Wrapped Up in You (Heartbreaker Bay, #8)(18)

Caleb hadn’t had a single ounce of sympathy, dragging Kel’s half-dead body out anyway. “Thought you were a country boy. Country boys are hardy,” he said, pushing Kel hard.

Kel’d had just enough spare energy to flip him off. But it was his own fault. He’d not told Caleb, or any of his family, how badly he’d been injured.

“So,” Caleb said casually. “What’s going on with you and Ivy?”

Kel nearly tripped over his own feet. “Nothing.”

“Is that because you think you’re relationship jinxed, or because she’s not interested in you?”

Oh, there was interest. Lots of it. And that wasn’t ego. It was fact, and it went both ways, and it was seductive and hot as hell.

And just a little terrifying. “You know my job gets in the way of my personal life,” he said.

“It’s not your job,” Caleb said. “It’s you.”

His sister, Remy, had said that to him on numerous occasions. So had the last two women in his life. It rang in his head more than it should. It’s you . . .

He’d ignored all of it.

“Ivy’s a five-foot-two-inch dynamo of a cook with a personality much bigger than her petite frame,” Caleb said, not struggling to breathe and run and talk at the same time, the bastard. “And she’s one of the rare good ones.”

“I know.”

“She’s independent, savvy, fearless, creative, street smart, and has some serious authority issues.”

Kel snorted at the truth of all of that.

“You can count on her to give it to you straight up.”

Kel thought maybe this wasn’t necessarily true. He saw Ivy slightly different. He believed she was a chameleon, and good at figuring out what people wanted to hear.

Which meant he wasn’t 100 percent certain why she appealed to him so very much. And there was appeal. So effing much appeal . . .

After the run, they stopped for breakfast tacos. It was seven straight up and there was a line at Ivy’s truck, but she served quickly and efficiently, exchanging an easy banter with everyone in front of them in line.

When it was Kel’s turn, she met his gaze, her own hooded.

Yeah. She didn’t know how to handle this thing either.

“What’ll it be, cowboy?” she asked.

Thinking he was being cute, he smiled and said, “What do you suggest?”

She rolled her eyes. “You’re a glutton for punishment.”

“I’m not,” Jake said. “My usual, please.”

Caleb nodded the same. “We need it to go, cutie, we’ve got a meeting.” And as they stepped aside to wait, his cousin eyed Kel. “You screw things up?”

“There’s nothing to screw up.”

“I really thought you’d have more game than this,” Jake said.

When their order came up, Ivy handed out their baskets, again serving Kel last. Their fingers brushed and she sucked in a breath.

“Thanks,” he said quietly, not pulling his basket from her hand, but holding it with her, stalling . . . “How’s it going?”

Their eyes met. She didn’t answer, but gave him a small—and, he’d like to think, just for him—smile, before walking away.

Jake and Caleb were staring at him.

“What?” he asked.

“There was enough heat in the air between the two of you to light this whole city up in flames,” Caleb said.

Jake just gave a slow nod. “Guess you do have some game after all.”

Caleb’s and Kel’s phones both buzzed at the same time with a reminder of a meeting in thirty minutes. Their entire day was full.

The story of his life, of course. He hadn’t been kidding when he’d told Ivy his life didn’t lend itself to relationships. But it was the first time he’d ever wanted to put personal stuff ahead of work. He wanted to take the time to talk to her, and see what might happen next.

This of course led to some fairly creative fantasizing, none of which he had any business doing. Didn’t stop him. And it wasn’t all sexual. He thought about taking her out on the water in one of Jake’s boat. Sans Jake, of course. Or walking Pier 39 and sightseeing. Or going out on the town for the night.

The entire duration of his and Caleb’s meeting with the city inspectors, he nodded when necessary and spoke when he needed to, but in spite of the importance of the meeting, he’d definitely done what he’d never thought he could—relegated brain power to his personal life.

To Ivy.

He’d hoped to get some time later in the day to go talk to her, but that didn’t happen. And right after work, he had something else he had to do first, something he’d put off.

He wasn’t even sure why. He loved his sister. They had a good relationship. She’d been in Idaho just a few months ago and had stayed with him. Plus, he couldn’t wait to see the new baby. But he knew it wasn’t going to be just a catch-up visit. It wasn’t going to be that simple. His sister wanted family unity, including his mom.

And Kel wasn’t sure he was ready for that. Or if he ever would be. So he stood on the porch of his sister’s small Victorian house in the Soma District, hands shoved in his pockets, feeling more jumpy than he’d ever felt at work in Idaho, and that was saying something.