Even though it had been six weeks since Ivy had known Leon Cooper, she couldn’t honestly claim that she actually knew him. Other than making it clear to her that he wanted her body, that he was attracted to her, he had revealed very little else about himself or his feelings. Ivy still spent all her day by herself, taking care of the house, gardening and studying. And at night when they did spend time together, they did very little talking.
Ivy sat back down at her computer with a thump and pouted her lips. She would have to forego her study plans for the day, and spend some extra time on the house today. Not that it really mattered, it wasn't like she was being able to concentrate on her work anyway.
So, she switched off her computer and tied her hair up in a bun. Ivy was ready to work on the house, and was already making mental notes on the variety of dishes she was going to cook for the night. Going by Leon, it was highly likely that his twin would be as impressed by her cooking as he was.
The house was clean in two hours, and the food was as good as ready, all Ivy needed to do was set the table. It wasn’t seven yet, and she decided to take a bath and get ready for the evening now that she had some free time.
At half past six, Ivy was holding up her recently washed dress up to the washing line behind her bedroom. That’s where she hung all their clothes to dry, but this evening she had only hand washed her own dress. She had a clothes peg in her mouth while she held up the dress to the line as she tried to arrange it neatly.
A gust of breeze was blowing in her direction and Ivy was already regretting stepping out here in nothing but a towel wrapped around her. Her hair was still damp from the bath she had just had and she could feel the goosebumps on her flesh from the breeze. But this was at the back of the house, a small private yard behind her own bedroom, so she wasn’t that worried about the breeze or her towel or her damp hair. Nobody would see her here.
So, when a strong gust of wind blew in her direction again, Ivy took care to hold on to her dress, instead of paying attention to the towel wrapped around herself. Which, in a swift moment, before she could stop it, had untangled away from her body and blown away.
Ivy shrieked from the shock of the cold breeze that lashed against her body. She was standing completely naked, covered in goosebumps and still trying to fix her dress on the washing line. It made her smile, because she assumed that she was by herself.
Till her eyes settled on the tall figure leaning against the brick wall of the house, several feet away from her, but looking at her nonetheless.
Ivy shrieked again. It wasn’t Leon and she didn’t recognize the man. She fumbled quickly to get a hold of the dress from the line to cover her breasts. She had squeezed her thighs together in an attempt to hide the rest of her modesty. But the man was smiling. He had seen what he needed to see.
It had to be Archer Cooper.
Astonishingly, he looked nothing like his twin, Leon. He had thick dark wavy hair, that was so black that it was almost blue. His jaw was covered in a dusting of a dark stubble, like he hadn’t shaved for a few days. His eyes were sharp, but unlike his brother’s his were an electric blue and it somehow made him look more dangerous. He was very tall too, even from the distance, Ivy could see that he was taller than his brother, at least six and a half feet. And Archer Cooper was grinning at her, because she could see the deep dimples that slashed across his cheeks. But there was something in his eyes, in the way his jaws were sharp and chiseled, which gave it away, that he was Leon’s brother.
Archer remained where he was, leaning against the brick wall, facing in Ivy’s direction. He had a lit cigarette between his fingers which he now brought up to his thin red lips and sucked in a mouthful of smoke.
“Don’t mind me.” He said lazily, when he let out the smoke from his mouth. That was when Ivy realized that she had been frozen to the spot, that she hadn’t moved since the towel fell away from her, since when he had seen her completely naked.
“This is a private space.” Ivy snapped at him, clutching her dress ineffectively over her breasts. She knew that he had seen her, he had seen what he had to see.
He continued to smile, and continued to take long lazy drags of his cigarette.
“My brother doesn’t like me smoking in front of him, so I had to find a quiet spot.” He said, ignoring the rage in Ivy’s voice.
She didn’t know why she continued to stand there, why she didn’t just rush back into the house, save whatever bit of modesty that she could. There was something about this man that drew her, to watch him, to look at him.
Ivy could feel her heart beating against her chest wildly, these were the exact feelings that she had felt when she had first laid eyes on Leon.