Her breath was hitching in her chest and she felt the tears clogging her throat now, too. Damn it, she didn’t want to cry in front of him. That would just put a capper on this scene, wouldn’t it?
“Ivy, I didn’t know.”
“No, you didn’t,” she muttered, heading for the open bedroom door. “And I wasn’t looking for sympathy either, Tanner, so spare me that.”
He grabbed his jeans, tugged them on and followed her when she swept from the room like a queen dragging her sheet cape behind her.
“Damn it, Ivy, don’t go.”
“There’s no reason to stay,” she told him, gathering up her clothes and dressing as hurriedly as she possibly could.
He grabbed her arm, but she pulled free. “I don’t much like you right now, Tanner, so I’m going home.”
“This is my fault?”
She tossed her hair out of her eyes and stepped into her sandals. “It’s not about fault, Tanner. It’s about this going really wrong really fast and now I need to leave.”
“Who’s hiding now?” he asked.
She stilled, lifted her gaze to his and gave him a sad smile. “Touché, Tanner. Nice shot. Now just…shut up.”
Before he could stop her, she threw the front door open and was stalking down the steps. He watched her go and wished he could rewrite time. If he could, he’d have avoided the argument entirely. They’d still be upstairs, in his bed. Instead, he was standing alone in the dark.
When she arrived the next afternoon for work, Tanner was waiting for her in the hallway. He’d done a lot of thinking the night before and it had occurred to him that he knew how to fix what had gone wrong between them. So he’d gotten up early, driven to Lake Tahoe to do some shopping and now he was back, prepared to accept her thanks. Then he’d take her upstairs again and remind her why they were so good together.
“Tanner.” Ivy stopped just inside the doorway and looked up at him.
He saw the shadows beneath her eyes and knew she’d spent the night as sleepless as he’d been. Somehow that made him feel better. And he was more sure than ever that he was about to end the stalemate between them.
“Ivy, I did some thinking,” he said.
“Yeah, me too,” she said and scrubbed both hands across her face. “I really think we should talk, Tanner. I need to—”
“Do me a favor?” he asked, bringing the package he’d been holding behind his back forward. The white box was long and narrow and wrapped with a string of red ribbon. “Open this first.”
“What? Why?”
He lifted one shoulder. “Does it matter? Just open it.”
She took the box from him, shot him another curious glance and then pulled the ribbon free. When she opened the box, she blew out a breath and whispered, “It’s lovely.”
“I wanted you to have it,” he said, glad that she liked the diamond-encrusted white gold watch.
“Why did you buy it for me?” she asked and her voice was soft, curious.
“I wanted you to have it.”
“Because of last night.”
“Well,” he said, “yeah.”
She snapped the box closed and handed it back to him. “No, thank you.”
“What?”
“I don’t want the watch, Tanner,” she said and now she sounded tired. “I’m not interested in your money or your presents. If you’re sorry for last night, just say so.”
He opened his mouth then closed it again. Tanner didn’t do apologies. When he had a regret, he gifted his way out of it. He’d learned early and well from his mother that the way to win a woman’s forgiveness was with shiny presents. And, he told himself in disgust, it had always worked for him before. Trust Ivy to be different.
“You can’t do it, can you?” she whispered, shaking her head. “You can’t bring yourself to say you’re sorry.”
His hand fisted around the jewelry box as irritation swept him. This wasn’t going at all as he’d planned. Damn it, why did she have to be so difficult? Why couldn’t she just accept his gift and let it go?
“It’s just a gift, Ivy,” he said tightly.
“No, it’s not,” she argued. “It’s a bribe.”
“Excuse me?”
“It’s saying accept this and stop being mad. Well, forget it, Tanner. I’m still angry and a pretty watch isn’t going to change that.”
“What the hell do you want from me?” he demanded.
“Too much,” she said, then brushed past him on her way to the kitchen. “Now, I’ve got a lot to do, so I’m going to work.”
He stared down at his rejected offering and wondered where he’d gone so wrong. Since the moment he met her, Ivy had been like no other woman he’d ever known. What had made him think she’d allow herself to be bought off by trinkets? He looked off down the hall toward the kitchen, and told himself that for the first time in his life, he was completely out of his depths with a woman.
He didn’t have a clue what to do next.
Nine
For the next couple of days, Ivy tried to stay as far from Tanner as possible. Not an easy task, considering she spent a few hours each day at his house. Even worse, all she could do was think about their night together. What she’d found in his arms, what he’d made her feel.
She was on a tightrope—trying to keep her balance in a situation that was designed to splinter her equilibrium. She wanted him and couldn’t have him. Wanted to tell him the truth and had to keep lying. Wanted to quit but couldn’t bear the thought of leaving.
How in the world had her life gotten so complicated?
Oh, she never should have slept with him. She’d known at the time that it was a mistake of giant proportions. But instead of thinking with her head, she’d let her too-hungry body lead her down a road that was going to go nowhere but misery.
What she should have done was quit her job. She knew that.
Or, tell him the truth and let him fire her.
In fact, she had made up her mind to be honest with him and tell him everything, that morning she’d arrived to find he’d bought her a diamond watch of all things. Imagine him thinking that she’d want the stupid watch in the first place—sure, he didn’t know she was a farmer, but how many housekeepers did he know who wore diamonds?
“Idiot,” she muttered, taking a pot roast out of the oven and setting it on a cooling rack on the counter. Was I’m sorry so far out of his lexicon that he couldn’t even imagine saying it? Instead he’d had to drive at least two hours to go shopping only to turn around and come back? Was buying something that much easier than apologizing?