Page 64 of Rejected By My Stepbrother Alpha
Her eyes went over to the pots of ivy that I'd hung from the ceiling in the corner of my office.
“Do you like them?” I asked in a low voice and trailed my fingers softly down her arm.
She shivered in response, her eyelids fluttering closed. I grasped her hand and pulled her gently toward me until our bodies were only a breath away.
I leaned forward and put my lips right next to her ear. “Every day, when I look up at those plants, I think of you,” I confessed. “I have some in my office at home, too. Even when I wanted to forget you, I still couldn't help but surround myself with reminders of you.”
Ivy's eyes shot open, and her expression turned to one of deep longing.
The pull on my heart was persistently tugging me to her, demanding that I close the distance between us. Of their own accord, my hands pressed against the small of her back, pulling her warm body flush against my overheated one. Her honeysuckle scent surrounded me, affecting me like a drug.
“Ivy,” I muttered.
She bit her bottom lip and tilted her head to the side.
I cupped her face and drew her mouth to mine. My body ignited with desire when her soft lips pressed against mine ever so slightly, and I—
“Ivinia? Where are you? Everyone's ready…oh.” Damian's voice came from the door to my office.
Ivy and I sprang apart like teenagers caught inthe act.
Damn it.
I narrowed my eyes at Damian.
Surprisingly, there wasn't a hint of jealousy in his expression, just embarrassment and a touch of dislike when his eyes met mine.
“We need you two in the conference room so we can start,” Damian said. Before we could reply, he turned around and walked away.
Hm.
His reaction was interesting. Damian seemed more annoyed than jealous to finding us kissing.
“We should go,” Ivy said, an attractive blush spreading across her fair skin.
“I'll catch up to you,” I replied, smirking. “I have to wipe your lipstick off my lips.”
“Which prototype do you like better, Asher?”
I barely registered Cooper's question. I was too busy staring at Ivy and Damian. Ever since our moment in my office, Ivy had been avoiding me. It could be my imagination, but it seemed like she was controlling the work so that we were separated. Along with Damian, she was leading our project team in putting together our proposal to present to Anya soon. My vice president and I were working with our engineers to nail down the design for our prototype. I was convinced that with our combined efforts, we would win the Alpha king account.
All day, I'd been watching Ivy and Damian. My stomach stiffened with jealousy as I watched them work together. It seemed like they had an inside joke for everything. During a working lunch—where I’d ordered in from a Mediterranean restaurant around the corner—I saw Ivy point at a plastic fork, mumble something under her breath, and they burst out laughing.
The thing that I envied Damian for the most, was the calm that came over Ivy whenever she was around him. Her entire body was relaxed around him, and her expression was open and inviting. Whenever she was around me—or even when our eyes would meet across theroom—her body would tense, as if she were preparing herself for something.
As if she were preparing for me to hurt her again.
I forced myself to concentrate as I looked down at the two sketches of our product prototype. My finger traced the bigger motor that Ivy had suggested when Damian and I were arguing over which camera would be better to put into our product. Ivy had found a better solution, which reminded me of my conversation with Adrian about mediating.
When Ivy had said that Adrian was a natural-born leader, a strange kind of hope filled me. Even though I knew it was impossible, I thought that meant Adrian could be my son. But now I knew that had just been wishful thinking. Adrian had inherited his leadership traits from Ivy. As I talked with him, I’d realized that she was the reason he was such a good kid.
I glanced across the room at Ivy, who was standing by the large touch-screen board, pointing to the screen and explaining a concept to the team. The group around her nodded and took notes on the tablets in front of them.
I was the stupidest man alive for allowing her to get away—for sending her away.
“I like option two,” I said, finally answering Cooper’s question.
He nodded and wrote down my vote.
