Chapter 13
Wes
Maverick: Ivy left her car at the bar last night, and Wes made me help him bring it back to her apartment after I closed down.
Wes: Why is that news to share?
Sophie: That’s very interesting. Verrrry interesting.
Lincoln: Is that supposed to be surprising?
Wes: Can we not do this?
Maverick: I just think it’s important we’re all aware of the current happenings in our brother’s life.
Lincoln: I think everyone is on the same page about what’s happening in our big brother’s life.
Wes: And what does everyone think is going on in my life? Which is, by the way, none of your ducking business.
Wes: Ducking
Wes: What the duck
Sophie: ??
Lincoln: I’m assuming he means how you’ve got it bad for the nanny.
Maverick: ^^^ this. Also, it’s too bad, because I gave Chase her number last night.
Sophie: Oh god.
Wes: What?
Lincoln: Ha. Good one.
————
Lilah and I are at our gate waiting for Ivy to join us. We board in fifteen minutes and I’m starting to regret not calling her, or offering to pick her up on the way. I wanted to give her some space after last night since she seemed to be annoyed with me. I didn’t want to push it.
“Where’s Iby, Daddy?” Lilah asks for the seven-hundredth time.
“On her way.” I ruffle her pigtails, trying to appear at ease, but deep down I’m starting to panic a little bit.
I’m about to pull out my phone to call her when I finally see her walking toward us with a small duffel bag slung over her shoulder.
I say walking, but really she’s hauling ass, with her bag bouncing against her thigh aggressively.
It’s more of a speed walk. An attempt to look like she’s walking even though she’s doing it at a runner's pace.
She finally spots the gate number, then looks down to scan the crowd. She eventually meets my eye, looks down for Lilah, and sighs in relief. She eventually comes to a stop in front of us, breathing erratically, her face glistening with a hint of sweat.
She’s wearing a tight tank top, and even tighter bike shorts with sneakers. Only half of her dark wavy hair is pulled up, and it accentuates every feature on her flawless face. She’s completely void of makeup, freckles more noticeable than when I first met her. She is absolutely breathtaking.
She looks up at me, and that’s when I notice her seafoam green eyes pinched with worry. Her entire body seems tense, and I finally snap out of my lust filled gaze to see the distress written all over her.
“Iby! We have the same shoes! Twins again!” Lilah announces, launching herself at Ivy. I look down and realize they both have shoes in a shade of pink. They’re the same only in the category of color, but I don’t correct her.
Ivy quickly snaps out of it, softening her expression—or at least tries to for my daughter's sake—and wraps Lilah up in her arms.
“We do! Twins! Are you ready to go girly?” Ivy asks, shaking her while they hug. She does this almost every time, and every single time it makes Lilah laugh.
“Yes! So is Burrito!” Lilah replies, holding the dirty looking dragon above her head. I need to wash that thing, but Lilah hates it when I do.
“Good. I’m so excited. I love hotels, you will too, Burrito,” Ivy speaks directly to the dingy toy, making Lilah giggle even more, then slip her hand into Ivy’s.
When Ivy finally gives me her attention, she lets her mask for Lilah fall. The stress is back. I can see it in every feature.
“Hi, sorry. I was going to be here sooner, but I got held up with Rose.”
“Everything okay?”
“I think so.” She nibbles on the corner of her lip, and it takes everything in my power not to focus on it. This is not a sexy time. She’s worried, focus on her.
“What happened?” I press.
“Well, I usually go over in the morning to have coffee with her. Or at least that’s what I tell her.
She mentioned to me a few times that she’d forgotten to take her morning pills, so I started having coffee with her just to make sure she takes them.
When I let myself in this morning she was just getting out of bed.
Usually she’s already dressed, and has my cup waiting for me by then. ”
I tilt my head, considering. I can see why that would worry her.
She continues after a long guttural sigh. “When I asked her about it, she told me she just stayed up too late last night, and slept in. She promised she’d have her daughter come by today.”
I nod in reassurance. “That’s a good idea. Was she acting normal besides that?”
“She yelled at me a lot for questioning her. Told me to stick my questions where the sun don’t shine. So yeah, normal.”
I laugh at that. “She seems like a good time.”
Ivy relaxes a little at that. “She is.”
“You’re all set to go? You don’t need to stay?”
