CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
THE NEXT MORNING Nolan noticed the smell of coffee the moment he left his bedroom. He hadn’t set the timer on the coffee maker, so that could only mean one thing. Ivy had started it.
Ivy was never up this early. Had she had got up to get a head start on her drive back to Houston? If that was her decision, he would accept it. Walking into the kitchen, he found her sitting at the kitchen table. She glanced up when she saw him, her expression unreadable.
“Good morning, Ivy.”
She adjusted her glasses on her face. “Good morning, Nolan. I made coffee.”
He nodded. “So I see. Thanks.” He walked over to the coffeepot to pour a cup. “What time do you plan to get on the road?”
“That depends on you.”
He turned around with his coffee cup in his hand and leaned against the counter. “Me? Why?”
“Because you’ll be driving.”
Nolan lifted a brow. “Something’s wrong with your car?”
“Not that I know of.”
He frowned thinking her answer didn’t make sense. “Then why do you need me to drive you to Houston?”
“I don’t because I’m not going to Houston.”
He rubbed his hand over his unshaven jaw wondering what was going on. He had absolutely zero idea and knew he had to be missing something. “So where are you going?”
“With you,” she said softly. “I thought I’d get up early and ride with you to pick up the boat. That is, if you don’t mind.”
He held tight to his coffee cup; otherwise it would have slipped from his hand. Did that mean she would stay and play? “Nah, I don’t mind.”
He took a sip of his coffee and she took sips of hers. Neither said anything. When moments passed he couldn’t hold off any longer on asking her the question he was dying to ask. “How did you reach your decision?”
She placed her coffee cup down and held his gaze. “This whole idea of us pretending to be lovers was my idea and I needed to take ownership of it like you said. So I have. No matter what it takes, I’m in.”
He lifted a brow. “Are you?”
“Yes, but my earlier restriction stands. I won’t go so far as to sleep with you.”
He couldn’t help the smile that touched his lips. “You won’t?”
“No, I won’t. No matter what.”
“Okay.”
Now she was the one who lifted a brow. Probably because of his easy acceptance of what she’d said. “Okay?”
He repeated it for her benefit, “Yes, okay.”
As if satisfied, she nodded. “Fine.”
“But there is one thing I think we need to clear up now, since you’ve decided to stay.”
“What?”
“You accused me of taking advantage of the situation regarding you and that isn’t true. I would never do something like that.”
“I know. I said it because I was mad. I regret doing so and apologize.”
He nodded. “Apology accepted.” He pushed away from the counter. “If you’re ready, let’s ride.”
* * *
IVY WAS READY. All she had to do was grab her cross-body purse off the bed. She hurried out of the house to find Nolan standing beside his SUV in jeans and a button-up shirt, with more buttons unbuttoned than were buttoned. And he was waiting for her. There had to be another way to describe how he looked at that moment. The word sexy no longer held the power it once had to depict him. Suddenly other words flowed through her mind. Erotic. Sensual. Stimulating. And as usual, his scent was too appealing.
“Ready to go?” he asked, opening the passenger door for her.
“Ready.”
He took her hand and assisted her inside. She tried to ignore the sensations that flowed through her from his touch. When he reached across her to grab hold of the seat belt to snap it in place for her, she quickly said, “Thanks, I can do it.”
He met her gaze. “Just practicing being the doting boyfriend.” He winked at her.
He closed the vehicle’s door and walked around to the driver’s side. She was definitely feeling vibes and reminded herself they were all part of a plan. She wondered if he felt them, too.
He started the ignition and backed out of the yard. When they were headed down the street, he glanced over at her and, almost like he’d read her mind, he said, “Madarises are pretty affectionate, especially the men. And they all married women who love receiving affection. I don’t recall a time that I didn’t feel the love radiating between them. That’s the case even with my own parents and grandparents.”
Ivy didn’t say anything. Although she recalled feeling the love between her paternal grandparents, she couldn’t say the same about her maternal grandparents since they’d both died before she was born. And she definitely didn’t feel any love between her parents. The only thing she ever felt was their animosity toward each other.
“So what part of Houston do you live in?”
Since he was her pretend lover he definitely needed to know that. “The Francesca Glen area.”
He chuckled. “You’re kidding.”
“No. I’m not kidding.”
“How long have you lived there?” he asked her.
“A little more than a year.” No need to mention that after her breakup with Damien, she wanted to move to another place since her old home held too many memories of their time together.
“Would you believe we’re neighbors?” he asked. “I live in the condos adjacent to the Madaris Building. Right by Laverne Park. Guess who the park was named after?”
She lifted a brow. “Your great-grandmother?”
“Yes. My cousins Blade and Slade, who own Madaris Construction, were the builders who helped to develop that entire area. They constructed all the condos. They named that particular area you’re living in after their mother, my aunt Fran. Her real name is Francesca.” When he came to a traffic light he glanced over at her. “I guess you didn’t know any of that.”
“No, but I’m sure Nana did. Especially the fact that your condo is within walking distance of mine. And I spend a lot of time at that park. It’s a nice place to jog.”
“You jog?”
“Not as much as I like. I usually go out in the evenings.”
“And I usually jog in the mornings.”
She chuckled. “That figures. Just like our bedtimes, we’re total opposites.”
“Yeah, we’re going to have to do something about that.”
