Page 11 of When Ivy Met Mr. Holiday
“Jack, I don’t want to lie to my family. They don’t even know you’re coming,” she admitted. “I thought I would surprise them.”
Huh? I hadn’t seen that one coming. But it could work in our favor.
“Think of how surprised they’ll be when we tell them we’re together.”
I honestly didn’t think they would mind. After all, they loved me.
“But it will be a lie.”
“My lie, not yours.”Hopefully not a lie at all by the end of the trip.
Ivy searched my face, something unreadable flickering across her own. Her lips parted like she had more to say, but she hesitated, pressing them together instead.
I held my breath. Maybe—just maybe—she wanted this more than she was willing to admit.
Sienna marched right up to us and crashed the party.
“Please, Jack,” she pleaded. “Just tell me this is a joke. We’ll laugh it off together on the slopes. You can’t be serious about her. I just can’t believe it.”
Before I could react, Ivy spun around and hit Sienna with that fiery look of hers that I both feared and adored. There was nothing sexier than an irate Ivy.
“Believe it, Sienna. Jack and I are together,” she said, each word punctuated enough to make anyone believe her. And yet . . . her hands shook.
For a moment, I reveled in the victory. Unbeknownst to Ivy, she’d just opened the door for us.
Sienna stood frozen, her eyes glazed over. She wasn’t accustomed to not getting her way. But then—she straightened, squared her shoulders, and set her sights on Ivy.
I knew that look. She wasn’t about to play nice.
“Well . . . we’ll see about that,” she said, her voice sickly sweet. “See you soon, Jack.”
She blew me a kiss, turned, and pranced off, her determined heels clicking with the promise of trouble.
Ivy fell into my arms, her voice barely a whisper. “You so owe me.”
I wrapped my arms around her, holding her tightly against me. For a moment, everyone else faded away, and all I could feel was her warm, trembling body against me.
“I promise, I’ll make it up to you.”
“You better believe it, buddy. What am I going to tell my family? What have I done?” she lamented. “More like what haveyoudone?”
I liked to believe I’d done the right thing. Ivy and I belonged together. Now, I just had to make her see it—make her finally admit it.
Easier said than done.
Chapter Three
“They stood there pretending to be just friends when all the while everyone in the room could plainly see that they were only existing for each other.”
Emma Blake
Ivy
Istaredouttheplane’s window as we descended, watching the snow dusting the ground below.I was home.Normally, my heart would burst with comfort and joy. Instead, it pounded relentlessly.
It didn’t help that Jack was holding my hand, his fingers warm, inviting—toopresent. Or that across the aisle,Sienna sat stiffly, her nails pressing into the leather armrest, her glare burning into me like frostbite. She’d been that way the entire uncomfortable flight.
Of course, that dear was in first class, too.
