Wrapped Up in You (Heartbreaker Bay, #8)(29)

And because he didn’t sound necessarily happy about that, she snorted. “Yeah. I hear that a lot. So what do all the women in your life think of your two weeks in San Francisco?”

“My women?”

“The people you’re seeing,” she said casually, eyes on her menu.

He flashed another smile, which she caught because he put a finger on her menu and pushed it down. “Are you fishing?”

Dammit. Yes. She lifted her chin. “In your dreams, cowboy.”

His smile slowly faded and he leaned in, eyes on hers. “Putting aside the fact that you know my life doesn’t lend itself to relationships, you really think I’d kiss you like I did if I was kissing anyone else?”

She stared at him, heart suddenly thundering in her ears. “Lots of men do.”

He gave a single shake of his head and brought his hand over the top of hers on the table, squeezing lightly. “Ivy?”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t want you to take this the wrong way, but the men in your past really sound like a bunch of assholes.”

Unable to deny that, she shrugged. “There haven’t been that many, to be honest. But I do tend to . . . pick the ones who are bad for me.”

“How so?” he asked.

She was surprised to hear herself answer, and truthfully at that, especially since she very purposely never thought about this particular time in her life. “My last relationship was my longest. I met Dillon in LA, where I was living at the time. We stuck a whole year.”

“What happened?” Kel asked.

This was embarrassing. And embarrassingly revealing. “I’d moved in with him. Then he got a promotion he’d been hoping for, but his new position was in New York.”

“You didn’t want to move?”

She turned her head and looked out the window, not wanting to see his face. Or have him see hers. “I would have. But he took the job and gave up his apartment without asking me to go with him.”

“Leaving you homeless?” he asked with a whisper of disbelief.

She shrugged. She’d been homeless before. And hey, she’d had a few weeks’ notice from the building super to get out.

“That was a real dick move, Ivy.” She felt his hand take hers in his bigger, warmer one. “I’m sorry that happened to you. You deserved better.”

“It wasn’t meant to be,” she said. “And anyway, I ended up getting something out of it.”

“What’s that?”

“I realized I wanted to make some changes in my life. I wanted my own place. And real friends. I wanted a sense of permanence. And I came here, where I’m working at making it happen.”

“By buying the taco truck and one of the new condos.”

She nodded.

“The first round of owners are moving in next week,” Kel said.

“I’m not in the first round.” But she was hoping to be in the second. “I’m still working at getting my down payment. When I was there bringing you breakfast, they were doing finish work on the ground floor around the lobby, the offices, business center, and gym.”

“It’s nearly all done now. We just got the office and business center fully furnished and equipped. All the computer systems are up and running, and the state-of-the-art gym will be finished by tomorrow. There’s now more money spent on that floor alone than most developing nations.”

A waitress appeared at their table. She was midfifties with a trim build and a kind face, her gray-tinged brown hair pinned to the top of her head. She looked up from her pad and stilled, staring at Kel in shock.

Kel looked just as shocked. “Mom.”

Mom? Ivy stared at the woman, able to see it now. They had the same dark brown eyes, the same set to their jaw, and currently the exact same expression of oh shit on their faces.

Neither of them spoke.

“Wow, you have a mom?” she asked Kel in a teasing tone she hoped might defuse the awkward silence. “You were once a little kid? Somehow I can’t imagine you as anything but a smartass cop.”

His mom smiled a little. “He was a cute little boy. And sweet, so very sweet. He always held my hand when we went anywhere. He was my dragon slayer, even when he was barely three feet tall.”

Kel had recovered from his surprise. His expression was now completely blank.

“It’s been a long time,” his mom said quietly, her eyes on her son. “I know you didn’t expect me here. It’s a new-ish job since the last time we talked . . . When was that?” she asked.

“Grandma’s funeral last summer.”

Her smiled faded. “Right. I’m sorry about this. I didn’t expect you either, but I’m . . .” She paused to take in a deep breath. “I’m so happy to see you, baby.”

Kel didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to. His eyes did it for him. He was seriously regretting offering to feed Ivy’s beast.

She wondered what his and his mom’s relationship was to cause him this much pain.

“I left him,” his mom said to Ivy’s unspoken question. “When he was twelve. I couldn’t help it, and I can’t take it back, but I regret it. I’ve deeply regretted it every day since. Especially because . . .” She turned back to Kel, her eyes swimming with unshed tears. “I know that you had to step up and work the ranch with your grandparents, and when they got older, you had to take over the entire operation. I know you put aside your own childhood to make sure Remy had hers. I know my selfish act meant you giving up your life to be the head of the household when you were way too young, which caused you to shut down your emotions and hold yourself in tight control at all times, something you never should’ve had to do.”