Page 18 of Compelling Urges

“I thought I might clear the air with you a bit first,” Blair announced in a sickly, sweet tone. “I’m sure you must realize how confused Bodhi is.”

Screwing up her face, Ivy asked, “What are you talking about? He sounded pretty sure of himself to me.”

Blair got a dreamy look on her face and asked, “Did he tell you about the lovely candlelit dinner we had when he proposed?”

“Nope. He said he ditched you in a restaurant and dumped your stuff in the hall.”

Shaking her head in apparent amusement, Blair said with a chuckle, “Oh that man. He was probably embarrassed that I didn’t accept his proposal right away. He’s just saving face. In fact, he helped me move in—he was so desperate to have me with him full-time.”

“Huh?”

“Oh yes. And I made him ask three times before I accepted his proposal. It was so fast, you know. And then he wanted the ceremony to happen immediately. He’s such a hopeless romantic, that one.”

“Bodhi? Hopeless romantic?” It was so un-Bodhi-like that Ivy almost laughed. She stared at Blair.How can Blair look so ethereally beautiful and unruffled? Ivy had no idea. She did wonder aloud, however, “If Bodhi was so anxious to marry you, why did he quit his job and beat it back here?”

Blair’s laughter sounded like tinkling bells—and very practiced. “He said he quit? That’s rich. He was fired, for your information, because he was taking too much time off of work to spend it at home, andin bedwith me. He said he had to come back here where he had a place to live because he lost his flat, and that I was supposed to follow him as soon as I could tie up loose ends. He’s obviously terribly embarrassed about his situation.”

“If Bodhi’s such a loser, why do you want to marry him so badly?” Ivy asked. She privately wondered about Bodhi’s apartment. He hadn’t said anything about giving it up. In fact, he’d alluded to needing to get out of the lease.

“Marry him? Who said I wanted to do that after finding out he’d lost his job? I had to say I was his wife so you would let me in the door. Like I said, I was exhausted.” She touched her stomach and looked at Ivy with a pitiful expression. “Being pregnant is hard, you know.”

“I don’t buy it,” Ivy said. “You seemed pretty committed to the wedding you mentioned.”

Blair sighed dramatically. “Look, I’m just giving Bodhi the opportunity to man up and take care of his child, that’s all. If you want the truth, he’s going to have to work at it if he wants a relationship with me.” Blair looked across the room and caught her reflection in the mirror. She ran a graceful hand through her hair as if to smooth it—even though it already looked perfect.

Now Ivy was completely confused. Bodhi’s claim about quitting never sounded quite right, but he was obviously not interested in having Blair around. Then there was the baby issue. Ivy felt a headache coming on and couldn’t wait to get to Cooper’s parents’ house. They were always so warm and welcoming. She was beginning to wonder if Bodhi was just using them for sex, and it made her feel sick. He told them both he loved them.Was that a lie? Thank goodness I didn’t say it back. That would be just one more humiliation with that man.

Whatever the truth was, Ivy knew their triad fun was likely to end immediately or at the very least take a backseat to this drama. A strange sadness came over her at the thought; she didn’t realize quite how much their relationship had come to mean to her. Ivy shook herself off and ducked back into the closet for some sandals. As she slipped them on, she announced, “Cooper and I will be back later.”

“Wait,” Blair commanded. Ivy looked at her questioningly. “Aren’t you going to put on fresh makeup? Your… Mediterranean complexion could use a bit of brightening up and smoothing out, you know.” She flapped her hand gracefully toward her own face—apparently to demonstrate how one should look at all times—and then added, “I guess the problem lies with your genes.”

Ivy bristled and seethed, “You have no idea what my genes are, lady. And if I want to wear makeup or not, it’s my decision. Cooper…andBodhi both like me just fine the way I am, so quit being so condescending and fuck the hell off.” She thundered out of the room and down the hall where she almost crashed into Cooper. She grabbed his arm and said, “Let’s get out of here.”

Chapter 16

Bodhi, who was unaware of the drama in the house, sat in the patio with his head in his hands. He heard the sound of high-heeled footsteps approaching and wanted to crawl into a hole. A chilly hand touched his shoulder and he quickly shrugged it off.

“I have something wonderful to show you, darling.”

He couldn’t imagine anything remotely wonderful she might have, but he looked up with resignation written all over his face.

Blair scooted one of the patio chairs next to his and sat, holding out a piece of paper to him. “Look at this, darling. Isn’t it just perfect? I had this done right before I left London.”

Blinking, Bodhi took the sheet of paper and sucked in a breath. “Ohmygod,” he whispered. In his hands he held a grainy black and white image of an ultrasound. His hand shook as he stared at it, and then finally he said, “This is beautiful. May I keep it?”

With the sweetest look on her face, Blair agreed, “Of course, darling. I have another copy. I’ve decided to call him Bodhi Junior.”

He narrowed his eyes at her and asked, “How do you know it’s a boy?”

“Oh, just intuition. I know the doctor said it was too early to tell, but… I have a feeling.”

Bodhi reluctantly felt his walls crumbling and his defenses collapsing. If he…notheywere going to have a baby, he needed to step up. Instantly he went into crisis mode. “Blair, what kind of health insurance do you have? Do I need to take care of that for you?”

Looking chagrined, Blair demurred. “Yes, darling. That would be most welcome. Since I’m back in the States for good, I’ll need proper healthcare for us. Is it too expensive for you, though? Maybe I can go to a free clinic or something.”

“It’s fine, Blair. I’ll make sure you and the baby get the best healthcare possible. You can count on me for that.” He looked at her hopeful face and added, “I still don’t want to be in a relationship with you, though. Don’t get any ideas about us because of the baby.”

She stroked his bicep and purred, “We’ll see. You might come around and change your mind.” He slowly scooted away from her touch as she continued, “You can’t have become involved with anyone in the short time you’ve been back without me, so I don’t really see any impediment to our being together the way we want.”

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