Page 74 of Lonely Heart
And the whole way back to my place, I asked myself the same question.
What would Marco say if I told him precisely what he meant to me? Would I hear those same three words in return?
And even if I didn’t, did that mean I didn’t already know how he felt?
20
MARCO
I’d just steppedinside the hotel after spending the entire morning working out in the villas, when my phone buzzed in my pocket.
I pulled it out and saw I’d gotten a text from Ivy.
IVY
Take the elevator to the fourth floor.
My brow furrowed. What was she up to now?
If nothing else, this woman was keeping things fun and interesting. I wasted no time turning and heading toward the elevators. As soon as I stepped on, I responded.
MARCO
What should I do once I get there?
IVY
There’s an envelope stashed behind the plant to the left of the elevator.
My mouth curved into a smile as the fantasies began to run wild in my head. If nothing else, Ivy and I had been doing ourbest to make up for all the years we’d lost not taking notice of each other in the ways that we should have.
Mere months ago, I never would have imagined there was this side to Ivy. I was getting all these new bits and pieces of her I’d never gotten before, and I was enjoying every single minute of it.
I’d gone from feeling complacent with most of my life, accepting things as they were, and it never dawned on me even once that Ivy could be the key to completely turning my world upside down. Sure, I expected I’d feel more energized or excited about life if I found someone special to spend my time with, but what I’d experienced with Ivy to this point had far exceeded anything I could have hoped to have.
The elevator doors opened, and I was quick to step off and search for that envelope behind that plant. Fortunately, nobody else had found it.
Ivy hadn’t written anything on the outside, so I slid my finger beneath the flap and opened it. Inside, I found a room key with a small Post-it note stuck to it.Room 407.
From the second I read her first text, I was eager to see what she had in store for us. And now, this was getting better and better.
My legs carried me to the room, where I waved the key card in front of the lock, heard it click, and pushed the handle down to open the door. When I stepped inside, I didn’t immediately see Ivy. Either she hadn’t expected me to get here so quickly, or she was hoping for me to go and find her.
Knowing her, it was the latter.
I closed the door, flipped the security lock, and went in search of her. Unsurprisingly, I found her in the bedroom.
My hand immediately went to my groin. While Ivy was still wearing the dress I’d seen her in this morning, she was no longerwearing the blazer she’d had on over the top of it down in the lobby.
I hadn’t realized until this moment that the dress was not only sleeveless but strapless as well. Her shoulders and neckline were entirely exposed, and with her hair swept up in an elegant twist, I itched to touch my lips and tongue along the skin on her throat.
“What are you doing?” I asked, my voice just a notch deeper than usual.
“I need you to take off your shirt.”
She didn’t have to ask me twice. I didn’t care why she wanted it off. With her looking the way she did and the two of us being in this room, I could only assume she had something planned that I’d enjoy, something that would hopefully have her losing that dress.
Once I tossed the shirt aside, she stepped in my direction, brought her mouth to within inches of mine, and whispered, “I need you to unzip this dress for me.”