She looked at me then—reallylooked—and I saw it, that tiny fracture in the armor she wore so damn well. A shimmer of the girl I used to know, the one who’d looked at me like I hung the stars.
“I should go,” she said, but she didn’t move.
“Yeah,” I agreed, but I didn’t step aside.
The space between us tightened, thickened, pulled hot around the edges.
Her breath brushed my lips—soft, unsteady—and my whole damn body lit up like it remembered her better than my mind did.
She lifted her face a fraction, the barest invitation, and her chest grazed mine on the inhale. That single touch—barely anything—sent heat straight down my spine.
And then it hit me. Fast. Hard. Painful.
My cock swelled, thick and insistent, pressing uncomfortably against my jeans so suddenly it stole my breath. The kind of ache that felt like punishment. The kind she’d always done to me without even trying.
She was the only woman who’d ever done that—turned me hard with just a look, a breath, the slightest tremble of her mouth.
And right now, with her standing close enough that her heat rolled into me…it was torture.
Her eyes dipped to my mouth again, slow, like gravity was pulling her there, and my dick throbbed so hard it felt like I was seconds from losing every bit of discipline I had left.
I dipped my head—reflex, instinct, need—closing what little space was left. Her breath hitched, warm and shaky against my lips.
One more heartbeat. One more inch. We would kiss.
Her phone buzzed on the counter, and she jolted back like she’d been burned and stepped back fast, breaking the line of heat between our bodies. The screen lit up with some guy’s name.
Mark. Who the hell was Mark?
You still mad? Can we talk? I miss you.
Ivy groaned under her breath and dropped her head into her hands. “Oh, for fuck’s sake, give up already,” she muttered, swiping the screen dark.
I frowned. “What’s wrong?”
“Mark keeps calling,” she said finally, setting the phone face down. “My ex. From Dallas. Wants me to come back. Says I’m making a mistake being here.”
Jealousy flared in my chest before I could stop it, sharp and hot. “He bothering you?”
She shook her head. “No. He’s harmless. I ended it before I left. But he’s…” She sighed, frustration curling her lips. “Persistent. Like Tyler, but with better suits and bigger promises.”
I forced a chuckle, needing to cover the way my blood was about to boil. “Sounds exhausting.”
“Yeah,” she said, a humorless laugh escaping. “It is.”
I hesitated, then asked the question I didn’t really want the answer to. “You thinking about going back?”
That made her look at me. And for the first time since she’d come back, the polished consultant was gone. What was left was the girl I used to know, the one who’d once loved me enough to walk away.
Her voice dropped to a whisper. “I don’t know where I belong anymore.”
The honesty of it hit me square in the chest, cracked something wide open. Before I could stop myself, the words were out.
“You belong here, Ivygirl,” I said quietly. “You always have. I hope you know that.”
Her eyes went wide, bright with what might have been tears. Then she smiled—small and sad and real—and it was the first true smile she'd given me since she'd been back.
I couldn't help it. I smiled back. Just a slight curve of my lips, but it felt like surrender. Like admitting that no matter how muchI wanted to hate her, I couldn't. Not when she looked at me like that, lost and found at the same time.
