Fraud

“You want to know what I think?”

“Not really.”

Laughing softly at that, she reaches out to cup my cheek.

“I think you’re hiding all your feelings because of what you went through in life. We should talk about that.”

Son of a bitch.

I’d never guessed Ivy was the kind of woman who latched on like a parasite the minute she bumped uglies. Women like that don’t have a pussy, they have a bear trap ready to snap closed to catch your ankle in it.

“You know what I think?”

She grins and rubs her thumb along my jawline. I step away to break the contact.

“I think you should go back to your room, and we can forget this conversation ever happened.”

Disappointment flashes behind her gaze, that and determination.

“You need to talk about it, Gabe. You can’t go through the rest of your life pretending to be something we both know you’re not.”

I blink at that. “This conversation is over. Please walk away.”

Her eyes lock to mine.

“Still the broken prince, I see.”

“You’re not walking.”

She needs to leave. Now. This very instant.

This is a line never to be crossed.

With a roll of her eyes, she pushes away from the doorframe.

“Fine. If you want to hold it all inside, that’s on you.”

She takes a few steps away and turns back, her lips a thin line of anger.

“Did you bring those clothes in or not?”

“I tossed them in the laundry room downstairs.”

With that, she should have kept moving, but instead she stands there.

“Are you sure we can’t talk about this?”

“Goodnight, Ivy.”

“You’re being ridiculous.”

I don’t bother answering.

After a few seconds she walks away, and I stand in place, listening as she runs downstairs.

Thoroughly pissed off, I realize I won’t be sleeping tonight since I can’t trust her, and she just broached a topic that is so far off limits that it’s not even close to what’s acceptable to be discussed.

Grabbing my bag, I decide to go downstairs to get some work done.

Ivy is ru

Another hour passes as I distract myself with emails on cases and complaints about Ta

Lacey has demanded another pay raise which I happily approve because losing her isn’t worth the nightmare it would be to find Ta

While I’m firing off that message, Ivy comes downstairs again to head into the kitchen.

Without bothering to look up at her, I ask, “Shouldn’t you be in bed?”

She pauses.

“I want something to drink. Would you like to join me in bed after?”

“Not anymore.”

Crossing her arms over her chest, she glares at me.

“You can’t be this much of an asshole, Gabe. I really think we should talk about this.”

I tilt my head right. “The kitchen is that way.”

Ivy huffs out a breath and walks her ass to the kitchen, the cabinet doors opening and closing as she searches for a glass.

Dumping ice into it, she fills it with water then begins searching through my drawers.

My head pops up at that.

“What are you looking for?”

“A spoon,” she mumbles.

“Why? It’s water.”

“I like to stir the ice. It makes it colder faster.”

Her eyes meet mine. “We really should talk about this.”

“Third drawer on the right,” I bark, refusing to talk about anything. My eyes snap back to my computer screen to avoid this bullshit conversation.

Another sound of complaint climbs up her throat, but after finding the spoons, she stirs her water and takes her glass upstairs.

I’m thoroughly a

Eventually, I calm down enough to work again, my fingers flying over the keys for the rest of the night, finally stopping when sunlight begins to brighten my windows.

After calling Ta

The door is locked when I try the handle, but when I press my ear to the door, I hear the shower ru

Satisfied by that, I run back downstairs and put on a pot of coffee.

I’m standing in my kitchen an hour later pouring a third cup of coffee when Ta

The sun is still barely up, and we all should be at the office, but priorities tend to shift when new information becomes available.

What we discovered about Ivy made a meeting here more important. Yet the only thing I can think about is the sounds that fell from her lips when I fucked her on the car last night.

I hadn’t intended for that to happen, but just like everything with Ivy and me, the best intentions mean absolute shit.

The two of us are the worst match that can possibly exist. She knows too much about me, and I know I can’t trust her. Which is why it aggravated me so much that she brought up the subject of a relationship.

None of that really matters, though. Not when there are other issues we need to focus on.

“What happened to you calling us last night?”

Ta

I stare back from over the rim of my coffee cup and arch a brow, daring him to make the accusation. I can almost hear the gears grinding in his head.

“You fucked her instead of calling us, didn’t you?”

“We didn’t get back until late,” I lie.

Sawyer chuckles at that and sits on the living room couch.

Ta

“Great story. It was really entertaining. I’ll be sure to leave a review for it when I have time to gather my thoughts and feelings. Now tell me another one, asshole.”

Setting my coffee mug on the counter, I clear my throat. I’m dragging ass this morning because I haven’t slept.

“The power was out because of the storm. I couldn’t charge my phone.”

“You’re getting great at this, Gabe. One more and you might have a bestseller on your hands. Tell me another.”

Lying to Ta

“Ivy wasn’t exactly cooperative. I had to pin her to the car just to get her under control. You know how she is.”

He’s quiet for a second, his eyes assessing me for the bullshit in that story.

“That explains why you look like shit right now.”

Laughing, I lean against a counter.

“That’s from not sleeping. Would you close your eyes around Ivy?”

“No.”

“Then it’s settled.”

He studies me again, but I can’t hide from Ta

“Did she admit anything about her dad and the tech company? I haven’t said anything about this to Luca yet since I’m not sure what to tell her.”

I cross my arms over my chest, wishing like hell I had a whiskey in my hand.

Yes, it’s only seven in the morning, but I’m already agitated.

Ivy went full girl on me in the span of a few hours last night and it’s driving me nuts.

Why the hell would she bring up the idea of anything more between us when she knows good and goddamned well we could never work?