His Royal Majesty : A Royal Wedding Romance by Cassandra Bloom (41)

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Ivy gulped. Travis Dunn. I guess I am… I am going to see him again.

With her hands quivering, she undid the ribbon and opened the box to peer in. A silk dress, the color of wine, lay delicately placed in the midst of pink tissue paper. Before Ivy could hide it, Shelly had already seen it and she squealed. Ivy blushed like Shelly had just seen her prom dress.

“Oh my God! Is that a dress?” she said and lifted it out of the box before Ivy could stop her. “Who sent this? It’s your size. Oh my God!”

Shelly was gushing as she held it up. Ivy’s cheeks colored as she admired how gorgeous the cocktail dress looked. Shelly was right, it was her size. Ivy wondered how trained Travis’ eyes were to have guessed her exact dress size. It led to some thoughts that Ivy tried to dismiss, concerned about the implications of those thoughts.

“Who sent it?” Shelly asked again, staring wide-eyed at Ivy who clutched the note close to her heart.

She’s going to know. She has to.

But Shelly didn’t guess, nor did she laugh as if she knew. Ivy couldn’t believe her good fortune that her dating life could remain a secret for the time being.

“Just someone I know,” Ivy said, quickly snatching the dress out of Shelly’s hands.

She tried to stuff it back into the box, but she noticed that her hands were still trembling. She couldn’t believe that Travis would actually do this. What made him think that she would want to see him again? How could he be so self-centered that he assumed she would wear that dress and have dinner with him? Who did he think he was?!?

And what does it say for me that I want him to do it?

Ivy genuinely was curious as to what had changed in Travis. The man could have had close to literally any woman in the city. Getting rejected by a barista should not have encouraged him to pursue her with an insane level of romantic display.

And yet, suddenly, it had?

“You’ll look beautiful in it, Ivy, when are you going to wear it?”

Shelly was following her close on her heels as Ivy went over and deposited the box next to the staff coat hangers. Ivy hoped she could find words to end the conversation, but she struggled to do so.

“I don’t know if I’ll wear it. It’s not my style. It’s just a silly surprise.”

Ivy tried to hide the flush on her face, but Shelly wasn’t about to give up this easily. Her coworker simply had too much delightful eagerness to end conversation quickly.

“I didn’t know you were seeing someone,” she continued and Ivy whipped around to face her, with bulging eyes and heaving breasts.

“I’m not…seeing someone! I told you, it’s just some silly gift.”

Ivy had snapped with far greater aggression than she meant. Shelly flinched and dropped the smile from her face.

“All right, I was just asking. I don’t see why you’re not excited about it, it looks very expensive,” Shelly said in a smaller voice.

Ivy breathed in deeply, shook her head, and walked out into the shop floor. She felt guilty about what she’d done to Shelly, but by the time she had gotten away from her, her thoughts shifted to a very different person.

She took up her position behind the counter, while Shelly walked away to the coffee machines. Ivy tried on her fake smile, but she couldn’t seem to fake it today. Travis had sent her a dress, he had sent her a note! He expected her to have dinner with him that night. He had just assumed she would say yes.

And he’s not wrong. But…

How did he find out her home address? What methods had he used? Was he a dangerous man? He was a Marine—did he know people who were going to grab her?

Ivy couldn’t have one coherent thought without breaking into a panic. She either delighted in the excitement of the evening or felt terrifying nerves as to what Travis might try and pull on her.

After she had left his office building, she was under the assumption that she had offended him. That there was no chance that she would ever see him in person again. And at the time, she had had no regrets in doing so. While she had softened her stance some since, she began to feel nervous that Travis had not been so easily forgiving.

Did he have something planned for her that night? A revenge for all the insults she had hurled at him? A chance to publicly shame her and remind her that Travis Dunn always won?

It was possible. Maybe not probable, but certainly not outside the realm of possibilities.

And yet, Ivy couldn’t stop thinking about how muscular his chest had felt when she fell on him. How icy blue and sexy his eyes were, the sharpness of his jaw…that heady scent of his cologne. She had never met a man like him before. He seemed almost too good to be true. Even now, the whole situation seemed like it didn’t just have the other shoe waiting to fall, it had another boulder waiting to fall.

Customers came up to the counter and Ivy tried to focus on her job, but she couldn’t. Travis was all she could think of. She knew accepting his proposal would be a mistake and even seeing him again would be the wrong step, but she couldn’t stop herself from wondering what had made him change his mind. He had made it very clear to her that he didn’t have time for seduction. He wasn’t interested in it. So why was he now pursuing her? Had he decided a game might be fun?

And for that matter, why was she suddenly head over heels for this man?

She tried to strengthen herself against the force of Travis’ power over her, but even without trying, he had already made her do things that she had never done before. What else was he capable of making her do? How did he have a hold on her so quickly?

Ivy’s fingers trembled the whole day as she tried to carry on with work. Customer service was not exactly ideal on a day like this, but she couldn’t lose her job, so she soldiered on. Her mind was elsewhere, she couldn’t stop thinking about Travis and what would happen if she did accept his offer.

One thing she was certain of was that if she didn’t go that night, she would spend the rest of her life wondering what if. She’d already spent the previous few nights doing that.

She wasn’t about to let that happen again. Not when she had a chance to see the true Travis Dunn in a private, actually romantic setting.

Whatever minor thoughts Ivy had about saying no to Travis’ proposal got put to rest as soon as she entered her apartment. She soon turned into a focused, intense woman who would not be interrupted in her preparation.

Ivy’s small studio apartment was completely overturned as she spent hours getting ready. She blinked as she stared at herself in the mirror at a quarter to nine. It was like she had been walking on clouds the whole day since she received the parcel. She couldn’t even recognize herself, or her actions. The barista had turned into… something beautiful. Something sexual.

The red dress was a fitting cocktail dress that clung to every curve of her body, stretching tight across her thighs. The neck plunged low, revealing most of her cleavage, and had a dipping back. She couldn’t find matching shoes and had to make do with a pair of black stilettos which she had been saving for a special occasion—she couldn’t afford in time or in money to buy some matching shoes. She had done up her hair in a neat bun at the top of her head, with some shorter locks of strawberry blond hair falling gracefully to the sides and framing her face. A rich wine lipstick which she found at the bottom of her drawer was smoothly laid on her lips and she went with a smoky look for her eyes. She couldn’t believe she had gone to such lengths in getting dressed for the night, but now that she had decided to meet him, there was no point going half-heartedly.

At nine, she locked her apartment behind her and went downstairs to find a sparkling black stretch limo in front of the building, right on schedule. A uniformed chauffeur was standing straight, holding the door open for her. Ivy wasn’t just getting the VIP service—she was getting the VIP’s VIP service.

Without exchanging any words, Ivy stepped in. She half expected Travis to be inside the car, and as she entered, she said, “Fancy, huh?”

But no response came. Ivy saw that she had the limo to herself, so she decided to make the most of it and observe the passing city in her first feeling of true luxury.

The limo drove through the city, passing neighborhoods till they drove into the more affluent part of the city. Houses were spread wide apart with larger grounds and Ivy couldn’t remember if she had ever been here before. The limo drove in through massive wrought iron gates and down a pebbled driveway. Ivy’s eyes widened as she drank in the manicured lawns and how far and wide the estate stretched. One lawn took up more space than not just her studio, but seemingly her entire apartment complex.

The car stopped outside a majestic red brick townhouse that stood elegantly in the middle of the sprawling grounds. A marble fountain greeted her. When the chauffeur opened the door for her again, he gave her his hand to help her step out. Ivy was flooded with self-consciousness as her heels scraped against the pebbled ground. She steadied herself on her feet and breathed in deeply, facing the house now.

She hadn’t even taken a step before the front white door was lightly thrown open and Travis stepped out. He was illuminated by the flood of bright yellow light on the porch and her breath choked up in her throat. She stood for a few moments, staring at him because she couldn’t believe that she was actually going to have dinner with someone who looked like him. He was in a three-piece midnight blue suit, with a white shirt and a steel-gray tie. His clothes looked tailored and exuded wealth. From his position and the lighting, it once more looked like he stood in the spotlight, posing for a magazine cover.

Ivy stepped towards the stairs that led up to the porch and noticed the shining black leather shoes he was wearing. The blueness of his eyes looked brilliant and sparkling, matching the clothes he was wearing. He had a serious firm expression on his face, and he swirled the glass of whiskey in his hand with his other one tucked into the pocket of his pants. He looked not just the part for a magazine cover, but a TV commercial as well. His serious expression, somehow, gave Ivy the sense that he enjoyed this moment very much.

“You wear that dress well, Ivy,” he said as she climbed up the stairs.

Travis was watching her every move as well, deliciously scanning the way the dress fitted her. The dip of her neck, her heaving cleavage, the curve of her hips. She stood in front of him now, and her stilettos contributed very little to match his height. He was still at least a foot taller than her. If he had come to romance her, he had not lost the sexual side that both terrified and turned on Ivy.

“I don’t know what I’m doing here, I shouldn’t have come,” Ivy said, forcing herself to look straight into his eyes and a faint grin formed on his face. “But…”

“But here you are,” he said in that deep voice of his that seeped straight into her soul.

Ivy sighed. Here in the moment, she felt… strange.

“I thought you didn’t play games, Travis,” she said, testing him.

He swirled his drink again and then took a large sip. He did so as slowly as a man could without being obvious.

“I don’t,” he said, turning sideways to push open the front door. “And this is not a game.”

He held open the door and waited for her to enter. Once inside the house, she was nearly blinded by the twinkling brightness of the crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling of the foyer. Travis kept his distance from her, as he led her through the foyer into what was the living room, but Ivy had never actually seen one like it before except in perhaps movies.

The room was luxuriously decorated, with ruffled bottle green curtains, Turkish rugs and elaborate upholstery on the couches and chairs. A polished oak coffee table lay in the middle of the room, and everywhere Ivy turned, the walls were covered in oil paintings and shelves filled with books. The room seemed to be straight out of a medieval King’s home. She had to remind herself to not swoon over home decor. How can I not, though?

“Have a seat, Ivy. May I offer you some wine?”

His voice snapped her out of her love of the atmosphere. She reminded herself why she was here, and it was not to do an appraisal of the artwork and architecture.

“Yes,” she said as she walked hesitantly towards one of the couches.

They didn’t look like they had ever been sat on. Travis had walked over to the bar in the corner of the room and he was now pouring red wine into a crystal glass, while she looked about herself some more.

“I’m glad you’ve accepted my apology,” he said.

Ivy held her chin up as he turned to face her again, with the glass of wine in his hand. She still felt defensive, even though she also felt her defenses fading rapidly under Travis’ spell.

“I never said I have,” she replied, crossing her leg under his watchful gaze.

“This is true,” Travis said. “What would it take for you to forgive me?”

Travis walked back towards her and handed her the glass of wine, which she accepted and cradled in her hands. She wasn’t exactly sure of all the etiquette involved in drinking wine in an environment like this, but she couldn’t help it. She knew she was completely out of her league now and there was no point worrying about embarrassing herself. Travis surely knew that she did not come from the high-class society that he had immersed himself in.

“You don’t strike me as someone who is concerned about forgiveness,” she said as he sat down across from her on one of the chairs. She didn’t know why she had come across so aggressively, other than that she relished the chance to have Travis at her mercy—even if only in her head.

Travis had unbuttoned his jacket before he sat and now he leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees as he peered into her eyes. A playful grin danced on his lips as he watched her. She felt completely naked under his gaze, especially since he had seen her partially naked already and touched her in the most intimate way possible. So much for having the upper hand.

“Then you have misjudged me as well, Ivy,” he said and took a sip of his whiskey.

The ice cubes clinked together in his glass and made her skin tingle. His voice was velvet smooth and every word that came out of his mouth seemed measured and well thought out.

“Enlighten me then, Travis,” she said, repeating his own words, and noticed the way his lips curled in a half-smile and then he took in a deep breath.

“I had no intention of offending you, Ivy. I genuinely believed that you were in my office for a particular reason and I wanted to get it out of the way before you had to leave to go back to work,” he said, in all seriousness.

Ivy took a sip of her wine and allowed the rich spicy flavor to travel warmly down her throat. He may have meant what he said, but that didn’t mean he had good reasons for meaning it.

“Did I give you any reason to believe that I was on a mission?” she asked and Travis smiled, then shook his head. Now he gets it.

“No, you didn’t, and for that I’m sorry,” he replied.

Their eyes met. He looked less threatening tonight, more genuine, more real, and more approachable…or it could have been the wine she was drinking, she thought. But I’ve only had a few sips. You know that’s not the truth.

“Then why did you…” she began to say, but he had interrupted her.

“Because that is what I’m accustomed to, like you pointed out. You were right. I am used to a certain type of women. Meet them at a club or at a party, they throw themselves at me, they make it very clear what they want and I am always too happy to oblige. Who am I to deny a beautiful woman her pleasure?” Travis said and Ivy arched her eyebrows at him.

He looked unconcerned with Ivy’s reaction.

“So it’s a kind of public service that you carry out?” she said and she heard his laugh, a deep throaty laugh that only lasted a few seconds before he was back to smiling.

“I like to think of it that way,” he said and Ivy rolled her eyes before she drank some more of the wine. Not the answer I was looking for.

A silence hung between them for a few moments. Ivy didn’t really have anything to say in response to Travis’ so-called service. Fortunately for the sake of avoiding awkwardness, Travis had the skill to prevent conversation from dropping.

“You said that your capabilities are wasted at the cafe. So then tell me, Ivy Zimmerman, what is it that you really want to do?”

She licked her lips and tasted the wine. She was surprised that he even remembered that part of the conversation. He’s good, I’ll give him that.

“Well, if you must know, I am a digital artist… well, not really, because that isn’t my profession, but that is what I studied in college and that is what I want to do. But it doesn’t exactly pay the bills yet, not till I can get an actual job.”

She hid her flushed face by drinking some more of the wine. It wasn’t easy admitting that she had been a failure all her life, especially to someone who knew nothing but success. Travis was thinking, absorbing the information.

“And have you been looking?” he asked. “Have you been searching for jobs?”

“Yes, of course, I have. There aren’t that many jobs and I have very little experience.”

Travis looked unconvinced. Ivy supposed that Travis didn’t know the meaning of the word no.

“Do you have a portfolio?” he said.

Ivy huffed, heaving her shoulders, noticing the familiar feelings of frustration that were creeping up on her. These were exactly the kind of conversations she had with her dad. And the last thing she wanted was the feeling of patronizing on a date.

“Yes, I do, and I’ve been to interviews and there are just no jobs,” she said exasperatedly.

Travis clenched his jaw. He looked like he was back in the Marines, facing a tough enemy that wouldn’t fall so easily.

“Perseverance is key,” he said to her.

Ivy rolled her eyes with a sigh.

“And your idealism is nauseating,” she said sourly and regretted it the very next second.

He didn’t deserve that, Ivy knew. She was channeling her frustrations with her own life on him. She had placed her failures on him and turned him into the cliche meme that she saw on social media all the time. He, not those pictures on social media, suffered the brunt of her attack.

But Travis seemed to take it in his stride, and instead of responding or scowling, he took another sip of his drink and sat back in the chair. Probably not the first time someone has said something like that.

“I didn’t mean to offer you unsolicited advice,” he said.

Ivy pursed her lips together as she sought to choose her words more carefully.

“No, I’m sorry that I snapped. I didn’t mean to be rude, you were just trying to be encouraging,” she said.

This time, he smiled again.

“Look how the tables have turned. You’re the one apologizing now,” he said.

When their eyes met, Ivy noticed the glimmer in his gaze. He was looking at her face, but his gaze dropped to her breasts again and he held it there, without apology. Ivy straightened her back, instinctively thrusting her breasts out more. She had no idea why she was reacting this way to his gaze. It almost felt like he controlled her, the puppet, and she had no choice but to go along with it.

“So the dress, dinner…inviting me here,” Ivy said, speaking her thoughts without filter now. “Is this not your version of games people play in the art of materialistic seduction?”

Travis breathed in deeply and then stood up from his chair, to walk back to the bar. He was pouring himself another finger of whiskey while she still had half a glass of her wine remaining.

“No point in dancing around the subject, I suppose,” he said, leaning against the bar with his whiskey as his eyes studied Ivy’s body. “To put it simply, yes it is. In my twenties, this is what I did. I lavished women with dinner and compliments and gifts. Then over the years, I realized that we all want the same thing. Men and women; we want to feel good.”

She felt scrutinized under his gaze, naked and open as he watched her. She was trying to focus on the conversation, but the more he spoke the more she found it difficult to concentrate on his words. She could sense that her nipples were pebbled and sensitive as they grazed against her bra.

“Then why did you invite me here? You’re wrong to think that is all I want. I’m more than just a pleasure seeker.”

“I wanted to apologize for making an assumption,” he said.

“But why do you care?” she prodded him, her voice rising to a feverish pitch.

She couldn’t understand what she was doing here. She couldn’t understand many things about this situation. Why he was even remotely interested in a girl like her. With his experience, his wealth, the kind of women who threw themselves at him…

And he wants me?

“Because I want you,” he said and took a sip of his drink.

He had said the words confidently, unaffected by the consequences of his statement. It came naturally from him like he was completely unaware of the effect he had on her. Ivy couldn’t speak. She hadn’t expected him to be this blunt with her for the context, though in retrospect, she should have. After all, if he had asked her to get naked in his office, who was to say he wouldn’t do it in his home?

“I’ll admit I was being selfish. I wanted you, your body, and your everything. I was wrong in assuming that was all you wanted from me too.”

Ivy stood up with a jerk from the couch. The wine glass fell from her hand and crashed to the floor, the drink spilling all over the carpet. Her hands flew to her mouth and she held it clasped there.

“Don’t worry about it,” Travis said and she looked up at him, their gazes locking again. “Worry about me instead, Ivy Zimmerman. I want you.”

