Page 12 of Battle of the Exes

Ivy gives me the death stare, eyes burning into me. Feels like old times.

Truth is other than the hatred in her eyes, the color is as beautiful as it was twenty years ago. Warm brown with flecks of gold. She’s still a stunning woman.

I ponder the spot on her neck that made her moan every time I kissed it.

Whoa!

The intrusive memory takes me for a loop. How is it that I remember that detail decades later?

I look away, sure my thoughts are readable. Ivy musttake it as a sign of defeat because she moves back to helping her sister at the register.

Jasper is asking for a glass of wine, bringing me back to the present.

“I don’t think they have wine in the bookstore, Jasper.”

“Then find some.”

None of my other clients would ever dare speak to me this way but I made a deal with the devil and it’s time to pay. Again and again.

The next half hour is spent with Jasper meeting customers and signing books while I’m searching Main Street for a bottle of French Cab.

When I return, wine in hand, I’m glad to see that from the towering piles, only two books remain. The store has cleared out. Rue and Ivy are stacking chairs, Ivy bopping to the music in her headphones. I’d wager it’s Maroon 5. I want to offer to help but I’m persona non grata.

Jasper takes the bottle from my hands, and rather than thank me he says, “What a waste of my time.”

“What is?”

“I’m never left with inventory. It’s this Podunk town.”

I see Rue’s face redden. “Those books are already accounted for,” she says though I’d bet she’s the customer.

But it does the trick. “Good. You can order more. Beau, get on that.”

I wink at Rue who smiles back. I always liked Ivy’s little sister. She and I were on the same wavelength.When Ivy and I split, I lost the whole Winslow family. It still hurts.

We wrap up and I offer Jasper a ride back to his hotel. I’ll invite him for drinks in the lobby. It should keep him happy for the next few hours.

We’re nearly at the door when Darcy comes over, tail wagging.

Jasper looks disgusted. “Keep that thing away from me. I’m not a dog person.”

At this, Ivy and my eyes meet. Her earbuds are no longer in her ears. It’s clear she’s pulled the same memory.

The animal shelter in nearby Frisco. Looking for a pup of our own. Ivy telling me she could never marry a guy who doesn’t love dogs.

Judging by her raised brow and her apologetic scratches behind Darcy’s ears, it’s clear she still feels the same way.

I turn my head, hiding my grin. Kiss my grits, Jasper.

Chapter Eleven

Ivy

An Old Fashioned and a bowl of pretzels land in front of me on the glossy oak bar. It’s not yet five o’clock in Silver Pine, but it is somewhere. Joe’s Bar and Grill has had a major facelift. What used to be a borderline dive now boasts upscale mountain décor—faux antler chandeliers, reclaimed wood beams, the works. All for the increasingly moneyed tourist crowd.

Faith Hill croons a slow ballad in the background, doing absolutely nothing for my mood.

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me Beau is here.”

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