get lost—and suddenly Ivey’s door opened.
Her gaze went from Corbin to Geoff and back again. Smiling, she said, “I was watching for you.”
Deliberately, Corbin leaned in and brushed his mouth over hers. As placidly as he could manage, he flagged a hand at Geoff. “He dropped in to see you, but I told him I had dibs on your time.” She flushed, and that made him smile. “You look beautiful, by the way—as always.” He realized that she’d put on makeup and that her hair was smoother than usual.
“Thank you.” She touched her hair. “I tried.”
Corbin laughed. Trust Ivey to say the most unexpected things.
With an exaggerated look of apology, she glanced at Geoff. “Sorry you made the trip for nothing, but we really do have plans.” She touched her hair again. “And damn it, the humidity is already working against me.”
Geoff and Corbin both rushed to reassure her. That Geoff was louder really irked Corbin, but again, remembering how she’d reacted when he’d tried to warn her about Geoff’s motives, he stepped back and let her handle things.
“Thank you, both, but you’re terrible liars. I can feel my hair getting bigger. Not that it matters now.” With a sound that was part sigh, part huff, she turned to Geoff. “Next time you want to visit, please call first, okay?”
“Whenever I do, you say you’re busy,” Geoff complained.
Corbin barely banked his smile. Ivey was busy nearly every day after work...with him.
She shot Corbin a long look, then moved two steps closer to Geoff. It was ludicrous the way she lowered her voice, because Corbin still heard every word.
“Geoff, we talked about this. I told you I’m involved now, so yes, my free time is extremely limited.”
“Sorry.” After sending an accusatory glance at Corbin, Geoff rolled a shoulder. “I just wanted to talk.”
Ivey appeared equal parts annoyed and sympathetic. She touched Geoff’s arm. “I’ll call you tomorrow during my break, okay?”
Geoff slowly smiled. “That’d be great, honey, thanks.”
“Just to talk, Geoff.”
“All right.”
“Okay, then. Well...” She stepped back to Corbin. “I’ll let you go.”
Corbin almost laughed when she latched onto his arm and hauled him into her house. She closed the front door with a click, slid the lock into place and gave him a blinding smile.
Wary of that quick mood switch, Corbin asked, “You’re grinning...why?”
“Because you were so nice. You trusted me to handle it and I appreciate that. As you just saw, Geoff can be an ass, but for some reason, he’s currently being a very sad ass and I’m glad you didn’t pile on.”
“If he’s sad,” Corbin said, still not convinced that anything the other guy did was genuine, “it’s because he’s only now realizing what he lost.”
“Me?” Ivey asked.
“Yeah, you.” With his hands on her shoulders, he stepped up against her. “Makes me almost feel sorry him.” Or not. He knew Geoff wouldn’t give up, and in fact, it was kind of creepy the way he’d just shown up.
If Corbin hadn’t been there, would Ivey have let him in? He hoped not. “So...you’re calling him tomorrow?”
She put her small cool palm to his jaw. “Yes, because apparently I need to make things clear one last time.”
“Like?”
“Like I’m no longer interested, I’ll never again be interested, and while I’ll be polite when we run into each other, I have no intention of hanging out with him.”
That did a lot to put Corbin at ease. “Good.” He leaned in to kiss her, but suddenly Maurice twined around his ankles. He paused to acknowledge the cat. “Hey, bud, did you miss me?”
“Wow.” Ivey smiled down at her pet. “He never greets guests.”
Maurice was smart enough that he probably hid when Geoff was around. Kneeling down, Corbin scratched under his chin. “Yeah, we’re pals, aren’t we, Maurice? Sorry, my man, but I didn’t bring Daisy.”
Maurice gave him an accusing stare, then sauntered off.
“Oh man, now he’s going to pout.”
Corbin grinned at her. “I love the relationship you have with your cat.”
“Me, too.” She gave him an apologetic smile. “Let me grab him a toy to keep him occupied, okay? I’ll be right back.”
He watched as Ivey opened a cabinet and took out a soft cloth fish, a ball and a squeaky mouse. Maurice looked away when she put them by his front paws.
Propping a shoulder to the wall, Corbin grinned at her efforts as she tried to entice the cat with the squeaky mouse. Finally it worked. Almost reluctantly, Maurice batted the thing, then glared at it as it bounced away, squeaking