She took a few steps towards him, but he didn’t make a move. She began to feel a rush of panic. Now it was happening. Now it was getting close.

For the first time ever…

Panic hit her.

“I haven’t been with anyone before.”

The words came crashing out of her and she searched his face for a reaction. She sighed as she felt the confession might have just ruined her chances with him.

And yet, Travis’ drooping eyes remained fixed on her, looking at her from under his sharp brows. She had just made one of the most personal admissions of her life, but he had no reaction to that seemingly. In fact, he didn’t even seem to care.

“I am not surprised,” he finally said, and Ivy looked down at her feet. “You don’t need to be ashamed of it, Ivy.”

She forced herself to lift her eyes up at him. There was no point in denying all of the truths of their dynamic.

“I went to your office because I want you,” she said, her voice shaky. “And I came here tonight because I still want you.”

It hadn’t taken him long to get the truth out of her. Even though she had decided that she wouldn’t allow him to exercise his power over her, she was weak. She had fallen right into his trap and now, she felt like she had reached the point of no return.

“I know,” Travis said and she took another step towards him.

“So, I guess you’re right,” Ivy said. “I guess there’s no point in playing games. I’m foolish enough to be here, so we might as well do it.”

Ivy threw her arms out in a gesture of giving up. Travis’ brows rose up. For once, he looked surprised and caught off guard.

“Do it?” he said, his voice betraying the slightest of surprises.

“Yeah, do it. Have sex. You can have my virginity,” Ivy said in a loud screechy voice that she didn’t recognize.

Travis turned slightly, to put down his glass on the bar counter and then crossed his arms over his chest. He was standing with his feet apart, exuding strength and control while Ivy felt like she might have melted in a puddle to the floor. She couldn’t understand—he’d wanted her to take her clothes off in his office for a quickie, and now he seemed slow to act when Ivy had all but gotten naked before him?

“I don’t just do it, Ivy. And that is not what I planned to do with you.”

Ivy’s brows crossed. She found herself stammering.

“What are you talking about? In your office, we were going to have rushed wild sex if I hadn’t stopped it in time. What is the problem now?”

She took a few more steps towards him.

“I’ve changed my mind, Ivy,” he said, his voice tough once more. “I invited you here because I wanted more. I wasn’t lying. I told you, I don’t play games. Yes, we would have ‘done it’ if things had gone well. But I wanted a real dinner and a real evening with you. It seems, however, that you have also changed your mind, and we are not in agreement about what we want. If that is what you want, then I suggest you look elsewhere for it.”

She noticed how his voice had hardened again. He wasn’t smiling anymore and a dangerous glaze had formed a curtain on his deep blue eyes. He was impenetrable and she couldn’t guess what he was thinking.

But she narrowed it down enough that it left her flush with embarrassment in frustration.

“You’ve changed your mind? You invited me here for dinner and even though I didn’t want to admit it, I knew exactly why I accepted your invitation.” She crossed her arms. No, there was no stopping now. In fact, she didn’t want to not stop. She wanted to charge ahead, naked. “Do you want me to take off my clothes now?”

“Ivy, please stop. You’re not thinking straight. You need to go back home and take it easy. If you’ve never been with a man before, then I’m not the man you should experience your first time with, at least not this early in something that we could have.”

Ivy clenched her fists on her sides. She gritted her teeth and tried to control her rage. This was the second time Travis had successfully embarrassed her. He was playing with her. Teasing her. He manipulated her for his own pleasure.

He was playing games. He was playing the biggest game of all—complete emotional and physical manipulation. Ivy couldn’t believe it. She wanted to punch him.

“I knew this was a mistake!” she hissed as she turned on her heels, storming out of the living room.

“The car will take you home, Ivy,” she heard him say, but she continued on to the front door.

Still fuming, her mind nearly exploding with anger, she pulled the door open and stepped out into the cool air of the night. The chauffeur was leaning against the limo that was still parked where it had dropped her off, and he jumped into position and held the back door open for her. She considered whether she should just call a cab but then decided against it. No point in waiting any longer at Travis’ home.

Without another look back at the house, she stormed in a huff to the car and got in. She couldn’t wait to go back home and forget that she ever met this horrible man. This manipulative, emotionally controlling, psychological tricky man.

He only wants to see me flounder because I can’t get what I want.

Fine, two can play that game.

I won’t let him get what he wants.

Travis had let Ivy go without many words. When the moment came that he realized he had lost her, he simply wanted her safe and advised the limo driver to take her home.

But in the moments afterward, sitting in his massive home alone, without the girl that he thought would feel overjoyed that she would have what she’d wanted out of him for so long, he was hurt. Stunned. Confused.

Above all else, he felt betrayed.

He didn’t mind that Ivy had suddenly craved him sexually. He figured, though, that Ivy would still want to date him and then, eventually, they’d get around to having sex. He had hoped that that action would dispel the rumors and the image the paparazzi had seemingly enjoyed creating for him.

Instead, it made her angry. It had made her so angry that she’d called coming over a mistake.

Mistake.

That word burned at Travis’ psyche like nothing else could have. Rejection was one thing, but a mistake went to a level that Travis would have a hard time forgetting. And yet, even as he thought of how much that scarred him, he yearned for the chance to see her again in a normal state.

The confusion, to put it mildly, was overwhelming.

He sipped on his whiskey in silence for a long time. He thought about what Ivy had that he wanted. Beauty. Aggression. A certain level of brashness that showed she was not afraid of his stature.

But those very traits also made her difficult to deal with, especially since she had seemingly flipped for no apparent reason.

“Enough,” he said to himself.

He couldn’t take Ivy any more. She just wasn’t worth it and she just wasn’t ready for a relationship. If she was ready for a relationship, then she wouldn’t have freaked out as she had when Travis denied her sexual advances. Maybe she would’ve gotten flustered or even disappointed, but… “mistake.”

Every time Travis tried to think of a reason to keep Ivy, that word echoed in his mind. “Mistake.”

Well, sleeping with her would have been a mistake, especially since it would’ve involved taking her virginity. For the things that he would have done to have done it his way, the poor girl would have freaked out even worse in the moment of fire. She wouldn’t have known what had hit her and she would’ve begged for something different. And Travis wasn’t even thinking in particularly kinky terms—he just knew someone her age losing her virginity to a man like him would have inevitably had moments of yearning and regret.

No, she had to find someone else first. Maybe when she was more mature. Maybe when she had more experience. Maybe, in addition to looks, her personality was like…

Travis shuddered. His past always came up in relation to Ivy and it hurt so badly. Just once with Ivy, he wanted to think of her as a standalone woman and not in relation to someone that he had once loved.

The more he thought about it, though, the more he came to accept that while Ivy wasn’t ready for a relationship, maybe he wasn’t either. He was ready for something more than a casual hookup—in fact, he wanted something more, he wasn’t just ready for it—but to fall head over heels as Ivy seemed? To fall in love as Ivy would’ve within weeks, if not days?

No, Travis couldn’t take that. The first time he heard “I love you” from Ivy or someone else, it would not be a sweet moment but an emotionally fraught one. If he spent some time fixing himself, that might change, but not in his current state.

He let out a long sigh.

“Oh, Miss Zimmerman,” he said, staring out his window.

What a little ride we’ve been on. How delightfully adventurous and fun you’ve made these encounters we’ve had.

But it’s just as well that we are not going any further. Neither of us are ready for what we say we want. We need to work on ourselves first.

So, maybe someday, Ivy.

A strange thing happened, though, as Travis finished his whiskey and tried to finish his thoughts on Ivy.

He kept thinking about what “someday” would look like. He kept imagining what would happen if they ever did want the same thing at the same time.

His mind told him to end it.

But his heart, no matter how heavily scolded by his mind, wasn’t ready to quit.

By the time Ivy had gone to bed and tried to sleep, though, she knew why she had run away. And it had very little to do with Travis Dunn’s behavior, given that it actually aligned with what she had wanted from him all along.

Her fear of rejection and her lack of self-confidence were the very reasons why she had never allowed anyone to get close to her. It was why she had always shied away from sex. The longer she waited, the more her inexperience grew. She was 24 years old now and still a virgin.

And in a moment of desperation, she had thrown herself at Travis. And his response?

Travis Dunn had outrightly rejected her. Even though he had bought her a dress, invited her to his home…at the last minute, he had seemingly changed his mind. Just at the very moment when she was ready to give herself to him. She was ready. She had never wanted to be with a man more. She had forgotten all her inhibitions, let go of her pride and her self-doubts and wanted to strip there, right in front of him.

But Travis had told her that she wasn’t thinking straight and he had commanded her to go home.

Ivy was embarrassed and still reeling from her uncontrollable desire for him. She was embarrassed at being humiliated, but she was embarrassed at her own behavior as well. She lay awake in bed for hours, feeling frustrated. Around 2 a.m., even though she had work the next day, she leaped out and switched on her laptop. She couldn’t distract herself from thinking about what a complete fool she had made of herself, but she had to at least try.

On the internet, she tried looking for all the information she could find on Travis Dunn. Some of the information she knew already. Some of the highlights she found included: Marine who had voluntarily retired. He’d collected investors for his construction company, made Millions of dollars in turnover in the first five years, and was worth billions now.

In short, Travis Dunn was the poster child of the American Dream. People wrote articles about his business life and how he had overcome so much from his time at war. Ivy imagined that people would someday write biographies about him or study him in business schools.

But for Travis Dunn, the man? That was harder.

About his personal life, Ivy could find out very little. Most of the stuff was garbage, rumors, and tall tales, but almost no facts. There were fan sites dedicated to him, with paparazzi and tabloid photos of Travis in designer suits and tailored clothing, walking out of clubs, with beautiful women dangling from his arms. He was well known as a womanizer, for his fast cars, and his successful business deals. He had managed to create a reputation for being a hard sell. A no-nonsense, respected businessman and yet a sex symbol for women all over the country. Ivy tried to take it all with a grain of salt—she’d met and spoken with the real man, after all—but it was hard to just outright ignore it.

From what Ivy could tell, he didn’t seem to have been in a serious relationship with anybody, ever. There were no photographs or articles about him with the same woman, twice. Again, Ivy tried to remind herself that she’d met the original source, but the more she read, the more it left her concerned that Travis wasn’t genuine about wanting more than just sex.

Were these women all one night stands? Casual week long relationships before he sent them packing on their way? Casual hour-long hookups that barely spoke?

Why did these women fall for him? Did they really all just want one night with Travis Dunn? Was he that good in bed that one night with him was worth it? Was he that worth the bragging rights?

Ivy didn’t stop searching. She couldn’t. Even as she knew it would do nothing for her well-being, she kept reading. 2 a.m. turned into 3 a.m. Soon, she would have to just go into work having pulled an all-nighter.

She scanned through websites and photographs and trashy online magazine. They all blurred together, a well-endowed woman with him, smiling stupidly, arms around him.

Then, finally, Ivy saw that one particular woman was photographed with him three times. They were the same three pictures, old and pixelated…seemingly from at least two decades ago. They certainly hadn’t come in the smart phone era.

With her heart racing, Ivy dug deeper, getting swallowed in the deep dark hole of the internet till she found a short article which made her squint. She read it quickly, then read it again, till she was reading it for the third time and knew that she wasn’t just imagining it.

The article had the same photograph with it. A younger Travis, with the same features, the same smoking hot body but just a fresher face, a happier expression…a more genuine smile. It seemed to be a personal photograph, like a family picture…one that was not taken by the paparazzi. A close up of Travis, with his arm around a beautiful brunette. They were both smiling at the camera. The woman’s long curls were in Travis’ eyes but he didn’t seem to mind.

She didn’t have the same super-model-like qualities that Ivy had seen in the other women Travis was photographed with. She had a more natural, no-makeup look, with large green eyes, and a strawberry shaped smile. They seemed to be the same age, in their early twenties. It was clearly a picture from before Travis became a successful and wealthy businessman. It was clearly a picture of when Travis seemed like a genuine human being, not a cool, distant big shot.

Ivy read the article again. Her name was Mia Kazinsky and the write-up stated that she was Travis Dunn’s long-time girlfriend and recently engaged. Travis had left for a tour in Iraq, and they were supposed to get married after he returned. By all accounts, it looked like the happy marriage for the rest of his life.

And then Mia died in a car crash while he was away.

That was all the article said, nothing more. It had been written around the time that Travis gathered investors for his new construction business and apparently, nobody else seemed to have written about this piece of history from his life again. Perhaps Travis had seen the article and clammed up. Perhaps he had threatened to sue the publication.

Either way, though, that was all Ivy would get out of her research.

Ivy curled up her legs on the chair and stared at her laptop screen in the dark. Travis had been engaged to a girl years ago. That was the last time, she could find any evidence of at least, that he had been in a serious committed relationship.

What had happened to him after that? What kind of loss did he experience from Mia’s death that he was unable to commit to anyone else? Would he ever grow out of his grief, or was he destined to be a player for the rest of his life?

And if he was serious about me, do I remind him of her sometime? Am I a replacement? Or was it real?

She couldn’t even remember why she was spying on his life anymore. All she could do was stare at Travis’ smiling happy face, with Mia beside him. The last thing she wanted to feel after her visit to his house was sympathy. And yet, that was exactly what she was feeling for him. She didn’t want to be so bold as to assume that she had him all figured out, but at least she knew why he behaved so strangely with women. With her.

But what was the point in thinking about him now? She shut her laptop and climbed back into bed again. It was over. It was a short period of madness in her life and with any luck, she wouldn’t have to see him ever again.

But even as she gazed at her clock and saw her alarm would go off in barely over two hours, she had a feeling she would see him again.

And, frankly, she hoped she would. As much as it pained her to admit, maybe she didn’t understand the real Travis—but she’d seen enough that she wanted to meet the real Travis.

She wanted to want what he wanted at the same time.

Saturday and Sunday passed at the coffee shop with surprisingly no incidents for Ivy and Shelly. As much as she hated working the weekends—not even because it took up her free time, she knew she would never use it; no, it was because of the customers being more steady and especially rude—she got a reprieve from the usual grueling nature of those days.

To make it even better, Martin never showed up. He just trusted the two girls to run the shop, or, more likely, he had just disappeared for the weekend and gone somewhere else.

In any case, though, Ivy didn’t have to worry about work confounding her time either. Which was just as well—Saturday felt like a contest to see what would win first, Ivy’s lack of sleep, or her willpower to stay awake.

By the slimmest of margins, she won out. And when she got home, she passed out so quickly, she didn’t even have time to engage in her newfound hobby of searching for Travis Dunn and seeing what would pop up.

Sunday didn’t have nearly as much of a drag as Saturday did, in part because Ivy slept nearly twelve hours the night before.

During those two days, she found herself hoping that Travis would come in. She didn’t know what she would say, or even if it would do any good. More likely than not, it would just result in awkward conversation, a decision to leave things as they were, and nothing more. And yet…

On the slim to none chance that he would apologize, that he would want to see her again, that he would give her what she wanted—which, by now, she felt pretty sure was a good, satisfying first time sexual experience—it was worth thinking about him coming in. Maybe if he did, she wouldn’t even get the chance to talk to him. It would seem rather brash to talk to him during her shift, and she knew that Shelly would likely say something.

But what was Shelly, Martin, and this silly coffee job when Travis was around? She didn’t want to think of Travis as a bank or an ATM, but it was undeniable that he had a lot of money and would take care of her if things got serious. It was a perk, not a feature, but that didn’t mean Ivy didn’t think of it.

For all her hopes, though, nothing came during the weekend. She knew she couldn’t be too disappointed in it, but just because she knew it didn’t mean she actually felt no disappointment. Instead, when she closed up shop on Sunday, she went home wondering if there was ever a chance of him returning.

The alarm went off on Monday at 6 a.m. as it always did. Ivy groaned as she rose. At least it’s my Friday, she thought, but then she had another thought come to mind. Her job gave her distraction, it pulled her away from thinking about Travis and their… well, she couldn’t call it a relationship. Dynamic? Partnership? No word seemed to fit.

If she had off, she’d probably wind up doing what she did the previous weekend, imagining him with her and placing her in all of the Netflix movies and documentaries that she consumed.

But, well, maybe she would benefit from the time off. Somehow. She hoped.

When she got to work just minutes before her shift began, her phone buzzed. It was a local phone number, but not one that she recognized. She ignored it and declined the call.

Shortly thereafter, the phone rang again. Ivy was seconds away from leaving it in the locker when she looked. Again, it was the same number.

And again, she declined it.

She went through her morning shift without a worry, treating it like all the rest. She had a slim amount of hope that maybe Travis would appear, what with it being a weekday—a Monday at that—and all, but he never appeared. The man from the week before who had threatened her and felt the wrath of Travis made an appearance, but he must have remembered Ivy, because he meekly ordered his drink and exited before Martin or anyone else called him out for entering the property.

When it came time for her lunch break, she headed back and looked at her phone. She had yet another phone call from the number she didn’t recognize. Curious, she checked her voicemail and listened.

She had to run outside so she could scream with excitement.

“Good morning, this message is for Ivy Zimmerman,” a polite female’s voice began. “My name is Audrey with Logic Designs. Miss Zimmerman, I’m happy to inform you that we’ve moved you to the next round of interviews and would like to schedule you for one final in-person interview. If you can please give me a call back…”

Ivy quickly wrote down as much information as she could, her hands shaking. A real job. A real job with salary, benefits, and time off. Weekends off. No more crappy shifts.

It could really happen.

She danced a little two-step outside, but then reminded herself she hadn’t actually gotten the job yet. She’d advanced farther than she ever had to date, but she wouldn’t get paid for interviewing for the position. If anything, it just meant that the competition for the job had become much stiffer. She would now go against girls and guys who had marketing and digital artistry in their backgrounds and education, not just as a passion.

She nervously picked up her phone and dialed the number Audrey had given her, taking careful care to check at least three times to ensure its accuracy. The phone rang, and Ivy felt like a first grader who was about to ask her crush out.

“Logic Designs, this is Audrey.”

