Planning for Love by Christi Barth

Author:Christi Barth
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2012-09-07T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Energy and persistence conquer all things.

—Benjamin Franklin

Ivy heard a sound not unlike elephants shod in fleece racing down the hallway. Her bedroom door slammed open to reveal a panting, pajama-clad Daphne.

“Ben’s coming up the stairs.”

“Already? He’s ten minutes early.” Ivy spun to the mirror, hands shifting to autopilot to fluff a sexy tousle into her loose curls. “Why on earth did you let him up?”

“He buzzed. What else am I supposed to do, leave him standing on the curb like a hobo?”

“Well, yes.”

Daphne threw herself into a prone position on the bed. “I still think you’re crazy. After the hours we’ve put in the past few days, wouldn’t you rather be in your jammies eating pizza on the couch with me?”

“Tempting, yes. But you should’ve seen him. The man all but begged. And threatened to keep begging until I caved. If I get it out of the way tonight, he won’t bother me any more the rest of the time he’s here.”

“I don’t buy it.” Daphne toyed with the drawstring on her pink-and-white-striped bottoms. “You don’t cave. You don’t let yourself be boxed into a corner. There’s some other reason you said yes, isn’t there?”

“Am I that transparent?”

“To me. Probably not to Ben. So hurry and tell me. With legs that long, he’ll cover those two flights of stairs in a heartbeat.”

“I’m going to be the best date he’s ever had. Fun, flirty, sexy. He’s going to ache with wanting me. And then I’ll cut him loose. See how he likes being the one left wanting.” Ivy sat on the edge of the bed. “Does that make me a terrible, vindictive person?”

“Oh, yeah. But if you were perfect, I couldn’t be friends with you. Everyone needs a flaw or two.”

Three hard knocks echoed through the apartment. Ivy smoothed the straps of her sin-red sundress, chosen to set Ben to drooling the minute he saw her. “Don’t save me any ice cream. I plan to eat my way through Ben’s credit card limit tonight.”

“Go get him, tiger.”

Ivy’s needle-thin stilettos tapped against the hardwood floors. She opened the door to catch Ben mid-knock. His hand froze, upraised, as his eyes inched down in a slow slide past the cotton lace-up bustier, past the skirt so short she couldn’t bend over and stay decent, then back up to hover at her glossy, vixen-red lips.

“Va va va voom, Ms. Rhodes. You look incredible.”

“You look early,” she replied, gratified by the stupefied expression slackening his jaw. Of course, she had to remember to keep hers from dropping as well. At this point, she’d almost gotten used to how rakishly sexy Ben looked in his wedding uniform of a tuxedo. She thought she did a pretty good job of not openly staring at his muscled thighs when he wore cargo shorts to the office. But tonight he displayed a whole new sartorial side. The summer linen suit over a pale blue shirt unbuttoned at the neck made him look relaxed and suave. Sort of like James Bond on a Caribbean island.

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