Ivy snorted. Then outright laughed. “Oh, this is going to be fun, Thompson. Very, very fun.” She breezed by him and out the door, leaving any talk of the turtleneck eating her dust.
CHAPTERTHIRTEEN
“What’s he doing here?” Wendy murmured to Christine as Ivy took her seat at the table.
“I can hear you, you know,” Ivy muttered as she looked over her shoulder at Sean, who had paused at the bar to get a round of drinks and say hi to Gabe.
“Great, I was hoping I had used the exact right amount of volume so that you could ignore me if you chose to, but also explain why a hot male is here crashing our girls’ night, if you wanted to,” Wendy said, all in one breath, then took a sip of wine, looking casually over the rim. “So?”
“He insisted on being here after we came to an agreement.” She wasn’t quite sure what other way to put it.
“What kind of agreement?” Christine asked as she reached for the bowl of pretzels in the center of the table.
With both women staring at her with avid interest, and no love lives of their own to focus on, Ivy had to drum up something to tell them that was vague enough to satisfy their gossip lust but not detailed enough to leave them asking for more.
Luckily, Hope chose that moment to arrive, shrugging out of her coat and draping it over the back of the tall bar chair before lifting her elegant figure onto the seat. Looking around the table, she settled her dark-brown gaze on Ivy with her knowing best-friend look.
“What are you girls chatting about?” she asked.
“Ivy was about to tell us about an agreement she made with Sean that has him following her around like a puppy on our girls’ night,” Wendy supplied.
“Is that so? Well, do tell.” Hope linked her long, perfectly polished fingers together and set her chin on them, batting her lashes several times in Ivy’s direction.
Crap. There was no hiding when Hope was around.
Ivy shrugged, as if being hours away from having sex with Sean was absolutely no big deal.
“We’ve decided to see each other. Casually,” she added at the resounding gasp and muffled squeal that came from the women around the table. “Very casually. Like super, no strings, having a good time, casually.”
“So what, like fuck buddies?” Christine asked, stuffing another pretzel in her mouth. “Why don’t you actually date? Everyone knows you guys have it hot for each other.”
“Um…” Ivy hummed evasively. The only person at the table who knew about her past, and the supreme damage it had done to her sexual confidence and life in general, was Hope.
But the others didn’t know anything, and Ivy really wasn’t here to talk about it all, so her mind reeled with other possible explanations as to why she’d agree to sleep with Sean, but not date this highly dateable specimen of a man.
“Sometimes jumping into a relationship right away is too much pressure,” Hope piped up, coming to the rescue. “I think it’s a great idea to keep it casual, start slow and see where it goes.”
Ivy sighed inwardly and shot her friend a grateful look. Hope winked back in return.
“Has the fucking part started yet?” Wendy asked tactlessly, finishing off her wine, then blinked at the looks they all shot at her. “What? I mean, look at him. He’s like a Michelangelo sculpture in the flesh. Of course I want details on whether or not he’s as good in bed as everyone here thinks he is.”
“We haven’t,” Ivy replied. “Yet. But—” Ivy was cut off by Erica arriving at the table…with Anna.
“Hey guys,” Erica said, looking pretty damn bashful with a noticeable flush on her cheeks.
“Hey Erica,” Ivy greeted her friend, then turned pointedly to look at a beaming Anna. “Hey Anna. We weren’t expecting to see you tonight.”
Anna was grinning from ear to ear, her elation obvious. “I know it was supposed to be a partner-free evening, but I felt like a celebration tonight, so I tagged along. Hope you don’t mind.”
The now visibly tipsy Wendy scooted to the side to make room and pulled a bar stool over from a neighboring table, patting it vigorously. “Of course we don’t mind! It’s a night for celebrations. What are you two toasting to?”
As if no one had figured it out already.
Anna looked at Erica and smiled. There was so much love in that smile that Ivy couldn’t help but feel a surge of giddy anticipation bubble in her chest.
Erica’s mouth split into a massive blinding grin, then she lifted her hand to reveal a giant sparkler on the ring finger of her left hand. “I came to my senses and said yes to the best thing that’s ever come my way.”
“Oh my God!” Hope squealed, jumping from her seat and tossing her arms around Erica, then Anna. “That is amazing. I am so happy for you two!”
