Ivy (Corked and Tapped Book 7)

by Becca Jameson

  Ivy

  Corked and Tapped, Book Seven

  Becca Jameson

  Copyright © 2019 by Becca Jameson

  Cover Artist: Julio Desir, Jr.

  Editor: Christa Soule

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. And resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Acknowledgments

  About the Book

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Author’s Note

  Also by Becca Jameson

  About the Author

  Acknowledgments

  I have to thank my amazing, wonderful, fabulous beta reader most extraordinaire, Susan Whitney, for all her help reading these fun novellas and helping me every step of the way!

  I also want to thank my editor, Christa, for plotting with me on every one! She rocks!

  And my daughter, Rebecca, who read each one over her summer break!

  About the Book

  “You must be Cleopatra.” Her heart picked up its pace as he leaned against the bar next to her. Her dating track record lately was horrifying, but his smile was mesmerizing. She liked him already. Most importantly, he kept his gaze on her eyes instead of staring at her chest. Surely he was too good to be true. With nice guys like him, there was always a catch.

  Corked and Tapped: Because the best stories never start with someone eating a salad.

  Prologue

  Ivy tugged on the hem of her tight white dress as she climbed out of the Uber with her best friend, Rose. She prayed she wouldn’t regret the decision to dress as sexy Cleopatra instead of something more modest. It was Halloween, though. And this was a party. And she’d insisted Rose dress sexy, so she would have looked like a hypocrite if she hadn’t done the same.

  Rose was fidgeting in her vampire costume far more than Ivy. Ivy wasn’t surprised. Rose was way out of her comfort zone tonight. Granted, Ivy was hardly the flashy, confident type herself. She had a pile of body-image issues a mile long, but she fought hard against those demons every day, and most days she won. More or less.

  On regular days in normal office attire, Ivy was golden. She could look herself in the mirror every morning and repeat what she’d been telling herself for years. I am creative. I am strong. I am energetic. I am whole. I am perfectly me. Every day of every month of every year it got easier.

  Tonight’s dress barely covered her ass, though. It was tight from the hem to her breasts, which were pressed together and pushed so high that she had the best cleavage of her life—cleavage she was determined to own instead of resent. She wore a pale blue sash around her waist and a similar four-inch, baby-blue swatch of material was draped around her neck and around her head.

  Her favorite part was the long flowy thin blue material hanging down her back. It made her feel sexy—a side of herself she was still learning to embrace. Ridiculously giant gold dangly earrings, gold bangle bracelets, and gold heels rounded out the outfit. The heels wrapped around her calves in an intricate woven design up to her knees.

  “I wish I had half your confidence,” Rose muttered as she joined her friend on the sidewalk outside Corked and Tapped. Jacoby Advertising, their employer, had rented the back room of this neighborhood bar for tonight’s Halloween party.

  If only Rose had half a clue how hard Ivy worked to appear confident and secure. Ivy didn’t talk about her past with anyone at Jacoby Advertising. It was just that, in her past. She had people she could easily contact if she slipped, but she hadn’t needed them for a few years.

  “I wish I had half your hair,” Ivy shot back as she touched one of the artfully placed black curls hanging down Rose’s back. She’d had the best time playing with it for the last hour, arranging the thick locks on top of Rose’s head.

  “What are you talking about? You have amazing hair.”

  Ivy shrugged. “I guess we all like what we don’t have.” Ivy’s hair was dirty blond and long. It wasn’t nearly as thick as Rose’s, nor as wavy. She’d fought hard to get her hair to curl for tonight.

  Ivy turned around and faced the building. “So, here’s to hoping Maddie set us both up with the most amazing men in the building and we end up living happily ever after having great sex, two-point-five kids, and a white picket fence.”

  “Are you high?” Rose laughed.

  “Hardly.”

  “You might meet the man of your dreams. It wouldn’t surprise me. Or at least if not Mr. Right, Mr. Right Now. You date so many men in a month, I can’t even keep up.”

  Ivy giggled. “I do run through a lot of men. I have bad luck.” I have high standards. And I refuse to let myself settle for less than I’m worth. Ivy had been trying. She put herself out there often. But the dating game was hard for her. Letting her guard down with anyone was difficult. But she wouldn’t give up. She’d fought too hard.

  “You also have OK Cupid.”

  “Well, it works for so many people.”

  “But it’s not working for you. How many men have you gone out with more than once from that site?”

  “None. But there’s always a first.”

  “And how many dates do you have lined up for this week?” Rose asked.

  “Just one. Tomorrow night.”

  “Then I guess you only have time for a one-night stand tonight anyway,” she responded cheerfully, grinning.

  “I’m not having a one-night stand with someone from our building. This plan of Maddie’s to match us all up and make us find our partner in the same costume is purely to get us to mingle and meet new people. It’s good for morale.”

  “You sound like an advertisement from the company brochure.”

