It may have taken a little longer, but I still managed to get my degree in education and the job of my dreams teaching at an elementary school. It had taken years, but I’d finally gotten my life together after the unexpected pregnancy nearly derailed me.
And now that I had it all worked out—a good life, a beautiful daughter, a great job—these two had to show up and throw my life for a loop all over again. Just seeing them stirred up all kinds of feelings I’d buried. Deep. I forced herself to ask the question I feared the most. “Why were you looking for me?”
Cooper finally spoke then, his gaze never faltering. “We think you know the answer to that, Ivy.”
My heart stopped in my chest. What the hell did that mean? They somehow learned about Lily and wanted her?
He took another step and he was close enough that I could see his eyes. Really see them. The hurt, the darkness. My heart ached for what I remembered seeing, for what was missing now. He’d always been so happy, so carefree. I hated to think what had happened to make those blue eyes so hard.
Rory moved toward me then too, and it took everything in me not to back away. I knew they wouldn’t hurt me, but they could ruin everything I’d created for me and Lily, whether they meant to or not.
“We came for you, Ivy,” Rory said.
I stopped breathing as his words registered. Looking from him to Cooper and back again, I thought for one second maybe they were joking. They couldn’t be serious. What came out of my mouth was somewhere between a laugh and a gasp. It ended up sounding like I was choking on air.
Rory was still wearing that sexy grin, but Cooper was most certainly not laughing. “We’ve missed you, Ivy. We want you in our life.”
I shook my head to clear it, because honestly, Cooper’s words were affecting me far more than I wanted to admit. A warmth spread through me because of what he’d said as well as their almost tender looks. Stares that said better than words that they really had missed me. That they wanted me in their lives.
Oh god, they wanted me in their lives.
That heat spread down to my core as I caught their looks of desire. I squeezed my thighs together to ease the ache. Oh hell, they wanted me. And I still did, it seemed. I never stopped.
I shook my head slightly, trying to organize my thoughts. It d
idn’t matter that they wanted me. I wasn’t a teenage girl anymore. I was an adult, with responsibilities. And, most importantly, a child. With that thought in mind, I forced myself to walk past them to my car using the box as a damn shield.
“What we had is ancient history,” I said as I passed. “It was one night. It didn’t mean anything.”
“That sounds like a challenge,” Rory called after me.
I felt a smile tugging at my lips at his teasing tone. Goddammit, he was still charming as hell. I didn’t trust myself to turn around, too afraid they’d see the same desire mirrored in my eyes, or the smile that wanted to spread at the thought of them spending so much time and energy finding me. It felt good to know they’d thought of me, too. That I hadn’t just been one night to them, regardless of what I was saying. It hadn’t been just one night for me. Not just because of Lily as a living reminder of our time together, but because I hadn’t had anyone since. Not like them.
“It’s not a challenge,” I said as I popped the trunk with my key fob and put the box inside. Going around the car, I opened the driver’s door, then turned to face them. “I’ve moved on. It’s time you guys do, too.”
The words felt like shards of glass coming out of my throat, but I’d forced them out anyway. Yeah, in my dream world I would have loved to go back to whatever motel they were staying at and fuck them silly. No, to grab hold of them and never let go. But it wasn’t about me and what I wanted. I had a daughter to think about. Lily deserved to have a solid home life, which was what she had with me and Aunt Sarah. I’d made my decision to leave these guys in the past and it was no use second guessing that choice now. No matter how ruggedly handsome they were. They couldn’t just be hot cowboys. No, they had to be brash military men, too. That combination was lethal to my defenses and made my ovaries jump for joy.
Women everywhere deserved to hate me for refusing them.
Cooper’s low, hard voice made me pause before I could slide into the driver’s seat. “You can’t get rid of us that easily, Ivy. You’re ours—you always have been.”
I couldn’t respond. My heart had jumped up into my throat, making speech impossible. You’re ours. He couldn’t be saying what I thought he was saying, right? Spinning around to face him, I was dumbstruck by the intensity of his gaze. Rory’s posture was more relaxed, but those dark eyes of his were fixed on me like I was his key to salvation. It scared me if he thought I was.
“You don’t mean that.” It was the first thing I could think to say and even to my own ears it sounded like another challenge. But that wasn’t what I meant. I meant…ah hell, I didn’t know what I meant.
Rory moved forward so he was standing beside Cooper. “We want you back, Ivy. We want you in our life.”
“Just like that? After seven years? I might be married.”
“Are you?” Cooper asked, his gaze lowering to my left hand.
I couldn’t lie to them about that. There was no ring, no obvious proof I belonged to someone else. I shook my head.
“We’ve known all this time you’re the one for us. We aim to prove it to you, if you’ll let us.”
“Just like that?” I shook my head frantically, unable to come up with the right words to make them understand. They weren’t supposed to be here. They were no longer a part of my life. “Where have you been all this time?”
Cooper’s eyes shuttered and Rory’s jaw tightened. “War.”