“Audrey, hi, good afternoon, this is Ivy Zimmerman,” Ivy began, doing her best to keep her voice professional and courteous. “You had called me earlier about interviewing in person?”

“Oh, yes, hello Miss Zimmerman!” Audrey said, putting Ivy at ease. She did her best not to smile too hard, but she couldn’t help herself. That, and she needed a break of some good news for everything that had happened in the last week. “Yes, you’re interviewing for the digital marketing associate position, is that correct?”

Ivy nodded, then nearly slapped herself. Audrey was on the phone, not in person.

“Yes, yes, that’s correct.”

“OK, perfect. Well, I’ll tell you what, Miss Zimmerman, I have times available this Thursday, in fact, if you can come in then. I know it’s short notice, so if you cannot make it then, we have spots next week. Are you free this Thursday?”

It had taken every ounce of energy for Ivy not to excitedly interrupt Audrey and inform her that yes, she was free on Wednesday. It was her day off from the coffee shop!

She felt glad she hadn’t, though. She could easily imagine Audrey wondering why a girl seeking this kind of position would work as a barista. Better to just not say anything that might make her look bad.

“I am, I am,” Ivy said. “Any time is good for me.”

She wasn’t sure that she should have said that, but then again, it wasn’t like Logic Designs figured Ivy was employed.

“Good, how about 1:30 p.m.?”

Ivy agreed, and Audrey gave her further instructions.

“We look forward to seeing you at that time, Miss Zimmerman, have a wonderful day.”

It’s already a wonderful day with something like this, Ivy thought as she waltzed around. She almost went back into the coffee shop before realizing that she had, in fact, still another 45 minutes or so before her shift resumed.

She ate a sandwich at a nearby shop, feeling comfortable with a slight splurge. It wasn’t much, just a philly cheesesteak, but on a day like this, with news like this, Ivy wanted to celebrate. She wanted to have a little something. If she couldn’t have a drink, she’d have a mini cheat meal.

She headed back to work shortly after to a coffee shop devoid of most customers. She began cleaning the shop, humming to herself. When she finished, she went behind the cashier. She heard a man clear his throat, and she said, “Be right with you.”

Then she turned around and gasped.

“Travis,” she said.

“Grande Dark Roast, please,” he said, his voice distant.

Ivy scrunched her eyes at him. He made no other motion.

“Did you hear me?”

He didn’t sound aggressive when he spoke, just rather matter of fact. It disappointed Ivy to see him like this, but she had a job to do.

“I, yes,” she said weakly, feeling pressure in the moment. All of the good vibes she’d felt from the interview grab had vanished under the heat of Travis’ eyes. “Grande Dark Roast, correct?”

“Yes,” Travis said, again distant.

“Anything, uhh, else?”

Travis shook his head. He handed her his card and Ivy swiped it. She remained in silence for just a few moments before she couldn’t take it anymore.

“How are you doing?” she asked.

Travis shrugged, his hands in his pockets as they always were.

“Fine,” he said. “Business is good.”

“I see,” Ivy said.

She hated that he was so distant. She didn’t mind if he was a bit cold to her, especially after she had shrieked at him twice, but did he had to act like it was the worst thing in the world to talk to him like this?

“Travis,” she said. “What’s going on?”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t play dumb, please,” she said.

She kept her eye at the door, aware that Martin would return any second as well. She’d dealt with enough grief from him that she didn’t need to risk her job while going through a job interview.

“There’s nothing going on, Ivy,” he said. At least he used my name. At least he’s going to not pretend I’m a complete stranger. “I don’t have much to say to you.”

Ouch, OK, maybe I should’ve pretended to be a stranger.

“So… that’s it?” Ivy asked.

“What do you mean?” Travis said nonchalantly.

“I mean… us,” she said. “Is that it?”

Travis shrugged.

“I brought you to my office. I misread you there. I invited you over, thinking I would give you what you wanted. Then you again turned the tables on me. I don’t know what else there is to it, Ivy.”

Ivy sunk at the register as Travis moved to the side to grab his coffee. She didn’t know what felt worse, the way Travis spoke or the accuracy of his words. No matter what he said, she seemed to have no rebuttal.

“Have a good day,” he said as he walked out the store.

Just like that, huh? We end not with a bang, but a conversation barely resembling such a thing.

Ivy sighed, supposing that she’d brought this on herself.

All she could do now, she figured, was focus on what she had control over.

Which did not extend to Travis Dunn.

But there’s plenty more.

Travis couldn’t help but think about Ivy as he walked out of the coffee shop and to his skyscraper of an office. He had sworn that he would be the image of stoicism when he saw her, unaffected by her presence, and as far as appearances went, he felt he had done his job.

But inside, as soon as he saw her, he had felt a rush of excitement unlike anyone since…

He still couldn’t face the implications of that, but the thoughts got stronger and stronger with each passing moment.

Nevertheless, as a Marine, he knew how to temper his emotions and keep them in check while he worked. He had been coy and blunt, telling her that that was indeed it.

But it wasn’t. And Travis could explain why with one simple fact.

If that was truly all there was, why had he deliberately gone to see Ivy Zimmerman when he had about a dozen other coffee shops he could have tried, none of which would have had the emotional implications that the one Ivy worked at did?

He could have pretended that it was just him being a creature of habit—which he most certainly was—or him not thinking about it before he walked in, but he was certainly done with stuff on one count.

While he didn’t play games with other people, he knew he was guilty of playing games with himself. And that would stop immediately. Travis Dunn would have to start being truthful with himself as much as he was with the rest of the world.

He made his way to his office, nodding at his secretary. He moved with some haste to the back of his elevator, keeping his exchanges short. His rush had little to do with Ivy and more to do with the final task of getting one of his major partners set up.

Because awaiting him at the elevator was the CEO of Logic Designs, Richard Thomas.

“Mr. Dunn,” Richard said, extending a hand. “Pleasure to see you this morning.”

Richard Thomas was one of the few people who had Travis’ height. He did not, however, have Travis’ build, as age seemed to have cursed him with a larger belly and gravity seemed to have won the battle to pull his gut down. Still, he carried himself with a sort of exuberant demeanor that complimented Travis well, for Travis had soon adopted his stoic, blank business face that unsettled many.

Not Richard, though, who saw right through Travis’ approach.

“Likewise, Richard,” Travis said. “Shall we?”

Richard nodded as he got in the elevator. Travis punched the button and the elevator whisked to the top.

“You’ve made quite a name for yourself, Mr. Dunn,” Richard said, sounding awed and impressed. “The work that you’ve put in to get to this point is very impressive.”

“Thank you, sir,” Travis said.

At this point, the negotiation was nothing more than a mere formality. Travis and Richard had simply gotten together for a photo opp, which one of Travis’ assistants would take, already waiting inside his office. The number of privileges that assistant had had to earn to reach Travis’ office without the CEO present were simply staggering, but such was the cost of being a highly functioning CEO.

“It seems like you’ve got it pretty well made, and at such a relatively young age, too,” Richard said.

Travis nodded, for he certainly agreed with that. Nice house. Nice job. Nice…

Not woman. Not yet. But…

“I wish I had half the skills and charisma at your age that you do now, Mr. Dunn.”

“I’ve still got a long way to go,” he replied.

“Don’t we all,” Richard said as the elevator halted and the doors opened to Travis’ luxurious office space. “But I’ll tell you what. You don’t have much further up to go. In fact, I daresay you’ve reached the pinnacle of our city!”

“That is true only in the literal sense,” Travis said, trying to temper the praises of Richard.

He looked over and saw his photographer waiting on a chair nervously. He motioned for his assistant to rise and she did so quickly, hurrying over in front of Travis’ desk.

“You’ve got the final contract, I take it,” Richard said.

“I wouldn’t waste a single moment of ours and not have it ready,” Travis said, pulling it out of one of his filing cabinets. “Let’s get this baby signed and let’s get some handshake photos.”

Both Richard and Travis sat down, taking turns signing their respective lines on the contract. As they did so, the photographer shot constantly. It reminded Travis of his nights out as the cameramen and women followed him wherever he went. He sometimes swore not so jokingly that the shutter sound of a camera would burn at his psyche far longer than machine gun fire or grenade explosions.

When they finished signing their respective portions of the contract, they stood and shook hands, posing for the camera. When they finished, Richard let out a long sigh.

“This has been a long time coming, Travis,” Richard said. “I’d like to invite you to a dinner with my wife and I, you and your…”

He trailed off, unsure of what to say.

“I’m actually…”

Now Travis found himself being the one unable to say anything. He knew the answer, and it wasn’t hard to think it through. He was single.

But it hurt for him to have to actually admit it, especially with everything that he and Ivy had been through.

“I am not quite seeing anyone at the moment,” Travis said. “But I can find someone well enough.”

“You?” Richard said in disbelief, a momentary lapse in professionalism that hit Travis hard. “You’re a handsome man. You don’t have anyone? Well, it’s not my place to inquire on such matters, I apologize. In any case then, I would like to invite you out to dinner. On me. Getting Logic Designs with your company has long been an ambition of mine, and to finally make it happen deserves a celebration with my loved one.”

Travis smiled as softly as he could and nodded, saying he would love that.

But Richard’s words had reminded Travis of what he’d lost in Ivy. He may have sworn her off, in theory, but in practice, he had not yet gotten rid of her in his mind. He still thought of her, and he still compared her to… to…

The last woman he loved.

Mia.

When he admitted it like that, and what implications it carried, it suddenly left him feeling very free. He could admit Ivy reminded her of Mia. When he’d lost Mia, it had hurt like nothing in his life. Not even the death of his brothers in combat had hurt quite like the loss of Mia.

But that he could finally admit it made him feel free.

And in doing so, it prompted him to ask a question that Travis knew would set him back up with Ivy.

“By the way, Richard,” Travis said, surprised to find himself suddenly nervous. “Do you keep track of who your company interviews and such?”

Richard laughed.

“I wish!” he said. “I’d keep a better tab on our culture! No, sadly, we have too many candidates these days. Why do you ask?”

Travis smiled.

“There’s an old friend of mine interviewing for your marketing department,” he said. He winked as he then added, “I’m not going to say put in a good word for her, Ivy Zimmerman, but maybe you can tell me what time she is interviewing.”

A few days later, Ivy sat with her ankles crossed on the bench in front of the reception desk. She had been waiting for close to an hour for her turn, and five people had already gone in for their interviews. This one was the latest in a long line of job interviews she had attended in the past week and she had her ankles and her fingers crossed that they would go well. She’d finally broken at the coffee shop, and she couldn’t imagine staying there any longer.

Travis, simply, had been a presence there, perhaps not as literally as Ivy imagined sometimes but enough so that she couldn’t go to work without thinking about him. She just had to find someplace new. And on top of that, she needed to really get her career started—which no one ever achieved as a barista.

Logic Designs was a big name in the industry, and their expertise ranged from architectural designs to basic graphic designs. Ivy was hoping that there would be a place for her. It had the benefits and the pay that would allow her to live a better life, if not a luxurious one like Travis. Nothing could get me that, though.

She tapped the top of her head to make sure that her hair was in place, and practiced her polite smiles on the receptionist in front of her. A door at the end of the short corridor opened and a woman in a tight pencil skirt stepped out.

Then she saw something that flooded her with nervousness.

Of all people whom she expected to see, she did not expect to see Travis walking out after the woman. A sudden electric shock ran down Ivy’s spine when their gazes locked. How could this have happened? How could he have been in this exact place at this exact moment? And what in the hell was he doing in this building at this time?

Feeling a rush of panic overtake her body, Ivy stood up from her seat. She fumbled with the files she had on her lap. She cleared her throat and tried not to look too closely at Travis—the last thing she needed seconds before her interview was an encounter with Travis.

“Miss, you’re next,” the receptionist said to her.

“Hi there, Ivy,” Travis said as he stood by the interviewer.

It was too much. For how he’d treated her, she couldn’t take it. Panic set in. She suddenly had to have a professional interview with Travis? After everything they’d been through? No, not a chance, no way.

Everything Ivy knew she shouldn’t do, she did. Ivy started to walk in the opposite direction.

“Miss Zimmerman?” the receptionist called after her, but Ivy was panicking.

She had no intention of staying and actually facing Travis. All those feelings of anger and embarrassment, mixed oddly with an urge of sympathy for him, came hurling back. She had managed to keep it all in check for a good length of time, at least relative to how long she’d done so before. She had somehow managed to go about her daily tasks in the past few days, and now in a matter of seconds, she had lost all control. I’m a failure. I’m a failure. I can’t do this.

Ivy half-ran to the revolving doors of the building, nearly slipping and sliding over the floor. Ballerina flats were a bad idea, she thought as she stuffed herself into one of the swinging doors. It was like the building had chewed and spat her out, as she came stumbling out into the bright light of day. I guess I’m not meant to work here. I’m not meant to be a digital artist. This is what I deserve.

I’ll just try somewhere Travis doesn’t have his paws in. Maybe I’ll even leave this place. God knows I need a fresh start.

Let’s just figure it out when I get home.

She had just about managed to gather herself and keep all the pages in the file in when she heard Travis’ voice behind her.

“Where are you going, Ivy?” he said, his voice suggesting his enjoyment of the scene.

She pretended to not have heard him and kept walking.

“I have your resume in my hand!” he said.

She couldn’t ignore him any longer. She whipped around to find him waving the sheets of paper in his hands. They must have fallen out of her files. Travis walked leisurely towards her, his face a mixture of seriousness and amusement.

She reached for the resume, but he snapped it out of her reach so that she nearly tumbled forward into him.

“Please give it back to me,” she said, trying to make her voice sound as harsh as possible. She was not here to engage in conversation with Travis.

“Aren’t you missing your interview?” Travis asked.

Ivy clenched her jaw and stuck her chin up in the air. Fine. Keep it curt.

“That is none of your concern,” she said.

Travis grinned, one of his devious grins. It only infuriated her more.

“I was here for a meeting. I just signed a deal with them for some architectural designs. They’ll be a good place to work,” he continued. Ivy snapped her face away from him, with her nostrils flaring. Lies. Or even if not, a rather fortunate coincidence for you. But no. “Are we incapable of having a polite conversation with each other anymore?”

“I don’t see the need to have any conversation at all,” she said and still smiling, he handed her resume back to her. “Goodbye, Travis.”

Ivy snatched it away from him and stuffed it back into the file. Despite all the rage she was feeling towards him, she hadn’t failed to notice his suit, the width of his shoulders and how strong his cologne was that day. She was trying hard not to get swept up in him again.

“Ivy, you should go in for that interview,” he said in a calmer, more controlled voice. “You don’t have to like me to do what’s best for your career.”

He was searching her eyes like he was instructing her. He’s just patronizing. Ignore him.

“It’s fine. I’m not interested in the position,” she said.

Travis placed his hands on the curves of her shoulders. She nearly gasped from the touch. His hands were like molten lava, seeping into her skin. Just that touch was enough to melt her. She allowed him to hold her gaze, and she could feel the rage slowly dissipating.

“Don’t give up an opportunity like this on account of me,” he said, in a voice that was kind and commanding at the same time.

It was like he was trying to hypnotize her! And, dammit, it seemed to be working.

“I don’t think they’re waiting for me. I’m pretty sure I’ve messed it up now,” she said. “Thanks, but no one would take an employee like me.”

“I asked them to wait for you,” Travis said as he removed his hands and took a step back. “They’re going to wait. Now go back in there and give it your best shot. Seriously.”

Ivy blinked as she stared at him, trying to register what he had just said.

“Go on,” he urged her, tipping his head sideways in encouragement.

Ivy smoothened the top of her head and tucked in some stray strands of hair back behind her ears. She gulped as she gave Travis a last look. I don’t know what you’re pulling, Travis. But so help me God if I go in there and they aren’t waiting for me.

She brushed past him, hurrying back into the building.

Even as she found just enough vigor to head inside, though, this day was turning out to be a disaster, Ivy thought. Now that she had seen him again; there was no way that she would do well at this interview. She put on a smile and tried to develop a confident gait as she walked back to the reception desk.

“I’m sorry, I had an emergency call to take,” she said to the woman who was glaring at her confusedly.

“They’re waiting for you inside, Miss Zimmerman,” she said and giving her a flourished nod, Ivy found her way to the meeting room.

He was serious. They are giving me a shot.

OK, Mr. Dunn. You get one small point in your favor.

I suppose it’s a start.

Ivy left the building an hour later, stifling a smile as she walked onto the pavement. Somehow, as the interview had continued, she’d found her spirit and her guile and had done well in the interview. More than once, she got the interviewers to smile and laugh with her.

She knew that she had no guarantees, and she couldn’t be sure that she had the background to get the job. But for once, she had a real hope grounded in actual reality, not in misunderstandings.

As she walked out and began heading back to the coffee shop for the second part of her shift, a car approached with dark, tinted glass. Its window rolled down, and Ivy gasped in shock.

“How’d it go?”

You.

“What are you still doing here?” she asked, staring at Travis’ grinning face.

He had his glasses on, and a newspaper open in front of him. He looked the part of too cool for school, as relaxed as a man in a private vehicle could be.

“How was the interview?” he insisted. “I’m simply curious to know.”

Ivy stood with a hand on her hip. I don’t believe you’re just simply curious.

“Don’t you have something more useful to do with your time than wait for me here?” she said, trying to sound annoyed, but the truth was that she could feel her knees buckling.

He had waited for her there for nearly an hour! As much as she didn’t want to admit it, this was another point in his favor.

“Yes, I most definitely do,” he said. She watched as he unlocked his door and threw it open. “Get in.”

Even though Ivy’s mind kept telling her not to, she did as she was told. Something about this guy, I swear…

Travis slid down the seat of the car and Ivy settled in beside him, pasting herself to the corner so that she could keep as much distance between them as she could. Even still, she had her body positioned toward him.

“So, how was it?” he asked.

She noticed that he seemed to be in a better mood than their last encounter, and he seemed more willing to engage.

