“Oh, you have no idea,” the woman said, moving her head closer. She licked her lips, desperate to have Travis’ mouth on her. “But you can find out if you come with me.”
“I can’t,” Travis said, abruptly moving back. The motion stunned the young girl, who could only look with confusion at Travis. “I’m sorry. But there’s someone I love, and though she’s not with me, I can’t. I just can’t do it, I’m sorry.”
“The hell?” the woman said, her mood shifting rapidly to angry, but Travis didn’t stick around to see much of it. He walked out the club, intent on not coming back, intent on setting things right with Ivy.
But before he did, he had one final obstacle to get past.
“Leaving so soon?”
It was the waitress from earlier, the one who recognized him and called him by his first name. Travis nodded, putting his hands in his pockets, adopting the cool, quiet demeanor that served so well to intimidate people.
“Yes,” he said. “I’ve got someone I’ve got to get back. And if I go home with anyone here and word gets back to her, I’ll never get her back.”
The waitress at first looked annoyed, but when she heard the conviction in Travis’ words, even she seemed floored and surprised. Then she smiled.
“Then get the hell out of here and go get her, Travis Dunn.”
Travis allowed himself a slight smirk, a nod, and then left without another word.
He could not go see Ivy at this time of night, that was just not polite. And to come by her house unannounced might have sounded romantic as a five year old, but at his age, it sounded like a good recipe for getting a restraining order on him.
So he had to encounter her when she was working or away from home.
Fortunately, he had a new in to make that happen.
A couple of weeks later, Ivy’s alarm went off.
But this time, it went off at 7 a.m.
Because Ivy no longer worked at the coffee shop. She worked at Logic Designs.
She hadn’t spoken to Travis in some time, but she always silently wondered if he had, in fact, pulled some strings. If he had, well, she owed him the biggest thanks of her career.
She rose with a pep, showered quickly, got dressed professionally and eagerly, and for the first time in her career, she showed up to work excited.
Ivy made the rounds with the other employees, introducing herself and getting situated at her desk. Her boss, a nice woman in her mid-40’s named Emily, gave her a few minutes alone to set up her computer.
“Oh, and Ivy,” Emily said. “We’ve got a task you can help on if you want. We’re doing a logo design for a legal firm. Take a look through the files once you’re set up, OK?”
Ivy nodded. At that moment, though, staring at her computer screen, Ivy felt like her mind had gone blank, even though she was trying her best to prove herself to her new employers.
Wasn’t this exactly what she wanted to do? Wasn’t this her dream?
And yet, nothing came to her. Nothing inspired her. When she saw the logo, she didn’t have a reaction of any kind. She just… stared at it.
Ivy couldn’t help but wonder if she had made the wrong decision, if perhaps this wasn’t her calling after all! Where was her motivation and her drive?
For the next couple of hours, Ivy found herself in a familiar place. She swiveled in her chair, tinkered with the cursor again and deleted the design she had been working on for the past few minutes. Given her new role and her place in the company, she needed the idea to be perfect, to meet all standards and pass through all the levels of approval. She knew she had it in her somewhere, but it was refusing to come out. Had she lost her drive? Had she run out of her talent in art?
Or… was it something to do with Travis?
It had been some time since she last saw him and even longer since the last time she’d shared a meaningful interaction with him, leaving the room without turning to look at her. She couldn’t get those images out of her mind. The smell, the sensations, the sounds of his heavy breathing as he drove into her.
But most of all, it was that kiss on her forehead when they lay in each other’s arms that had stayed with her. She had seen a different side to Travis that she didn’t even know existed.
Did anyone know it existed? She had peeked into the person he might have been twenty years ago before he lost the woman he had chosen to spend the rest of his life with.
His words kept ringing in her ears, of how she reminded him of Mia. Was that such a bad thing? If anything, shouldn’t it have made Travis happy?
Ivy shook her head, trying to steer her focus back to the computer screen again. He was gone now, there was no point thinking about him any longer.
The next hour went by in the same fashion. She had run out of ideas and her mind was filled with thoughts of Travis. She was worried that she would never get over him. Worse, she would never find the wherewithal to do her job well. She’d get fired just when she got her dream done.
Maybe I am nothing more than a mere barista.
At 6 p.m., when everyone around her had started to make their way out of the office, Ivy got up from her chair and picked up her trench coat. She took the elevator down, feeling dejected and like a failure. It was only her first day, and already, Ivy began to feel insecure and that she didn’t belong at a place like Logic Designs.
“First day and look at me,” she said. “Just a—”
She cut herself off when the elevator came to a halt. The last thing she needed was to face the judgment of a coworker who heard her talking to herself.
The doors opened. She stepped forward.
And then she gasped.
“Coffee?” Travis said, holding a styrofoam cup out towards her.
Ivy couldn’t respond, even as her lips parted and her heart skipped multiple beats.
The elevator doors were closing, and Travis held out a hand, wedging himself in between so that the doors drew apart again. Ivy stepped out after him and they were standing in the middle of the lobby. Several of her colleagues, the receptionist, and even Emily were in the lobby, looking at them now. Everyone in the building knew who Travis was. Ivy’s cheeks flushed at the thought of being the center of attention.
