“I didn’t until I saw you from the bar.”
“Ain’t I lucky,” she mimicked his drawl and he laughed.
“How late is he?” He was still smiling good naturedly.
Ivy’s blink was slow, tolerant at another intrusive question. “He isn’t late.”Yet.
“You’ve checked your phone three times now.”
“That doesn’t mean he’s late or I’m checking on him.”
“I see.” His eyes gave her entire frame a penetrating swoop from head to toe as if he did indeedseesomething. “Or are you waiting for the text message announcing he’s going to be late? Would that make it easier to excuse his tardiness?”
Ivy growled.
Drat, she made the throaty sound out loud.He was causing her to deviate.Do not engage Ivy.
He smirked.
“I’m not waiting.” Technically, she was. The curve of his smug lips only spurred her on. “If you must know, I’m checking my list.”
Lick-me-upside-down. Why did she mention that?
“List?”
His eyes widened a fraction and Ivy recognized his interest. She’d seen that look a thousand times when she walked into a board room fully prepared to kick ass. She loved surprising the hell out of skeptical managers with her marketing strategies and proven ROI.
“How can I help you, darlin’?” the young waitress purred the words at swoony man-bun.
The woman leaned a little too close, but maybe that was the distraction he needed to forget their conversation. Ivy hoped he was a breasts man because the waitress had an heir and a spare.
He didn’t look in Ivy’s direction when he responded to the waitress. “We’ll each have a glass of pomegranate La Pinta.”
“Coming right up, darlin’.” The woman practically skipped away to fulfill his order.
Grr. Impossible man. Did ordering for her make him considerate or pushy? She had risked a glance at her phone while he was chatting—the latter wasn’t on her list.
“If I wanted a drink, I would have ordered one,” she said, more frustrated with herself for being intrigued than at him.
“You could have also told the waitress no.”
There was that logic. This man was on the instructive side, but she did appreciate a person who spoke their mind. “I didn’t want to stop her leering.” She also didn’t want to deny him an opportunity for sex since she was in the hotel for the same reason .
“I didn’t notice.” He grinned. “I was too busy being captivated by my companion.”
Ivy flushed. Down-right felt her skin heat a fraction.
“As for the drink, you’ll enjoy it.”
“Why, because you think I need one?” She was being defensive. It was one drink. She would have ordered a beverage upon arriving but didn’t want her date thinking she had to psych herself up to sleep with him.
“It will help you warm up to me before you realize your date isn’t showing.”
She laughed. “Not likely. You’re not my type.” She expected him to be offended by her words but the man didn’t even flinch. If anything, his eyes darkened a notch in challenge.
“I didn’t make your list?” He feigned hurt. “What exactly is on that list of yours?”
Ivy flushed. He’d caught her glancing at her phone again. Now there was no way he was abandoning the subject. If she told him all the ways he was breathing in her oxygen, perhaps he would go find the pretty waitress and leave her and her tingling lady bits alone. But she wasn’t going to ever see him again, she reasoned, nothing was keeping her from answering his question. As a freelance marketing executive, Ivy would make sure she never took another contract in Wheelcaster.
