Page 12 of Ivy

“YES! You came into work looking like a fucking model. You were wearing those painted on jeans and that cropped green jumper, and your arse looked amazing. I couldn’t touch you, so my hand grabbed someone else’s arse. See, your fault.” He smirks at me like he is in the right.

Bastard.

I remember the day he’s talking about. I caught him checking me out a few times, but whenever I looked at him, he smirked and walked away. He did nothing about it.

“Oh, come on, Luke. I didn’t place your hand on her arse and tell you to squeeze, did I?”

“Maybe not, but it was your arse I was picturing when I squeezed it.”

“Oh, good God. What the hell am I going to do with you, Luke Baker?”

“Well, you could go out with me.” I’m stunned by his answer. He wants to go out with me?

“Go out? Like, on a date or just as friends going for a drink down the pub?” I have to ask; I hate not knowing how things are. It was like that with Tim. I never knew what mood he was going to be in. I feel my face getting hot and his smile grows. Bastard. I fan my face and look around the room, anywhere except his smarmy face. I hate that he makes me blush. I thought I was getting better at hiding it. Bollocks.

“A date, Peaches. Come on, you know you want to. This has been a long time coming.” He leans in and lays a gentle kiss on my lips, and pulls back before I can even react. I nod my head, my breath suddenly lost.

Damn him.

My beast.

“Hey, fucker, you’d better not be upsetting my sister.” I pull away from Beast and see Jay coming towards us. His frown looks out of place. Jay is one handsome bloke and should never be frowning.

Luke chuckles beside me. He wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me closer to him. My body heats up from the contact and my girly part tingles. I can feel the warmth of Luke’s touch through my clothes. I can’t wait to feel his heat skin-to-skin.

“I’m not upsetting her, knobhead. Hey, where’s Dex?” Beast asks.

“Out back. Why?” Jay answers. You can see the wheels turning in his head. He keeps shifting his eyes to where Luke’s hand is resting on my hip.

“DEX,” Luke screams, making me jump. His head snaps down to me and he frowns. I offer him a smile and he leans in, kissing my head. “I’m sorry, babe.” I nod.

“What the fuck is going on here?” Dex bellows as he makes his way to us. I inch closer to Luke, not really meaning to, his arm wraps around my waist, holding me to him. My body responds to his.

“Calm your tits, will you. I just wanted to set a few things straight about how things are going to be around here.”

“And how’s that, Luke?” Dex grinds Luke’s name.

“I’m going to take Ivy out on a date. What happened before was messed up and Ivy has forgiven me for that. She knows I would never hurt her—or Carter. You can be the broody bastard all you want, Dex, but this is happening, as long as it’s okay with Ivy. It’s ultimately her choice.” He gazes down at me and I can’t stop the smile that forms. His happiness matches mine.

“Is that fucking so?” Dex, again, sounds pissed off, but this is my decision.

“Yeah, it is. You have something to say, Dex?” Luke stands tall, showing that he isn’t afraid of my brother. I know my brothers are protective of me, but they should know that they don’t need to protect me from Luke. Dex and Luke are locked in an intense stare down, and neither of them are giving in. My gaze bounces back and forth between the two men, one my big brother and the other with the power to break my heart into a million pieces.

“Okay, that’s enough, you fucknuts. Dex, Ivy is a big girl. She will be fine. Luke, I swear on everything I own that if you ever hurt our baby sister, I will kill you and no one will ever find your body. You got me, brother?” Jay chimes in, breaking the alpha-male stare down. His words shock the hell out of me.

Jay is not the violent type, but his threat has me feeling so flipping proud of him, not scared of him. He truly loves me. Knowing I have two big brothers who love me makes my heart swell ten time its size. Me being here with all these amazing people makes me miss my mother. She would have loved to meet the boys. She told me so much about them in her last days. I was shocked with all the details she knew about Dex and Jay when they were growing up. Clearly, she kept tabs on them.

Luke nods and smiles. “You got it, man.” They fist pump, before their attention falls on Dex. We wait for him to say something—anything. The silence is making my stomach knot up. My anxiety is not faring well at the moment. Slowly time passes, until Dex speaks up.

“Only one warning, Luke. One. I trust you with her, and I trust that she will kick your arse to the curb if you fuck up. Also, you fuck with my nephew and I will bury you, just like Jay said. You got me, mate?”

“But it is her choice. Ivy?”

“I’m in, Beast,” I tell him. Luke looks to the boys.

“Yeah, I got you, brother,” Luke answers before I can speak, and pulls me even closer.

“I want to see where this can go, boys. I love you for protecting me, but I wear big girl knickers. So…”

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