“It went well, they said they’ve shortlisted me and will get back with a decision in four days. I don’t want to jinx it though,” Ivy said, trying to not sound too enthusiastic.

Travis was grinning as he slid his glasses off his nose and held them up in the air.

“That’s great news, Ivy, well done,” he said.

She felt a chill run down her spine, not sure why she was happy to have impressed him. It’s because he’s a successful businessman and you just had a successful business moment.

I swear that’s what this is.

But if he was there…

“Did you have something to do with this?” she asked him, crossing her brows.

Travis shrugged his shoulders and laughed, not exactly the most encouraging response for the answer she sought.

“Absolutely not. How would I? They have no clue that we’re even acquainted,” he said.

She noticed that he was studying her again. Ivy felt her cheeks flush, and she couldn’t stop thinking about how embarrassed she had felt that night in his house. Or in the office. Or in the coffee shop.

“Besides, what reason would I have to help you?” he added.

Ivy clasped her hands together on her lap, knotting her fingers together. He had a point, especially given their previous encounters.

“That’s true. It’s just that I want to do this on my own, be hired on my merit and not because I once went on a half-date with you.”

“I didn’t pull any strings, Ivy, trust me on that,” he said in a voice that commanded authority.

She didn’t know if she believed him on that—maybe his definition of pulling strings differed than hers—but he sounded sincere enough. She remained sitting silently for a few moments, staring at her lap because she didn’t know what she was still doing there in his car. There was a darkly tinted glass partition between them and the chauffeur, making it felt private. Like they were alone in a room together again. Why was she there?

Well, she knew, but she didn’t want to admit it.

“And about the half-date,” he said after a few moments of silence.

“Can we please not talk about that? I’d rather just leave,” Ivy said.

She made a move to open the door but Travis stopped her by placing a hand on her knee. Her skirt reached mid-thigh, and his warm hand on her bare skin stopped her with a jolt. She snapped her head around to look at his face and Travis’ eyes looked heavy and drooping.

“Ivy, I hope you understand why I couldn’t give you what you wanted that night,” he said.

She gulped. She hadn’t expected this conversation. She wasn’t ready. But she had no choice.

“No, I don’t understand. I know what your reputation is,” she said.

He slid his hand away from her knee.

“My reputation?” he said, arching an eyebrow.

“How many women you date or sleep with or whatever it is you do!” she said.

A dry menacing grin appeared on his face and then faded away, seemingly as he thought better of making a smart remark.

“I didn’t peg you as someone who read the tabloids,” he said.

“You don’t know anything about me. How would you know what my reading habits are?” she said sourly and Travis clenched his jaw and remained silent. “So, no, I don’t understand why you rejected me.”

“I’m sorry if I’ve insulted you, Ivy, that was not my intention,” he said in a deep voice.

Ivy hated how attracted she was to her. It was too much. Just a few more minutes and she knew she would melt. She wouldn’t be able to hold herself back.

“What was your intention then? Why me? What’s wrong with me?”

“There’s nothing wrong with you!”

Travis lunged at her, grabbing her jaw with one strong grip and she could feel the roughness of his skin on her cheeks. Ivy’s breath caught in her throat, her breasts were heaving.

“There has to be,” she said through gritted teeth and Travis brought his face close to hers.

She could see the storm brewing in his eyes, the tightness of his clenched jaw, the way he was peering into her eyes like he was searching her soul.

“There is nothing wrong with you Ivy, you’re too good to be true,” he said and with a jerk, he let go of her.

“You don’t have to insult me by throwing empty compliments at me,” she said, feeling the sting on her cheeks where his fingers had dug into her skin.

Travis had shifted back in his seat but was still glaring at her.

“What do I have to do to prove to you that I’m not making this up?” he growled as she felt a tingle on her fingertips.

Back to where we were in the room.

I suppose there’s no point in hiding it.

“Take my virginity,” Ivy said calmly, surprised by the conviction in her own voice.

She never thought she would actually be able to say the words in as calm and relaxed a manner as she did. Travis was glaring at her, staring at her from under his heavy hooded eyelids, his nostrils flared, and his face darkened. Ivy noticed for the first time the light silvery strands of hair on his sideburns.

“I won’t do that to you, Ivy,” he said in a deep guttural growl and she stuck her chin up in the air.

“Then I don’t believe you,” she said.

Travis sighed. He looked like he was now finally beginning to seriously consider it.

“You’ll regret it,” Travis pressed his eyes close and spoke with his teeth gritted together.

She wanted him, she had to press her legs together to distract from the wetness between her thighs, the tightness in her belly. There was nothing more she wanted than for this man to take her virginity. And she would steal a page from Travis’ playbook to make it happen—she wouldn’t accept him saying no.

“That’s my problem, not yours,” Ivy said.

Travis opened his eyes again. The storminess in his blue eyes had vanished, he looked like he was back in control.

And Ivy began to feel an erotic rush as a result.

“If we do this, we have to do this my way,” he said in a voice so low that she had to strain her ears to hear him.

Ivy gulped because she couldn’t even imagine what he could be talking about. She had no experience, no way of knowing what she liked or disliked. But it would result in the same thing—her losing her virginity to him. She nodded her head and Travis clenched his jaw again.

They were staring at each other and Ivy was counting the seconds in her head, it was like time had stood still. Like she couldn’t hear anything, couldn’t smell anything. Like nothing else existed except him.

Travis placed his hands on the sides of her knees and before Ivy even had the chance to react to the sensation of his hand on her, he pulled her. It was a swift, smooth tug and she felt her butt sliding on the car seat as he had pulled her to himself. His hands traveled up from her knees to her waist and he pulled her in closer so that she was now leaning on him, her breasts pressing into his chest.

Travis’ breath fell on her hair and he hooked a finger into the bun she had tied. Her strawberry blond locks came tumbling down her back and he grabbed the side of her neck, clutching it tightly in his hand.

His lips met hers with a fury like he had been trying to control himself forever. Just like she had. Their lips had only touched before he pushed his tongue into her mouth. Ivy moaned and gasped as she felt his tongue exploring her mouth. He had complete control over her, angling her face in a position that made it easier for him to dive further into her mouth. He nibbled on her bottom lip when he pulled away slightly for air, and then his tongue was inside her mouth again.

This wasn’t any ordinary kiss, for he was thrusting his tongue down her throat in a rhythmic sexual motion. Giving her a taste of what was to come when his cock would be inside her. Ivy couldn’t help imagining it, especially since the wetness between her legs was spreading now. Seeping through her panties as he kissed her furiously.

No kiss had been like this before. This animalistic, this wild. She had never felt dominated like this either. Travis had absolute power over her, and she felt helpless in his arms as he kissed her furiously and his hands traveled over her body.

He cupped her breasts, flicking her erect nipples through the thin fabric of her shirt. He curved his hands over the shape of her butt, trailed his fingers down her legs, the insides of her thighs, pulling her skirt upwards. His fingers were light and tender on her skin, on her thighs…unlike the fury of his mouth on her and this contrasting pressure was driving her body insane. She could feel the fire building up inside her, an uncontrollable urge to make contact with his cock.

Ivy thrust her hips towards him, feeling the sharpness of his hip bones as he pushed himself into her too. They were fused at the hips, their mouths locked together as well. Ivy knew she wasn’t breathing. She didn’t want to breathe. All she wanted was to have Travis inside her and now she did.

He pulled away, to nibble on her neck and she threw her head back, enjoying the wet trail he was leaving on her skin with his tongue. Travis stopped suddenly, lifting his face up to stare into her eyes again.

“Do you want to change your mind about this?” he asked, with their bodies still pressed together, their breaths heavy and panting.

Ivy shook her head because she didn’t think she could get any words out. She would quit her job, she’d say no to the interview, she’d do whatever it took to have this moment.

He turned and knocked twice on the glass divider and the chauffeur didn’t have to ask. The car started and they were on their way.

“Where are we going?” Ivy asked him as he settled back into the seat.

“My house,” he said, in an angered voice and he refused to look at her.

He was staring out of the window now as Ivy sat at a distance from him, her clothes crumbled, her hair ruffled and in a mess. She didn’t know what to think. She had no clue what he wanted or what he planned for her. All she knew was that she wanted him to be the one. If she wasn’t convinced enough before, that kiss definitely proved it. She had never felt this instinctual urge to have someone inside her before.

Travis looked at her suddenly and Ivy stared back.

“Do you always get your way, Ivy Zimmerman?” he asked like he was rebuking a naughty child and she bit down on her lip, trying to suppress the smile that was creeping up on her face.

I do now, Travis.

When Travis and Ivy arrived at Travis’ place, the billionaire opened the door for the barista and guided her upstairs without a word. Ivy barely had time to register more of the artwork and decor of the house, for he had his hand on her and did not let go as he led her up the stairs.

A couple of turns later, Ivy gasped.

“Is this your bedroom?” Ivy asked when she stepped into the room.

It was as gorgeously decorated as the living room she had seen earlier. It was dark, with walls in a pastel green shade with several lamps on the floor and on tables as the only source of light.

Once again, Ivy felt like she had been transported to an old 18th Century home. She walked around the room, running her fingers over the wooden paneling. Ornately framed oil paintings hung on the wall, and in the center of the room stood an enormous four poster bed.

It had a wooden canopy, polished and glistening with a thick rich red curtain hanging from it in luxurious waves. The room had a fireplace that wasn’t lit and a scented candle was burning on the mantle. Ivy walked to it and breathed in, her nostrils tingled with the musky woody scent it emanated, much like Travis’ cologne.

“No, it isn’t my bedroom.”

When Ivy turned in shock, she found him loosening his tie and proceeding to take off his cuff links.

She stood at the end of the bed, with her hands clasped together in front of her, at a loss of what to do next. Once Travis had taken off his cuffs, he threw his tie to the floor and then took off his suit jacket.

He was watching her with narrowed eyes, as though assessing her for size, coming up with a plan in his head. Ivy wished she could dive into his mind and know what was rummaging through his mind, but in some ways, it was more fun not to know. She would wait to have it unfold before her.

“This is going to be a new experience for you, Ivy, and I want you to have a safe word,” he said.

“Safe word?” she asked and Travis thrust his hands into the pockets of his pants. What did I sign up for?

“Yes, to use if you think I’ve taken it too far. You don’t know what your limitations are, and I don’t want to do something to you that you don’t enjoy,” he said.

Ivy felt the knots in her belly tighten.

The word enjoy had done it for her. She had spent so many years fretting over her first time, worrying if she’ll be any good at it, that she’d never considered enjoying it.

“How about coffee?” she asked, trying to smile.

Even though Travis didn’t seem to be pleased with it, he nodded his head slowly.

“That’ll do for now,” he said and then his gaze dropped to her breasts. “Take your clothes off, Ivy.”

With a gulp, she started unbuttoning her shirt. She slid it over her shoulders and watched as he looked at her breasts. Then she started sliding her skirt down till it collected in a heap at her ankles. She stepped out of it and her skin was covered in goosebumps. He had yet to make a move towards her.

She unhooked her bra and then slid down her panties, which were dripping wet already.

For the first time, Ivy was standing completely naked in front of a man. She had fantasized about it many times before, and now standing in front of Travis like this… it made her feel strong.

Travis took in a deep breath, his eyes drinking in the shape of her breasts, her erect rosy nipples, the light dusting of hair between her legs. Her instinct was to cover herself, to cup her breasts and her pussy, but she forced herself to remain standing in front of him, with her arms on her sides. Stand strong. Show him you’re ready for this.

“Lie down on your back, Ivy,” he said, still standing with his hands in his pockets.

She stepped backward, her breathing growing heavier by the minute. She wanted to see him naked too, but he didn’t seem to be in a hurry to take his clothes off. The back of her knees hit the edge of the bed and she toppled backward, bouncing lightly on the mattress as she did.

Travis walked towards her finally, slowly and stealthily and instead of touching her, which she was desperate for, he slid open a drawer in the bedside table next to her. She watched, her pupils reflecting the burning candle on the mantelpiece…as he pulled out two pairs of velvet handcuffs. He placed it on the bed beside her, and then took out a black satin handkerchief. She gulped and trembled.

“Does this scare you?” Travis asked, turning to her, almost like he wanted her to say yes.

If she’d responded immediately, she would have said yes.

But she trusted Travis. The points he’d earned this morning had given him that right. So she paused for a second and said the real truth.

“No,” Ivy said, licking her lips in anticipation.

Her body was bare, covered in goosebumps, and there was a fire burning in the pit of her stomach that she couldn’t stop. Every nerve in her body was screaming for him to take her. Do it any way he wanted, but just take her.

With a knee on the bed, Travis lifted her right wrist and clapped the velvet handcuff on her and then tugged to clap the other part to the wooden column in the headrest. Ivy gasped as she felt the smooth texture of the handcuff on her skin. He loomed over her, as he reached across for her left wrist and did the same. Ivy felt a tug as her arms stretched out over her, chained to the headrest now over her head. She could feel her breasts stretching, her muscles tightening and she wriggled her hips in anticipation of what he was going to do next. Her natural instincts told her to resist.

“Just relax, Ivy. Let your senses take over,” Travis said as he picked up the silk handkerchief.

She was breathing hard as he came closer and placed it over her eyes, lifting her head gently to tie it to the back of her head. She was in pitch darkness now, couldn’t see a thing, and she felt her mouth partially open. What was going on?

It was a strange feeling, new and alien to her. She had never felt this helpless before, and even though her legs were free she couldn’t really do anything. But she didn’t ask him to stop because she was even more curious now. She was helpless only by herself—but with Travis, she felt as strong as ever.

“Travis…” she said.

She felt his finger being placed on her lips gently but pressing firmly.

“In this room, you will call me Master,” he said.

She gasped. The fact that she couldn’t see, only hear and smell…the fact that his voice sounded so commanding and dangerous now…was putting her in a lulling trance.

“And you will do nothing without my permission,” she heard him say as he dragged his finger away from her lips. “Don’t make a move unless I tell you to, don’t say anything without my permission unless it’s the safe word, and most definitely don’t come till I allow you to. Do you understand?”

She could sense him moving around the room, opening drawers and his voice boomed loud in her ears.

“Yes,” she replied, her breasts shuddering.

“Yes, what?” Travis said.

The submission was intoxicating.

“Yes, Master,” Ivy replied, feeling dizzy with an overwhelming desire for him.

He knew just how to wrap her around his finger, to have her entirely in his control.

She wasn’t expecting it, and Travis grabbed her ankles lightly, pulling her legs apart. Her skin grazed against the smooth silk of the bedsheets and it sent a rapturous shiver down her spine. He had parted her thighs, positioning her like a spread eagle. She could sense his warmth close by. The longer she spent in absolute blindness, the stronger her sense of smell and touch were becoming.

“You have to be ready for me before I possess you,” she heard him say and then a soft feathery material brushed against the sensitive folds of her pussy.

Ivy gasped and her back arched upwards. The very next second, she felt Travis’ fingers on her left nipple, pinching it tightly and she gasped again.

“I told you not to move without permission. Every time you do something you’re not supposed to, there will be a punishment,” he growled and Ivy slunk her body back down to the bed.

He released her nipple and she felt it throb with pleasure and pain. Ivy tried to control her breathing, to even out the pace, but the feather brushed against her clit again and she bit down on her bottom lip to stop from screaming.

“Good girl.”

She felt that familiar thrill again. She was desperate to please him, desperate for his approval.

He began flicking the feather quicker now, sliding it along the slit of her pussy, teasing her clit as Ivy tried her best to not moan and gasp. She tried to remain completely still, but it was the most difficult thing she had ever done in her life. Her body was spasming, she could feel her juices rolling out of her.

“Good girl,” Travis said again.

Then she felt his finger slowly slide into her. Ivy couldn’t control herself and this time she cried out. In the next second, Travis had slapped her breast. It was a tight slap that stung her skin and Ivy screamed out again.

“I’m sorry Master,” she said, her voice dripping with desire and pleasure.

She had never thought that a slap could feel this good.

His finger slid further into her and Ivy tried to hold still. The feather was teasing her clit and his finger began sliding in and out of her. She could hear the pumping sound it made as Travis drilled into her, soon joining two fingers together so that her folds stretched even more. Ivy bit down on her lip, hard enough for her to worry that she was going to draw blood, but she didn’t make a sound. She didn’t move, only breathed hard.

“Good girl,” he said as she felt his fingers slipping in her juices.

She was ready for him, more ready than she had ever been before. When Travis pulled his fingers out of her, Ivy gasped again, afraid that he was going to stop.

“You’re doing good, Ivy. You’re being a very good girl.”

She felt the mattress creak as he stepped up. Then came the sound of foil being torn and the snap of latex. He was putting a condom on. She hadn’t even seen him naked, hadn’t yet seen his cock! She wriggled, tugging at the handcuffs. Travis’ fingers were clamping her nipples again.

“What did I tell you about moving?” he hissed in her ear and she stopped herself, controlling the urge to scream as he tightened his grip on her nipples.

When he released them, she let out a moan because of how much they stung.

Then she felt the soft wet lick of his tongue. Ivy felt dizzy, in a head-rush as Travis’ mouth closed over one of her nipples. He was sucking on it, slowly lapping at her breast and it was the most soothing balm she could have asked for.

She was still dripping wet, her belly aching with desire now as she sensed him positioning himself over her. She was desperate for free hands, desperate to reach out and touch him. Feel the texture of his skin under her fingertips, to trace the carving of his abs which she knew were hidden under his shirt all this time.

“Remember the rules, Ivy. You’re not allowed to come till I tell you to,” he said and she felt his hands on her hips, gripping her tightly to keep her in position.

“Yes, Master,” she replied meekly.

There was no turning back now. She was going to give herself to him and he would forever be the man who had taken her virginity. No one I’d rather lose it to.

Ivy held her breath as she sensed his cock growing closer to her. Her breasts rose and fell and then she felt the tip of his cock on the folds of her wet pussy. Ivy bit on her lip to stop from screaming. Travis was sliding himself into her, slowly and inch by inch, stretching her folds, grazing against the walls of her vagina till he had buried himself deep into her.

