The Ivy House - By Drea Stein Page 0,82

come around.”

Chapter 40

Phoebe was daydreaming. Or thinking. She had started out the day productively enough, working on designs, but it was too lovely a day to be inside. So, she had wandered out to putter in the backyard and plant some of the annuals she had bought in her new flower pots.

She sat on the stone step of the terrace, with the view of the harbor spread out below her, the sky a cloudless blue. Everything was peaceful, but her mind was whirling with the offer Dean had made her. After Savannah had died, it seemed like the last thing she wanted to do: go back and work for someone else. But now, here was an opportunity to work with a huge name, an international presence. A collaboration, Dean had said, with her name linked. Even more so than her North Coast Outfitters deal, it would jumpstart her business.

She had told Dean she had a contract with Chase, and Dean had only smiled. “I am sure we can arrange something mutually satisfactory to both parties to get you free and clear. And back on a plane to Los Angeles. She wants to get started pronto.”

Phoebe knew she needed to speak to Chase directly. See if he even cared that she would be backing out of their deal. At this point, he probably wouldn’t, would he? His phone calls and texts had started to tail off.

Well, she had been the one to tell him to go, so she had no one to thank but herself. The gossip pages hadn’t slowed down one bit, and she was pretty sure that a photographer was stalking her. Instead, the papers kept going over Leland and Savannah’s affair and marriage, and drawing parallels to her and Chase.

Well, she had known what she was getting into, right? Chase had all but told her that he was a player. That this was a no-strings-attached, heated affair, a giving into feelings—of lust—which they couldn’t ignore. But somewhere along the line, it had changed for her. Love. She wasn’t a lust type of girl. Sure, just the thought of Chase’s wolfish smile, deep-blue eyes, and dark tousled hair made her knees weak and panties wet, but it wasn’t enough. It wasn’t enough to keep her going. She wanted a life, a real life, with someone she loved and who loved her.

Maybe it didn’t have to be the house and white picket fence—goodness knows, Los Angeles wouldn’t be that. But perhaps it meant that she could find someone who wanted the same things she did: a committed relationship, a family. And what had Chase told her? Let’s just have a good time babe and see where it takes us.

Well, it had taken her too far. She couldn’t sleep in her bed without being woken up by thoughts of Chase and memories of how they had been together. A hot flash of desire and loss seared through her, and she closed her eyes to clear out the memories. Maybe she needed a fresh start. Coming back to the past, to the place where she thought love lived, maybe she was kidding herself. It was just a house, not a piece of magic. She couldn’t get her parents back and maybe she couldn’t be happy here without Chase. Already too many bad memories.

Chapter 41

Footsteps crunching on the gravel path shook her out of her melancholy thoughts.

“When were you going to tell me?” Chase came upon her suddenly. Phoebe reared back. She had been planting primroses in the empty planters that flanked the steps of the stone terrace.

“Tell you what?”

“Your new deal.” Chase tried to keep the anger out of his voice, but he saw her flinch.

“How did you…”

“You don’t think I read the business papers, the websites. Everyone’s all abuzz that the brilliant Phoebe Ryan is designing a collection with Serena, the hottest international pop and movie star. I thought you were over that, Phoebe. I thought you had committed to your own designs.”

He pulled out his phone and showed her. Phoebe gasped. She had had no idea. There was a picture of her and Dean having dinner at the Osprey Arms, drinking champagne and the headline, “Phoebe Ryan makes a new conquest.” She couldn’t bear to read the rest.

“It’s not…”

Chase cut across her. “I understand. You’re a California girl, right. You can take the girl out of Hollywood, but you can’t take the Hollywood out of the girl. You’re putting your career first. Just like Savannah. I suppose this was a