Ivy jumped off the edge of the table, now standing naked in front of him. She wasn’t shy or ashamed of her body anymore, she knew the effect she had on him, she had watched him grow helpless when he saw her naked. She knew that even right now; he was struggling to keep his hands to himself.
“I don’t want to go just yet; I think we can find a way to work together. You need someone to look after the house anyway.” She said, pleading with him with her voice.
“I’ll find someone else.” He said and thrust a handful of her clothes towards her.
“I want to work here. We got off to a bad start, that’s all.” Ivy said, trying her best to not simply break down in tears.
“This cannot happen again. You have to leave!” He thundered, turning to her with rage in his eyes again.
“Why not? If we want each other, why can’t it happen again?” She yelled back at him, plucking the clothes out of his hands. Leon turned away from her, and walked towards the dining room door.
“I came here to get myself away from all this. Because I needed a break from women. I didn’t expect to find you in this town. I should have never hired you.” He said and stormed out, leaving Ivy alone and naked in the room.
She could feel her shoulders quivering as she stood beside the table, the food only half eaten on the plates. She held her clothes tightly to her chest as she licked her lips. She had just lost her virginity, she had never felt this good before, she had never felt this attracted to a man before, and now he had just gone and banished her from his life.
What did he mean he needed a break from women? Why was he punishing himself like this?
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.