Ivy didn’t think she had the strength in her to not cry out, but she did. It was a few seconds of pain while he stretched her with his cock. When she could feel his length inside her, the knots in her belly started to unravel.

“So tight,” she heard him growl under his breath and he moved his hands to keep her thighs apart.

Then he started thrusting. His cock pulled out of her and back into her in quick rhythmic thrusts, while his thumb stroked her clit slowly, pulling her slowly towards the edge of an orgasm.

“Don’t even think about it!” he said through gritted teeth when Ivy’s body shuddered.

She was biting down hard on her lip, trying to not cry out as he thrust in and out of her. She could feel his balls crashing against her butt as he drilled into her with force. She couldn’t hold back any longer, her hands fisted, wriggling and trying to break free from the handcuffs.

“Come for me, Ivy.”

His voice slid smoothly into her ears.

She cried out with a shuddering moan as she released. Her juices trickled out of her as her body spasmed hard.

Her toes curled and she didn’t stop moaning. It felt like her soul was lifted out of her body and came crashing back again, her jaws were tight, her breasts heaved and she orgasmed violently.

She heard him grunt and then growl as he released too.

His cock kept thrusting into her as she felt his seed shoot and she moaned even louder. Travis leaned in on her, wrapping his arms around her bare torso as he thrust, slower and slower each time now. She could feel his hot breath on her face, hear the sound of his harsh breathing.

It wasn’t until several moments later, that she felt his hands reach for the knot at the back of her head. He untied it and she blinked wildly till her eyes adjusted to the dim light of the room. Travis was stretched out over her, and now he reached over to unclasp the handcuffs from the headrest.

She looked up in awe at the powerful muscles of his arms as he expertly undid them. When her hands were released, her first instinct was to touch him. She ran her fingers over the chiseled muscles of his torso. He was completely naked too, and now she could finally see him.

Their breaths were still ragged and harsh. Ivy wondered if her breathing would ever go back to normal. Travis wrapped his arms around her again, and to her surprise, he placed a soft kiss on her forehead. Ivy sighed, unable to control the rush of emotions surging through her body.

She had never imagined that Travis Dunn would be capable of this kind of tenderness.

He was looking at her again, his eyes searching hers, a soft grin tugging the corners of his lips.

“Are you all right?” he asked, in a kinder calmer voice. Ivy wanted to scream out with glee.

She could feel the adrenaline coursing through her veins. She wanted to wrap her arms around him, laugh and giggle and roll with him on the bed. She wanted him to know just how good it had been.

She only nodded her head instead. It seemed like the most appropriate response for the moment.

“Okay,” he said, in a quiet voice, searching her eyes and her face still.

They were lying entangled in each other, trying to calm their breathing and she felt like she could have drowned in his eyes. It was more than just the sex, more than what he had made her feel.

It was a deep thrilling connection that she felt with him in that moment. The more he looked into her eyes, the more she felt like he truly did see her. Like he was trying to understand her, and she was trying to understand him in the silence of the room. He is genuine. He really did—no, does—want to get to know me.

When Travis moved, Ivy felt her heart drop. He was sliding his arms away from under her and Ivy watched with bated breath as he swung his powerfully muscular legs off the bed and stood up. Her throat ran dry again, she licked her lips and slowly, she tried to sit up.

She could still feel the throbbing force with which he had driven into her. It was like he was still inside her, and in silence, she watched as he walked around the room, pulling out cotton towels out of the drawers. He walked back to her, holding two of them out for her.

“Here, you can use these,” he said. With trembling hands, she took them from him.

He was wiping himself as well. The tied up condom lay on the floor next to his feet, and Ivy gulped again. Her pussy was still damp, still throbbing to the touch as she wiped herself between her legs. It was like her skin radiated with the scent of him.

“You’re welcome to have a shower if you want,” he said and she looked up at him again.

How was she supposed to explain to him that she never wanted his touch to wash away from her body?

“No, I’ll wait till I get home,” Ivy said and Travis turned from her.

He was picking his clothes up off the floor now, ready to start dressing again. She couldn’t stop her heart from thudding against her chest. She couldn’t help but wonder what was going to happen next.

And then, the thoughts turned from unwaveringly positive and hopeful to despairing.

She thought of all of the things she had read online. All of the photos of him with women. How, aside from the first one, he never had the same woman in any photos.

Judging by his track record, she got the feeling that this meant the end of their blink-and-miss relationship. If this was the end…

“So if this isn’t your bedroom, is this where you bring all your women then?” she asked.

You idiot! Why? Why did you ask that?!?

Travis’ back was still turned to her, but she saw the muscles on his shoulders and back stiffen. He turned his head to her, not enough for her to see the expression in his eyes.

“No, it is not, Ivy,” he said as she bent herself down to pick up her lingerie from the floor.

“Of course not, you have enough rooms in this house to mix it up,” she said, surprised by the envy dripping from her voice. What are you doing, Ivy? You got what you wanted, just trust him! Don’t worry about the past.

Travis turned to her now, as he slid his pants up to his waist. He had his jaws clenched and was glaring at her.

“You have the wrong impression of me,” he said and Ivy threw him a half-baked smile.

“I have no impression of you since I don’t know you at all,” she said.

Travis sighed and then shook his head like he was utterly disappointed with her. Ivy hated that the words tumbled out of her like so. She realized that as flawed as Travis seemed, she had her own unmistakable failings, too. She just hoped she hadn’t ruined it for good.

“There are no other women, Ivy,” Travis said. Ivy forced herself not to respond. “I haven’t been with anyone in over three years,”

Ivy stopped, in the middle of hooking her bra. Her lips parted in surprise and she tried to get some words out but Travis had turned from her again. He had walked over to the mantelpiece where he’d left his cuff links earlier.

“That…I…” she tried to say. “Really?

“Find that hard to believe?” Travis asked, fixing his clothing.

Ivy pursed her lips together, and her face fell in a frown. Her mistake really had cost her, and she hated it.

“You should know better than to believe everything you read in the tabloids, Ivy,” he said as he flipped his tie over his head.

Without the need of looking in the mirror, he started knotting his tie expertly and she watched him for several moments in silence. She hadn’t even begun to dress, and he was nearly back to looking his perfect self again.

“I’ve seen photographs…with those women…” she said.

Travis shook his head and grinned. She knew by now she should just shut up.

And so, perhaps far too late, she did.

“So what?” Travis said with unexpected cheerfulness. “I go to a lot of parties. I have a lot of friends. I like to socialize. But that doesn’t mean that I sleep with all of them.”

He walked over to put his jacket back on. Ivy felt confused and she followed his every movement with her eyes. He was in his clothes, not a crease on any of the fabric. His tie looked neat and perfectly put on. Travis proceeded to thrust his hands into his pockets again.

Mercifully, this time, Ivy kept quiet, giving Travis a chance to explain his side.

“You asked me what was wrong with you, Ivy, and the truthful answer is that there is everything right with you. I wanted you from the moment I saw you, and the more you couldn’t stay away from me, the wilder my desire for you grew,” he said. Ivy felt a shiver run down her spine. She couldn’t believe any of this that she was hearing. “But I didn’t want to spoil it. I didn’t want to spoil your first time.”

She shook her head. The exact opposite had happened. If anything, she had to laugh at the notion that it would be all downhill from here.

“You didn’t, Travis. This was amazing, it was more than I could have hoped for.”

She stopped herself just in time from thanking him. He grinned and shook his head.

“No, I meant spoil your memory of it. You won’t forget your first time and I didn’t want your first time to be with me,” he said in a dry deep voice.

Ivy wanted to cry out. She wished she had the courage to tell him that she wouldn’t forget him anyway. Even if he hadn’t made love to her, she wouldn’t have forgotten him. Now I want to have the words…

“This is what I wanted,” she said instead.

“And I gave it to you, so now we can move on,” he said.

Ivy felt a cry rising up her throat. It wasn’t that she had expected anything else from him, but for him to actually say it… to actually say that they had to move on… was too much to bear. What had they done this for if not to move forward, not on? What in the world was going on with Travis Dunn?

What did that kiss on the forehead mean?

He turned from her again, and Ivy felt a panic rising in her. She had to ask.

“I know about Mia,” she cried out.

Travis stopped in his tracks. He straightened his back but didn’t turn to look at her.

“I know what happened to her, what happened to you. I—”

“Why are you bringing it up then?” she heard him ask.

His voice had dropped to a fevered low pitch again and she was afraid that he was going to be mad at her. But while she had moved past the point of believing that he was playing games with her, she had come to the point where she knew he needed to confront some emotional truths.

“Because I want you to know that I understand why you can’t give me more than this,” Ivy said softly and even with his face turned, she could sense that he had clenched his jaw.

“I see a lot of her in you, how I remember her, and I wanted to stay away from that,” he said.

Ivy felt the prick of hot tears at the back of her eyelids. There was much she could overcome, but she could not overcome this. Not her reminding him of his deceased future wife.

“I understand,” she said quietly.

He breathed in deeply. What Ivy had said wasn’t the truth, for she didn’t really understand because she had no way of knowing how he felt, how he had been feeling for all these years. What she did know, however, was that she didn’t want to ask him to give her what he couldn’t. No matter how much it stung her. No matter how she felt about him.

Ironically, and sadly, her care for Travis was what would prevent her from being with him.

But before she could let him go, she needed to know more.

“But Travis, what happened? I mean, what’s the story with her?”

Travis still did not turn to face her. In the moments of silence, Ivy thought of the normal human qualities that Mia had possessed, and how she seemed so real. The green eyes, the smile, the lack of makeup. It made her wonder how Travis looked before he became wealthy. Given he was in the Marines, he was probably fit as could be and extremely healthy back in the day, but could he have afforded to dress as well as he did now? How had wealth changed him?

“I met her just before I started ROTC in college,” he said. His voice sounded cold, but not to her—rather, it seemed like a useful method of self-defense against his own barrage of emotions. “I immediately became attracted to her and decided I wanted to make her my girlfriend. She did just that almost immediately. For a while, we were in heaven. We graduated and I learned that as part of me joining the ROTC, I had to go do a tour in Iraq.”

His voice wavered just a tad there—not enough for Ivy to comment on it, but certainly enough to notice.

“And so I proposed to her.”

He laughed. Ivy didn’t ask why.

“I proposed to her. She said yes. It was good. No, it was great. Life felt so perfect, and we were set for life. I would do my tour, and then I would come back.”

He sighed.

“You know the rest.”

“I know what happened to her,” Ivy said, and though she felt unsure of asking her next question, she couldn’t help herself. “But I want to know what happened to you.”

Travis just shrugged before speaking slowly.

“I shut out the world for a long, long time,” he said. “I actually slid into a depression and a dark place. I got big. I didn’t work much, relying on my military pension for money. I would stay in my father’s house, doing nothing but binge eating and getting fat and watching stupid television shows. My dad finally got me out of my spell when he said that she…”

He looked like he wanted to say her name, but he did not.

“She would’ve hated what I turned into. And so I went to the other extreme. I became a workaholic. Like you said earlier when you first came into my office, I turned into the kind of man who treated everything as a transaction, a dollar to be gained, an investment to make. In some respects, I guess you could say it worked. But in other ways, well, look at me. It took until you came around for me to get out of this mess, and even then, I nearly screwed it up.”

Finally, he turned to face her. Ivy could see his eyes watering, but he had too good of self-control to let himself cry.

“The reason I haven’t gotten close to anyone, including you, is that you can’t lose what you never had,” he said. “If I don’t have you, then I can’t lose you. I’m deathly afraid of loss—ironic, considering I served in the military. I’m afraid of losing you, I’m afraid of losing my wealth, and I’m afraid of losing my life. So I try not to get close.”

Ivy had not expected such strong words and such compelling emotions. She wanted to reach out and touch his heart to bring close to her. She wanted to show him that he had nothing to fear.

But all she could get out was his name.

“Travis…”

The rest of her words eluded her. She had nothing that she could say that would bring him in close. No matter what she tried, it would not work.

And as Travis turned, she knew that she could not change that.

“Goodbye, Ivy. I have to get back to the office. You’re welcome to stay here as long as you like, just close this door behind you when you leave,” he said.

And then, just like that, he was gone. Ivy heard the click of the door shutting behind him and then the fading sound of his footsteps.

She sank back into the bed, still only in her lingerie. She allowed the tears to roll down her cheeks. She bit down on her lip, trying to hold the cries in as she lay back down on the soft springy bed.

Ivy stared up at the ceiling, trying to envelope herself in the scent of Travis for as long as she could, trying to soak him in as much as she could. She would never get to do this again, and she knew someday she would look back on the moment with gratitude and appreciation.

For now, though, she just felt grief it would never happen again.

An hour passed before she finally dressed. Without bothering to check herself in the mirror, she left the room and shut the door behind her. She walked through the house, too distracted to admire any of the decors anymore. Finally, she was out of the front door.

The stretch limo was waiting for her this time as well, and Ivy got in for what she presumed was the last time.

The days that followed carried a very different feel for Ivy than they did before. Rather than feeling confused about whether she should give Travis another chance and rather than feeling anger and confusion that she wanted him even when he acted callously, now, she just wanted a chance to see him again.

The days did not carry so much despair and anger as they did sad disappointment. Her encounter with Travis was special and hot, yes, but it was touching. The kiss on the forehead that he had planted after finishing was exactly the kind of tender, sweet gesture that Ivy had always hoped would happen in her first encounter. She had gotten it, and her reward was… that Travis seemingly never wanted to talk to her again.

She’d screwed up asking him about his previous women, she knew. Even if it gave her an answer that somehow lifted her spirits, it had probably portrayed her as a distrusting woman that became easily jealous. She knew she had to work on she came across.

But still… for how intimate that moment had felt, for how tender it felt, and for how Travis’ eyes looked when it all happened, she couldn’t possibly believe that it was over.

No, Travis would come back. He had to.

But in the days that followed, Travis never showed up at the coffee shop. More than once, Ivy went to clean the tables outside, hoping that she might catch a sight of the man who had become more difficult to find than Sasquatch.

But he never showed up.

After a few days, she became frustrated enough that she decided to do something bold she hadn’t considered in quite some time. It was a move she’d pulled once before and it had landed her in a lot of drama, but she decided to go for it.

Taking his Grande Dark Roast on her lunch break, she walked down the street, looking to the sky at the magnificent Dunn Inc building to guide her to its lobby. The last time she’d walked in, she’d felt like a bumbling hot mess, something of an embarrassment to those who saw her walk in.

Today, though? She felt certain. She walked in as she imagined Travis might. She moved with a confidence that if she came to his work place, he could not ignore her there.

She opened the door, cognizant of those dressed in business attire but ignoring them for the most part. She was somewhat relieved to see that the receptionist was not the same girl whom she had seen the last time she had come here—she was a bit paranoid that that receptionist would judge her and find a way to deflect her. This time, an older looking woman awaited her with a comforting smile.

“Good afternoon,” she said. “How can I help you?”

Ivy gulped. Speak with confidence. Assert yourself. And make it happen.

“I’d like to see Travis Dunn, please.”

Unlike last time, when she’d made a fool of herself, she spoke as if it was a certainty that it would happen. She braced herself for laughter from the older woman, but none came. She got a sympathetic smile that seemed slightly patronizing, but at least it wasn’t outright mocking.

“And do you have an appointment with Mr. Dunn?”

Ivy could lie, but she knew that would be unbecoming of her and look bad to Travis. So she shook her head no.

“But tell him Ivy Zimmerman is here to see him. He’ll know who I am.”

“I see, OK, one moment please.”

To her surprise, the old lady picked up the phone and waited. Ivy looked back at the elevator she had taken before to ride up to Travis’ place and she thought of how such an encounter would go now.

Now that she had already lost her virginity—to him, no less—she would not feel such trepidation about taking her clothes off. In fact, she dared to say she might even initiate it. She could imagine Travis, his cold, cool demeanor removed, watching with glee as she gave him a strip tease show.

Then she would move over to him and make him be the stripper this time. Maybe she would even exert some control as he had over her in his room where he was called “Master.” Ivy didn’t know. She had so much to try. It delighted her to think of all the possibilities.

She would bend him over the table and ride him, taking in all of the city beneath them. With the privacy of their office, they would delight in what they could do to each other. They could be discreet and quiet, or loud and obnoxious. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was that they had each other. She could look into his eyes, say—

“I’m sorry, but he’s not available right now.”

The receptionist’s voice broke her out of her fantasy and planted her squarely back in reality.

“Can I take a message for you?”

Ivy sighed. She didn’t think it would do much good.

But what was the harm? One sticky note got used up and one email got sent? She had to try it. The worst that happened was Travis would ignore it.

“Yes. Just tell him…”

She thought of how to phrase the message without drawing the suspicion of the receptionist. She couldn’t think of anything, so she decided to toss that notion out the window.

“Tell him I miss him and I’m sorry how things ended and I hope to see him again.”

She braced herself for a judgmental look from the receptionist, but none came. Instead, the woman wrote it down, jotted a few numbers down, and smiled back.

“I’ll make sure he gets the message.”

Ivy thanked her and turned around. The move hadn’t worked as well as it had in the weeks before, but it had left something, at least.

Ivy’s phone buzzed as she reached the door. She looked at her phone. The number looked vaguely familiar—she couldn’t pinpoint it, but she knew she’d seen it at least once before somewhere. Given that, she decided to answer it.

“Hello,” Ivy said dryly, a bit weary of it being a telemarketer.

“Ivy Zimmerman?”

The voice also sounded familiar.

“Yes, who is this?” Ivy said.

“Ivy, this is Aubrey from Logic Designs, how are you this afternoon?”

They’re calling me? Does this mean…

“I’m good, and yourself?”

“Great, thank you. Well, Ivy, I just wanted to thank you for interviewing with us. You really stood out to us, and we’d like to offer you the job.”

