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“No. I wanted …” She paused, her eyes finally flicking up to mine. She looked miserable. “I wanted to surprise her.” Then her chin rose a notch. “She’s been so kind to me, and … and I thought that maybe I could see if I liked making things for people too. She said it’s good for the soul to make something delicious that people enjoy, but I don’t find any of this enjoyable, and it looks awful, and I can’t do it. I don’t even know why I tried.”
Her voice trembled ominously at the end, and God help me, I’d probably fall in love with this woman before I could talk myself out of it.
Maybe that was why I smiled.
Because I didn’t think I could stop it.
And that smile widened when Ivy glared at my smile like it was doing her personal harm.
“What is so fucking funny?” she whispered fiercely.
“You are adorable.”
Her mouth dropped open. “I am not.”
“Why do you sound so offended?”
She made a spluttering sound. “No one’s ever called me adorable in my entire life.”
I took a step closer around the island, and she sucked in a sharp breath. I moved slowly enough that she could back away if she wanted.
Ivy didn’t budge.
“Maybe they didn’t see you like I do,” I told her, keeping my gaze steady on hers.
Did Ivy hear the added layer of meaning to my words?
I hoped so.
I wasn’t trying to change who she was; I just wanted her to trust me with the parts she kept hidden. Under my ribs, my heart pounded like a jackhammer because we were tiptoeing a line, her and I.
I wanted that line gone.
Her eyebrow arched—regal and haughty, and damn if that didn’t turn me on even more. “Maybe you’re delusional.”
When I leaned past Ivy, she stayed perfectly still. And while I peered at the mess on the counter, my chest brushed along her side.
I leaned forward, my arm against her shoulder, and I dipped my finger into the bowl of chocolate. “I don’t think I am,” I said, low and deliberate, ducking my mouth so that it came closer to her ear before backing away.
Her eyes were cagey, her face watchful as I tasted the mousse.
I hummed deep in my throat. It was sweet and smooth and rich. But I stayed silent, letting the quiet stretch between us.
Her shoulders shifted restlessly, her navy eyes flickering dangerously. “Well?” she snapped. “If you’re just going to stand here making sex noises, you’re no help to me.”
I grinned, licking at my bottom lip.
All of this was so fucking risky, but it was also real. And I wouldn’t turn down the opportunity for more of that real, not when it was close enough to touch.
And I wanted to touch. Had wanted to touch since the moment I saw her again.
Who knew what it said about me that I was hard as a rock when she snipped and snapped at me like she was. But there was no fighting it in my head anymore.
I’d take her any way I could get her, even if it was just for a little while.
So I dipped my finger into the chocolate again and held it up in front of her.
“Try it,” I told her.