She cocks her head. “What would you do, bring Lilah to Texas with you?”
“No, I’d reschedule with the studio.”
“Wesley,” she says on a gasp. Damn. I liked that. “You can’t cancel a day before.”
“Rose is important to you, which means she’s important to us.” I gesture to myself and my daughter who’s currently, to no surprise, staring up at Ivy with stars in her eyes.
“Well, that’s really sweet,” she says, blowing out a puff of air. “No…Rose might actually kill me if I stayed for her. I made her take her pills, and her daughter is supposed to be with her today. I’ll call her later when we get to the hotel.”
I nod as the PA system alerts us that it’s our time to board.
We gather our bags, scan our boarding passes with the desk clerk, then shuffle onto the plane.
I find our row quickly, and place my bag in the overhead compartment.
I do the same to Lilah’s but let her keep her mini pack with her.
It’s full of coloring books and random toys she insisted on bringing.
I reach my hand out for Ivy’s duffel, but she holds it away from me.
“I can do it.”
Not this again.
“I know you can. Hand it over.”
She narrows her eyes at me, then my outstretched hand, but after a few seconds, she gives in.
I want to call her a good girl again, but refrain.
It was a slip of the tongue when I said it last night, but I didn’t miss the flare in her eyes, and the flush in her cheeks.
The words left my mouth without permission, and I’m kicking myself for it.
Now that I know what the praise did to her, there’s no denying just how compatible we could be.
Speaking of last night, Maverick’s taunting texts come back to mind.
Chase asked for Ivy’s number. And he got it.
I tighten my grip on the armrest, and my chest pinches at the thought of the two of them together.
Ivy is a free woman, who's able to text, date, and spend time with whoever she chooses, and any man would be so lucky. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to throw her phone right off this fucking plane just to be sure she doesn’t give him the time of day.
I always thought Chase was a nice guy, but now he’s the bane of my fucking existence.
Out of the corner of my eye, I glance at Ivy and see her typing away on her phone.
God, this is a special kind of torture. Is she texting him now?
Lilah has gotten so attached to her, I fear for the day Ivy moves on.
My mind races with ideas to keep her around.
I’ll pay her more if I have to. There’s not much I wouldn’t do to keep her.
Lilah wanted the window seat, and to sit next to Ivy, so that leaves me in the aisle with Ivy between us. I would’ve preferred not to be thigh to thigh with the gorgeous, deliciously smelling nanny. I’m not confident my resolve can handle it.
But what can I do? Grin and bare it is what. Don’t touch her, don’t stare at her, don’t smell her. Easy.
————
It’s not easy.
It’s incredibly hard not to inhale Ivy’s sweet scent. It’s only a two hour flight, but Ivy is already dozing off. Her long night, and stressful morning has clearly caught up to her. Her head starts to bob, and she jolts back awake a couple times, before her body finally yields to her exhaustion.
Her head gently lands against my shoulder, and I hear her let out a deep sigh through her nose. It's unconscious, but it’s like her body knows where it belongs. Friends think that way, right? I peek over to check on Lilah. She’s still watching the movie I downloaded on my phone for her.
“You good, bug?” I whisper to her over Ivy’s head.
She looks over at me and nods, smiling. My eyes drop to her lap and I see Ivy’s hand clutching hers.
Their fingers are intertwined and resting on Lilah’s legs.
My breath stalls in my throat. I try to shove the undeniable feeling it gives me, far, far away, then I go through the mental list I’ve created with the reasons why Ivy and I would be a bad idea—like I do pretty much every day.
I refuse to participate in my daughter losing another important female figure in her life.
Though Delilah doesn’t remember her mom, she still knows she lost her, and still asks about her all the time.
Her affection for Ivy hasn’t gone unnoticed by me.
I know it’s her subconscious need for that relationship, and Ivy has taken it on with stride, even if she’s unaware she’s doing it.
I’m utterly terrified of losing someone close to me, to Lilah, again. The thought that someone could be taken away in the blink of an eye—the fear paralyzes me. Better to take the possibility out of the equation entirely.
Sarah and I were inseparable from the time we were ten, up until she left us.
She was the best friend anyone could’ve asked for.
We were there for each other through elementary, middle, and high school.
We even went to the same damn college. Losing her was my worst nightmare, and I swore to myself I’d never put myself in that position again.