Ivy put her phone down to scream with joy. She knew people walking by would look at her like a deranged girl, but she didn’t care. She had her dream job! It had finally happened!

No matter what happened with Travis, at least it seemed something good had happened.

“Oh, thank you!” Ivy said, unsure of what to say. “I will take it! I will! Thank you!”

Aubrey laughed.

“It’s our pleasure. So the general notes are the job starts on the second Monday from today. You can come meet us beforehand to do some paperwork to ensure you get paid in a timely manner. At that time we’ll discuss benefits and such. You’ll also get an email from me shortly. Does that sound good?”

It didn’t sound good. It sounded amazing. It sounded like Ivy finally had her life back and didn’t have to give it to anyone else.

“It sounds great!”

Ivy exchanged a few pleasantries with Audrey before hanging up, giving a holler of celebration.

“I guess you got the job.”

Ivy whirled, the smile seemingly glued on her face, to see Travis standing at the corner of his building, nursing a drink.

“Travis,” she gasped.

“Am I correct?”

Ivy nodded. She had no idea what to say. She hadn’t seen him since that incident, and now, she was as happy as she’d ever been since that day.

“Good,” Travis said. “I’m happy for you. Congrats.”

He smiled and then walked away. Ivy, confused and slightly in disbelief that he was actually there, remained silent for a few seconds before she found her voice.

“Travis!”

He stopped and turned, only a few steps from his office building.

“What’s going on? Why won’t you talk to me anymore?”

He sighed. He turned back, paused, and looked over his shoulder.

“I wouldn’t be any good for you, Ivy,” he said. “I’m sorry. What you said about Mia made me realize that I still have some issues to process and I’m not doing a very good job of handling them.”

“Travis, please,” Ivy said. “I know. I can help you work through them. I—”

But Travis shook his head, turning away from Ivy completely.

“I appreciate you doing that for me,” he said. “But if I’m with you, you’ll only regret it.”

Ivy could say nothing as Travis walked into his office, his head down, his stride long, as if in a hurry to get to the elevator. The receptionist halted him and said something that Ivy obviously couldn’t hear. She swore she saw Travis smiling, but he did not turn to her nor did he move toward her. He instead continued to the elevator, and he disappeared inside the private ride up to his private office.

Ivy sighed. She had her job, yes. She had a much better life, yes.

But…

Was it worth anything without someone worth spending it with?

Ivy walked with a pep in her step, cheerfulness in her heart, and excitement about her future. Her encounter with Travis had only served as a temporary moment of confusion, but once he had left and she had begun walking back to the coffee shop, she remembered a strong truth.

She wouldn’t have to do this anymore. She could go to her coworker, her boss, and everyone she knew and tell them that she would no longer be working at that shop. It was time for someone new to step into her feet—perhaps someone else struggling to make ends meet, but someone who would perhaps, eventually, pull themselves out of the muck and into a better job.

When she walked into the coffee shop, it hit her that she would soon never have some of the experiences that she took for granted. Making Dark Roast Grandes. Serving cute customers. Talking with Shelly about Martin and some of her customers.

Strange, she thought as she moved to the closet to put her uniform on. All of these revolve around Travis.

I suppose it’s just wistful thinking. He would have taken me back had he wanted to when he saw me just now. But I guess it also says something about how strong our relationship was that I still think of him fondly.

When she reached the closet, Shelly stood behind her.

“Someone had an awfully good lunch,” she said, wearing a smile. “What happened?”

Ivy saw no reason to lie. Though she didn’t exactly consider Shelly a friend—she had a tendency to gossip too much and act like a girl five years younger—she was the coworker that she shared the most shifts with and spent the most time with. She gulped and looked at Shelly in the eyes.

“I’m not going to be here much longer,” Ivy said.

Shelly’s eyes went wide with horror.

“Oh my God, what happened?”

Ivy, upon realizing the faux pass she had made with her words, burst out laughing. It did little to relieve the stress that Shelly had, who looked like she was on the verge of tears. It was in some ways so typical of the way Shelly acted, but Ivy didn’t care. Shelly would feel relief in just a moment.

“I got a job, Shelly,” she said. “I got my dream job. Well, maybe not the absolute dream job, but it’s a job that’s pushing me forward and helping me reach my dream job. It’s a path to that place. I’m going to go work at Logic Designs.”

“Oh my God!” Shelly said, screaming.

She ran up and hugged Ivy as tightly as she could in full view of the customers, which, even though Ivy didn’t have perhaps past today to work, still left Ivy feeling slightly embarrassed. Customers turned to them with amused expressions, and Ivy just smiled and patted Shelly on the back.

“I’m so happy for you, you have no idea,” Shelly said.

Ivy tried not to roll her eyes, bemused. She had a pretty good idea of how happy Shelly was. After all, she was willing to hug her in the middle of her shift in full view of all the customers and Martin.

“You have your dream job and that hot guy,” Shelly said.

Ivy’s face dropped just a second.

“You don’t?”

“How did you know?” Shelly said.

“I mean, that dress girl, it wasn’t for us,” she said. “And no one of us have a surprise stalker. Or a hot man. So we knew it was for you, even if you didn’t want to say anything.”

“Fair enough,” Ivy said. “At the time, yes, it was a dress that was for me and it was for me to go on the date with the hot guy. But… things didn’t work out.”

“Seriously?!?” Shelly said, far louder than Ivy felt comfortable with. “But why? He was so cute! And so hot. And so…”

“That’s enough, girls,” Martin interrupted, appearing seemingly out of nowhere. That was another thing Ivy wouldn’t mind leaving—a manager who, while not terrible, didn’t exactly have her back or bother to look past the strictest interpretation of the rulebook. “Ivy, what’s going on here?”

Ivy looked around. By now, more than a few customers were routinely glancing up, wondering what drama was going on with the wait staff. Seeing no point in trying to hide it, Ivy, sighing, asked Martin to join her in a corner. Martin did, and when Ivy sat down, she could see that Martin already knew what she was going to say by the expression on his face.

“I’m going to take a job at Logic Designs,” Ivy said. “It’s a dream job of mine and I’m not about to let it go to waste.”

Martin sighed.

“Well, losing our best employee,” he said. “I guess this is why you’ve been late much more frequently the past couple of weeks?”

Ivy smiled and tried to hide her smile from being too obvious. The real reason had much more to do with her experience with Travis Dunn than anything else; her work with Logic Designs from beforehand had done very little to interfere with her job.

“Yeah,” she said.

“Well, as much as I hate it, I really can’t blame you,” he said. “Good luck, Ivy. Just don’t destroy my shop on your last few shifts.”

“I never would!” Ivy said, laughing.

She found herself much more at ease with Martin than she had expected. She never quite felt uneasy, but she had appearances to maintain around him from before. Now, though, she could just laugh as she wished.

“You’ll have an exit interview with me tomorrow,” Martin said. “I suppose you start your new job rather soon.”

Ivy nodded. She knew she didn’t have to put in two weeks notice, and she intended to enjoy some free time as soon as she could. She had been through a lot in the past couple of weeks, and she needed to have a few days where her mind could just relax, not feel stress, and enjoy some Netflix shows—especially since she figured her new job would require a lot more mental strain than this one.

“Well, finish strong,” Martin said, and he left it at that.

As Ivy went through and served out the rest of the shift, by the end, she knew that she would not go back to the coffee shop after today. She had enough money saved up to survive the time off, and now that she had gotten her taste of the real job, she didn’t want to go back to cleaning dishes, making coffee, or dealing with rude people. Instead, she could just sit at a computer and do a job all day.

At the end of her shift, with Martin long gone, their exit interview pushed up to 5 p.m., and Ivy closing out for the day, Shelly came back over. Ivy braced herself for a dramatic hug, but felt some measure of relief when she just gave a soft and sweet one, but not one that broke her spine.

“So you really broke it off with that guy?” she said. “Why?”

She still sounded like a younger girl, but she didn’t have quite the whiny voice or the needy begging of a teenager that she’d had earlier. Ivy, knowing that she wouldn’t see Shelly for a long time, if ever, decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.

“At first, it seemed like we wanted different things,” she said. “And then, we did want the same thing, but I said some stupid things. I asked him about his ex who passed away a while ago and he said I reminded him of her too much. So I pushed him away.”

“Aww, I’m sorry,” Shelly said, to which Ivy just shrugged. “Have you seen him since?”

Ivy smirked and gave a short chuckle.

“As a matter of fact, yes,” she said. “On my lunch break, when I got the call that I got the job, I ran into him.”

“And??”

Shelly’s dramatic voice had returned. Ivy could see where Shelly was going with this and decided to cut it off.

“He was friendly and congratulatory, but it really won’t go beyond that,” she said quickly. “He was nice and I appreciated it. But I just don’t see how it will go any further.”

“Really,” Shelly said, and now she sounded serious. “You pushed him away by asking some questions that maybe you shouldn’t have, sure. But if you saw him again and he seemed chipper and not sarcastic, that sounds to me like he’s a guy who’d be willing to take you back.”

“Nah,” Ivy said, but she hated realizing that she liked what Shelly had said. “We’ve been through so much in a short period of time, a lot of drama, really.”

“Yes, and he still wants you,” Shelly said.

Ivy now really hated that the words not only sounded appealing to her, they resonated with her in a way that she could not deny. There was some serious truth to what Shelly said.

“I’ve had boyfriends I said stupid things to, we all have.”

Yeah, I haven’t. Well, not before this.

“You forgive and you move forward. That’s what relationships are about.”

Ivy thought to say more, but she could not find any words that she hadn’t already said. And even if she had, she knew that it was fruitless anyways. The two of them led separate lives. Even though she’d graduated from barista to marketing associate, that still put her light years away from billionaire CEO and founder of the most successful company in the city. It just meant now she was perhaps a dozen light years from him instead of a dozen and one light years away from Travis.

She was closer only in raw numbers, not relatively speaking.

“Anyways, Ivy, good luck, OK?” Shelly said, embracing her once more. “Come visit the coffee shop some! Don’t be a stranger!”

Ivy smiled as she said her goodbyes and walked out of the shop for the last time. When she walked out, she paused and looked at the shop. It was nothing but a small local store in the middle of an outdoor strip mall, a decent place but nothing special. Still, it had given her a job and a paycheck.

Then she turned and looked at the downtown skyline. Somewhere in there was the Logic Designs building. She was now a downtown working class professional. It felt like Ivy had moved up in the rankings.

And then, of course, in the middle of it all, the Dunn Inc building rose above them all, towering like the beast that it was over all of the city.

Two separate lives, and yet two lives that seemed more intertwined and closer than when the day had started.

Maybe there was still a chance. Maybe Ivy would still have a shot with Travis, even after all that the two had been through.

Ivy smiled. She didn’t see a way to that shot, but she hoped to every deity and every wish there ever was that if she saw Travis again, they would move to what she knew each of them wanted.

Travis wore his sharpest suit that he could find as he waited for Richard Thomas at the top floor of the tallest hotel in the city, sporting one of the nicest steakhouses within a five-state radius. He adjusted his cuffs, fidgeted with his tie, and checked the mirror multiple times to make sure his face looked presentable, even though he had nothing more that he could do given his shaved head.

He smiled when he looked at himself in the mirror, trying to excite himself for the night ahead. It should have marked a joyous occasion for the new collaboration his company would have. The deal with Logic Designs alone would probably require him to hire a dozen more employees, and he always enjoyed toting that fact when he dealt with the mayor and other political figures.

Instead, though, the smile faded as soon as he turned away from the mirror. He could fake his smile when he saw himself, and he knew he could fake a smile when Richard and his wife appeared, but in reality, he still thought of her.

Except now, it wasn’t Mia who he had trouble identifying by name in his thoughts for fear it would create emotional distress.

It was… Yes, he had to say it.

Ivy Zimmerman.

Sometimes, he thought of how ridiculous it was. A billionaire pursuing a barista—he could have had literally any woman in the city! Lawyers, bankers, executives, athletes, they would have all thrown themselves at him just to have a single date with him, let alone a night in his special room.

But as Travis had learned with Mia, his gut never lied. When he knew, he knew. He could say why he found Ivy attractive, but he couldn’t really say why he found those particular aspects attractive. They just… were. It was like trying to explain why a human being needed to breath oxygen. To survive, sure, but why oxygen? It was best not to think too much before the question became too overwhelming to comprehend.

And now, he had lost her. He wasn’t ready for her.

He sighed.

Travis, it’s going to take a while for you to get past this one.

There was no point in pretending that he would suddenly wake up one day and be over her. There was especially no point in thinking that that day would come anytime soon. He could be friendly with her, yes, and he could do things like congratulate her on the new job. But it would always carry the sting of regret that they could not have made it work.

“Ahh, Mr. Travis Dunn.”

Travis whirled around to see Richard standing with his wife, beaming. His wife personified the difference between hot and beautiful—in her youth, she probably had all the boys lusting after her hotness. Now, though, she had one man admiring her beauty. With her long black hair, her strong eyes, her tanned skin, and her professional but exotic dress, she played the part of an older woman who knew how attractive she was and didn’t bother to try and hide.

And as Travis admired her grace, her elegant stroll, and her body that held up better than anyone could have expected for her age, he couldn’t help but wonder if, in twenty years, he and Ivy would be the ones going to meet some new hot shot young CEO..

“Good evening, Richard,” Travis said, displaying none of the inner turmoil that plagued his mind at that moment. “It’s delightful to see you here.”

“The pleasure is all mine. Travis, this is my wife, Caroline.”

Caroline extended her hand and shook it with ease with Travis, who kissed her hand as a gentleman should.

“Caroline and I go back some thirty years,” Richard said, his voice losing its professionalism and gaining unwavering joy. “She is my rock and my light and pretty much eighty percent of the reason Logic Designs has grown as large as it has.”

“Oh, stop it,” Caroline said. “Bless your heart, but you know that just ain’t true.”

Of course, Travis could see that there was no way that it was true. Caroline was his wife, not his Chief Operating Officer.

But on the other hand, it made sense. Her support enabled Richard to climb to heights that he had perhaps only dreamed of. If he managed to get to that point with her, then perhaps she really had played a role.

“Caroline likes to play it low key, but we all know that without her, I’m nothing,” Richard said. “Come, we don’t come to restaurants to stand.”

“Indeed,” Travis said.

He realized how stiff he must have looked next to the married couple. In retrospect, while he didn’t regret not asking Ivy, he realized that it would’ve made him more relaxed and put him more at ease if he had had Ivy or even just a casual date. Certainly, Richard had dropped the authoritative and confident demeanor he possessed in favor of a friendlier more casual voice. Travis realized perhaps he should do the same.

A waiter guided them to the table and sat them down. Travis examined the menu, though he did so only not to look odd. He’d already done his research and knew he wanted the prime rib with asparagus and other vegetables.

“Any drinks tonight?”

Travis hadn’t even seen the waiter come over. He intended to decline the invitation—Travis hardly ever drank in public, preferring to have the privacy of his home, and even then, only in very small amounts—but before he could say a word, Richard beamed up.

“Manhattans with your best scotch for all of us, please,” he said.

“Right away, sir,” the waiter said before taking his leave.

Travis must’ve given something away, because Richard said, “What?” casually.

“You are not here to negotiate anything, Travis,” Richard said. “You are here to celebrate. The business is over. The celebration can begin. Have a drink, enjoy yourself, and relax for the evening.”

“Very well,” Travis said, giving a rare smile in a setting like this.

“So Travis,” Caroline said, and Travis could tell by the way that she spoke that she intended to ask some question relating to the romance in his life. “What’s your story?”

Huh. I suppose she’s nicer than to jump into that so quickly.

“I was born in Minnesota,” he began. “I grew up in a relatively poor family. When I graduated, I got the chance to go to college on an ROTC scholarship which I accepted. I went through, did a tour in the Marines, got out, had some trouble adjusting to reality, and eventually decided that if I was going to make a name for myself, I had to do so literally. I couldn’t depend on the employing by others to help me succeed.”

“True words,” Richard interjected.

“And so I started Dunn Inc using the skills that I have. Fortunately, it’s gotten me to where I am.”

“That’s great!” Caroline said. “You seem like a truly happy person, if not a quiet one.”

Travis gave a short throaty laugh, which seemed to only confirm and reinforce Caroline’s impression of him—which wasn’t exactly wrong.

“I think the truly happy people,” he said, trying to switch the subject around. “Are you two.”

“Oh, well, having a good wife helps,” Richard said.

“Oh, darling.”

It would have seemed overly hokey and sentimental in the previous few years, but now? Travis wanted to soak it all up. Someday, he would have something like that. Someday, that would be his.

And someday, he wouldn’t have to regret those that he had lost over the course of his life, whether through tragic or just normal life circumstances.

“Let me ask this,” Travis said, his curiosity and, for a rare moment, his emotions guiding him. “What’s your story?”

He made it clear with his eyes that he meant how the two of them had met, not their individual upbringings. Travis had read enough about Richard to know his background—Ivy League, son of a senator, the usual successful checkboxes—and he felt it was rude to inquire about Caroline’s story with her husband right in front of her.

“We met in college,” Richard said. “It was the first week of orientation, and I laid eyes on her, and boy, let me tell you, I fell in love with her immediately.”

Travis smiled, but he felt a bit uneasy and queasy. For him, the story brought a rather sickening amount of deja vu and memories.

“We wound up dating within a month of the school year starting and, well, we’ve been together ever since.”

“Lovely,” Travis said.

At that moment, the drinks came. Travis held up his.

“To you, Richard,” he said. “For agreeing to work with me. I believe that we will take this to new heights.”

“Indeed,” Richard said. “To all of us. For reaching this point in life.”

Travis clinked glasses with the Thomas’ and had a sip of his drink. He followed the amount that Richard drank, which pushed him past his normal comfort zone, but he knew he needed to loosen up some. He needed to relax, something he felt like he hadn’t truly done in ages.

“Have you ever had someone like that, Travis?” Caroline asked.

