Page 24

The kitchen light was on.

I stopped short in the doorway at the sight laid out for my viewing pleasure.

Ivy was bent over the open fridge, one hand braced on the wall while she dug around, probably in search of a late night snack. Or maybe, like me, she was just searching for a distraction. I didn’t give a shit what she wanted in the fridge because her ass cheeks were peeking out the bottom of a pair of booty shorts that made my mouth run dry. Those ass cheeks were pale and round, and if I squinted just right, dotted with freckles.

My jaw clenched tight.

I swallowed down a moan. Seconds later another rose up and I was powerless to stop it.

Out loud.

She straightened fast and spun around with wide, shocked eyes. Her gaze tracked over me so fucking slowly I felt it. Hell, my cock felt it. Her gaze tracked down my chest. Slow like she needed to savor every moment. Her jaw didn’t drop or anything obvious like that, but her eyes moved and the tips of her ears went pink the more she looked, and my cock, which had already been a problem, thickened.

“Ivy.” It came out like a growl.

Her gaze darted away. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize.” My hands fisted on my hips to keep from reaching for her the way I wanted to. The way my body urged me to. “You can look at me if you want.” I liked the way she looked at me with that desire she couldn’t hide for shit.

She looked again, even slower this time. Something darkened in her eyes before she caught herself and shook her head. “I shouldn’t.”

“You’re my wife,” I insisted, though for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why I pushed it.

“But not like a real wife,” she shot back. There was no bite to her words, only a kind of desolation over that fact. “You just shocked me, that’s all.” She tried to tear her gaze away, but she failed.

Knowing she was so impossibly attracted to me she couldn’t look away was a new level of arousal I just unlocked. “Shocked I’m so hot?”

She shook her head, cheeks going red. Despite the furious blush that stained her cheeks, she managed to find her fire. “Not at all. I have eyes, don’t I?”

Well. That was something. “What would make you my real wife, Ivy?” I was asking for trouble, but I’d never been a man to shy away from it. Hell, there were many times in my life I ran at it headfirst.

Her cheeks turned pink. “You know what I mean, Knox. You didn’t ask for this and neither did I. If I wasn’t here now, you’d never give me a second look.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it.”

She gasped, her eyes bore into mine, willing the lie to the surface to confirm her ridiculous thoughts.

I pressed my advantage and closed the distance between us.

She stepped back.

I took another step forward. And another, smiling at the chase.

“Knox,” she stammered.

“I’d give you plenty of looks.” To punctuate the point, I took a half-step back and let my gaze rake over her body, over the way her tits pushed up over the edge of the scrap of cotton she called a tank top. The strip of belly that dipped in at the sides. “Plenty,” I emphasized just to see the shiver it caused.

She shook her head like she didn’t want to believe it. “Now who’s on bullshit?”

I grinned. “I like your fire, Ivy.” My gaze lingered again, over every inch of her. “I also like your tits. And your ass. In fact, I bet those thighs will look real nice wrapped around my hips.” I paused. “And my head.”

Damn, but her blush was tempting as fuck.

“I’m here and I’m convenient, that’s all.”

“Who are you trying to convince, Ivy?” I held her gaze, daring her to give me another bullshit answer. When she said nothing, I gripped her wrist and put her hand on my cock. “Does that feel convenient to you? Because it’s uncomfortable as fuck for me.”

Her brows dipped. “Is it?” she asked, her voice drenched in awe before she squeezed. Then again. Then she stroked me through my boxers. “Does it hurt?”