CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
NOLAN HAD ALWAYS prided himself on having a logical head when it came to most things, especially women. But he was slowly discovering that when it came to Ivy Chapman there were times when he couldn’t very well think straight. Like now.
He figured she would stay in that bedroom until she thought he’d be out of the way. He was proved right and now here she was. Only thing was that here he was as well. Imagine that. And from the frown on her face, she hadn’t imagined it.
“Nolan. I thought you would be in bed about now.”
Her words, against his most ardent wishes, evoked a vision in his mind of him in bed. Only thing was he wasn’t in there alone. He blinked to clear his mind, not liking that vision at all. “I decided to stay up and wait for you. I figured you’d come out of hiding sooner or later.”
Her frown deepened and as graceful as any woman could, she slowly walked to the refrigerator, opened it and began taking stuff out to, no doubt, fix herself a sandwich. Didn’t she believe in eating a balanced meal once in a while?
“For your information, I wasn’t hiding.”
“Weren’t you?”
She turned when she placed all the stuff for her sandwich on the table. She glanced up at him. “How did you expect me to react after you kissed me again?”
“Take it like the woman I know that you are. Enjoy it. Lay one back on me, which I might add that you did.”
Anger flared in her eyes and she jabbed a finger at him, seemingly pointing it straight at his heart. “You are taking advantage of the situation.”
Now that pissed him off. Really pissed him off. He was certain steam was coming out of his ears. Setting his coffee cup down on the counter with a thump, nearly sloshing the hot liquid on his hands, he crossed the floor to where Ivy stood with her chin up, spine straight and as much anger flaring in her eyes as he was certain was in his own.
He came to a stop in front of her, barely an inch from touching her. Leaning down, they were almost nose to nose. “Taking advantage of the situation? Like hell!” he snarled through gritted teeth. “Baby, had I done that, I would have made love to you so many times by now—all over this house, in every room, more than once, and even here on this damn table—that you would be incapable of walking.”
“You don’t think I would have had anything to say about that?” she said, huffing out the words.
A slow smile eased onto his lips. Corner to corner. “Oh, you would have had a lot to say about it. Mostly your words would have been in moans and groans in between all those orgasms.”
She sucked in a sharp breath. “How dare you say something like that to me?”
“I said it and I’m not taking it back. This whole idea of us pretending to be lovers was yours, not mine. Take ownership of it, will you? I’m beginning to wonder just what you thought being my lover—pretend or otherwise—would entail. Not sure what you and your other boyfriends did as lovers but you’re in a different league and on a different team. Either stay and play or quit and leave. Your choice. What’s it going to be Ivy?”
* * *
IVY HAD A good mind to do the latter. Quit and leave. But she was not a quitter. Never had been and wouldn’t start being one now. And he was right. This plan was hers and she should take ownership—of it and everything it would entail, including being 100 percent convincing when people saw them in public. Lord knows she wanted to and that she’d tried. But she hadn’t counted on a lot of things and Nolan Madaris being such a hot-blooded hunk who could send her hormones into overdrive was one of them.
Nolan was unlike any other man she’d had to deal with and he probably wondered why she refused to even consider them having a fling. After all, they were both adults who knew the score. They might as well enjoy each other while planning to outsmart Nana and his great-grandmother. A part of her wished it could be that easy. But for her, it couldn’t be.
First of all, he had a sordid reputation around town and she refused to be another one of those willing women, regardless if she wanted a serious relationship with a man or not. She knew when to draw the line in some things. And then there was the real possibility that if she let Nolan get too close, she could fall for him and find it impossible to resist him.
And now he stood here, in her face, nose to nose, toe-to-toe, breath to breath. Didn’t he have any idea what he did to her? How he was making her feel? Obviously not. “I want to stay and play, Nolan. But...”
He frowned and slowly pulled his head back so his face wasn’t right in hers. “But what?”
She licked her bottom lip, wondering how she could explain. She honestly thought she had earlier today. She had hoped he understood. Obviously he hadn’t. “You aren’t like most men.”
His frown deepened. “Meaning?”