Well, I suppose I couldn’t hold off the question forever. Might as well address it and get it out of the way.

“At one time, yes,” Travis said. He bit his lip momentarily, debating how much to reveal. He decided that while he wanted to be more honest than normal, he didn’t want to be totally honest, for that would ruin the atmosphere and special feeling of the night. “We also met in college. But it didn’t last.”

“I’m sorry, bless your heart,” Caroline said. Her Southern accent had come out in full force. It made Travis smile. It also made him suspect that it allowed Caroline to get away with saying a lot more than most women normally would have. “How come?”

He almost let it escape that Mia had died, but instead, he just said, “Death came… to a lot of my friends in the Marine Corps. I didn’t handle it well and it drove her away. I don’t blame her at all. I still think of her fondly.”

It was as close to the truth as he would get for that night, and even that left a raw knot in his stomach.

“Aww, I’m sorry,” Caroline said, and to her credit, she sounded genuine. “That is tough. But maybe you’ll meet someone else who reminds you of her?”

Travis almost laughed. As a matter of fact, he had.

And guess what? The same thing had happened. She had disappeared from his life. He didn’t handle it well and he had driven her away. He didn’t blame her at all, and he still thought of him fondly.

“Maybe,” he said, leaving it at that.

“If you ever do, Travis, don’t let it go,” Richard said, drawing a surprise look from Travis and a big gulp of his drink. “Money will come and go. Fame will forever feel like a curse. But love? That is a thing to hold on to when you get the chance. Especially when you have someone as beautiful as her!”

“Oh, Richard!”

Travis laughed as the two bantered, but the words stuck with him. It was one thing for him to try and ration his way either into or out of his tango with Ivy. He was good at it, in fact.

But hearing it from a man he respected…

The waiter came back and orders were taken. The conversation of love soon ended, and the words flowed to funny business stories, gossip in the city, and tales of travel. But Richard’s words never quite left Travis’ mind, and he had a feeling they wouldn’t even when they left the bar.

As the night progressed, food got engorged, drinks got imbibed, and tongues got loosened. By the end of it, though Caroline and Richard were not drunk, Richard had certainly had enough that he was swearing a tad more than normal and Caroline was looking mighty embarrassed.

And then Richard threw a suggestion out there that made Travis almost laugh.

“You should come with me to a nightclub tonight!”

With enough alcohol in his system, Travis actually laughed out loud. The nightclub scene didn’t faze him, but with Richard and his wife? What was he going to do, pound Manhattans until 11 p.m. and go to bed early?

“I’m not utterly convinced that that is what we should do, you know.”

“Oh, give it a rest!” Richard said. “You’re too young to be lame but also have too much going for you to celebrate tonight alone! No, Travis Dunn, let’s go. We’ll get bottle service and we will find you a woman. Do you agree?”

“I—”

“I’m just kidding, it’s on me, you don’t get a say!” Richard said with a boisterous laugh.

Travis sighed. Well, he wasn’t seeing anyone. Ivy was gone. He didn’t owe her anything. He couldn’t say that he felt great about it, but what was the harm? He could always say no to girls, and if he felt uncomfortable, he’d find a way to say no.

“I suppose I cannot decline an invitation like that,” Travis said with pursed lips.

Richard pounded the table and Caroline leaped back, laughing.

“Now that’s what I call a celebration!” he said. “Come, let’s go!”

He pulled out his phone, texted someone, and within minutes, Travis, Caroline, and Richard were on the elevator down, heading to their limo. The couple snuggled and flirted on the elevator while Travis stood in polite silence, as if on patrol, having to observe all that surrounded him to ensure that nothing bad happened.

When the doors opened, they found themselves in a busy hotel lobby. They moved briskly through the lobby, and Travis noticed more than one woman dressed in a tight cocktail dress observing him. While he had to admit that the sight of beautiful women admiring him never failed to make him feel good, it did also immediately after remind him that he had lost something much more valuable than a girl in a cocktail dress and it didn’t matter how good they looked.

“Travis!” Richard said, whistling. “You should ask one of these girls to join us! I would be they’d be quite willing to have a spot with you in our foursome!”

Travis wasn’t sure if Richard had meant the word “foursome” metaphorically or sexually, but the idea of it being erotic left him shuddering. He smiled and waved his hand.

“We have places to go, Richard,” Travis said. “Besides, I am not the type of person to multitask.”

“I suppose that’s another reason why you’ve got as much going for you as you do!” Richard said, laughing. “Come, come, sexy, into the limo.”

The three of them jumped into a limo. Richard leaned forward and greeted the driver as if it was a long-time friend he hadn’t seen in five years.

“Let’s make our way to Liquid!”

Travis smirked as he thought of Liquid. He knew the place well. It was a rather exclusive club—people couldn’t even bribe the bouncers to get in. You either had to know someone, pay an exorbitant membership fee, or have looks that made every man on Earth drool with excitement. In Travis’ case, he knew he and Richard had enough pull that getting in would not prove difficult.

On the drive over, although Richard mostly behaved himself, his hands never strayed far from his wife. Travis merely noted the sight, and then found himself wishing Ivy were here. How would she fit in? How would her and Caroline interact? How would their conversations go?

What did it matter? Richard and Caroline could hate Ivy, or they could love her, or they could not care about her. He would still have her.

But he didn’t, and he couldn’t change that. Although…

No, it’s too late. At least don’t think about it tonight, Travis. Just have fun and see where the night goes. Who knows? Maybe Ivy opened up the path for someone else to walk in and be with you.

I mean, we know that’s not going to happen, but…

“We made it! Yes!”

Richard laughed like a school kid on a field trip who had just arrived at the coolest location ever. He got out as if he was about to escape the teacher’s supervision and stood by the doorway. A bouncer stood, sunglasses on. Richard turned, said a few words, and moments later, the bouncer moved to the side.

“Just like that,” Richard said with a wink.

The three of them walked in and were greeted by a waitress with cleavage that was so obvious, it was half an inch away from popping out. She would have looked like a stripper if not the Liquid uniform.

“Travis Dunn,” she said.

Do I know her? I don’t. Oh well. Just go with it.

“Fancy having you here.”

The way she eyed him, Travis knew he at least had her if no one else. He just smiled and said, “Happy to be here.” She smirked, as if this was an elaborate game, and then asked the three to walk with her.

Moments later, they found themselves at the prime table in the nightclub by the dance floor. They had two bouncers guarding the table, and already a bottle of Ace of Spades awaiting them.

“Now this is the good life!” Richard said, laughing. “Never say that we didn’t do things big here!”

Travis just shrugged, smiled, and looked at Caroline as the reasonable one between the two of them. She hugged her husband from behind, and it almost looked like the scene from the Titanic, except with strobe lights and loud music.

Travis poured himself a drink and sat down.

“Hey now.”

Travis looked up at a Southern voice. When he did, he saw that it was not Caroline who stood before him, but a blonde-haired, busty woman with sharp curves and a thick but beautiful body.

“You’re going to have a drink and not pour one for me?”

Travis laughed, and the woman laughed with him.

“I’m just here to celebrate a business deal, ma’am,” Travis said.

“Oh, bless your heart,” the woman said. “You should celebrate with some company.”

She sat beside him and placed her hand on his thigh. Travis’ heart accelerated, but the feelings began to become confusing. He found her attractive, yes, but he kept thinking about Ivy… but Ivy wasn’t in the picture, so… but if he kept thinking about her, was she really out of the picture?

“What’s a handsome man like you doing by yourself here?” she said, leaning forward, her breasts nearly spilling out onto his crotch.

“I choose to be single,” Travis said, doing his best not to make eye contact with her. He looked for Richard and Caroline, but they had moved somewhere to the dance floor. As far as he was concerned, he was now on his own for tonight. He would not see either of them again except by chance, and there were decent odds that Richard would get so drunk that he wouldn’t remember Travis the next day. Well, we do deserve it. And we have nothing to do tomorrow then.

“Oh, one of those,” the woman said, her hand on him closely. “It’s OK, I can play with those types too, you know.”

“Play?” Travis said.

He scooted back a bit, but this only seemed to delight the woman further, who scooted even closer to him.

“I think you know what I mean,” she said, her eyes narrowing and her intent coming into focus. “I like playing, you know. Playing can be fun.”

“It can be,” Travis said.

But when he spoke, he thought of the fun that he had with Ivy. How he had taken her to his room, made her his, and done whatever she wanted with him. That was fun. Just thinking about that made him hard.

But the idea of fun with this girl? Whose name he didn’t even know? Whose name the girl probably didn’t want him to know? Travis had a better chance, he knew, of getting as drunk as Richard tonight than he did of “having fun” with this girl.

And no matter how hard he tried to use logic as a reason for sleeping with this girl, it was inescapable.

He liked Ivy too much.

No, he dared to say he might have even loved her.

Too much? Maybe. But it definitely wasn’t too much to say that he cared about her, and that even if what he was doing in that club wasn’t cheating—since there wasn’t anyone to cheat on or a relationship to cheat on—it still felt wrong in some fashion.

“Oh, you have no idea,” the woman said, moving her head closer. She licked her lips, desperate to have Travis’ mouth on her. “But you can find out if you come with me.”

“I can’t,” Travis said, abruptly moving back. The motion stunned the young girl, who could only look with confusion at Travis. “I’m sorry. But there’s someone I love, and though she’s not with me, I can’t. I just can’t do it, I’m sorry.”

“The hell?” the woman said, her mood shifting rapidly to angry, but Travis didn’t stick around to see much of it. He walked out the club, intent on not coming back, intent on setting things right with Ivy.

But before he did, he had one final obstacle to get past.

“Leaving so soon?”

It was the waitress from earlier, the one who recognized him and called him by his first name. Travis nodded, putting his hands in his pockets, adopting the cool, quiet demeanor that served so well to intimidate people.

“Yes,” he said. “I’ve got someone I’ve got to get back. And if I go home with anyone here and word gets back to her, I’ll never get her back.”

The waitress at first looked annoyed, but when she heard the conviction in Travis’ words, even she seemed floored and surprised. Then she smiled.

“Then get the hell out of here and go get her, Travis Dunn.”

Travis allowed himself a slight smirk, a nod, and then left without another word.

He could not go see Ivy at this time of night, that was just not polite. And to come by her house unannounced might have sounded romantic as a five year old, but at his age, it sounded like a good recipe for getting a restraining order on him.

So he had to encounter her when she was working or away from home.

Fortunately, he had a new in to make that happen.

A couple of weeks later, Ivy’s alarm went off.

But this time, it went off at 7 a.m.

Because Ivy no longer worked at the coffee shop. She worked at Logic Designs.

She hadn’t spoken to Travis in some time, but she always silently wondered if he had, in fact, pulled some strings. If he had, well, she owed him the biggest thanks of her career.

She rose with a pep, showered quickly, got dressed professionally and eagerly, and for the first time in her career, she showed up to work excited.

Ivy made the rounds with the other employees, introducing herself and getting situated at her desk. Her boss, a nice woman in her mid-40’s named Emily, gave her a few minutes alone to set up her computer.

“Oh, and Ivy,” Emily said. “We’ve got a task you can help on if you want. We’re doing a logo design for a legal firm. Take a look through the files once you’re set up, OK?”

Ivy nodded. At that moment, though, staring at her computer screen, Ivy felt like her mind had gone blank, even though she was trying her best to prove herself to her new employers.

Wasn’t this exactly what she wanted to do? Wasn’t this her dream?

And yet, nothing came to her. Nothing inspired her. When she saw the logo, she didn’t have a reaction of any kind. She just… stared at it.

Ivy couldn’t help but wonder if she had made the wrong decision, if perhaps this wasn’t her calling after all! Where was her motivation and her drive?

For the next couple of hours, Ivy found herself in a familiar place. She swiveled in her chair, tinkered with the cursor again and deleted the design she had been working on for the past few minutes. Given her new role and her place in the company, she needed the idea to be perfect, to meet all standards and pass through all the levels of approval. She knew she had it in her somewhere, but it was refusing to come out. Had she lost her drive? Had she run out of her talent in art?

Or… was it something to do with Travis?

It had been some time since she last saw him and even longer since the last time she’d shared a meaningful interaction with him, leaving the room without turning to look at her. She couldn’t get those images out of her mind. The smell, the sensations, the sounds of his heavy breathing as he drove into her.

But most of all, it was that kiss on her forehead when they lay in each other’s arms that had stayed with her. She had seen a different side to Travis that she didn’t even know existed.

Did anyone know it existed? She had peeked into the person he might have been twenty years ago before he lost the woman he had chosen to spend the rest of his life with.

His words kept ringing in her ears, of how she reminded him of Mia. Was that such a bad thing? If anything, shouldn’t it have made Travis happy?

Ivy shook her head, trying to steer her focus back to the computer screen again. He was gone now, there was no point thinking about him any longer.

The next hour went by in the same fashion. She had run out of ideas and her mind was filled with thoughts of Travis. She was worried that she would never get over him. Worse, she would never find the wherewithal to do her job well. She’d get fired just when she got her dream done.

Maybe I am nothing more than a mere barista.

At 6 p.m., when everyone around her had started to make their way out of the office, Ivy got up from her chair and picked up her trench coat. She took the elevator down, feeling dejected and like a failure. It was only her first day, and already, Ivy began to feel insecure and that she didn’t belong at a place like Logic Designs.

“First day and look at me,” she said. “Just a—”

She cut herself off when the elevator came to a halt. The last thing she needed was to face the judgment of a coworker who heard her talking to herself.

The doors opened. She stepped forward.

And then she gasped.

“Coffee?” Travis said, holding a styrofoam cup out towards her.

Ivy couldn’t respond, even as her lips parted and her heart skipped multiple beats.

The elevator doors were closing, and Travis held out a hand, wedging himself in between so that the doors drew apart again. Ivy stepped out after him and they were standing in the middle of the lobby. Several of her colleagues, the receptionist, and even Emily were in the lobby, looking at them now. Everyone in the building knew who Travis was. Ivy’s cheeks flushed at the thought of being the center of attention.

“I brought you coffee,” Travis said and her gaze fell to the cup in his hands.

Just hearing his voice again brought back memories of their afternoon together in his room. She’d never thought she would see him again act warm and kind to her. When she didn’t reply, Travis cleared his throat. When their eyes met, she realized that he looked different somehow, almost nervous. This was not the Travis Dunn who had told her to take her clothes off in his office.

“I didn’t know how you take your coffee, so I just went with a regular cappuccino,” he said.

Gently, finally, Ivy pried the cup out of his hands.

“Two sugars,” he added and she finally managed to smile.

“Thank you,” she said.

Travis thrust his hands into his pockets. Slowly, Ivy began to forget that people around her were watching with curiosity.

“Are you here for a meeting?” she asked, cradling the cup in her hands and trying to hold his gaze.

Travis grinned and shook his head. He looked almost boyish… almost, Ivy dared to think, like he did in those photos from long ago.

“No, I came here to bring you coffee.”

Ivy found the gesture sweet and surprising, but one question nagged at her.

“How did you know I got the job?”

He shrugged casually.

“How did I know your home address?”

Ivy pursed her lips together and realized that her throat was dry again. The man just knows things, I guess.

“You’ve brought me coffee to my office, so I figured that you wouldn’t mind if I returned the favor,” he said.

“No, I don’t mind,” she said, taking a sip of the coffee out of politeness.

She wanted to ask him how he was. She had so many questions she wanted to ask him, but the words were stuck in her throat. She couldn’t formulate them or think straight. Not now that Travis was talking to her warmly, even politely, again.

“Are you wondering what I’m doing here?” he asked, and she looked up at him again.

Travis’ buzzcut looked thicker today, and there was a stubble on his face. It explained why he looked different. His clothes were creased as well, and his tie looked lopsided. Almost like he had dressed in a hurry, or not bothered with his usual routine. Ivy’s brows crossed as she thought about what had happened to make him look different.

“I’ll tell you anyway,” he said as she realized that she hadn’t replied to his question yet. “I’m here because I wanted to see you again, and I’ve been thinking about you constantly since that day. Even though I’ve seen you since, I… I needed to have a moment like this.”

Ivy gripped the coffee cup even tighter. She wished he would just stop. He was only making it worse for her. Whatever effort she was able to put into getting over him was now all crashing down in ruins. He must have seen the strain in her eyes because he looked away from her and clenched his jaw.

“You might not want to hear this, and I’m sorry if I’m upsetting you but I regret just leaving you alone in my room that day,” he said and Ivy parted her lips to speak.

He was watching her every move, drinking her in.

“It’s okay, Travis, you’re not upsetting me. It’s good to see you,” she said, surprised that she was able to keep herself this calm when her heart was hammering away inside her.

“Ivy…” he said and stepped towards her abruptly.

She nearly choked when he did that and she felt the goosebumps on her arms again. He had an immediate physical effect on her that she couldn’t deny. She couldn’t think of one plausible reason why he would be here, why he would come all this way to see her…except for…

“Have dinner with me,” he said, not in a commanding voice as he had but in a polite, asking manner.

She peered into his eyes, the blood rushing to her brain. She was aware of how red her cheeks must have become and she nodded her head. All she had thought about was him. She wasn’t going to throw away an opportunity like this. She wouldn’t let a fourth chance slip away.

“Yes, I will. At your house?” she asked, feeling her hands begin to tremble again.

“No, I know a quiet little Italian place we can go to,” he said and she crossed her brows. “You look surprised.”

“I’m just…” she began to say.

“You think this is just about sex for me?” he asked and stepped closer to her again.

It didn’t seem to bother Travis that there were people watching and that they were in the middle of the lobby of her office building now. As far as he was concerned, she thought, they could have been alone in his house again.

“It isn’t Ivy, I want us to get to know each other. I want us to date. The gifts, the flowers, the long phone calls…I want all that again. And I’m surprised that I do!”

A laugh escaped his lips. Ivy couldn’t suppress the smile that had erupted on her face.

