Page 10 of Start With A Slap

The nerve. Thegall!Suppressing an outburst, Ivy said, “You’ve got little blonde rent-a-girls crawling all over your house. Unless you’re suddenly feeling thrifty, I can’t imagine why you would want me.”

He shrugged and touched her hand, causing a shudder before she recoiled. “You’re a bit of a catch.”

“No,” she corrected him, wiggling her fingers to showcase her wedding band. “I’m caught.”

“That’s why it’s called an affair.”

This couldn’t be about her—not really. There was a much more logical reason he’d be targeting her what with all the Hollywood beauties at his disposal. “This is about Jason, isn’t it? Some kind of sick competitive take-whatever-makes-him-happy game?”

He didn’t flinch. “This has nothing to do with him.”

“How can yousaythat? He’s your son and my husband.”

“When I want something, nothing gets in my way. Nothing, and no one.” He sat back, scanned the restaurant, straightenedhis silk tie and added nonchalantly, “Month from now, you’ll be waking up in my bed. Might even be smiling.”

That was it. “Who do you think youare?” She remembered who she was talking to. “Okay, you’re rich and powerful and slightly famous but you can’t have everything you want. No one can.”

“You underestimate the power of persistence, love.”

“You underestimate the power oflove. Of happy marriage! Of a good, honest relationship!”

“‘Honest’?” He leaned in. “Tell me, does he know I had you on your knees?”

That was low. And so unfair! How dare he throw that in her face, here and now, in that pointed, provocative tone and that gorgeous Estuary accent? And no, she hadn’t recently YouTubed what kind of accent it was and then quickly deleted her search history. “Do you want your son to despise you even more than he already does?”

“He’s got his ideas about me. Some of them are wrong. But you... You don’t despise me, do you? Way you shiver when I touch you says otherwise.”

“That was a shiver ofdisgust,” she said, fooling no one.

“But it makes you wonder, doesn’t it?” Voice caressing her like feather-soft kisses, he touched the back of his hand to her bare upper arm and moved it languidly. “Aren’t you picturing it right now, us tangled up in my bedsheets, all soaked and throbbing and depraved?”

“No!” she said, aghast, and rubbed his sorcerous goosebump-causing touch away. “I amnotinterested in you, or your bedsheets, or your money or... whatever it is you’reinto...”

“I’m not planning to whip you.” He arched a brow, smirked. “Yet.”

“You’re unbelieva?—!”

“Right, the boy’s coming back,” he said. “Act like I’m fascinating.”

She put on a fake grin. “I’m sorry, but that would be impossible.”

“Now you know that’s a lie,” he said, fake-grinning back. “You can’t wait to see what I’ll do next.” He patted her hand, and this time she couldn’t pull away. “We’re gonna have so muchfun, you and I. Watch this.”

Jason approached the table. “All good?”

“Totally fine,” Ivy breezed, but none of this was fine. Worse still, Sever had her pegged: she couldn’t wait to see what he’d do next.

“Have a seat, son. Your wife tells me she’s an art buff. Worked in her mum’s gallery as a kid, majored in Modernism, made a splash with a show in L.A....” He looked at her. “Well, don’t be shy. It’s true, isn’t it?”

Ivy was thrown. He’d checked up on her, all the way back to high school? While she processed that, Jason regarded her curiously. He knew she hadn’t picked up a paintbrush since her mother died, and this was a touchy subject for her. “I wouldn’t say splash,” she said. “More like a ‘plink’. I wasn’t the only artist?—”

“Just so happens I need a date for a benefit auction this Thursday. All that knowledge could come in handy. Can you spare her?” He covered her hand again, this time weaving his fingers through hers. “The paps will know she’s yours, of course.”

“I…” Jason stammered, “I mean, she’s not mine to ‘spare’.”

Sever squeezed her helpless hand and responded, “Very enlightened of you.”

Did he honestly believe she’d agree to this? Feigning disappointment, she said, “Ooh, I can’t, sorry. I have a thing that night.”

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