“I brought you coffee,” Travis said and her gaze fell to the cup in his hands.
Just hearing his voice again brought back memories of their afternoon together in his room. She’d never thought she would see him again act warm and kind to her. When she didn’t reply, Travis cleared his throat. When their eyes met, she realized that he looked different somehow, almost nervous. This was not the Travis Dunn who had told her to take her clothes off in his office.
“I didn’t know how you take your coffee, so I just went with a regular cappuccino,” he said.
Gently, finally, Ivy pried the cup out of his hands.
“Two sugars,” he added and she finally managed to smile.
“Thank you,” she said.
Travis thrust his hands into his pockets. Slowly, Ivy began to forget that people around her were watching with curiosity.
“Are you here for a meeting?” she asked, cradling the cup in her hands and trying to hold his gaze.
Travis grinned and shook his head. He looked almost boyish… almost, Ivy dared to think, like he did in those photos from long ago.
“No, I came here to bring you coffee.”
Ivy found the gesture sweet and surprising, but one question nagged at her.
“How did you know I got the job?”
He shrugged casually.
“How did I know your home address?”
Ivy pursed her lips together and realized that her throat was dry again. The man just knows things, I guess.
“You’ve brought me coffee to my office, so I figured that you wouldn’t mind if I returned the favor,” he said.
“No, I don’t mind,” she said, taking a sip of the coffee out of politeness.
She wanted to ask him how he was. She had so many questions she wanted to ask
him, but the words were stuck in her throat. She couldn’t formulate them or think straight. Not now that Travis was talking to her warmly, even politely, again.
“Are you wondering what I’m doing here?” he asked, and she looked up at him again.
Travis’ buzzcut looked thicker today, and there was a stubble on his face. It explained why he looked different. His clothes were creased as well, and his tie looked lopsided. Almost like he had dressed in a hurry, or not bothered with his usual routine. Ivy’s brows crossed as she thought about what had happened to make him look different.
“I’ll tell you anyway,” he said as she realized that she hadn’t replied to his question yet. “I’m here because I wanted to see you again, and I’ve been thinking about you constantly since that day. Even though I’ve seen you since, I… I needed to have a moment like this.”
Ivy gripped the coffee cup even tighter. She wished he would just stop. He was only making it worse for her. Whatever effort she was able to put into getting over him was now all crashing down in ruins. He must have seen the strain in her eyes because he looked away from her and clenched his jaw.
“You might not want to hear this, and I’m sorry if I’m upsetting you but I regret just leaving you alone in my room that day,” he said and Ivy parted her lips to speak.
He was watching her every move, drinking her in.
“It’s okay, Travis, you’re not upsetting me. It’s good to see you,” she said, surprised that she was able to keep herself this calm when her heart was hammering away inside her.
“Ivy…” he said and stepped towards her abruptly.
She nearly choked when he did that and she felt the goosebumps on her arms again. He had an immediate physical effect on her that she couldn’t deny. She couldn’t think of one plausible reason why he would be here, why he would come all this way to see her…except for…
“Have dinner with me,” he said, not in a commanding voice as he had but in a polite, asking manner.
She peered into his eyes, the blood rushing to her brain. She was aware of how red her cheeks must have become and she nodded her head. All she had thought about was him. She wasn’t going to throw away an opportunity like this. She wouldn’t let a fourth chance slip away.
“Yes, I will. At your house?” she asked, feeling her hands begin to tremble again.
“No, I know a quiet little Italian place we can go to,” he said and she crossed her brows. “You look surprised.”
“I’m just…” she began to say.
“You think this is just about sex for me?” he asked and stepped closer to her again.
It didn’t seem to bother Travis that there were people watching and that they were in the middle of the lobby of her office building now. As far as he was concerned, she thought, they could have been alone in his house again.
“It isn’t Ivy, I want us to get to know each other. I want us to date. The gifts, the flowers, the long phone calls…I want all that again. And I’m surprised that I do!”
A laugh escaped his lips. Ivy couldn’t suppress the smile that had erupted on her face.
“Travis…” she said his name, forgetting where they were and he placed his hands on her waist and drew her into his arms.
“It’s crazy, I know, but I want us to move on like I said. I want to move on from old memories and move on with you.”
He brought his face closer to hers. She could feel his breath again, taste him again if she wanted to. Their lips grazed and he was whispering into her ears.
“I don’t want to miss this second chance, Ivy, and I don’t want to waste time,” he said.
Ivy was laughing. It was an uncontrollable throaty laugh and she threw her head back and pressed her eyes close. Travis had his arms wound tight around her waist, pressing her close to him, watching her as she laughed. She was completely oblivious to who was watching them, including her boss, what they were thinking and what the consequences of their actions in public were going to be. She had never felt this joyous in her life before.
“Let’s get out of here, we have so much catching up to do,” he said.
She leveled her face to his again. She was the one who pressed her lips to his this time, sinking into his arms as she slid her tongue over his lips. He kissed her back, gently this time, tasting her with soft prods of his tongue. Their limbs were entwined and their bodies were fused together. Ivy was certain that nothing could separate them from this hold they had on each other.
