29. A Single Desire #2
Something told me, as I sucked the taste of myself from his fingers, that if I could see his face in this dim light, the only place I’d be going was upstairs to his bed, and that scared me.
But the feeling must’ve been mutual, because as soon as his fingers were cleaned off, he pulled them from my mouth. A moment later, the door was open, and the grumpy cowboy I’d been lusting after for months was gone.
Two days passed in a blur.
I did everything in my power to stay away from the cowboy who employed me.
I worked an extra skating lesson. I didn’t clean up dinner the night before, instead choosing to help Sunny cook, and I was out and in my car the moment he pulled up, telling my favorite kid that I had to meet my mom in the next twenty minutes.
I hadn’t gone to Aspen’s. I hadn’t gone for coffee. I hadn’t done or gone anywhere at all where he could possibly wind up and find me.
Was that a bit dramatic? Maybe. However, I was a mess.
My mind was a horrid place to be right now.
Nothing he said hadn’t been true in that pantry closet. I’d gone home and thought of him and when Todd was up late into the night on his phone, I found I didn’t even care.
Was I a bad person? Maybe.
I knew I needed to end things. It made no sense for me to stay when it was clear we were both mentally somewhere else—even physically somewhere else, in some ways. I needed to just cut ties and move on.
Whether that be moving on with Oliver, I didn’t know. But I knew I couldn’t stay in that apartment any longer.
“Hey, Ivy, you have a visitor,” Lucas said from over the bar, his chin tilting towards the entrance.
“How do you know—” I looked over my shoulder and saw him. My heart rate sped up, and I cleared my throat. “Maybe he’s here for some to-go food for the ranch guys.”
“Mmm, maybe. But you’re going to take the order.”
My eyes narrowed on him. “Why me?”
He shrugged. “I’m the assistant manager. My call. Have fun.”
Fucker.
I let out a breath, tossing the rag I’d used to dry off some silverware at him.
Approaching the hostess stand, I smiled tightly.
It was lunchtime and the middle of the week, so we weren’t busy enough to need a hostess for another two hours, which left me and Lucas to hold down the fort on the front end.
“To-go order?” I asked casually. It wasn’t as if I could jump him here. We were in public. This was safe. Good, even. Maybe I could have a civil conversation and then things could be normal while I figured things out with my boyfriend.
Oliver smirked, a look that was simply no good on him. Absolute trouble in its highest form.
“Yeah, baby doll.” He rattled off the order for him, Rowan, and their two ranch hands.
“Cool. I’ll get it in for you and you can snag a spot up at the bar if you want to wait for it.”
I turned to leave, but he grabbed my wrist, the hold gentle but firm at the same time. Fire flowed through my veins, heating my cheeks and leaving me breathless.
“And you’ll be?”
I cleared my throat, my gaze stuck on the hold on my wrist, his thumb swiping back and forth slowly against my skin. “Working, Oliver.”
He nodded, releasing his hold on me while I all but ran to the kitchen. Behind a closed door and away from the front of the house, Lenny, our weekday cook, and Lucas stared at me expectantly. I shoved the ticket at Lenny and rolled my eyes at the both of them.
“Y’all just left me out there?”
Lenny threw his hands up in defense. “I belong back here, and now I’m going to go cook. My job.”
Lucas just laughed. “Always told Aspen and I you wanted a cowboy. I’m gettin’ you one!”
“Asshole. He’s my boss. It would be like me fucking you!”
Lucas arched a brow at me and shook his head.
“You aren’t my cup of tea there, sunshine.
However, Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome Cowboy out there?
Definitely your type. Much better than the lowlife you’ve been dating.
Time for a switch-up. So go on out there.
I’m sure he’d love to lean you over one of those tables. ”
I stared, shocked, almost speechless. “That’s a health code violation.”
“One I’d commit to if it meant you’d leave Toad.”
Lenny let out a chuff, throwing a hand over his mouth as he turned away and walked deeper in the kitchen.
“See? Lenny agrees with me. Time to trade your toad out for a cowboy. Now get out there. Boss’s orders.”
I shook my head, the disbelief clear. As I walked back out from the kitchen, my eyes found him immediately, seated in the far corner of the bar, his eyes giving away nothing as he watched me from across the room.
Doing my best to busy myself, I started wiping down tables, checking salt and pepper shakers, hot sauces, ketchup—all of it.
But of course, they were all full, seeing as I’d done this after the busy weekend they’d had.
“You gonna attempt to seem as busy as possible over there?”
His voice caused a minor jump from my internal ramblings, but I refused to answer that question. His steps echoed in the otherwise empty space, his boots clicking along the hardwood floors.
I was leaned over a table once more, wiping up salt particles that I’m sure were farther than I could see, when I felt him step behind me. The tips of his fingers glided down my back, and even through the layers of material that separated our skin, I could feel him everywhere.
“Oliver,” I found myself whispering.
“Ivy,” he replied. “You’ve been avoiding me.”
I stood, spinning around to stare up at him. He was even closer than I thought, the heat of him rolling off those muscles of his.
“It’s only been two days. I hardly think that can be summed up as avoidance.” Heart racing, my palms began to sweat as I squeezed the rag in my hand tighter. Whatever I could manage to keep myself from touching him.
“Yet, I’m here. Calling it avoidance.”
I scoffed, looking away towards the front door, willing someone to come in this damn restaurant. Anything to give me a reason to move away from this man and attempt a busy sort of afternoon.
His hand came up, fingers once more gliding along my arm. Only this time, it was along my bare skin. I forced a slow breath through my nose, willing my heart to remain calm, but that all fell apart when his hand came up and sat at the base of my throat, his thumb against my pulse point.
“You asked me to stop being nice, baby doll. I’m just here to abide by your wishes.”
My eyes widened as I realized how he’d taken my request. “That wasn’t what I meant. I mean, I didn’t?—”
His hand tightened, and my sentence died off as my thighs clenched and my breath hitched.
“If you don’t want me to be a gentleman, let you come to me once my intentions have been made clear, that’s fine by me.
But don’t be surprised when I show up to take what I want, Ivy Tinsley.
” He leaned down, his nose running along my jaw and back to my ear.
“And to be clear, what I want is you. Unabashedly and wholeheartedly. You.”
The cedar and clove scent of him was intoxicating. Even more so when combined with the feeling of him so close to me. Touching me. The unspoken promises of what was to come if I’d just accept it—maybe even if I wouldn’t.
His hand fell away from my neck, but he smiled down at me before he turned and walked back to the bar.
“Don’t let me interrupt your work, Ivy. We’ll have plenty of time to chat later.”
I swallowed, my throat tight as I watched him meet Lucas at the kitchen door where he grabbed his food, throwing me a wink on his way out the door.
“See you soon, baby doll!”
I wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing at this point.