Page 39 of Sliding Into Love
Oh, no, she hadn’t meant—
“No! I mean, yes! I want to.” She paused, searching for words.
At his sides, Ethan’s hands clenched into fists, and Ivy wanted to hold them in her own. She shoved her hands in her pockets instead.
“Oh.” He ran a hand through his long, dark hair, leaving it adorably disheveled. She wanted to card her fingers through it to set it right. “I haven’t, ah, dated in a while. Fucking hell, Ivy. I don’t know what to say.”
“Ethan, would you like to go on a date with me?”
“Yes, I would.”
“Good. Pick me up at seven. I’ll see you then.”
Ethan gazed down at her for a moment, his eyes intent on her face, a muscle ticking in his jaw. At his side, his hand twitched. Ivy’s breath caught, anticipating the touch, but his hand stilled before he reached through the inch of space remaining between them, grazing his thumb over her cheekbone. Their eyes locked, and electricity coursed through Ivy’s body.
Lily shoved herself between them.
“I see my plan worked!” Lily cackled and rubbed her hands together like a movie villain. “When are you picking her up?”
“Seven.” Ethan didn’t break eye contact, but he dropped his hand as if it burned.
“Good. She’ll see you then.” Lily looked at Ivy. “We’ve got work to do.”
“Bye,” Ivy breathed, still not wanting to look away.
“I’ll see you later.”
Lily broke their eye contact for them, tugging on Ivy’s arm until she moved.
“Lovebirds. You’ll have all night to make googly eyes at each other. Now, go on, Sasquatch, before I change my mind.” Lily made shooing motions at Ethan, who did as he was told, waving goodbye before walking to a shiny black sports car in the parking lot.
“Lily,” Ivy began, but Lily interrupted.
“Nope. I knew neither of you was going to make a move, so I did it for you. You’re welcome. Let’s get these two home, and then we’re digging in your closet because you cannotwear leggings and a tee on a date.”
Ivy groaned. Lily was right.
“Fine. Lead the way, tiny bossy one.”
Lily found a rarely worn green satin tank in the back of her closet and shoved it in Ivy’s hands with a demand that Ivy wear her “butt jeans”, the high-waisted skinny jeans that fit just a hair too tightly, but admittedly made her butt look incredible, and a pair of Lily’s chunky-heeled shoes that were a near-perfect match to the shade of the top. After applying mascara and lip gloss, Ivy was ready about an hour early.
Waiting was…strange. Not in a bad way, but she hadn’t had time to process the whole ‘date’ situation, and before she knew it, it was six forty-five and all the feelings that should have been spread out over the entire afternoon crashed into her all at once. Excitement and nervousness and trepidation. What if Ethan changed his mind? What if she changed her mind? What if it was terrible? What if it was amazing?
What if, what if, what if…
A small hand slipped into Ivy’s, and Jase squeezed her fingers. He leaned his head against her arm, and her breath caught in an entirely different way. Affection for the sweet little boy overtook everything else, and she was grateful for him.
Janna stared up at her with eyes as big as saucers. “You look so pretty! Like a princess.”
Ivy leaned down and scooped them both into a hug. “Have fun with Lily! I’ll be back after you go to bed, but I’ll come in and check on you, okay?” She pressed her forehead to each of theirs in turn.
Jase looked at her, biting the inside of his cheek.
“I’m coming back,” Ivy whispered in his ear. “I promise.”
Jase nodded solemnly, looking too old for his ten years. Ivy’s heart ached for him, but he seemed happy enough with her answer.
A knock at the door, and all the air escaped the room, taking Ivy’s breath with it.
