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“How’s it going with Ty?” Savi went on.
I sank farther into the mud and breathed deeply. The scent of fresh roses found my nostrils. Little wisps of cool mist puffed across my face and kept my skin from completely hardening. I opened my eyes and lifted my cucumber slice for just a second to look out the floor-to-ceiling window. The panoramic view of the gorgeous trees and flowers was intoxicating. We were nestled in this little piece of heaven outside of town. They had just the right level of soft music and bird sounds to give me the white noise I needed to turn off my head. I was completely relaxed for the first time in ages.
“Ivy?” she said again. “You asleep?”
“If you were to ask me yesterday,” I let out a soft sigh, “I’d have said we attempted to hash out our attraction for each other, but it wasn’t enough.” I sighed again, only heavier as I thought how much more I now wanted Ty physically.
“And now?” she pressed.
“Now…” I paused, trying to understand just what we actually were to each other. “I just don’t know.”
“He spent the night with you, didn’t he?” I lifted my cucumber and peered at her. She shrugged like she knew I was looking at her. “I baited Mark with cookies, and he spilled what he knew. To be fair, I thought he was keeping a secret about Olivia, so I truly wasn’t trying to dig about you two.”
“I see.” I dropped the cool slice back in place and chuckled. Mark really was everywhere. “He came to my room to apologize for being so distant after the Carson thing.” I kept the details to a need-to-know basis for Ty’s privacy. “He saw I was upset and ended up spending the night with me.”
“Really?” Sloane jumped in.
“Yes. He was a total gentleman, though, and a few times there he could have made something happen, but he stopped it. He wanted to prove he was there for the right reasons.”
“Wow, he really is one of the good ones, hey, Savi?” Sloane seemed impressed.
“I had a really good feeling on Ty when I read his file. Now, hearing this,” Savi sat up as the timer went off, “and from what I’d heard about him in the field, I’m really liking this guy.”
“So, what now?” We peeled ourselves out of our mud cocoons.
“I don’t know.” I stepped into the warm pool where we were to scrub ourselves clean. “I have no idea if last night changed our status of what we are to each other or not. Was he just being kind because he knew I needed someone to hold me last night?”
“Can I give my two cents?” Savi leaned her head back into the water to get the mud out.
“I welcome it.”
“We’re surrounded by amazing men, and each one of them is willing to push aside all they carry from their job to make sure we’re okay. They don’t expect sex afterward. They expect us to lean on them the way they lean on us. Ty seems to fit that mold. Last night, he was there for you. Simple as that. Just be yourself and see how he reacts.”
“I can do that.” I liked the idea of just being myself and seeing where it took me.
Victor had hands like a Greek god. The way he pressed his thumbs into my lower back nearly made me in a puddle of goo. The room was round, and our beds were angled so our heads were in the center and our bodies were pointed out like the petals on a daisy. I thought after our facials and mud bath, things couldn’t get better until we reached this room.
“Don’t tell my husband this, but I’d leave him just so I could date your hands, Farley.” Savi moaned, and Farley chuckled in his Bajan accent.
“You say that every time, Mrs. Logan, but yet, you wear the ring.” He played along. “A man’s heart can only take so much.”
“So many men, and just one of me.” She chuckled, and Sloane rolled to face me.
“While Savannah plots her divorce,” she playfully rolled her eyes, “can I ask you something?
“Of course.” I tried to pull my mind from Victor’s hands.
“How are you holding up, Ivy?” I gave her a ‘what do you mean’ look. “Doc came home carrying all kinds of heavy. You skipped out on dinner, and Ty bolted to your room the moment he could. I know you’re the therapist, and I’m sure Doc is a sound ear for you, but friend to friend, I just want to check in because I know what it’s like to fear for your life.”
Oh.
“Relax, beautiful queen.” Victor pressed his hands into my shoulders, and the tension her question brought floated away. “Yes, just like that.”
Sloane hid her smile at his choice of words, and I closed my eyes. “Beautiful queen” was never something I’d have thought anyone would call me.
Sloane had to turn her grin away as he began to coach me through the rest of the massage. I was nearly in tears trying to hold it together myself.
By time Sloane and I were finished and moved to the lounge for a glass of cucumber water, I felt like a whole new person. My hair was cut and colored. My mani and pedi were gorgeous, my skin glowed, and my muscles had been caressed and cared for by dear, sweet Victor. He was now my new love. Savi had already left the lounge and gone to change. Sloane and I somehow got ourselves to the change room and managed to get our lockers opened.