“Let’s go,” Travis said, grabbing her hand. “I’ll call and make reservations on the way.”
But Ivy had one last task.
“No, I have to do something first,” she said, tugging him in the direction of the elevator.
“What? Where are we going?”
Ivy was laughing again, her cheeks flushed with happiness as she pressed the button for her office floor. She kissed him again, wildly and still laughing. When he pulled away, Ivy bit down on her lip.
“What is it? What is so important?” he asked as the doors pinged open for them.
“I have an idea for the design I’ve been working on and I want to draw it before we leave,” she said, breaking away from his clasp and running towards her desk.
The floor was nearly empty, and whoever was still there, leaned over their chairs to see what the commotion was about.
“You have a design idea? Now?”
She turned to throw him a happy smiling look. Travis was standing a few feet away, staring right at her butt and now lifted his gaze to her face again. His face was flushed too, his blue eyes glittering and as blue as the sea. He smiled back at her.
“Yeah, it’s back,” she said, turning to the screen again.
“What’s back?” she heard him ask.
“My inspiration. My ideas. They’re back. You did it,” she said, smiling.
Ivy sat at the computer furiously creating the rough draft inspired to her by Travis as he stood over her shoulder, watching with a mixture of confusion and happiness. She had no intentions of keeping him there as she designed her idea for work—but when inspiration struck, she knew she couldn’t just sit there and keep it in her mind.
She furiously typed, drew rough images, and saved the file. In the end, the logo she had created for the library company looked like a pen that resembled a sword inside of a book. Ivy beamed with pride, as previously, the logo had looked like a mere pen or sword. Now, though, it looked like something a library would actually want to display with pride. She clicked save and turned around.
“And you, Travis Dunn, have given me the happiness I need in my life,” she said. “You inspire me. Your work ethic, your story, your—”
To her surprise, Travis waved his hand to silence her. Not rudely, but she had not expected such a move.
“No, Ivy, it is you who has given me the happiness I needed in my life,” he said. “I spent a lot of time thinking about things after you came over to my place.”
He paused and looked around. He must’ve not liked what he saw, because he took Ivy’s hand and led her downstairs without a word.
“Where are we going?” Ivy asked.
“You’ll see,” was all Travis gave her.
Travis, as usual, had piqued Ivy’s curiosity.
When he got her outside, the limo awaited. Ivy got inside, and Travis followed shortly behind, his hand resting upon hers gently and at ease.
“Now that we have privacy,” he said, clearing his throat. “After we had sex, you asked me about Mia. At the time, I could not handle such a statement. It was something I had pushed away in the depths of my mind, and regrettably, it came roaring back. I didn’t hate you for it, but I did fear seeing you again.”
He sighed.
“But even though I feared seeing you again, I still wanted to see you again. I know it sounds weird, and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to put it into words.”
Ivy just laughed, even though it might have seemed ruined at that moment in the conversation.
“That’s exactly how I felt after our first couple of encounters,” Ivy said. “You don’t have to put it into words, Travis. I already know the feeling.”
Travis smiled and squeezed her legs. A silence came over them as they looked into the eyes of the other.
Gone, Ivy noticed, was the hard, laser-focused eyes which undressed her. Oh, no doubt, she knew Travis still wanted her naked, and she wanted Travis to want her naked. She wanted herself without clothes, and the same for Travis. But it pleased her that Travis no longer saw that as the end game, but a mere step along the way toward something more special.
“In any case, though,” Travis finally said. “I just had to take some time to myself to figure some things out. When I saw you gleefully dancing for joy after you got your job, it warmed my heart. I still wasn’t ready to talk, though, which is why I was so curt with you. I didn’t do it to make you feel bad.”
Ivy placed her hand on his and squeezed. Just then, the limo stopped, and Travis quickly got out so he could hold the door for Ivy. Ivy got out, holding Travis’ hand, and immediately recognized where they had gone.
Dunn Inc.
He passed through the doors quickly, having her follow him. Inside, no receptionist waited, not at this hour, though a lone security officer patrolled the lobby. Travis gave a simple nod, which the security guard returned. He pushed the button for his private elevator and whisked Ivy inside. He held her close to her, and Ivy became love-drunk over this cologne, his sharp jaw, and his body pressed against hers.
“But now,” he said, his voice growing deeper. “I know what I want. I know what I want without inhibitions. And it’s you, Ivy Zimmerman.”
He leaned in to kiss her before she could respond. She didn’t want to respond, at least not with words. Their lips brushed against each other as the elevator lurched to the top of the city and the top of Ivy’s world. She could feel her body tingling, her inner goddess getting doused with wetness, and her arms aching for some of Travis.
The elevator came to a halt just as Ivy’s tongue went inside Travis’ mouth, but that did not stop Travis. Instead, using his raw strength, he lifted Ivy off the ground, his hands grabbing her ass tightly, and carried her to his desk. He laid her down, somewhat rougher than Ivy had expected, but the pain only intensified the pleasure that came as Travis ripped her clothes off along with his as he kissed her body.
His Royal Majesty : A Royal Wedding Romance Page 42
