Ivy began to slowly put her clothes back on, and ran her fingers through her curls. She felt tired from the day, she wasn’t hungry anymore and she was more confused now than she had been when she first arrived here. In one moment, she hated Leon Cooper and wanted to get away from this house, and in the next she couldn’t stand the thought of going away.
Ivy bit down on her lip as she started clearing the dishes and cutlery away, taking them back into the kitchen.
She couldn’t hear Leon anywhere in the house. She didn’t know if he was still in the house or had left. She wished she could talk to him, make him see how he was affecting her life, how in the span of only one day, he had managed to give her a new purpose and make her body quiver with desire for him.
After clearing up, Ivy managed to muster the courage to walk to the bottom of the stairs in the foyer. She looked up at the bedrooms upstairs, but couldn’t tell if he was in one of them or not. She wanted to call out to him, but she held her tongue. Leon Cooper didn’t seem like the kind of man who would take defiance lightly. What other choice did she have but to allow him to call her father and leave his employment?
After all, he had all the right to fire her, he had no obligations to her. It was her fault for mixing up her feelings for him. It was nothing more than lust and he had already fulfilled her desires for him. Why then did she still want more? Why was she so desperate for more of this man who was only trying to push her away?
Ivy woke up on the sprawling springy bed
in Leon’s guest room, all by herself. Now, at seven in the morning, she could hear Leon moving around upstairs in his own room. She stretched her arms, slipped off the bed and walked into the en-suite bathroom. She decided to take a shower.
She chose a knee length floral skirt for the day, along with a basic cotton black t-shirt which she knew would accentuate her breasts. She stared at herself in the mirror, as she dried and brushed her hair. Her green eyes were large and eager, the bright red of her cheeks had returned. She couldn’t wait to see him again.
She was in the kitchen, toasting bread and buttering them before it was even eight. She heard Leon’s footsteps on the stairs at eight sharp and within moments he had joined her in the kitchen. Ivy turned to look at him, and their gazes met. For the first time, she thought she saw embarrassment in Leon’s eyes. It was as though he hadn’t expected her to be there.
“Did you call daddy yet?” She asked him quietly, placing a plate of four buttered toasts on the kitchen island behind her. In a glass, she poured in orange juice and placed it next to the plate. Leon seemed to be debating whether to eat the food or not.
“No, I figured it was too early. I’ll call him in a couple of hours. You should pack your bags and stay ready.” He said and walked over to the plate of toasts. He picked one up without sitting down. Ivy wiped her hands on a kitchen towel and turned to him, crossing her arms over her breasts.
He looked handsome in the morning light. A dark stubble had begun to form on his chin, and he had changed into his usual plaid work shirt and dusty jeans, the hat was back on his head too.
“Well, I’ll do something to pass the time anyway. I’m packed already.” She said, breaking the silence. Leon didn’t respond but continued to munch on the toasts.
“Maybe I’ll brush the horses? I like doing that.” She suggested, she knew she sounded too eager, she was giving away her feelings, but she wanted to hear his voice again.
Leon looked up at her with heavy lids, and shrugged his shoulders.
“I’m not working with the horses today, so you can do what pleases you. Thanks for the breakfast.” He said and dusted his hands and made to walk away.
“Leon.” She called out to him, using his name for the first time. He had been inside her, he had made her come, she had felt his dick slide into her. The least she could do now was call him by his first name.
He only half turned, just his head, to acknowledge her.
“Why did you say you came here to get away? Get away from what?” She asked him. Leon looked away again, but he didn’t move. She could see that he was clenching his jaws now.
“If we’re never going to see each other again, how does it matter if you tell me the truth?” She asked him, taking a few steps in his direction. She could see the muscles on his back tense up. His jaws were still clenched; he was battling his own emotions. Ivy had a sudden urge to simply throw her arms around him and give him a hug. As annoyingly arrogant as he was, she felt like this strong rugged man just needed a hug.
“I have to get to work. I’ll call your daddy and tell him to come pick you up. I’ll tell him I changed my mind and I don’t need help around the house after all.” He said, in a flat emotionless voice and then he was out of the door.
Ivy threw the kitchen towel from her hands to the floor in anger. What was wrong with this man? He made her want to scream. Why couldn’t he just say something to her? Tell her the truth? Why was he pushing her away, when he clearly just needed some human company?
Ivy clenched and unclenched her fists and then turned around and tied her hair up in a bun. The golden ringlets framed the sides of her face, exposing her delicate pale long neck. She told herself that she didn’t care anymore. That was all she could do. If Leon Cooper didn’t want to be open to her, if he didn’t want to talk about what was going on in his life, she couldn’t make him.
All she could do now was kill time till her father arrived. Her father would tell her, he told her so. But she would lie and tell him that Leon Cooper changed his mind. She wouldn’t allow her father to find out what happened between them, and she wouldn’t let him find out that Leon Cooper was firing her because he couldn’t keep his hands off her and it made him feel guilty.
Ivy strode out of the house in a huff. She was going to find the horses, and she was going to brush them. She was going to brush them so good that Leon Cooper would regret his decision to banish her.
She walked determinedly towards the stable, till she spotted the chestnut colored beauty that Leon had been riding the previous day. She would begin with that horse, she decided. She blew some ringlets of golden hair off her nose as she placed her hands on her hips and smiled at the horses in the stable. If Leon was going to fire her for being attracted to her, she was going to show him that she was made of more than just an ability to turn him into warm butter in her hands.
Ivy had worked with horses before; she had brushed several horses as well. Her uncle had a ranch, much smaller than this, but she helped him and her cousins sometimes as a teenager, when her parents allowed her to.
But none of those horses were as feisty as this one.
Ivy brushed the horse gently, trying to cooingly talk to her as she patted her down. The horse neighed loudly and wouldn’t stand still.
With crossed brows, Ivy couldn’t understand what she was doing wrong. Animals loved her usually, especially horses. She stepped away from the horse and stood with her hands on her hips.