Page 42 of Training the Heart

“Human nature?” I query. “Huh, that’s the excuse we’re going with?”

“Yep. Seems plausible. Whatever gets us through the day without you wearing that guilty look on your face.” Her cocky little smirk taunts me as she points a finger in my direction, as if she’s fully in on the secret that I’m lying to myself about her. “So, we’re gonna be friends then, yeah?” she asks, extending a hand for shaking.

I take it, closing around her soft fingers with my hand, and even that proximity still feels like too much.

“Friends,” I reply, clearing my throat.

“Can’t go back … so, let’s just … move forward.” Ivy doesher seatbelt up and looks at me expectantly. That went a lot easier than I thought it would.

She pulls out her phone to check the time and I remember that I have a present for her. I reach under the seat of my truck.

“Also. Here,” I say, handing her the small white box.

She takes the new iPhone from me hesitantly and stares at it in her palm. The silence lasts too long.

“It’s the newest one. New phone number and you’re on the ranch’s plan. If and when your time is done here, you can transfer it to your own name. Mine and my family’s numbers are in there for you. When you’re ready, I can help you add who you want, if you need me to.”

She blinks and her mouth falls open slightly and then she starts to ramble. “Wade. I didn’t tell you that story about Brad to make you feel … I was going to buy one, they’re just expensive and I’m trying to save. I’ll pay you back. I can buy my own—”

“Listen, just … fuck … you are the only one that should decide who calls you. Your personal space is your fortress, okay? Just accept it. You need to have a reliable phone through this training anyway. Preferably one we can set your email up on,” I say firmly, poking fun at her dinosaur of a phone.

Ivy says nothing but her eyes say it all. She nods, knowing it’s not worthwhile to argue with me.

And I can’t help but add, “And for what it’s worth, assholes that clearly don’t take no for an answer need to hit the road. This will make it easier.”

She reaches over and puts her arms around me. “Thank you, Wade. Really. This might be the most thoughtful thing anyone has ever given me.”

I breathe her in for one second before she pulls back from me, and how fucking pretty she looks this close to me almost stuns me. She averts her eyes and moves back to her side of the truck.

“Right … so, for the sake of keeping this friends thing going maybe don’t look at me like that,” she says.

“You either,” I say, because the smile she’s wearing feels like a reward. One I can’t help but want to earn every way I can.

The almost-four-hour drive passes easily. We fall right back into the same type of conversation we were having in our nightly movie fests, and as the AT&T building comes into view, Ivy is a picture of relaxation, and so fucking beautiful. Bare feet up on my dash, a warm fall breeze flowing through the window swirling her hair around her face as she sings a Lainey Wilson song like she wrote the damn thing.

I can’t help but think that deciding to make a derby run might just be the best impulsive decision I’ve ever made.

I hold that feeling all the way to the Omni Hotel. The lobby is a bustle of activity, country music plays through the open space and a fire roars in the large central fireplace even though its seventy-two degrees outside.

“Reservation for Ashby,” I say as I get my ID and credit card ready, slapping both on the marble countertop. Beside me, Ivy hums along to the music playing in the lobby.

“Of course, Mr. Ashby, we have your room ready for you, you’re on the seventeenth floor. You’ll be staying in an executive king suite.”

“And the second room is still adjoining?” I ask errantly, putting my cards back into my wallet, just to clarify that I will in fact have to suffer with Ivy so painfully close.

“Uhh …” The attendant fumbles with the mouse and clicks through a few screens. “Second room?” she asks. “I only see one reserved room here, Mr. Ashby.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Wade

Iblink, and Ivy gulps beside me. I smile at the young girl.

“There must be some mistake,” I say politely. “I booked two rooms—two adjoining kings.”

More clicking through various screens on the clerk’s side of the counter are deafening, as my heart hammers in my chest while I search for my reservation on my phone.

“I’m sorry … it’s only my second day. I can get a manager … but, Mr. Ashby, I only see one room here and we’re booked completely full through Monday. We’d be happy to comp you the night for the inconvenience.”

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