Ivy knew he didn’t mean it the way it sounded, but that didn’t stop the feeling of blood thickening in her veins or every hormone in her body sizzling. It was as if now that she’d decided to take full ownership of her idea, no matter what it took, her body had awakened to all sorts of feelings, sensations and impulses. She wasn’t sure that was a good thing.
Neither said anything for a while. He was concentrating on his driving and she pretended interest at the scenery they passed. She finally got the nerve to glance over at him, her gaze drifting over his open shirt and thighs in a tight pair of jeans. She didn’t recall making a sound but she noticed he’d brought the car to a stop and he glanced over at her, catching her checking him out. Their gazes connected and held, and she could feel her pulse flicker and leap.
She cleared her throat. “Why did we stop?”
He smiled and the way he did so, slow and easy, sent what felt like frissons of fire escalating up her spine. “We’re here,” he said in his deep, husky voice.
She broke eye contact with him to glance out the windshield and saw the huge sign for Bannister’s Boat Rentals. “Oh.”
“Stay put. I’ll help you out.”
“No, I’ll be okay,” she said, quickly scrambling to undo her seat belt. The last thing she needed was for his hands to touch her right now.
He came around to help her anyway and had opened the door before she had a chance to do so. Then he was reaching his arms out to her. She knew it was just a courtesy to help her down but for all her body cared, it was to carry her off to his bed.
Yikes! How could she think of something like that? She was the one who had put the rule in place that under no circumstances would they sleep together. Ever. That rule was right up there with her not marrying. Ever. So what was her problem?
“Are you okay, Ivy?”
She looked at him, still standing there with outstretched arms, staring at her and probably wondering the same thing. What was her problem?
Ivy pasted a smile on her face. “Yes, Nolan, I’m fine.”
She allowed him to help her down. The moment he touched her, she moaned. She’d heard herself, which meant he probably heard her as well.
Her feet touched the ground but he didn’t let her go. Instead his arms slid tighter around her and she was pinned between him and door’s opening, her butt pressed against the side of the seat. She stared into his eyes that seemed to have gone from dark to darker and from heated to hot.
Now it was her turn to ask him, “Are you okay, Nolan?”
He didn’t say anything for a second. He just stood there and continued to look into her eyes. Then she watched as his gaze shifted lower to her mouth. As if the heat from his gaze was scorching her lips, she stuck out her tongue and licked them, as if she needed moisture there.
Suddenly, the air surrounding them seemed to sizzle and did she just imagine it or did he take a step closer? She couldn’t have imagined it when her body was pressed against the hard firmness of his. She could feel the steady thud of his heartbeat against hers and she was not imagining the feel of a hard erection straining against his zipper and pressing into her middle.
“Nolan?”
He shifted his gaze from her lips back to her eyes, and she could see him staring at her through the lenses of her glasses. The look was so hot it made her want to melt right into him. And she must have done that because the next thing she knew, their bodies had got even closer and that’s when he lowered his head to hers.
She closed her eyes the moment their mouths touched and suddenly the heat was on. He deepened the pressure of the lips holding her hostage as he devoured her mouth in a way it had never been before. He was kissing her so thoroughly and with a possession that forced reality out of her mind. It was replaced with passion. And it was passion so provocative she moaned again at the pleasure she felt.
This was their fourth kiss and it seemed each one kept getting more toe-curlingly scandalous. Each one consumed with more bone-melting fire than the previous one. She knew she should pull back, break away from this kiss, but at that moment passion overruled her common sense as his mouth became even more demanding and greedy.
The sound of someone clearing their throat intruded and she heard Nolan growl deep in his throat before he finally dragged his mouth away, breaking off the kiss.
She opened her eyes and glanced over his shoulder to find a nice-looking man about her age, or possibly a year or two older with charcoal-gray eyes standing a few feet behind Nolan with a wide silly grin on his face. She could have crawled under the car in embarrassment when he said, “For Pete’s sake, Nolan, give the lady’s mouth a break. Do you want to rent a boat today or not?”
Instead of answering the man, Nolan leaned in close to her and licked across her bottom lip with his tongue. He whispered, “I’ve been tempted to do that for a long time now, Ivy.”
He backed up and turned to face the man. “Yes, Brent, I want to rent a boat. My usual one.”
“Will do. Come to the office when you’re ready to handle the paperwork.” The man walked off.
Ivy felt she needed to say something. What, she wasn’t sure. They were doing what they were supposed to do, right? Stoking their vibes. She wondered if the man named Brent had felt those vibes?
“You okay?”
She met Nolan’s gaze. How could he ask her that after kissing her like that? In front of that man named Brent or anyone else who’d wanted to look since it seemed a number of people wanted to rent a boat today. “Yes. I’m okay. I’m just not used to getting kissed in public and you like making a habit of it.”
“It’s good practice, plus I wouldn’t be surprised if news of this made it back to Mama Laverne. She seems to have eyes everywhere,” Nolan said.
Of course. He didn’t just kiss her to kiss her. He was thinking about the plan. Good. They’d have to be two steps ahead of her grandmother and his great-grandmother to succeed. She had to remind herself that every kiss had a purpose. It was a performance that was part of their plans.
“Come on,” Nolan said, unwrapping his arms from around her and taking her hand. “Let’s go get the boat.”