Page 58 of Wasted On You

Fucking vanilla. Why did it have to smell so good?

“I’m trying to do what’s right.” All he had was honesty at this point.

“Ignoring me is right? Acting like I’m invisible is right?” She inched closer yet, and his mind filled with wild thoughts. Things he shouldn’t be thinking of, like Ivy, naked beneath him, her mouth on his, his hands on her.

Mike Paul swore and blinked away the images. “I’m trying to be a good man here, Ivy. I’m trying to stay away. Trying not to put my hands on you. But you’re making it hard.”

Her eyes widened. And that pink tongue of hers darted out and took a delectable swipe at the corner of her mouth. She inched forward again, and he took a step back. They repeated the dance once more until they were in shadow, by the side of the stage.

“What if I don’t want you to stay away? What if I don’t want you to be a good man?” Her voice was like warm whiskey over ice.

Did she have any clue what she was doing to him? He thought of Cal and what he’d said. Then he thought of Benton and what he said. And Mike Paul realized he was screwed. Totally fucking screwed. If he got it wrong, he’d lose either way.

“I should call a cab,” he said slowly, eyes on her mouth.

“I’ll take you home,” she said slowly.

Holy. Mother. Of. God. He needed to be the good guy. The one who walked away. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Wilkens.”

Ivy pressed into him. Her lips hovered a whisper from his and then she leaned close to his ear. “Don’t think.”

He groaned. Or maybe moaned like an idiot. What the hell was he going to do? Mike Paul wrestled with his dilemma for all of two seconds because it was a lost cause. He was weak and drunk on her scent. He slipped his hands up either side of Ivy’s face, trapping her so she couldn’t look away. Her eyes were half closed, but they were settled on him with an intensity that damn near took his breath away. “Are you sure? We can’t go back. Not after tonight.” He barely got the words out.

A full ten seconds passed between them, though it felt like an hour. Neither one said or did anything. Then Ivy stepped back, nailed him with a look that said, don’t move, and ran for her coat. She appeared moments later, grabbed his hand, and gave him no choice.

Might not have been the smartest move, but Mike Paul wasn’t in his right mind. All he could think about was Ivy. About getting her alone. Maybe Benton Bridgestone was right. Maybe it was time to fight. Or maybe he should stop thinking and go with it.

In the end, he pushed everything away. Wordlessly he let her lead him outside. The two of them disappeared into the night and said to hell with the consequence.

Chapter16

“You missed the turn.”Mike Paul glanced her way, but she ignored him.

Keep your eyes on the road.Her hands were shaking, and she hoped like hell he couldn’t see that.

“Ivy.”

“If you want to end up in the ditch, bud, keep talking.”

The wind had picked up, and a couple of inches of snow had fallen since she’d come to town. The roads had been plowed and sanded at least once, but still, with a steady snowfall, it wasn’t exactly ideal driving conditions.

Thankfully, Mike Paul seemed to get lost in his thoughts, and she was able to navigate the roads without incident. The going was slow, and it was close to eleven o’clock by the time she pulled into her driveway and cut the engine. It was cold in the cab. She’d forgotten to increase the heatbecause her body was on fire, and her breath misted as she slowly exhaled and waited for her heart to slow down. Her hands were stiff, the fingers sore from gripping the steering wheel. She moved them a bit and tried to get the blood flowing.

Her knees knocked like they were the rhythm section of the local high school band, and she clamped them together. She didn’t want to chance a look at Mike Paul because her thoughts were so scattered she didn’t trust herself.

Was she insane bringing him back here?

Yes. Of course, she was insane. No doubt about it. She was the conductor of crazy. The maestro of madness. The ever-lovin’ witch of wantonness.

Okay, that might be over the top, but still. What would everyone at the party think when they realized she and Mike Paul were gone? Her eyes fell to the sparkling diamond on her left hand at about the same time her stomach shifted, making her feel woozy. That nagging sense ofsomething was about to happen, the one that had followed her around all night was back, perched on her shoulder like the dark devil it was, and yet…

Ivy couldn’t ignore the other side of things. The excitement. The desire. The need and want and anticipation and all the things an engaged woman shouldn’t be feeling. Fake or otherwise.

With the truck no longer running, the silence inside the cab was so big it felt like she was underwater.

“I have to get out of here.” Her words were like bullets, shattering the silence as she opened the door. She prayed to every God she knew that she would be able to walk without falling on her ass.

Ivy slid out of the truck into the cold and snow and ran for the porch. She struggled to find the keys in her small purse, probably because her fingers were still stiff from their death grip on the steering wheel, but mostly because she was nervous as hell and doubting the stunt she’d just pulled. Maybe Mike Paul was smarter than she was. Maybe he would stay in the truck. Call a cab. Or another saner person would show up to take him back to his place. Maybe he’d?—

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