“I’m not exactly counting, but so far we have three things in common.Being abducted, apparently a mutual attraction, and our drink preference.”
Every time I thought she couldn’t stir up trouble, she went and did it again.
I left her comment alone and twisted a hand at the lime.“You gonna take care of that, or should I?”
She held her hands up.“Have at it.I don’t want to get juice all over your dresser.”
My dirty mind served up visions of her getting a different kind of juice all over my dresser.I took a deep breath and exhaled before I grabbed the lime and cut it in half.
I handed her one half.“Have at it, Ivy.”
While she fiddled with the lime, I squeezed as much out of the other half as I could, careful not to get seeds in the glass.
“Geez, you must have strong hand muscles,” she said, carefully putting the other half on the dresser.
I grabbed that half and squeezed the rest into my glass.“Yeah.It’s important to have strong hands when you’re dealing with drunks.”
She raised her glass to mine.“Here’s to escaping that creepy house.”
I tapped my glass against hers and took a sip.
She slammed hers back.“All right.Hit me again, Nickel.”
“You aren’t getting drunk, woman.”
Her head tilted.“Not trying to get drunk.But, I’d say today calls for two cocktails, not one.”
I poured a single finger of vodka into her glass.“There you go.That’s it, Ivy.”
“Cool,” she said, and sipped at it, then wandered to my bed.
Chapter 11
We're Even
Ivy
Betweenthevodkaanddiscovering new things about Ryan at every turn, I found myself letting my guard down more and more with him.I needed to protect my heart here.
I’d had two long-term relationships, and both had wrenched my heart in different ways.William left me on the hook for an apartment lease, which was why I hadn’t bought any property.My credit seriously needed to improve.The other ex-boyfriend, Austin, had been more controlling than I liked, but the worst thing was when he brought another woman home with him – out of the clear-ass blue – and wanted to experiment.I liked to think I was open-minded, but that sort of thing should have been discussed before hand.The two of us.
Ryan didn’t give me those kinds of vibes, but he also wasn’t willing to go to the law about the crimes committed against us… which basically made us criminals, too.
That should have put the ultimate damper on my attraction to him, but he’d made a good point.It wouldn’t look like self-defense – especially since we’d moved one of the bodies.
He downed the last of his cocktail and poured himself another.
My snark couldn’t be denied.“That’s it for you, too, right, Nickel?Or is it a one-way street here?”
He glanced over his shoulder at me with a cynical smirk.“This is it.Thanks for the reminder, smarty.”
I set my glass on the nightstand while shaking my head.“I’m just saying…double standards suck.”
“That they do,” he muttered, moving to the other side of the bed.
The clinking sound of his belt buckle stole my attention and I glanced his way in time to see him drop his jeans to the floor.He wore shiny royal-blue boxer briefs that appeared to be made of nylon.
I fought all of my reactions to seeing him in his skivvies.