Good Lord, did she need to spell it out for him? Did the man not have any idea what he did to women? He had to know; otherwise, he wouldn’t have the reputation around town that he had. “No matter how convincing we are in public, how convincing our...public displays of affection are—” Just thinking the word kissing had her blushing. “Everyone knows you’re too hot for me.” She wanted to stop looking into his eyes. She much preferred squeezing her eyes closed after having to say something like that. Something that was so blatantly obvious.
She expected him to stick out his chest or something equally egotistical. Nor would she have been surprised had he burst out laughing at the thought she’d just told him something he already knew. Instead the eyes staring down at her seemed to go from ice-cold to burning hot as they slid over her features.
“Then I think we have a problem, Ivy,” he said, as he held her gaze. “Because I think it’s just the opposite—you’re far too good and way too hot for me.”
Ivy blinked and then she was the one who burst out laughing.
* * *
NOLAN FROWNED AS he placed his arms across his chest. “I’m glad you found what I said so amusing.” Ivy had laughed so hard tears were actually streaming down her cheeks. That made his frown deepen even more.
“Not amusing but ridiculous,” she said, grabbing a couple of napkins off the table. She took off her glasses to dab at her eyes, then put them back on again.
“I take it that you don’t believe me?”
Ivy looked up at him. Her laughter had subsided but a lingering smile touched her lips and her eyes were now dry. “Of course I don’t believe you. Look at me.”
He was looking. Furthermore, he was damn sick and tired of her believing she wasn’t desirable just because some prick had convinced her she wasn’t. “I am looking,” he said, as his gaze roamed over her from head to toe. “And do you know what I see?”
She pushed her glasses back a bit on her nose. “No, what do you see?”
“A woman I would love to take to bed but, because I promised that I wouldn’t, I won’t.” He took a step closer to her. “But be forewarned, Ivy. If you decide to stay and play, I intend to kiss and touch you as much as I deem it necessary in order to fool your grandmother and Mama Laverne about us. However, don’t get things twisted. All of it won’t be just for practice. I intended to get enjoyment out of it and intend that you get enjoyment out of it as well. There’s no way we will come out victorious if we don’t get pleasure out of what we’re doing.”
He took several steps back and said, “I baked lasagna for dinner. Help yourself. I’m going to bed now. I plan to get up early and go rent a boat. If you’re still here when I get back, then I’ll assume you’re committed to the plan to stay and play. If you’re gone, then I know you quit and left.”
He then walked out of the kitchen.
* * *
“HEY, IVY, WHAT’S UP?”
“I got a problem, Tessa.”
“What’s wrong?”
Ivy sat outside on the front steps as she stared up at the stars. They were bright. So was the full moon. Was there really a man in the moon? If so, she wished she could join him. Her life was so screwed up now, thanks to her grandmother, who for some reason that Ivy didn’t understand, honestly thought she had her granddaughter’s best interest at heart. Boy, was her nana wrong.
“Ivy?”
Tessa saying her name in a panicky voice reined Ivy’s thoughts back in. “Yes?”
“I asked what’s wrong? You call me close to midnight to say you have a problem, then go silent on me.”
Ivy checked her watch. Oops. It was close to midnight and, like Nolan, Tessa went to bed early. “I would have called you sooner but I was eating the dinner Nolan cooked. It was baked lasagna and it was oh-so-delicious. What man does that? Most don’t know how to boil water right.”
“Like you,” Tessa said, giggling.
“Yes, like me,” Ivy said in a quiet tone.
“Are you on Tiki Island having a pity party, Ivy?”
Ivy shrugged. “Pretty much. Things are getting crazy.”
“What’s wrong? Did Nolan Madaris renege on your agreement and ask you to leave?”
“Not exactly.”
“Well, what exactly?”
Ivy began nibbling on her bottom lip. “I’m the one who might be reneging.”
“Why?”
Ivy released a deep sigh. “You remember our last conversation?”
“Yes, what part of it?”
“All of it. First there was the part where you mentioned how much of a hunk Nolan was,” Ivy said.
“Yes, and you said you could ignore it,” Tessa reminded her.
“Well, I discovered it’s not that easy.”
“Okay, and obviously there is more to your problem, Ivy.”
“There is. Do you also recall when I told you there weren’t any vibes?”
“Yes, and I told you I thought it was something the two of you should talk about since the main goal was outsmarting the matchmakers.”