  Ivy took a deep breath. The confidence she was projecting was half bullshit. It almost always was. The reality was, she never dressed like this for a first date or whatever this was about to be. She didn’t like the kind of attention that often came with revealing clothes. If she had a man of her own who adored her for her brain instead of her body, maybe she would wear sexy clothes with him. But not for first dates.

  And Ivy was the queen of first dates. She had them down to an art. She wore relatively conservative clothes, kept her makeup tasteful, curled her long hair, and pasted on a smile. None of that seemed to keep men from staring at her chest instead of her face, however.

  Nearly every date she’d ever been on struck out in the first minute when he didn’t meet her gaze while he introduced himself. Men were disappointing. And yet, she kept trying.

  Taking a deep breath, she glanced at Rose. “Shall we go in?”

  Chapter 1

  Ivy left Rose standing at a high-top table and headed for the bar. Rose wasn’t a drinker, but Ivy needed a glass of red wine. Maddie, the event organizer for Jacoby Advertising, was standing next to the bar, holding a yellow beverage.

  “What are you drinking?” Ivy asked.

  “Amaretto sour. I hate wine and beer.”

  “You planned this event. It was your idea to serve wine and beer.” Ivy laughed.

  Maddie shrugged. “It was out of my allotted company budget to add other alcohol. So, I’m just getting mine in the main room.”

  Ivy glanced a
t the door that led from the back room Maddie had rented to the main bar area. “Is it busy in there?”

  “Yep, but don’t get any ideas.” Maddie shook a finger at her. “I matched you with a nice guy from accounting tonight. Talk to him. Get to know someone better. You look amazing, by the way. Don’t go wandering into the main bar.”

  Ivy winced. “Accounting? How boring.”

  Maddie swatted her shoulder. “He’s not boring. He’s a nice guy.”

  “You’ve called him nice twice now. I think I’ll cut my losses and head for the main bar.” She turned, pretending to walk that direction, but Maddie grabbed her flowing tulle veil and pulled her back.

  Maddie was giggling. “Stop.”

  “I’m kidding. But if my date is boring and I wink at you, you better take me with you when you go get your next drink.”

  “Not a chance. There’s a man in there I have my eye on.” Maddie waggled her brows.

  Ivy gasped, looking up and down Maddie’s costume. “You’re dressed as Christine from Phantom of the Opera. Don’t tell me there’s a stranger in a mask in there.”

  “There is.” Maddie shrugged. “Coincidence, I’m sure. But it’s fun to flirt with him.” She waved her fingers as she walked away. “Gotta mingle. Ciao.”

  Ivy was still grinning as she turned her head and saw a man coming toward her in a toga. He had a gold band around his head like her blue one, a purple sash over one shoulder, a gold belt around his waist, and sandals.

  He looked nervous. “You must be Cleopatra,” he stated as he stepped up to her. He held out a hand. “I’m Julius Caesar.”

  She repeated her mantra one more time, took a breath, and then shook his hand. “Nice to meet you, Julius.” Already, he was on her good side. On the one night she was dressed in a way that would draw men’s attention to her boobs, he hadn’t glanced down once yet.

  He shifted his gaze to her glass before leaning over the bar and requesting the same thing for himself. “Red wine, please.”

  She stared at his profile. He was a good-looking guy, even in the toga. Or especially in the toga. Maddie had done well. She figured he was about six feet. His hair was a shade blonder than hers. His eyes were blue. His skin was tanned. His smile was fantastic. And he had good taste in wine. At least the night was looking promising. And if he turned out to be an asshole, well, there was always the main bar.

  “Julius” accepted his drink and turned back to face her. “So, what department do you work in?”

  “Production.”

  “Ah. Accounting.”

  She nodded. “Maddie told me.”

  He lifted a brow. “She told you who you were matched up with? I thought it was a secret.” He sipped his wine.

  She shook her head. “She only told me that you were from accounting, and that was about thirty seconds ago. She was trying to reassure me she’d matched me up with someone nice.”

  He cringed. “If she told you I was an accountant and that I was nice, why are you still even at the party?”

  She laughed as his eyes crinkled. “I considered running. Not going to lie.”

  So far he seemed perfectly nice. His eyes still had not strayed to her cleavage. Did that make him nice?

  He leaned one elbow against the bar and glanced around. “Holy shit.” He straightened, his eyes bugging out.

  She followed his gaze to find Rose in a lip lock with someone Ivy had never met. “No kidding. Do you know that guy?”

  “Yes. I came with him. That’s my coworker, Dylan. I don’t know the woman.”

  “I do. She came with me. That’s my coworker, Rose.” Ivy was shocked. Apparently, her date was too. After several seconds, she added, “Do you think they’re ever going to break apart?” In all the years Ivy had known Rose, she didn’t think Rose had ever kissed a man in public. They’d been here less than an hour and Rose looked like she needed to get a room with this vampire who was surely a stranger to her.

  Julius laughed. “I’m certainly not going to intervene. Dylan’s had his eyes on some woman in the company for months. I’m gonna assume it’s her.”

  “Can’t be her. Rose never has her eyes on anyone.”

