Page 3 of Compelling Urges

∞∞∞

Groggily, Ivy sat up in bed wondering what had woken her. She looked at Cooper as he thrashed around in his sleep. He seemed to be trying to say something, but whatever it was, it was garbled. It sounded like, “Hep.” His hands were twitching, and he seemed to be in distress, so she gently lay her hand on his arm and stroked his bicep.

Ivy bit her lip with worry. Cooper had clearly been on edge about something all night before they went to bed, so she wasn’t too surprised at his restless sleep. “Wake up, Cooper. You’re dreaming,” she said softly. When nothing happened except for more “hep” noises, she shook him a little and leaned over to speak right into his ear. “It’s okay, honey. You’re dreaming. Wake up.”

With a desperate gasp, Cooper bolted up and stared wildly around the room for a couple of seconds. Completely discombobulated, he finally focused his eyes on Ivy and then grabbed for her left hand. When he saw the diamond shining in the dim light of pre-dawn, he let out a gigantic sigh of relief. “Ohmygod, I was so scared, Ivy.” He wrapped his arms around her and dragged her to his chest. The solid warmth of her body against his comforted him.

Ivy let him relax for a moment before she asked, “Do you mind if I close the window? It’s suddenly gotten colder than normal in here.” When he loosened his grip on her, she slipped off the bed and cranked the pane shut. “Phew, that’s better. The June gloom is kind of chilly tonight.” She slid back in next to Cooper, who had an odd look on his face. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

Cooper choked out, “I thought I’d lost you.”

“Oh, that must have felt terrible, but I’m right here. Everything’s fine. It was just a bad dream. Maybe your stomach was upset by the spicy food we had for dinner.” She kissed his cheek and rubbed his arm. He was shivering slightly and covered with goose bumps.

Letting out a colossal sigh, Cooper responded, “I need to tell you something.”

Narrowing her eyes at him, she asked, “What? I have the feeling I might not like this.”

Cooper huffed and mumbled, “We’ll see.” He drew her to his chest where he could feel her but didn’t have to look into her eyes. “I… ah… got a text.”

“Yeah? And?”

“It was from Bodhi.”

“Well, that’s not too scary. He sends you messages now and then, doesn’t he?”

Cooper rubbed his chin and pulled on his ear before continuing. Clearly, this was hard for him for some reason she couldn’t fathom. Finally, he said quietly, “He’s coming back.”

“Um, okay. For a visit?” Ivy’s voice was a bit unsteady.

“No. He’s moving home.” The rest of Cooper’s words tumbled out finally, “He’ll be here in a few hours.”

Ivy lurched back and asked, “What? Why didn’t you tell me? This could get to be awfully uncomfortable. I’m going to have to find another place to live right away.”

“Maybe not. Maybe we can all get along.”

Ivy snorted. “Yeah, right. How would you like to live in the same house as your ex? He’s obviously going to move back in since the house belongs to him. I thought he said he was leaving permanently. What happened?”

“Sorry, I have absolutely no idea. His text just said that he’d be here around noon and he’s back for good. I texted him back for more information, and all he said was, ‘Lots to talk about when I see you.’”

“I don’t understand why you didn’t tell me as soon as you got his text. How long have you known about this?”

Cooper hung his head for a moment and then looked imploringly into Ivy’s eyes. “He texted me from the London airport—probably because it was too late for me to try to convince him not to come. It’s been several hours now, so he’s probably already in the air. I know I should have told you, but I was so afraid of losing you to him when he gets back, I couldn’t deal with it. I pushed it to the back of my mind and hoped it would just stay there. I love you so much, Ivy. And Bodhi is so charismatic. I just… panicked and clammed up. Not one of my better moves. I’m sorry. Please don’t be angry with me.”

“You’re right about it not being one of your better moves, but I guess I can understand your panic.” She sighed and shook her head. “I’m not going to stop loving you because Bodhi is around. That’s kind of silly. He deserted me, and I’m still furious with him about that.”

“Well, there’s something about Bodhi that you like, or we wouldn’t have invoked his name in bed so often. I know it was a joke, but still…”

Ivy covered her face with her hands and moaned. “I knew it was a bad idea to pretend he was part of our little game. I won’t be able to look the man in the face. And you have to promise me faithfully, Cooper, that you’ll never tell him.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it. How do you think he’d feel if I told him that he was a fantasy member of our threesome, and we have a weird-looking dildo we call Bodhi?” He shook his head. “I’d laugh if it weren’t so strange.”

Ivy laughed and snuggled closer to Cooper. He was relieved that she had forgiven him for keeping Bodhi’s return to himself, but his worries were far from over. It gnawed on him that Ivy and Bodhi had unresolved feelings for each other, and despite her assurances, he feared that he stood a good chance of losing her. The thought made him miserable. He knew she’d been deeply in love with Bodhi, but he was afraid to delve too deeply into how she felt about the man now. Being furious with someone usually meant they still meant something to you, didn’t it? It was possible she still loved him. Plus, there were alsohisunresolved feelings for Bodhi. Life was going to become terribly complicated—and soon.

Chapter 3

Ivy Chambers had grown up in the Chicago area and always hated the dreary, cold winters. When she was old enough to leave for college, she chose UCSD in La Jolla, not only because it was a great university, but also for its climate and proximity to the ocean. It was the perfect choice for her. She felt herself come alive in the year-round sunny climate and adored everything about the area. She never considered leaving after graduation, so when an opportunity arose to go to work in an upscale art gallery in Del Mar, she jumped at the chance. The gazillionaire owner became so fond of Ivy that when he wanted to retire after working with her for five years, he transferred the ownership of the gallery to her for a nominal buy-out. Ivy’s extensive knowledge of the art world, as well as her business acumen, helped her continue the business profitably even while art sales were soft elsewhere.

One of the most enjoyable duties she performed as the business owner was searching for new artists whom she felt needed a gallery presence. Unlike the previous owner who’d stuck to the tried-and-true, she had feelers out to all the major art schools in the country, and she often took a chance on new artists. Not all of her exhibits were total successes, but she had an impressive track record. She also routinely heard from agents who wanted to showcase their clients’ work. Del Mar was an upscale town, so buyers were plentiful, and the gallery’s reputation spread all over Southern California.

---