“Yes, well,” Ivy said in frustration, “I did talk to him about it.”
“Good.”
“Um, not so good.”
“So what’s not so good about it?”
“The whole thing. He began stirring passion between us to make sure I felt it. We’ve kissed a few times. I thought they were absolutely, positively off the charts. He even kisses me without removing my glasses and does it perfectly. I don’t think I can handle much more.”
“Of Nolan Madaris’s kisses?”
“Of Nolan’s anything.”
Tessa got quiet for a second and then she said, “You do know in order for your plan to work you have to handle it, right?”
“Yes, but I honestly didn’t think things would get this complicated.”
“It really isn’t, you know,” Tessa said. “To you it just seems that way because...”
When Tessa hesitated, Ivy asked, “Because of what?”
“Because you still haven’t got over what Damien said about you and what he did.”
“I have got over what he said and what he did. I’ve got over Damien Fargo, period. That’s why I’m ignoring his calls.”
“Damien’s been calling you?”
“Yes.”
“You didn’t tell me that.”
“Wasn’t nothing to tell. He called last week to apologize for how he treated me when we were together.”
She heard Tessa’s snort. “A little too late for that, isn’t it?”
“That’s what I told him and hung up. He’s called a couple of times since but I refused to take the call.”
“Block his number.”
“I will.”
“I hope you do and as far as Nolan Madaris is concerned, sounds like you’re getting way too serious over a few kisses.”
“That’s easy for you to say,” Ivy mumbled. “Like I told you, he’s an expert kisser.”
“That’s better than a man who doesn’t know how to use his tongue, trust me.”
“Tessa!”
“Well, it’s true. Why can’t you let yourself go and enjoy the moment? I don’t understand why you set limitations. Why not have a full-blown affair with him? You have the perfect opportunity to do so at the cottage. Who will it hurt?”
“Possibly me. Nolan is the kind of man who could wiggle his way into my heart if I were to let my guard down. I can’t let that happen, Tessa.”
Ivy released another deep sigh. “Tonight he said he thought I was hot and that whenever he looks at me he sees a woman he wants to make love to.”
“Wow. And what’s wrong with him telling you that?” Tessa asked. “At least he was honest.”
“Was he? Men like him have plenty of lines.”
“True. But why do you think he was just feeding you a line? Why don’t you think you’re hot and are a woman a man would want to sleep with?”
Ivy stared up at the stars again. “You know why.”
“Yes, because of some BS Damien Fargo told you. Like I said, Ivy, you need to get over him.”
“And like I told you, I have,” Ivy said. “I just wished I wasn’t so inexperienced.”
Tessa smiled. “You slept with Damien,” she reminded her. “And that guy Fred.”
“Yes, but neither compared to Nolan. I’ve experienced more passion with kissing Nolan than I did when having sex with Damien and Fred combined.” Fred Campers, another techie she met in college, hadn’t known any more about what to do than she had. “But we know why Nolan is so good at what he does. He’s a womanizer. You wouldn’t believe how often his phone rings. He ignores the calls, but I can imagine who they are from. What if he can’t give all those women up like he says he will?”
“Why wouldn’t he? I don’t think he would have agreed to do it if he didn’t mean it. And as far as Damien is concerned, maybe you are over him—I believe that you don’t want him back—but you’re obviously still letting his voice fill your head with self-doubt. And you need to decide what you’re going to do about Nolan.”
“He gave me an ultimatum,” Ivy said, choosing to ignore what Tessa had said about Damien being in her head. “I can either stay and play, or quit and leave. If I stay and play, that means he’s going to go into full expert mode and do whatever it takes to get me ready for all those sexual vibes we need to be discharging.”
“Sexual vibes are what you wanted, need I remind you.”
Tessa didn’t have to remind her. “I just hadn’t figured on those vibes being so intense.”
“Now you know. So, which option are you going to take?”
“I don’t know, Tessa, I really don’t know.”
Tessa didn’t say anything for a moment and then she said, “I suggest you weigh the pros and cons of both, and then sleep on it. If you think you can handle Nana and his great-grandmother all by yourself, then quit and leave. Just know you’ll be on your own. Otherwise, the two of you can work together as a team and implement your idea.”