Fire with Fire (Crash and Burn, Book 3) (A Military Romance) (16 page)

But Lucas was acting like he had no idea about any of that. Maybe he really had been too busy fighting to notice anything else.

As she went to her desk and sat down, preparing to get to work, Ivy’s mind wouldn’t stop spinning.

The other temps didn’t trust her because they’d seen the special treatment she was getting from the CEO. But Cullen wasn’t going to be giving her special treatment anymore. He was clearly done with her after her little revelation about being a virgin.

Forget about the other temps. Forget about Lucas. Forget all of them.

She shook it all off and got to work. Bottom line, this was just a job…a temporary job to pay the bills.

Nothing more and nothing less.

She wasn’t going to let the drama consume her. In fact, she was done with all of the drama and all of the bloodsucking leeches trying to feed on her. Whether it was her fellow temps, a bitchy supervisor, or the temperamental CEO himself, Ivy was through worrying about what everybody else thought about her.

She was in it for herself, and that was the end of it as far as she was concerned.

* * *

S
lowly
, her coworkers began filtering into the office and Ivy couldn’t help but notice the way they were all sneaking glances at her as she typed away on her computer. There were whispers too, she was certain of it.

Ivy tried not to care.

And when an email went out that said everyone from Biomatrix Pharma would be attending a luncheon at the upscale restaurant called The Observatory, located just a few blocks from work—she tried to not care about that either.

I don’t want to go
, she thought.
Cullen will be there. And I don’t want to see his smug, cold face ever again.

So I won’t go. Who will know the difference anyway?

She worked the next few hours without incident, and then noticed that her co-workers were all starting to filter out of the office in small groups.

Lucas stopped by her desk and tapped her shoulder.

Ivy had been listening to music, and now she pulled the ear buds out of her ears. “What’s up?” she asked.

“Everyone’s heading over to The Observatory for the luncheon,” Lucas said. “Want to go together?”

She thought about it for a moment. “I’m not sure if I’m going. I might just work through lunch today.”

“Really?” he said, his eyes squinting with disbelief. “The food there’s supposed to be amazing. And it’s free for us.”

“I don’t know,” she sighed. “My stomach’s not feeling so hot after last night.”

“Okay. Well…” he shoved his hands in his pants pockets. “Maybe I’ll see you there?”

“Maybe,” she said, nodding. “Thanks for asking.” She flashed him a smile to show she really did appreciate him trying to include her. And then she put her ear buds back in and started working again.

They wouldn’t miss her presence there. And she didn’t honestly have an appetite, nor did she feel like being surrounded by a bunch of other temps that didn’t like her.

Cullen Sharpe would be there, giving a speech, making the rounds. Just thinking about him made her heart race, and her stomach tighten unnaturally. She wasn’t nearly over what had happened between them this morning.

She lost herself in work for the next twenty or thirty minutes, and it felt good to just focus in and do a simple job. With data entry, everything was beautifully simple—you just entered the information, all there on the page in black and white.

If only all of life was that simple.

And then her desk phone started ringing. She hardly heard it over her music, but she saw the light flashing on the phone and faintly heard the insistent ring.

Shit. Who else could be calling right now but him?

Ivy pulled her headphones off and stared at the phone, wondering what to do. It kept ringing, and finally she answered it. “Hello,” she said, sounding much more relaxed than she felt.

“Where are you?” the familiar voice spoke into her ear. The intimacy of his baritone, the sexiness that was always present—she’d nearly forgotten the effect he had on her.

Instantly, her skin broke into gooseflesh. “I’m at work of course,” she answered.

“You’re supposed to be at the luncheon. It’s mandatory.”

She rolled her eyes, knowing he couldn’t see her. “I’m not hungry. I lost my appetite.”

“Ivy, this isn’t a request. It’s an order. Get over to The Observatory. Now.”

And then the phone clicked and he was gone.

She slammed the receiver down so hard that the ringer sounded briefly, as if the phone itself was protesting her violent aggression.

“Asshole,” she muttered.

But as angry as she was, didn’t part of her feel relieved, even pleased that he’d taken an interest? That he still cared enough to notice where she was or wasn’t?

As she got up and grabbed her purse off her desk, slung it over her shoulder, Ivy considered the situation.

No, she decided. It wasn’t a relief to know that the CEO cared, because the fact was he cared about all sorts of dumb little details.

Just look at the kind of trouble he makes about his damn coffee. I’m just another detail he’s keeping track of, like his coffee or his cufflinks.

He cares about you in a different way.

But Ivy wasn’t buying it. Whatever Cullen Sharpe was doing, she was finished giving him the time of day. She would go to the damn restaurant because he was the boss and she didn’t want to get fired.

That was it. There was nothing else between them, no matter what Cullen himself might assume.

She got in a cab to travel the short distance, because she didn’t want to walk in late and make a fool of herself.

The cab pulled up in front of The Observatory, and she got out, rushing as she checked the time on her phone and realized that the luncheon was due to officially start in the next few minutes.

As she was crossing the street, she wasn’t paying attention and a horn honked right nearby, making her jump out of the way as another taxi flew past, horn blaring again.

“You have to be careful,” a man said from the sidewalk. “That was almost another New York horror story.”

Ivy glanced at him as she reached the sidewalk safe and sound. “I figured I’d end up a statistic one way or another, with my luck.”

