I followed Ivy upstairs, and the moment she opened the door to her laboratory, I understood more about her than I ever could have from another conversation.
The room was large, and every available surface had been organized with meticulous care. Shelves overflowed with carefully labeled bottles, botanical extracts, fragrance materials, handwritten notebooks, and rows of experimental formulations on a whiteboard, while the large workbench in the center of the room was surrounded by beakers, pipettes, scales, and enough specialized equipment to tell me she'd spent countless hours refining her ideas.
"It's not much," she said quietly. "Most of the company's equipment is in an official lab and warehouse, but this is where I come up with ideas." She said, looking shy but proud. I looked around slowly, smiling despite myself.
"Perfect," I said, and she looked over at me, surprised.
"You think so?" She asked. I realized she was talking about the lab. I was talking about her.
“Yeah, I do.” I smiled, looking at the way she bit her lip. "I think it's obvious you put a lot of time and care into this place."
She smiled, and I noticed that when she gave a truly genuine smile, her nose scrunched up. "I practically live in here."
She reached for a small glass spray bottle and launched into an explanation about her new spray idea. The shy woman I'd metdownstairs disappeared, and was quickly replaced by someone entirely different. She stood straighter as she explained her vision, her voice growing into a confident tone. Before long, she was explaining hormonal regulation and with an enthusiasm that made it impossible to look away.
At least, impossible to look away from her.
I tried very hard to pay attention to the prototype she was holding, but I kept finding my eyes drawn back to her face instead. She became more animated every time she explained a new theory, punctuating her thoughts with small gestures while unconsciously tucking her hair behind her ear whenever it escaped her ponytail. The more excited she became, the more beautiful she seemed, because of the joy that radiated from her.
"...which is why I think the spray should interrupt the hormonal cascade before cortisol levels fully spike," she finished, looking proud and excited.
“I think we found a winner here,” I said with a smile, and she blushed as she looked down. Again, I wasn’t talking about the prototype - I was talking about her.
“Sorry, was I talking too much? I don’t want to bore you.” She said, and I shook my head.
"Ivy, I haven't been bored for a single second," I said, and she blushed. The shy smile that followed somehow made her even more beautiful.
Time passed without me noticing as we bounced effortlessly between discussions of her product theories and future research ideas, each topic naturally leading into another until it felt less like we’d only recently met, and more like we’d been working together for years. I couldn't remember the last time I'd enjoyed talking to someone this much.
“So, that’s why I use the pheromone replica-” Ivy was mid-sentence when one of her fathers poked her head into the lab. She straightened suddenly, moving slightly away from me at the lab table.
“Y-yes, George?” She asked as he gave her a look.
“The meeting’s nearly done. Is she holding you hostage up here?” He asked, looking at me.
“I think more the other way around,” I joked, giving Ivy a wink. George nodded, frowning slightly. “But I’ll let you get back to your projects,” I said to her while George turned to leave. I had to go back downstairs eventually, though I wished I could stay up here all day. I hadn’t met many people who could engage me this way.
“Well, I suppose I’ll let you get back to your pack as well,” Ivy said, moving to get off her chair. She started to put some vials away in a closet nearby. My eyes landed on a pale blue silk scarf draped across the back of a nearby chair.
Without thinking, I reached for the scarf, lifting it just enough to brush it beneath my jaw before carefully placing it back exactlywhere I'd found it. The movement lasted barely a second, driven entirely by instinct before my rational mind had any opportunity to intervene.
I stared at the scarf afterward, slightly shocked at myself. I’d just scent-marked her scarf. I’d never really done that before - it was a possessive move, but I didn’t even realize I’d been feeling that way. It simply felt right to leave some small trace of myself with her.
Eventually, we made our way back downstairs, where Hunter and Arabella were wrapping up the meeting. I smiled at Arabella, and while I appreciated her intelligence and social skills, my attention didn’t linger on her as the pack turned to leave.
“So? What do you think? Any bets on whether one of those two might be our match?” Ronan asked as we got into the car.
“Could be, or could be someone else entirely,” Hunter said. “A Bond profile will let us know for sure.”
I looked out the window, already wanting to schedule another meeting so I could be near Ivy again. I didn't care what our Bond Profiles eventually said. If she would allow it, I could happily spend the rest of my life courting that remarkable woman.
Chapter 12
Ronan
Normally, when we drove as a pack, it was fairly quiet. But we were headed to the Carrington estate, and Elias spent most of it talking about Ivy and how much he appreciated her interest in his research. No matter what we talked about, he somehow managed to bring her into nearly every conversation.
Years of sharing a pack bond made it impossible to miss the truth. Every time her name came up, I felt a flicker of anticipation from him. Hunter noticed it too, judging by the amused glances he occasionally sent in Elias's direction, though neither of us bothered calling him out on it.
