Page 49 of Unrequited (Woodlands 4)

He was right. Dad was an insurance agent, and Ivy had worked in his office every summer. Me? I followed after my mom, who taught elementary art. I’d thought for the longest time that was what I wanted to do, but then I only went to community college and instead found a place for my art at Tucker's. I think Mom would have been okay with that.

"Would that bother you?" he asked quietly. I realized then we'd returned to the parking lot of the apartment complex.

"I don't know." I sat back and reflected on it. There didn't seem to be any love vibes between them. Ivy had acted weird, but not because it seemed like she was peeved Finn and I were together but more that I was abandoning her. She didn't suggest I make the fast food run and Finn stay at home, like a girl would've done if she was crushing on a guy and wanted to get the extra girl out of the way. No, she wanted Finn to go and me to stay.

Finn showed no interest in Ivy either. He was polite to her, but I suspected he was treating her in that manner because of me, not because of any burning love. And I had to trust them. Finn didn't have a history of cheating. He didn't seem like the type to cheat, especially after the story he'd told about his dad.

And Ivy? I couldn't see her doing that to her own sister. Maybe she'd have done something crappy like that to Finn when she was drinking, but she was clean, sober, and loved me. No, I couldn't imagine that. And Finn's solution was genius. Even Tucker didn't offer health benefits, which Ivy sorely needed now.

"I don't think it would bother me." I shifted in the truck seat so I could look him directly in the eyes, as if somehow if I could see the truth. "Do I have anything to be worried about?"

"No, never," he said. His gaze never wavered. He never blinked. "I'd never do that to you. If it gets to be a problem, tell me, and I'll see if I can't find her a different job with another construction outfit. Besides," he leaned forward and tucked some of my hair back behind my ear, "you're first wife."

I met him more than halfway, plastering my mouth against his in a fierce, joyous kiss. Drawing back, we were both a little breathless. "We better get these fries in before they turn cold."

"Yup."

He didn't move.

I didn't want to either, but I did.

17

r />

FINN

"Hope you know what you're doing, man," Mal said, shoving away from the desk and patting the back of the chair he'd just hopped out of. I took my place and clicked on the green plant icon Mal had picked for Ivy.

"Why does everyone but Winter and me think this is a bad idea?" When we'd gone in to deliver the fries and job offer, Ivy's reception had been chilly. She wouldn't have taken the job if Winter hadn't declared it the answer to all their problems.

Winter kicked me out shortly after, probably to make the hard sell, and I went home. I found all but one of my roommates chilling in front of the television watching Will Smith kill aliens. I laid out the business proposition and was met with silence. Noah had muttered "poor schmuck," and Adam looked at me and said, "Dead man walking." Confused, I looked to Grace for an explanation. "If Noah dated Lana before me, I wouldn't have wanted him within five feet of her ever, let alone working with him for eight hours a day," she'd said.

"I'm not going to cheat on Winter," I replied steely. I'd never cheated on anyone in the past, not even Ivy when I knew she was sleeping around to score extra drugs.

"I believe you. It's Winter you have to convince," Grace replied.

And then everyone else nodded, looking at me with disbelief mixed with sympathy.

Mal pressed a sticky note with Ivy's password on it to the side of the monitor. "Adam said she was a shitty girlfriend. Can't imagine she'd be a good employee either."

"She knows the alphabet and can count. That's about all I need her to do in here. And it's not going to be forever. I've only got eight months left on this build, and then I can be done."

"Sure." I could tell by the tone of his voice he didn't believe it. "I set it up so she can't touch any of the programs dealing with your accounting software. She can't issue checks or even go to micropayment sites on the internet. And I've blocked most sites’ access anyway but still put on a key logger so you can trace whatever action she's conducting on your laptop."

"Adam talked to you?" I hadn't said a word about Ivy's past to anyone, other than to say I'd dated her in high school and college and we broke up.

Mal nodded. "After you asked me to set up a computer account for her, Adam told me to make sure your financials were locked down tight. She steal from you?"

Reluctantly, I nodded. "A few hundred here or there. She thought I could spare it, and I could. I just didn't want to spend it on her drugs."

"Adam also said you paid for her legal fees when she was pursuing guardianship over her sister."

"Adam has a big, fat fucking mouth."

"He doesn't want to see you get fucked over again."

I leaned back in the chair and folded my hands behind my head. "I'm doing this for Winter, just like I paid those legal bills, just like I lied on the stand and swore Ivy would be a good guardian. I've always wanted to take care of Winter. I just didn't know it extended beyond that until two months ago. When I walked away from Ivy, I walked away from Winter. Do you know she spent all their parents' life insurance as well as the proceeds from selling the house to get Ivy clean? No one was there for Winter then. No one. But she's not going to be alone anymore because I'm here, and I'll be damned if I see her try to shoulder another of Ivy's mistakes without help."

---