“Travis…” she said his name, forgetting where they were and he placed his hands on her waist and drew her into his arms.

“It’s crazy, I know, but I want us to move on like I said. I want to move on from old memories and move on with you.”

He brought his face closer to hers. She could feel his breath again, taste him again if she wanted to. Their lips grazed and he was whispering into her ears.

“I don’t want to miss this second chance, Ivy, and I don’t want to waste time,” he said.

Ivy was laughing. It was an uncontrollable throaty laugh and she threw her head back and pressed her eyes close. Travis had his arms wound tight around her waist, pressing her close to him, watching her as she laughed. She was completely oblivious to who was watching them, including her boss, what they were thinking and what the consequences of their actions in public were going to be. She had never felt this joyous in her life before.

“Let’s get out of here, we have so much catching up to do,” he said.

She leveled her face to his again. She was the one who pressed her lips to his this time, sinking into his arms as she slid her tongue over his lips. He kissed her back, gently this time, tasting her with soft prods of his tongue. Their limbs were entwined and their bodies were fused together. Ivy was certain that nothing could separate them from this hold they had on each other.

“Let’s go,” Travis said, grabbing her hand. “I’ll call and make reservations on the way.”

But Ivy had one last task.

“No, I have to do something first,” she said, tugging him in the direction of the elevator.

“What? Where are we going?”

Ivy was laughing again, her cheeks flushed with happiness as she pressed the button for her office floor. She kissed him again, wildly and still laughing. When he pulled away, Ivy bit down on her lip.

“What is it? What is so important?” he asked as the doors pinged open for them.

“I have an idea for the design I’ve been working on and I want to draw it before we leave,” she said, breaking away from his clasp and running towards her desk.

The floor was nearly empty, and whoever was still there, leaned over their chairs to see what the commotion was about.

“You have a design idea? Now?”

She turned to throw him a happy smiling look. Travis was standing a few feet away, staring right at her butt and now lifted his gaze to her face again. His face was flushed too, his blue eyes glittering and as blue as the sea. He smiled back at her.

“Yeah, it’s back,” she said, turning to the screen again.

“What’s back?” she heard him ask.

“My inspiration. My ideas. They’re back. You did it,” she said, smiling.

Ivy sat at the computer furiously creating the rough draft inspired to her by Travis as he stood over her shoulder, watching with a mixture of confusion and happiness. She had no intentions of keeping him there as she designed her idea for work—but when inspiration struck, she knew she couldn’t just sit there and keep it in her mind.

She furiously typed, drew rough images, and saved the file. In the end, the logo she had created for the library company looked like a pen that resembled a sword inside of a book. Ivy beamed with pride, as previously, the logo had looked like a mere pen or sword. Now, though, it looked like something a library would actually want to display with pride. She clicked save and turned around.

“And you, Travis Dunn, have given me the happiness I need in my life,” she said. “You inspire me. Your work ethic, your story, your—”

To her surprise, Travis waved his hand to silence her. Not rudely, but she had not expected such a move.

“No, Ivy, it is you who has given me the happiness I needed in my life,” he said. “I spent a lot of time thinking about things after you came over to my place.”

He paused and looked around. He must’ve not liked what he saw, because he took Ivy’s hand and led her downstairs without a word.

“Where are we going?” Ivy asked.

“You’ll see,” was all Travis gave her.

Travis, as usual, had piqued Ivy’s curiosity.

When he got her outside, the limo awaited. Ivy got inside, and Travis followed shortly behind, his hand resting upon hers gently and at ease.

“Now that we have privacy,” he said, clearing his throat. “After we had sex, you asked me about Mia. At the time, I could not handle such a statement. It was something I had pushed away in the depths of my mind, and regrettably, it came roaring back. I didn’t hate you for it, but I did fear seeing you again.”

He sighed.

“But even though I feared seeing you again, I still wanted to see you again. I know it sounds weird, and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to put it into words.”

Ivy just laughed, even though it might have seemed ruined at that moment in the conversation.

“That’s exactly how I felt after our first couple of encounters,” Ivy said. “You don’t have to put it into words, Travis. I already know the feeling.”

Travis smiled and squeezed her legs. A silence came over them as they looked into the eyes of the other.

Gone, Ivy noticed, was the hard, laser-focused eyes which undressed her. Oh, no doubt, she knew Travis still wanted her naked, and she wanted Travis to want her naked. She wanted herself without clothes, and the same for Travis. But it pleased her that Travis no longer saw that as the end game, but a mere step along the way toward something more special.

“In any case, though,” Travis finally said. “I just had to take some time to myself to figure some things out. When I saw you gleefully dancing for joy after you got your job, it warmed my heart. I still wasn’t ready to talk, though, which is why I was so curt with you. I didn’t do it to make you feel bad.”

Ivy placed her hand on his and squeezed. Just then, the limo stopped, and Travis quickly got out so he could hold the door for Ivy. Ivy got out, holding Travis’ hand, and immediately recognized where they had gone.

Dunn Inc.

He passed through the doors quickly, having her follow him. Inside, no receptionist waited, not at this hour, though a lone security officer patrolled the lobby. Travis gave a simple nod, which the security guard returned. He pushed the button for his private elevator and whisked Ivy inside. He held her close to her, and Ivy became love-drunk over this cologne, his sharp jaw, and his body pressed against hers.

“But now,” he said, his voice growing deeper. “I know what I want. I know what I want without inhibitions. And it’s you, Ivy Zimmerman.”

He leaned in to kiss her before she could respond. She didn’t want to respond, at least not with words. Their lips brushed against each other as the elevator lurched to the top of the city and the top of Ivy’s world. She could feel her body tingling, her inner goddess getting doused with wetness, and her arms aching for some of Travis.

The elevator came to a halt just as Ivy’s tongue went inside Travis’ mouth, but that did not stop Travis. Instead, using his raw strength, he lifted Ivy off the ground, his hands grabbing her ass tightly, and carried her to his desk. He laid her down, somewhat rougher than Ivy had expected, but the pain only intensified the pleasure that came as Travis ripped her clothes off along with his as he kissed her body.

Within moments, Ivy was completely naked. This was not a slow dance or slow tease as Travis had done in his sexual room. No, this was just raw, primal urges between two horny people who desperately craved each other’s body. Ivy reached for his tie and yanked it off. Travis removed his shirt and his pants, putting him down to just his boxers. The setting sun glowed upon Travis, putting him in her spotlight and highlighting his muscular, well-shaped body.

Ivy wanted that last piece of clothing off. She wanted to see Travis’ manhood in all its erect glory. She wanted to shudder with glee at the thought of sticking him inside her.

Instead, though, prolonging the tease just long enough, Travis knelt down. He propped her legs on his shoulders, and he darted his tongue toward her clit.

“Oh, God,” she yelped, her hands gripping the table and whatever they could find.

Last time, she had had to hold her tongue so hard it nearly made her lips bleed. She was certain that that intensity had forced her to bleed somewhere. But now, Travis had no rules. Ivy had no rules.

And as Travis’ tongue worked her way around her, as he made her shiver, shake, and quiver with the utmost sensation, she held nothing back. She wanted the city to know—she had gotten Travis back. And Travis knew how to work what he had better than any man possibly could.

This was what Travis could have given her their first encounter here, Ivy thought. Why had she waited to make this happen?!?

Except, she soon realized, he couldn’t have given this to her on their first encounter. This was pleasurable and rewarding in part because he had shown that he cared for her; before, he had just seen her as an object of sexual desire. He couldn’t have treated her the way he did now back then.

So, God, yes, worth the wait, oh so worth the wait.

Ivy squeezed her legs as the intensity within built up, like tension in a clenched muscle that grew by the minute. It had not taken long for her to come at his house, and now, he seemed to move even faster with her. How Travis Dunn made this happen, she did not know.

But she did know that soon, heat shot out from her groin to the rest of her body, the source of her nirvana. Her body shook uncontrollably. Pleasure rushed to her mind, blinding her senses and putting her in a place where the only thing she felt came from Travis—the only thing she wanted to feel.

She screamed to the heavens, squeezed to burst Travis’ head, and shivered like she’d found herself in the Arctic.

Slowly, her senses came back as Travis stepped back. Her hair felt frazzled, but her body had never felt this good. She looked up just in time to see Travis drop his boxers.

And heavens, he had the cock of a Greek god. So thick, so long, and so… everything. She’d felt it at the house, but seeing it made her realize just how special and endowed a man she was dealing with.

She looked into his eyes. His eyes honed in on hers. He hovered over her and kissed her. She reached down for his girth and wrapped her hand around it. Suffice to say, it was huge and nearly impossible for Ivy to wrap her hand around. She guided it in her, and the pleasure began anew.

If her first time had been about the experience of having a first time, her second time was just the actual act of sex. Which was just as well—Ivy didn’t want the moment to involve anything but sex.

And now, free to move, she tried everything that she’d always fantasized about but never had the chance.

She wrapped her legs around Travis and pulled him in close. Travis had the look of a bulldog, but she, too, had unleashed her inner animal. Sex became like a carnage, destroying the desk as they went hard at each other. Papers flew, materials scattered, and even Travis’ computer screen got knocked over. That was the one time Ivy paused, but Travis didn’t even skip a beat, and so Ivy did not either.

They wound up pressed against a window in Travis’ office. Ivy looked down on the city and thought of how far she had come. Just a month ago, she’d worked a crap job with no dating life and no male prospects to speak of. She could have easily envisioned herself turning into the crazy lady.

And now? She had her dream job. She had a beautiful dating life. And she had the man of her dreams inside her and with her.

Travis grunted deep into her ear as he neared his orgasm. Ivy’s eyes seemed to go to the back of her head for how much pleasure she felt. When Travis exploded, she could feel his cock filling her. She grunted, “Yes, yes, yes,” back at him.

When Travis finished, he collapsed onto her shoulder, his arms wrapped around her. Once more, the tenderest, sweetest moment came not during sex, but in those moments shortly after. This time, when Travis pulled out, he turned her around gently and kissed her on the forehead before pulling him in close.

“I guess we can check that off the bucket list, huh?” Ivy said, drawing a short laugh from Travis.

He continued to hold her, leaving Ivy with little doubt that he was in it for the long haul. In fact, it left no doubt.

Ivy believed everything he had ever told her. The three years. Mia. His own personal battles. That he had truly wanted to date her after their first encounter. A man as genuine and tender as Travis would not have lied at any point along the way.

The fact that he had dismissed a soft moment of humor in exchange for something like this gave Ivy all the reassurances she needed.

“There is no bucket list with you, Ivy,” he said as he finally moved away to get his clothes.

“Then why did you bring me up here?”

Travis chuckled.

“I like to have things come full circle,” he said. “I know it’s a bit ridiculous, but when I brought you up here the first time, I moved shamelessly and aggressively. But I didn’t have the right to. Even as you seemed to enjoy it, I could sense something was off. I didn’t know it was because you were still a virgin, but regardless, it couldn’t go on. So I said to myself that if I ever got another chance, I would take you up here to atone for what I did.”

“Oh, Travis,” Ivy said, melting where she stood, feeling like ice cream on the Fourth of July.

“I don’t have a bucket list, Ivy, because every moment with you feels like a once-in-a-lifetime event,” he said. “I don’t need to write down such things when I get to experience them daily.”

Goodness, Travis, you’re too much.

“So let me explain it like this, Ivy,” Travis said, the confidence soaring in him. “You’re with me now. You’re my girlfriend. And when you get some vacation built up, we’re going somewhere warm for some time.”

Ivy smirked. The confidence, take-no-prisoners Travis had suddenly appeared, insisting, no, assuming that she would be his girlfriend now.

And she was more than fine with it. She admired it. She was in the safety of tender Travis. As long as that side remained, the sexy, aggressive side could come out whenever it wanted.

“I would like that,” Ivy said.

“Excellent,” Travis said.

The primal demeanor dropped as Travis approached, replaced by the tender love he’d shown moments before. He leaned in to kiss her and held the kiss before delivering his next words, words which made Ivy the happiest girl in the entire city.

Later that night, Ivy stood inside Travis’ room and in the living room where she had dared Travis to take her virginity. At the time, he’d refused and left her a confused mess.

But now, he stood against the bar, sipping on whiskey, much as he had the last time this encounter had taken place. She lay on a couch, relaxing from a wonderful long day. She did not sport a fancy dress—in fact, she had stripped down to sweats, choosing comfort over style.

And even though she knew that rankled the inner fashion spirit within Travis, she also knew that he would look past that and adore her for all that she was. Sweet. Hardworking. Fearless. Feisty.

And loving.

“So you’re completely serious,” Ivy said as she stretched out. “You really want me to move in?”

Travis smirked, moved over, and sat on the couch next to her. He still wore his sexy suit and tie, and Ivy swore that he would never take it off. It wouldn’t surprise her if he had a bedtime suit and tie. If sex didn’t require both parties to be naked, she could’ve seen him wearing a sex suit and a sex tie.

“I wouldn’t lie or joke about something that serious, Ivy,” he said. “For too long, I’ve closed off my world to those around me. I’ve made lots of money, yes, but I’ve lost lots of potential love and friendships in the process. Maybe this is moving too fast, I don’t know.”

Ivy understood what people would say. They would tell her that she had barely known the guy for a month, and already she would be living with him. Yes, they would say, it was cool to live in a mansion, and it was nice to think that you could have your own wing, let alone a side of the bed. But people just didn’t move that fast. It was too risky, too dangerous. What if things went bad? Where would you go?

But Ivy knew advice that may have applied to most situations didn’t apply to that one. She knew Travis wasn’t risky—if anything, anyone who dared to cross him or her was at greater risk. She needed no further proof than the first time she’d ever met him and how he’d defended her from a raging asshole at her coffee job.

And if things went bad? How could they have gotten any worse than the way they started? They had survived the early turmoil of trying to figure out what they wanted out of the relationship. They had survived Ivy pushing Travis to his emotional limits and Travis being as cold as ice early in their dynamic. They had survived bitter arguments, misunderstandings, and displays of mistrust—because they understood that they could push past that to something special.

The only reason Ivy had asked if he was sure was because she knew what lay beyond that. And it meant there was a strong, good chance that Ivy would only end up sleeping with just the one for her entire life. There are worse outcomes in life, she thought with a grin.

“But I do know that I love you, Ivy,” he said. “I do know that in listening to people smarter than me in recent days, I’ve realized the same thing. I’ve accomplished so much—but I can accomplish so much more with you. I have had a lot of good things—but the greatest thing will only come with you. And for that reason, yes, I’m completely sure that I want you to move in with me. I’ll buy out the rest of your lease with the apartment, I don’t care.”

Ivy laughed. As far as she was aware, she was probably the first person ever to go from living in a studio apartment to the city’s biggest mansion in the history of humanity! The reversal of her life had seemed so dramatic, it all felt like a dream.

But this was no dream. This was reality. And for the first time in forever, she could truly say she didn’t want to change a thing about reality.

“I love you too, Travis,” she said, and she knew that she meant it.

That was another thing she knew people would say she had moved too fast on. You were supposed to wait at least three months to say you loved someone, maybe longer. Maybe much longer.

But the intensity of her feelings told her the truth, and she didn’t want to run from the truth. If anything, she wanted to embrace it as much as she could. She wanted to say that she loved him as frequently as she could. And she wanted to show it as much as she could.

Which reminded her of one thing.

“Just don’t expect me to be able to buy you gifts like you do me,” Ivy said, drawing a laugh from both of them. “I may have more money now, but I make in a year what you make in a day.”

“Only financially,” Travis said. “Not in the feelings you produce for me. Besides, I don’t date you for material gifts. Heaven knows I can buy anything in the world. But that’s the thing. I’m not interested in buying love. I’m not interested in buying anything that money can put a price on. I’m only interested in things money can’t buy. You. Time with you. Experiences with you. Although…”

Travis smirked.

“I got us tickets to go tour Israel this summer,” he said. “I thought it would be a nice first trip together.”

“First trip?!? Damn!” Ivy said, laughing. “Are you going to make our one year anniversary take place on the Moon? And then our ten year on Mars?”

“You laugh, but I probably could swing it,” Travis said, drawing a playful eye roll from Ivy.

“Good grief, Travis,” she said. “Good grief.”

But the truth was, beyond that, she was left speechless. Travis showed her the tickets on his phone, and when she saw them, she could only lean up and kiss him.

For all that they had been through, for all that she had survived to get here, for all the emotional trauma that he’d experienced to get here, Ivy could only believe that it was meant to be. He was meant to come around and show her that it was worth her waiting for love. She was meant to come around to show him that he could love again and move on from a dark past.

Maybe, she thought, she would grow out of that mindset someday.

But not today.

“I’ll make sure it doesn’t interfere with your job, of course,” Travis said.

“Thank goodness,” Ivy said, playfully patting his arm. “I didn’t get my dream job just to say, ‘well, I found the man of my dreams, so goodbye work!’”

“I know, and that’s a huge part of why I like you,” Travis said before leaning in to kiss her on the forehead. “I can think of no further proof that you love me for more than money than that.”

Ivy cooed as she rested her head against his shoulder. The job would end someday. The mansion would soon become rote. The lifestyle would get old.

But she and Travis would grow old together, and that would never get old.

Especially, Ivy thought with a filthy grin, as long as you have that special room. Oh, heavens, we’re going to have to do that one again!

“What are you thinking about?” Travis said.

Ivy smirked as she pulled him in close.

“You remember that room you took me to the first time I came over?” she said. Travis’ eyes narrowed in delight. “I think it’s time we go for a round two.”

Travis lifted her up, pulled her close, and carried her up to his room. As Ivy got swept up, she looked at everything that passed her by. It was but a blur as statues and paintings turned into anticipation, a desire to have Travis in the flesh, and a desire to have him command her once more.

As long as Travis Dunn was hers, she would do whatever he said. She would call him Master all night long, because she got to call him his lover all day long.

“I’m never letting you go, Ivy Zimmerman,” he said. “You are mine, and that’s never going to change.”