  Julius met Ivy’s gaze. “Does she dress conservatively, keep her head down, and fix tea every morning in the lobby?”

  Ivy nodded. “Yep.”

  “Then that’s her.”

  “Well, then…”

  “I’m Cooper, by the way,” he finally added.

  “Ivy.”

  He turned toward her. “Ivy…Ivy Lawrence?”

  “Yes. How did you know?”

  He shrugged. “I’ve seen your name on the company roster. I do work in accounting.”

  They both went back to watching Dylan and Rose making out in the middle of the crowded bar filled with all their coworkers. If nothing else, those two would keep the conversation interesting. Plus, Ivy needed something else to look at besides Cooper for a moment. He was quite the package. It had been a long time since anyone had caught her attention quite so quickly. She was a bit unnerved.

  Take a breath, Ivy. You’re going to have to face him and talk to him if you want to get to know him.

  Chapter 2

  Cooper turned his attention back to Ivy before she finished her internal pep talk. “So, tell me about yourself. Do you have a boyfriend?”

  She laughed again. He didn’t beat around the bush. And he was at least fun. “No. But not for lack of trying. I’m a serial online dater. Rose makes fun of me. I think she’s keeping a tally of how many bad dates I can go on in a month. I even have one lined up for tomorrow night. I don’t know why I keep doing it. They never work out.”

  He shrugged. “I hear ya. I’ve been on my fair share myself. I’ve only gone on a second date with anyone a few times, and never a third.”

  “At least you’ve made it to the second date. I’ve never even done that. Honestly, the online scene is the worst. The last guy I went out with had his hands all over me before we sat down to eat. And the one before him had his mom drop him off. His mom.”

  Cooper laughed. “Between the two of us, we could write a book. We could call it Fifty Failed Firsts.”

  Ivy giggled. “Right? It’s not like I’m not trying, but when I tell Rose about my evenings, she says I’m picky.”

  “Rose says you’re picky? Rose? The woman who doesn’t look anyone in the eye?”

  “Yep. You have a point. But she’s just introverted. I’m not exactly an extrovert, myself, but I can look someone in the eye and make small talk. Maybe I come off as too opinionated or something.” She shrugged.

  “You don’t seem too opinionated to me. In fact, if you were my online date for tonight, you would have already had me wondering about a second date.”

  “Aw. That’s so…cheesy.”

  He chuckled. “Yeah. Probably. But I don’t see why anyone would be turned off by you in the first few moments. You’re gorgeous, funny, and conversational. Three of the top checks on my list.”

  For once she was taken aback. “Thank you,” she murmured. “That means a lot.”

  “Granted, I doubt you usually meet your dates wearing that fucking sexy dress, so maybe they don’t readily realize how hot you are.” He smiled warmly, his gaze still on her eyes, not her boobs. But he had noticed her body.

  She shifted her weight from one foot to the other at his bluntness. It took a second to get back on her game and respond. “You never know. Maybe this is how I normally dress.”

  He laughed. “Touché.”

  “Kidding. I never wear something this revealing on a first date. And let me just say, you would be the first person to warrant a second date from me.”

  He lifted one side of his mouth. “How did I earn that?” His eyes twinkled. She loved the deep blue color.

  “I haven’t once caught you staring at my boobs instead of my eyes,” she admitted. She had no idea why she was so comfortable with him.

  “Ah, well, it’s not that I haven’t noticed. I’m
not dead, and they are fantastic. But I make a point of never treating women disrespectfully.”

  Lord. He was the real deal. Her heart beat faster. He’d somehow managed to compliment her without turning her into a sex object. It was enough to make her get all flushed. She needed to get the attention off herself. “So, tell me about you. Do you meet your dates wearing a toga?”

  “Nope. Never. This is a first.” He took a sip of his wine. “Remember, I’m an accountant. I’m boring and nice.”

  “Hey, at least Maddie was half right. You are nice.”

  “One out of two isn’t bad.”

  She let her gaze wander down his toga, wondering what he had on underneath it and hoping he wasn’t quite as nice as he seemed. She didn’t have the moxie to hit on him yet, but she wondered if he was interested in her or just joking around. This wasn’t really meant to be a date exactly. Maddie had intended for people to mingle. Get to know others in the office better.

  On the flip side, it was obvious she had masterminded the room in a way that set several people up.

  Ivy wasn’t prepared to say anything that would force Cooper to shut her down, however. It was possible he was just making small talk. Being polite. Nice. She couldn’t ascertain if he actually liked her yet. It would be humiliating if he gave her the brush off and then she ran into him at work. “So, why accounting?” she asked to make more conversation.

  “Eh. My dad’s an accountant. It just kind of happened. It was a solid career choice. Not really something I thought hard about. Now I’m here and it’s okay.”

  “You don’t sound enthused.”

  “It’s accounting. What’s there to be enthused about? I crunch some numbers. Make recommendations. Ensure the company’s taxes are on the up and up. Prepare for audits. I’m not sure how I avoid falling asleep at my desk really.”