Page 29 of Redeem Me

I need to put it, and him, out of my head once and for all.

‘You know, I might go out, after all…’

He glowers. ‘That wasn’t the deal, Ivy.’

‘Deals are broken and renegotiated all the time.’ I shrug, strutting out of his office, leaving my lingerie lying on his floor.

Before the door clicks behind me, I hear him mutter, ‘She’s going to be the actual death of me…’ To whom, I can only imagine.

An hour later, I tiptoe out of my room. The sun has set, and the sky is an eclectic mix of deep pinks and purple hues.

My Uber should arrive any minute. I’m not going out to find a man, but Caelon doesn’t need to know that. I can’t just sit around here and wait to see if he’ll throw me a bone – punintended. After what just happened in his office, it’s better if I put some distance between us, for a few hours at least.

I can’t think straight when he’s near.

It’s not natural. I’ve never known attraction like it. It’s so visceral. So primal. So animalistic. Hell, I don’t even particularly like the guy, yet every bone in my body longs to jump his. The way my body responds to his touch is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before, nor am ever likely to again, unfortunately. Which is why Ineedto get out of here.

I felt used by the way he dismissed me after such soul-shattering intimacy. Even though I wanted that intimacy more than I wanted anything before. He warned me that was all it would be. I thought I could handle it. But I thought wrong.

Which is why he’s right. It can never happen again.

I smooth a hand over my black silk. It’s a short number that I picked up in Macy’s last summer. I don’t particularly miss the States, but I miss the shopping. I miss hanging out with my nanny friends at Union Square. I miss Saturday nights drinking in Irish bars with other Irish people who are living away from home. I miss adult company. I’ve been away so long, I don’t have any real friends in Dublin. Maybe it’s time I made some new ones.

I check on the kids briefly. Orla is asleep with her hands thrown above her head and Owen is clinging onto his favourite teddy, unable to part with it even in his dreams. I creep down the stairs, listening for any movement, but I’m greeted with silence.

‘Going somewhere?’ Caelon’s low, velvety voice greets me through the twilight. He steps forwards from the shadows.

I jump. Has he been waiting here, on guard, this entire time?

‘Yes, I am, as a matter of fact.’ I straighten my spine. I’monly five foot five, but with these five-inch stilettos, I don’t have to crane my neck to meet his glare.

‘And where would that be, exactly?’ He positions his body between mine and the exit.

‘For a drink in the city, not that it’s any of your business. I’ll be back long before the kids wake up.’ The scent of his cologne wafts through the air, deep and rich and sensual.

‘And how do you plan on getting to the city?’ Gold flecks light his irises as he inches his body closer to mine.

‘I called an Uber. It’ll be here any minute.’

He places a palm on my lower back and guides me towards the front door. Tingles shoot up my spine. My treacherous nipples stiffen at his touch. He eyes my dress and smirks. He fights dirty, and he doesn’t even try to hide it.

He opens the front door for me, and I inhale a lungful of balmy, fresh air. Headlights swing up to the gate, but when I step out onto the step, Caelon catches my wrist. Heat sizzles over my skin. His eyes lock on mine.

‘Don’t go,’ he bites out, and I glimpse a rare flash of vulnerability.

‘What?’ The man all but kicked me out of his office an hour earlier after I offered myself to him naked.

‘Don’t go,’ he repeats, slightly softer this time. That tortured look flashes in his eyes.

My anger melts. I’m still a sucker for a tortured bad boy. ‘On one condition.’

‘I can’t have sex with you.’ He shakes his head briskly.

‘I wasn’t going to ask you to,’ I huff. One rejection today is enough. ‘Have a drink with me.’

‘A drink? Haven’t we had enough?’

‘One more, for the road.’

---