CHAPTER TWENTY
THE NEXT MORNING Nolan stepped out of the shower, dried off and began getting dressed. His cousin Clayton had called to let him know that he and his wife, Syneda, who were both attorneys, would be in the Galveston area today to meet with a client. They’d invited him and Ivy to join them tonight for dinner.
Nolan wasn’t stupid. Clayton and Syneda might be in Galveston on business but there was no doubt in Nolan’s mind that Mama Laverne had suggested to Syneda that they contact him when they arrived in the area. Everybody knew Syneda was one of his great-grandmother’s cronies and would assist in her matchmaking schemes on occasion. He had a feeling this was one of those occasions.
He’d told Clayton he would get back to him after checking with Ivy. He wasn’t sure if she would want to go or not since he and Ivy would be leaving the island to return to Houston tomorrow. It was hard to believe their week together was almost over and he would admit he’d enjoyed her company.
Nolan decided that he would tell her about Clayton and Syneda’s invitation and would accept her decision. However, he felt dinner with Clayton and Syneda would be a great test run for them as a new “couple.” There was no doubt in his mind Syneda would report back to his great-grandmother how they acted together. In other words, if she detected a romance blooming between him and Ivy.
When he left his bedroom he picked up the aroma of coffee and knew Ivy was up for her cooking lesson. He hadn’t known if she’d been serious or not about accepting his offer to show her how to make a few dishes in the kitchen. Evidently, she had been.
As far as he was concerned, he felt that she shouldn’t beat herself up about the fact she wasn’t into cooking. If she preferred eating out, then that was her business. He intended to show her how to prepare a few quick and easy meals and he would try to make cooking them fun.
He walked into the kitchen and stopped dead in his tracks. Ivy had opened the refrigerator and was leaning into it, looking for something. That particular position outlined a curvy backside in a pair of skinny jeans. He nearly groaned in deep male appreciation. At that moment desire, the likes he hadn’t felt in a long time, twisted his guts at the same time a hard whir of lust rushed up his spine.
He swallowed twice before he managed to clear his throat. “Looking for something, Ivy?”
She pulled her head from the refrigerator and straightened her body before smiling over at him. “Good morning, Nolan. I was looking for my carton of milk. Have you seen it?”
“Yes, I moved it to the side of the door.”
“Oh.”
She reached for the carton and chuckled. “If it had been a snake, it would have bit me.”
He had news for her. He wasn’t a snake but biting her sounded pretty damn good right now. She was wearing one of those blouses that showed the upper part of her arms, arms he would love putting his mouth on. He recalled Victoria had referred to those type blouses as cold-shoulder blouses. There wasn’t anything cold about them. On Ivy that blouse looked hot.
“I got coffee going for you.”
That wasn’t the only thing she had got going for him. It didn’t bother him that he wanted her. He should want her. Otherwise, their plans of fooling anyone would mean nothing. He couldn’t pretend to desire a woman—he had to truly desire her.
“What are you going to teach me to do today?”
Hell, that question put ideas in his head, and none of them had anything to do with teaching her how to prepare a meal. “An omelet.”
She licked her lips and his stomach tightened. “That sounds delicious.”
He almost said that she looked rather delicious as well, standing in his kitchen in her bare feet, wearing a pair of jeans and a sexy top. “Since you enjoyed those veggies yesterday, I thought we would have a veggie omelet this morning.”
“All right. Did you sleep okay last night?”
“Yes, I slept fine.” No need to tell her about the dreams he’d had of her; especially of that kiss yesterday and the one the day before that and the one before that. He liked getting inside her mouth. “What about you?” he asked, moving toward the coffeepot to pour himself a cup.
“I slept like a baby. I was full and content. You fed me well.”
If given the chance there were a number of other things he could do to her well that would leave her full and content. He shook his head while spooning sugar into his coffee cup. Jeez. He blamed this crazy lust on yesterday. They’d spent the entire day together, morning till night. Being around her nonstop was making him notice things like how her lips curved at the ends when she smiled or how sexy she looked while chewing her food.
Nolan took a sip of coffee while thinking that anything to do with her mouth was a total turn-on. That was all well and good when it came to their plans but how in the hell was he to control his desires? Turn them off when they weren’t needed?
“How’s the coffee?”
He glanced over at her. She was sitting at the table drinking a glass of milk. “Good as usual. You made it just right.”
