaving through the faded sea grass, trampled and torn by the cold winter and snow, she heard her name. Whipping her head up, she saw Owen approaching her on the path.
Her pulse set off at a gallop. Without realizing it, she came to a stop. That’s what he did to her. Everything else fell away, the world fading to nothing but them. He stopped in front of her, his cheeks ruddy from the chilled spring air and his eyes bright in the gray light. “I saw your car in the harbor lot, so I thought…” His words ran out and he shrugged. “How are you?” he asked after a pause.
