Garrett

Waking to find Ivy absent from bed put me in a foul mood. Ever since the incident between us yesterday, she'd made a point to avoid me, and I should be grateful. Keeping as far as possible from her was in my best interest, but now that I'd had my first taste of what it could be like between us, I didn't give a damn about my previous promise to Parker.

I threw back the covers and made quick work of showering and dressing for the day. An impressive black eye stared back at me while I brushed my teeth, and touching the tender skin drew a wince. This had to be what drove Ivy to hide from me. Admittedly, it wasn't my finest moment in the bedroom, but if it hadn't been the reason I didn't get to put my mouth against her dripping pussy, I might find it humorous.

I chuckled to myself as I opened the door to leave. Surely, Ivy would see things the same way, and maybe we could pick up where we left off. With me between her spread legs, and—

"Shit, who did you get into a fight with?"

"Parker?" I gaped at my business partner standing in the hallway. "What the hell, man? You said you weren't going to make it."

"I had some plans that got cancelled, and then someone sent me a video of you absolutely crushing your presentation. I had to be here tonight when we won."

We shared a brief hug before I shut the hotel door. We walked side by side down the hallway, the soft carpet muffling our footsteps. Parker glanced at me. His confusion was evident, but he didn't say anything until we got into the elevator.

"You gonna tell me about the eye?"

"How did you find a room last minute?"

"That bad, huh?" He pushed up his shirt sleeves, revealing arms covered in tattoos. "I'm crashing with Lexi."

"She really will share her room with anyone." I was a little miffed she gave away her extra bed, but only for a second. Then I realized it gave me the perfect excuse to stay in the hotel room with Ivy tonight.

"Heard you crashed with her the first night here. Somehow, you ended up having to share a room with your admin assistant?"

The doors opened. We stepped out at the same time Lexi and Ivy exited the hotel restaurant. Lexi waved, but my attention belonged to Ivy. That's how I knew I had it bad, and it wasn't just my male appreciation for a beautiful woman in tight skirts and low-cut blouses.

Gone completely was the polished professional. Right now, her hair was thrown on top of her head in a messy knot, and curly fly aways framed her red, makeup free face. Baggy jogging pants hung low on her hips, and the tank top she wore had a cartoon kitten in the center.

I swallowed hard. This version of Ivy wasn't someone I wanted to just sleep with. She was someone I could imagine watching movies with on weekend nights. Cuddled up on the sofa where she fell asleep, and I had to carry her back to bed. Sunday mornings making pancakes in those ratty sweatpants.

"Earth to Garrett." Parker snapped his fingers in front of my face. Lexi and Ivy were gone. "What the hell? Was that Ivy with Lexi?"

"It was."

"Damn, that woman is beautiful. I'd have to be a robot to come to work every day with her and be professional."

We pulled up stools at the bar. Fighting to reign in my temper, I said, "Do you know how gross you sound saying that?"

"You know what I mean. I wouldn't make it a thing unless she was interested..."

"What do you mean?" I gave my order to the bartender and then glared at Parker. "We made a deal. To not sleep with our staff."

Parker hunched his shoulders and wouldn't look me in the eye. "I'm pretty sure I broke that rule about two years in. Remember Kara?"

"Didn't she quit just a few months after she started? Was it because of that? Fuck, Parker. That's exactly why we made that rule, because it's not fair to put women in that position. It's also risky as hell for us."

"Okay, Dad. You act like we're not running a successful billion dollar company. I don't need a lecture. I was young and dumb. And for your information, she didn't quit because of that. She quit because she met a guy, got married, and moved across the country."

Somewhat mollified, I picked up my coffee cup and stared into the black liquid while I chose my next words carefully. "So, if something did happen between me and Ivy, you wouldn't be upset?"

Parker coughed, his blue eyes going wide. "That's what this is about? Is she somehow involved with the black eye?"

"Don't worry about my eye." That story was going with me to the grave. I wouldn't disrespect Ivy by sharing it.

"Look, I respect you more than anybody else that we know. You're smart, and you wouldn't be asking about Ivy if you were interested in a quick lay. If it gets serious, I would suggest moving her to a different department, so she doesn't report directly to you. That's what I did with Portia—"

My eye twitched. "You and Portia were together?"

"Yep. Almost a year. That's the only reason I let you have her, because she couldn't work for me anymore."

"This is not how I expected this morning to go," I muttered. Honestly, I hoped Ivy and I would still be in bed, finishing what we started or moving on to round two.

"Neither did I. But if you're waiting for my blessing, then you have it. Not that you needed it." Parker snorted and cut into the pancakes in front of him. "Man, have you really been keeping to that rule all these years because you thought I was?"

I shrugged. "I'd like to say promises mean something to me, but after this weekend with Ivy, I think something was going to happen with or without this conversation. So, no. I kept to the rule all these years because no one was worth breaking it."

"Shit." My oldest friend swallowed his bite and set down his fork. "You really like her."

I really did like her. "Shit."