Wrapped Up in You (Heartbreaker Bay, #8)(52)

She let out a small smile. “We already had a date, cowboy.”

“I want another.”

She cocked her head and studied him, and he did his best to look like the only thing she needed in her life. He must have succeeded because she smiled. “Is this because you’re trying to avoid going to your sister’s surprise baby shower?”

“No, that’s the next night. Which reminds me, how do you feel about three dates in a row?”

She snorted. “You sure you want company to the shower? Filled with family? I mean, that makes me a witness.”

He laughed. “There’ll be no bloodshed.” Probably. “And yeah, I want your company.”

“Because you want to use me to deflect the attention off you,” she said.

No, because he actually wanted to spend time with her, but that was more info than she needed right now. “Is that a problem?”

“Not even a little,” she said, and he resisted pulling her onto his lap and showing her some gratitude of the naked variety, but only because they were in public.

Taking in his expression, she laughed softly. “You can thank me after.”

Sounded promising.



Ivy woke up the next morning and looked over at the loveseat where Brandon had slept.

It was empty.

It took two seconds to look around. Brandon’s backpack was gone. The mugs they’d had hot chocolate in late last night after she’d come back upstairs from talking to Kel were no longer in the sink, but washed and put away.

Brandon had cleaned up.

And then bounced.

He’d promised he’d stay only one night and he’d kept that promise. And at the thought, she felt both relieved and inexplicably sad.





Chapter 19




Just one more. Okay, two more. Three.



Ivy dragged herself to kickboxing class, where, not surprisingly, she got her ass handed to her by Tina.

“Your head’s not in the game,” Tina yelled.

True story.

Class had started with a warm-up and would end with a cooldown, but in between were several rounds of high intensity intervals. That’s where they were at the moment, with Haley on one side and Sadie on the other, the three of them seriously lagging.

“Ladies,” Tina called out. “When the going gets tough, ask yourself—what would Tina do? And then get your damn head in the game.”

Haley, who’d had a few more dates with Dee and was looking happier than any of them had ever seen her, whimpered. “This is what I get for being a sex fiend. I’m too tired to get my head in the game.”

Sadie bent over at her knees to suck in air. “I’m . . . going to have to tell Caleb . . . that we can’t do it on the nights . . . I’ve got kickboxing class the next morning.”

“Ladies!” Tina called out. “If you can’t do it all night long and then handle this class the next morning, then I’m doing something wrong. Let’s start over, from the top. One-two punch, jab, cross, and front kick. And . . . repeat!”

They all groaned and got to work.



Life at the taco truck that day was insanely busy, but thanks to Jenny’s help, everything ran smoothly. The rain held off until Ivy had just started to walk home. In two blocks, she was soaking wet and frozen solid thanks to once again forgetting her umbrella.

Halfway home, Kel called.

“Hey, Trouble. How was your day?”

She found herself smiling for absolutely no reason. “Long.”

“Yeah? You got enough left in you for dinner?”

She paused. Not because she didn’t want to see him. She wanted that quite shockingly badly. “I’m wet, which means I’ll have to change. And once I take off my bra, I won’t want to go anywhere.”

His voice lowered to a sexy timbre. “Even better.”

She laughed. “Okay, so you’re definitely a guy.”

“Thought I proved that last night.”

“Did you?” she asked innocently. “That was hours and hours ago and I’m not sure I can remember.”

He paused. “You’re flirting with me.”

“Am I?”

“New plan,” he said.

“What’s that?”

“Leave your panties off too.”

Suddenly she wasn’t cold anymore. In fact, she was downright toasty hot as she disconnected and stared at her phone, pulse racing.

A flash of lightning had her quickly entering her building, and as she began to climb the three flights of stairs, she fantasized about all the things they might do to each other . . .

In the hallway in front of her door she stopped, and dripping a puddle around her feet, she took the extra beat to study her lock. Yes, she was flustered as hell, and also quite turned on. But she wasn’t stupid.

The tape was not in place. Instead, it hung off the jamb about an inch from the floor. But for the life of her, she couldn’t remember if she’d taken the time to set it before she’d left that morning.

Which meant she had no idea if someone—Brandon—had helped himself inside. Holding her breath, she unlocked the door and nudged it open with her foot, carefully peering in just as thunder boomed dramatically. But storms had never scared her.