Page 27 of Enemies Under One Roof

What would have been different?

His life wouldn’t have changed even if they had slept together, because the outcome would have been the same. Nothing permanent, even as his body automatically throbbed at imagining them together, her legs around him, his hands against…

He rubbed a rough hand across his jaw and resisted the urge to knock his head against the wall to obliterate the scorching-hot images it was flooded with.

Instead, he reminded himself there’d never be any future with someone who spent their life pretending; he’d never again allow himself to be constantly trying to figure out what was real and what wasn’t.

‘I want to say again, how sorry I am. I can’t change the past or make you believe me, especially when those photos catapulted my career.’ She didn’t look overly happy about the fact she’d made herself into a household name and commanded millions from her films.

He sighed. ‘I understand the grief of losing parents, Ivy, and how it changes us.’ A look full of understanding passed between them, the shared horror of it. ‘Thank you for telling me the truth. It’s the thing I value above all else.’

She flinched, and something flickered in the hazel depths of her eyes, a flash of sadness, a flare of alarm. ‘Thank you, Ethan.’

He watched as she walked out of the garden, determined he’d keep her at an emotional distance because someone as guarded as Ivy could only mean one thing for him…loss of control, total disaster, and he could never forget that.

Still, they’d evolved into a new territory, sharing things like…friends would. Friends, is that what they were becoming? Friends rather than enemies who’d been able to find a way to work together, which would have been impossible for him to imagine before Ruby’s passing. Ultimately, it didn’t change the fact he’d be walking out of here in four weeks’ time, unscathed by their time together, but with a respect for Ivy he’d never expected to feel.

Chapter Eight

THE NEXT NIGHT the howling, mournful wind rattled Ivy’s bedroom windows as rain lashed at them. She’d heard every minute of it, utterly unable to drop off. And she was determined to blame the weather and the afternoon of going through Ruby’s papers for that. Definitely not memories of Ethan and how understanding he’d been when she’d confessed how Ivy had come about. How she’d wanted to tell him everything about her parents’ deaths, feeling a connection to him beyond anything she’d ever experienced. Until reality had hit: that understanding would all shatter if knew the full truth. A man who valued the truth above all else.

Yes, definitely just the rain keeping her restless.

Now what she wanted to do was head outside, fire up her automatic launcher and thrash out these feelings of despair. But even if the court had lights like hers at home, there was no way she could play in these conditions. The wind alone was enough, without the torrential rain. She doubted even Ruby, who’d never bothered about the cold, would have gone out as she’d had a healthy respect for high winds because of the large trees on the property.

Tea would have to do. A cup of Ruby’s sleep blend tea, to be precise.

On a sigh she threw back the quilt, got out of bed and grabbed her ridiculously over-the-top feather-adorned silk robe. Though Annie would have preferred flannel, the robe had been gifted by a former colleague and was something Ivy would definitely wear.

She padded downstairs and pushed open the kitchen door as all thoughts of sleep vanished in an instant.

Rock music blared.

Every single light was switched on.

The delicious aroma of sautéing onion, garlic and tomato flavoured the air.

Ethan, his back to her, filled a pair of faded jeans injecting heat straight into her core.

Transfixed, she stared, wondering if she was dreaming until he swung around, a knife in one hand, a tomato in the other.

‘Annie?’ His lips formed the words but no sound reached her.

Annie. Her breath caught, her heart swelled. He’d called her Annie.

He blinked, a furrow between his brows, put down the knife and tomato and pressed his phone screen, stopping the music.

‘Ivy! Did the music wake you?’

She shut down the flare of hope that he’d seen her, Annie, because she was Ivy and would remain so, forever. She wouldn’t, couldn’t, ever forget why she existed, especially around Ethan.

‘No, I couldn’t hear anything over the wind and rain, which is why I can’t sleep. So I’m going to make some of Ruby’s nighttime tea. I didn’t realise you’d be in here.’ She babbled with a hateful hint of nerves.

‘Why are you cooking—’ she checked the clock to make sure she wasn’t hallucinating ‘—just before midnight?’

His jaw tightened. ‘Why not?’

Had he been drinking? There was a glass of red wine beside him, but the bottle next to it had barely been touched. He didn’t look drunk. He looked…vital, compelling. The overhead lights accentuating his dark hair, the width of his shoulders.