Page 53 of Rejected By My Stepbrother Alpha
But that was hard when I had a suspicion that he was dating—and possibly had a child with—the only woman I’d ever had feelings for.
The bastard.
I couldn’t stop picturing them hugging on the sidewalk, and the fact that Ivy had mentioned that Damian had a son yesterday. I just had this feeling that she and Damian were more than work colleagues.
I wanted to ask Ivy if they were dating, but it never seemed like the right time to bring it up.
“Asher, it wouldn’t make sense from a user standpoint to choose the thermal camera,” Damian said and leaned back in his chair.
Was it my imagination, or did he just shift closer to Ivy? Whenever Damian even glanced in her direction, I had the ridiculous urge to slam his face against the table.
“Sure, a thermal camera would be nice for the king’s warriors to be able to see the heat coming off their enemies to find where they are in the dark,” Damian continued. “But thermal cameras only show body heat. Wouldn’t it be more useful for the warriors to see the whole picture, not just a bunch of body heat signatures? That way, the Royal Guard can create a better tactical plan. That’s why I think we should stick with the standard camera.”
Instead of arguing with him, I turned to Ivy. My heart stuttered when I looked at her. Today, her auburn was pulled up, showing off her gorgeous face. The top two buttons on her white blouse were undone, and her creamy skin made my mouth dry.
Whenever my eyes traveled to her—which was often—I thought about our talk the day before. I was glad that we had that conversation, but I wished Ivy had agreed to my suggestion of getting to know each other better. She hadn’t said no, but from the way she was acting toward me today, I was afraid that she had decided she didn’t want to get to know the real me.
“What do you think, Ivinia?” I asked.
She didn’t even look at me as she answered. Instead, her gaze was on the paper in front of her, where she had sketched a picture of our prototype.
“Why can’t we have both a regular camera and a thermal camera?” Ivy said as she drew both cameras onto the paper. “If we increase the size of the motors, I’m sure we could fit them both. That way, the king’s warriors can see the enemy during the day as well as at night.”
There was a beat of silence as the room thought overher proposal.
“You’re a genius,” Cooper said as he looked over Ivy’s shoulder at her sketch.
Pride for Ivy flowed through me as everyone praised her brilliant idea. Then, it turned to red-hot jealousy as Ivy and Damian shared a look, smiling widely at each other.
I’d been watching them closely to try to figure out if they were a couple. Could that little boy I saw actually be their son? Damian and Ivy never touched, but that could be because they were trying to keep things professional. There was a familiar note to their interactions that made my teeth hurt from clenching my jaw so hard, but I wasn’t sure what to make of it.
I wasn’t going to give up hope, though.
Ivy had clung to me yesterday during our embrace outside of her hotel. Her breath had hitched when I whispered in her ear. And I didn’t miss the longing look in her eyes whenever her gaze met mine. It didn’t matter how quickly she looked away from me. I was certain that her body wanted me.
But I was quickly beginning to realize that I wanted much more from Ivy than just a physical relationship.
The meeting ended shortly after that. Damian, Ivy, Cooper, and I thanked our teams for all their hard work.
I thought about the intensity of my feelings for Ivy as we left for the day. I was lost in my head as I walked out of my building behind Ivy and Damian. I caught up with them on the busy sidewalk, planning a way I could prolong my time with Ivy and ditch Damian at the same time.
Before I could work something out, the same boy I saw with Ivy and Damian a few days ago ran up to us.
“Mommy!” he screamed and hugged Ivy’s legs.
Ivy’s eyes widened in shock, and she looked over at me. Was it my imagination, or was there fear in her eyes?
Now, I was certain that Ivy had a child with someone, even if Damian wasn’t the father of the little boy. The confirmation was like a punch to my gut.
A man who looked like the older version of Damian walked up tous. The similarities were so apparent, down to their black hair and green eyes that this could only be Mason Blackwood, Damian’s father.
“Adrian couldn’t wait to see you. I hope it’s all right that we came here,” Mason said to Ivy.
“Of course,” Ivy said with a tight smile.
Was Damian’s father watching Ivy’s son because he was the boy’s grandfather?
Mason spotted me, and a look of recognition crossed his face.
