Page 1 of Undeniable

ONE

James

It wasa sight I’d seen before—Ivy’s perfect ass disappearing behind a slammed door.

Unfortunately, the woman attached to that perfect ass made me absolutely insane.

I braced my hand on the doorknob and took a long, deep breath. On the other side, I could hear her steady steps, and I imagined her pacing back and forth, probably fuming and cursing under her breath.

She never expected to see me, and I never in a million years expected to see her there, especially behind the bar, working the reopening of Murphy’s Law. Three of my best friends, Reed, Josh, and Amanda, had purchased the bar and unknowingly hired the one person who hated me the most in the world.

Seeing her there, with her red hair, easy smile, and soft laugh, was like my past slapping me in the face.Ourpast.

Ivy was part of that other life—the one that only existed in the small town nearly two hours north of the city. The one that ended the minute I left for college over a decade before and one that I did my damndest not to think about.

I swung the door open, and just as I suspected, Ivy was pacing the room. I was surprised she hadn’t locked it behind her. Her steps faltered at the sound of the door and her surprised expression immediately dropped to one of disdain.

“You had to follow me, didn’t you?” she seethed. Her green eyes glimmered with frustration. Annoyance—that she reserved specifically for me—dripping from her every word.

The door clicked closed behind me and I strategically placed myself in front of it. It was the only exit and she sure as hell wasn’t escaping before I figured out what she was doing there. I immediately regretted my decision, though. The two of us in a room together were like a bomb waiting to explode.

“I did,” I answered casually.

She squared her shoulders. The harsh set to her lips was one I was all too familiar with. As was the way her jaw worked when she was annoyed—like she was trying to refrain from saying what she so badly wanted to.

Even all these years later, she was still so fucking combative.

“What do you want, James?”

“What are you doing here?” I threw back.

She rolled her eyes and tilted her head to the side like she was ironically contemplating my question.

“I’m working. I thought that was pretty obvious. Did that really require an explanation?”

I closed my eyes briefly and stifled the words on the tip of my tongue. The woman knew better than anyone else how to get under my skin.

She sighed loudly and my eyes popped open.

“Look, I didn’t know that you were friends with them. Had I known, I wouldn’t have taken this job.”

Relief. Sweet, sweet fucking relief and hope were all I felt, knowing that I wouldn’t have to constantly see her. Murphy’s Law was our place—since we were in college, it was the place our friends all gathered. And it was safe fromher.“You should turn in your notice now then.”

She scoffed. “No.”

All relief faded in an instant, and the fight in her eyes sparked back to life as she watched the dread play out over my features.

“What do you mean ‘no’?”

“I mean, I’m not quitting. Why would I quit?”

I threw my hands out to my sides and gestured to the room around us. “Because you live in Willowwood, you do not live in Austin.”

One of her light-red brows rose and my worst nightmare became my reality.

“You really moved here?”

She nodded slowly. The last time we lived in the same place was over a decade ago. It was a lifetime ago, but when those memories were at the forefront of my mind, it was like they were happening all over again. Like I was nineteen years old, staring out the rearview mirror of my truck, eyes fixed on the girl I was leaving behind.

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