Ivy blinked back into reality. “Sorry, what?”
Three shaking heads greeted her.
Wendy spoke first. “Girls, I think it is time for a night out. Ladies only, on the prowl, forgetting about our problems.” She dug her phone out of her purse. “I’ll text Hope. We haven’t done anything like this in ages. Nothing to get you out of the funk like the bonds of female friendship, dancing, and copious amounts of fruity cocktails.”
A night with the gals should have sounded like fun, like exactly what she’d needed. Something to take her mind off the intense brown eyes that constantly invaded her brain, inciting a desperate longing to nag at her heart.
Yes, she definitely needed a distraction, and this one sounded perfect.
* * *
“This is a bad idea.”
Ivy hit the speaker button on her phone before she tossed it on the bedspread beside her so she could properly lean over her bent leg to paint her toenails. Hope’s voice lectured her as she stroked Fearless Red onto her big toe.
“If I remember correctly, you were the one encouraging me to reclaim my sexuality,” Ivy replied in an even voice.
“Yes, but I meant with Sean! Not some random dude from a techno club in a seedy part of town,” Hope countered, her voice horrified.
“Sean doesn’t want to be a fuck buddy.”
“Because he wantsmore,” Hope cried. “He wants you, Ivy. What’s wrong with that?”
“Plenty.Moreis a big leap fromcan-have-sex-without-freaking-out. I’d end up screwing it up somehow and he walks away.”
“You’re being ridiculous.” Hope sighed loudly through the phone. “At least tell me Sean knows your plan for tonight.”
Now she laughed outright. “Are you kidding me? He’d lose his mind.”
“Exactly! So why are you doing it?”
“Because he has no right to lose his mind! Because I made an offer and he didn’t take it. I have one life to live, and I’m tired of living in this black hole where I feel numb all the time. I want to live again. I don’t want to feel the remnants of that night like paint on my skin that I can’t wash off. And I don’t give a damn if Sean doesn’t like it. He didn’t have to live through what I did. I don’t owe anyone more than I am willing to give.” Her words surged out of her on a huff.
For a moment, there was silence over the phone, and she thought she might have accidentally hung up on her friend.
“You’re right,” Hope said into the silence. “He has no say. But I’m coming with you guys tonight. And we’re not going to Silk, we’re going to Bowie’s.”
She suppressed a groan. Hope was turning into a wet blanket. Bowie’s was tame compared to the popular nightclub, Silk. Not to mention that she knew most of the regulars at Bowie’s and her chances of finding the potential candidate she was looking for were less likely, especially with all her bodyguards present. Bodyguards being Carter and Gabe. She also knew if she didn’t compromise on this, she couldn’t guarantee Hope wouldn’t sabotage ladies’ night altogether by doing something stupid like calling Sean.
“Fine,” she agreed. “I’ll text the others with the location change.”
Having appeased her friend, she hung up on Hope and texted the others, who were more than agreeable to the change. Going to Bowie’s often meant a generous family and friends discount on the tab.
The rest of the afternoon went by in a flurry of picking and discarding outfits until she finally settled on pairing a low-necked, long-sleeved bodysuit with skinny jeans and killer black heels that raised her short frame a few more inches. She needed to feel herself tonight, or at least the version of herself she wanted to be. Confident and empowered. She studied her reflection in the mirror as she applied a layer of lipstick. Tonight, she’d need as much confidence as she could muster.
Coi Leray’sGirls Is Players Toocame up next on her playlist, and she’d smacked her lips together with a courage boostingpopwhen there was a sharp knock on her front door.
She pulled a bottle of red wine out of her cupboard and set it on the counter, not at all minding that the ladies had stopped at her apartment for a warm up drink.
But when she opened the door, it wasn’t the ladies on the other side.
CHAPTERTWELVE
Sean stood in her doorway, with his hands braced on the doorframe above his bowed head.
Ivy sighed loudly. If he was here to ruin her night, he was going to need that look of defeat because she was going to kick his ass. “I don’t have time for this. I’m going out.”
When he finally looked at her, his dark eyes immediately roamed over her body like, for once, he wasn’t searching for injuries. Her skin warmed under his appraisal, which only irritated her more, so she crossed her arms defiantly. Or maybe it was defensively. She had so little armor against this man.