“It’s that bad, eh?” the man said, laughing. He was smoking a cigar and wearing a flashy pin striped blue suit with a gold tie.

“That bad,” she agreed.

“A girl as beautiful as you shouldn’t ever feel like just a statistic,” he said. He was actually quite handsome, although he didn’t have that instant sex appeal that Cullen Sharpe naturally possessed. The stranger had an open, rounded face, and he had short blond hair and green eyes. He was fit, but clearly not in the same league as Cullen in that department either.

So what, you have to compare every man to Cullen now?
She reprimanded herself, feeling annoyed at the way her obsession with the CEO knew no bounds.

“Thanks, that’s sweet of you to say,” she told the stranger.

He flicked the end of his cigar into the gutter and blew a plume of smoke out of his mouth, but away from her as he offered his hand. “Xavier Montrose,” he said.

“Ivy Spellman,” she replied, feeling like she should curtsey or something. Instead, she just gave him her hand.

He smiled and inclined his head slightly. His green eyes were very humorous, as if he saw the world as one big joke. “Ivy,” he said, nodding. “Are you meeting your boyfriend for lunch?”

She felt her cheeks flush. “No, I’m here for an…event…” she finished. “I’m actually running late, so although I’d love to chat—“

“Such a shame,” Xavier said, as he watched her hand slip out of his grasp. “I feel like I was only just getting started with you.”

Ivy looked down, feeling heat rise to her cheeks. The man certainly had confidence and a way with words.

“Just getting started with what exactly?” came the voice of Cullen Sharpe, from just a few feet away.

She froze in place, feeling absurdly guilty, even though she’d done nothing wrong.

Xavier made eye contact with Cullen and grinned. “I had no idea you two knew one another,” he said, his grin spreading.

Cullen continued approaching. As he got to Ivy, his hand went to her lower back, possessively claiming her in some way. “She works with me. And she’s
late
,” he said, his cool tone belying his disappointment.

“She’s probably like ten seconds late, knowing you, Cullen.” Xavier flashed his humorous eyes at Ivy and she wanted to smile in return.

“Have another cigar,” Cullen told Xavier. “Blowing smoke is what you’re best at.”

“Some people blow smoke and some are just full of hot air,” the blond man retorted easily. He seemed ready to break into laughter.

Meanwhile, Cullen’s hand stayed firmly on Ivy’s back.

Ivy bit her lip to keep from laughing with him, as Cullen glanced over to read her expression before looking back at Xavier. “I’d really love to stand here all day and listen to your amazingly profound views about human nature, but I have a luncheon to attend,” Cullen said.

“And I have a lunch to eat,” Xavier said. “But unlike yourself, my guest is a friend, not someone I pay to spend time with me.”

“I have a hard time believing anyone dines with you because they actually enjoy it,” Cullen said.

“You’d be surprised,” Xavier quipped, but his eyes were focused entirely on Ivy.

“I would indeed,” Cullen said, guiding Ivy away from Xavier Montrose and towards The Observatory.

They crossed the sidewalk as a doorman nodded and opened the door for them. Once they were inside the restaurant, Ivy pulled away from him, and his hand drifted off her lower back.

He turned towards her. “I need to speak with you,” he said, his jaw hardly moving. His eyes were piercing.

“We’re late,” she replied.

“The luncheon won’t start without me,” he said. He crossed his arms. “I don’t like what I just saw out there.”

“And I don’t have time for the third degree.” She started walking down the long, ornate hallway towards what she assumed must be the luncheon. In the distance, she could hear the noise of people talking and restaurant sounds of plates and glasses, silverware clinking.

“Ivy,” he said, and his voice was so commanding that she stopped in her tracks.

“What?” she asked, refusing to look at him. He was like a vampire—if she met his gaze, she wasn’t sure she could resist his charm.

“I need you to promise me you’ll stay away from Xavier Montrose.”

“I don’t even know the guy.”

“But he’s taken an interest to you. He’s interested in anything that I’m interested in.”

“Cullen, I hate to say this—but not everything’s about you.” She finally turned and locked eyes with him. “He started talking to me before you ever showed up.”

The CEO’s expression hardened. “You don’t know the man, Ivy, but I do. And I’m trying to warn you—“

“I can take care of myself. I’m a big girl—despite what you seem to think.” She turned her head again quickly, flipping her hair as she walked away from him once more.

“Don’t walk away from me,” he growled.

“Don’t think of it as me walking away from you,” Ivy said over her shoulder. “I’m walking
toward
the luncheon, which was so important to you just a few minutes ago.” She couldn’t help but smirk at her own line as she continued down the hall.

Cullen, she imagined, was left standing in place, shocked.

* * *

T
he luncheon
itself was relatively painless. Lucas had kindly saved a seat next to him in case she showed up, and the food was actually quite good.

A bit frou-frou for her tastes, perhaps, but on the whole enjoyable.

There must’ve been approximately one hundred of them in a large private room with tables and white linen tablecloths, a DJ booth playing hip music, and black tie waiters and waitresses moving from table to table taking orders and bringing food and drink.

Cullen spoke in the beginning, standing in the center of the room with a microphone, making a few jokes before telling everyone how thrilled he was to bring them to The Observatory to celebrate all of their hard work, and to show his appreciation for the team, meaning everyone who worked with him on a daily basis.