She smiled and his gut tightened. “Thanks.”
“You’re drinking milk today?”
“Yes. I rarely drink coffee unless I need the caffeine when keeping late hours. I decided to get back on my routine with a glass of milk every morning.”
Nolan nodded. “Ready to get started on breakfast?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, let’s wash up and begin.”
* * *
IVY HAD NEVER thought this kitchen was super small until now. She tried not to be bothered whenever Nolan came to stand beside her when she was slicing the veggies for the omelet. He’d even had to show her the proper way to hold a knife or she probably would have cut herself. Heck, she hadn’t known there was a right way and a wrong way to crack an egg.
As far as she was concerned, Nolan knew everything. How to test the oil to make sure it was just right to start cooking and exactly what time to start adding the ingredients. For the most part, she was attentive...unless he did something that drew her attention away from the meal being prepared to him. Like when he stood behind her—directly behind her to where their bodies touched—while showing her the proper way to scramble an egg.
“That about does it,” she said, sliding both omelets onto their plates. “Let’s eat.”
When they sat down, he bit into his omelet and smiled over at her. “This tastes fantastic. You did good, Ivy.”
His compliment pleased her. “Thanks. You made it easy.”
“Cooking is easy. You just need to follow a recipe or directions. You followed my directions and didn’t have a problem asking questions when you felt you needed to.”
“You had a lot of patience with me. Thank you. I appreciated that.”
“You don’t have to thank me.”
Ivy felt like she did mainly because Damien never had patience with her. He would tell her something once and get upset if she ever asked him to repeat it. He had called her again last night. She didn’t answer and had finally done what she should have done long ago, which was to block his number.
“It’s hard to believe this big omelet was made with one egg,” she finally said.
He chuckled. “Just think of all the ingredients you added to that one egg.”
She would admit she’d added quite a bit to hers—spinach, onions, a mixture of peppers and tomatoes. He’d requested that she add even more ingredients to his. He had wanted to include three kinds of meats where she’d only wanted bacon.
“I got a call from my cousin Clayton this morning. He and his wife, Syneda, are in the area meeting with a client and were wondering if we would have dinner with them this evening. Do you want to?”
She looked up from her meal. “Is Syneda one of your great-grandmother’s allies?”
He set his coffee cup down and nodded. “Yes, she’s one of her biggest allies.”
Instead of saying anything, Ivy stared into her glass of milk for a long moment, considering his words. She then glanced up at him. “Do you think we’re ready to...”
“Perform?” he finished for her.
She nodded. “Yes, to perform.”
He shrugged. “Yes, I think so. We’ve only been here together for a few days so there shouldn’t be much performing we have to do. I wouldn’t think they would expect us to be all hot and heavy already, but they wouldn’t expect us to be acting stiff and detached toward each other either. We just need to act like there’s a romance blooming between us.”
What he said made sense. “Any idea where we’ll be eating?”
“Yes, Clayton mentioned the Salamander.”
Ivy nodded. She’d patronized the one in Houston before and it wasn’t a jeans-and-T-shirt sort of place. “Yes, I’ll go but I need to go shopping,” she said, quickly finishing off the rest of her food.
“Why?”
“Because I didn’t bring a dress with me.”
He lifted a brow. “So?”
She glanced over at him. “And I want to wear a dress tonight.”
What she didn’t add was she was going to try her damnedest to make herself look pretty. She had agreed with Tessa’s suggestion of a makeover when she returned to Houston but now it seemed that time was coming sooner than later.
“We passed a strip mall yesterday on our way from renting that boat. If you don’t mind moving your SUV, I’ll get my car out of the garage and—”
“No need to move your car. I’ll drive you.”
She stared at him to make sure she had heard him right. “You would take me shopping?”
He chuckled. “Not exactly. I will drive you there but I don’t intend to hang around in a dress store. I learned my lesson after going shopping with Victoria once and swore never to do it again. She tried on over fifty dresses and walked out, buying just one. I’ll drop you off and then check out the computer store at the mall.”
Ivy released a frustrated sigh. “To be honest with you, I’d rather visit that computer store with you but I do need to get a dress.” She stood and took her plate and milk glass over to the sink. “It won’t take me long to change tops.”
He lifted a brow. “Why do you need to change tops?”
“Because I prefer wearing one that will be easy for me to take off while I’m trying on dresses.” She threw the words over her shoulders as she hurried out of the kitchen.