“I’m fine.” She managed to mutter, and he only smiled more.
“My brother forced me to come here and ask for your apology.” He said, ignoring her protest. He continued to touch her, to stroke her shoulders and surprisingly, as hard as Ivy struggled against it, she felt herself relax. It was a calming effect, the soft stroking of her shoulders with his big hands.
“Apology for what?” She asked him, her eyelids were getting heavy. She still hadn’t managed to take a step away from him. Archer smiled again, his dimples grew deeper, he could see the control he had on her body.
“For what I said earlier.” His hands finally dropped off her shoulder, and Ivy managed to take a stumbling step back, he was still grinning at her, aware of how flustered she was. Both the brothers seemed to enjoy making her uncomfortable for some reason!
“It’s too quick for me to accept your apology like that.” Ivy said, shooting him a look of warning.
“Even after the amazing shoulder rub that I just gave you?” Archer asked, testing her further.
“I didn’t ask for it. In fact you forced it on me.” Ivy snapped, clasping her hands together tightly. Archer was nodding his head slowly. He seemed to be pleased with her response.
“Alright. I apologize for that too. From now on, I will be asking you before I make any sudden movements.” He said and Ivy found that she couldn’t stop herself from smiling. But she managed to make that smile disappear quickly, she didn’t want him to know that he was capable of entertaining her. That would only end up encouraging him.
“So, do you forgive me then?” He said and Ivy gulped.
“What have you done to deserve forgiveness?” She asked him. She was aware that her breasts were heaving and Archer’s eyes were flickering, from her bulging breasts, to her face, to her clenched hands and then back at her face again. He was studying her, trying to figure her out. But still Ivy kept her head held high.
“Nothing. I’ve done nothing to deserve your forgiveness, yet. But I promise you that I feel bad about what I said. I should have known that you were embarrassed.” His eyes had suddenly taken on a softer hue, his jaws were unclenched and he wasn’t smiling any more. In a matter of moments, Archer Cooper was able to make a show of feeling sorry. Ivy felt her knees buckling under the weight of her conflicting emotions.
“Alright. Whatever. I forgive you. Will you leave me alone, now?” She said, forcing herself to sound strong.
With the light of the hallway behind him, she could see the shape of Archer’s frame. He was muscular, more muscular than Leon. His neck was broad and his biceps bulged under the fabric of his plaid shirt. He had a sharp nose, an even sharper chin and his height made Ivy wonder what he was hiding in his pants. She shook her head vigorously to make herself stop thinking these thoughts.
“Thank you, Ivy Hart. I’ll leave you alone now. Have a good night.” He said and before he could say anything else, she slammed the bedroom door on his face. She didn’t want to hear any more.
She didn’t like the way he was making her feel. She was still attracted to Leon, and it was unfair to also be attracted to his brother at the same time.
The last thing she wanted to do was make either of them jealous. She didn’t want to come between the twins. But it was plain to see that Archer Cooper had set his eyes on her, he had liked what he had seen and even though he was asking her for forgiveness, he wasn’t just going to give up that easily.
Leon hadn’t come to her that night, instead Ivy had stayed awake for several hours, blinking up at the ceiling as she could hear the loud voices of the two brothers on the porch.
They were talking, laughing and that went on till the wee hours of the morning, till somehow she had drifted softly away to sleep with the background sounds of those two strong voices in the corner of her brain. It was like music to her ears.
Ivy woke up with a start the next morning, a little dazed, and turned with a jerk to see if someone was sleeping next to her. Her bed was empty, it had only been her, the whole night. But in the privacy of her thoughts, she knew that she had been dreaming about Archer. For the past six weeks, since she met Leon, he was the only one who occupied her mind, who invaded her dreams; but last night had been different. She hadn’t been able to keep Archer out of it.
Ivy jumped out of bed, got dressed in a hurry and when she came out of her room, she realized that it was nearly ten. She had overslept. Leon was usually up and ready to leave for work on the ranch by eight, and she hadn’t missed a single morning. Now she was worried that he might be angry with her.
She rushed out of the house, tensed, and stood on the porch, straining her eyes to see if she could see Leon.
She saw both the brothers instead. Each on their own horse, in a distance, riding together, laughing, kicking up clouds of dust behind them as they rode.
Ivy leaned against the pillar on the porch as she stared at them. They were handsome, rugged and purebred cowboys. Despite the luxury they lived in and the amount of money they had inherited. Both the brothers looked at ease out in the open like that, in their cowboy hats, riding their horses.
She could feel something moving in her, was it the wetness? She pressed her legs together in shock. How was it possible to feel this aroused by simply looking at them? By looking at the two brothers? What kind of hold did they have on her?
Ivy felt suddenly very shy and she turned away from them, she knew she was spying and she shouldn’t have been. She had housework to do, her accounting classes to catch up on, and she hadn’t paid any attention to her gardening in the past two days.
She could still hear the sound of hooves in the background as she went back into the house. They were out there, training their horses together, like regular brothers, with a strong bond between them, even stronger because they were twins. And Ivy couldn’t stop thinking about how handsome they both equally looked, on their horses.
She hadn’t realized that she had kept the tap in the kitchen sink running, she had her hands under the flow of the water and was day dreaming about the brothers. Till she heard the sound of Leon’s voice behind her.
“It’s going to overflow.” He said and Ivy started, turning around to him and splashing a handful of water on the front of her linen pants. Leon raised his eyebrows, he was mocking her for her clumsiness, but he didn’t comment on it.
“Sorry, I’m just a little tired. I didn’t get much sleep last night.” She said, rubbing the back of her wrist on her forehead.
“Were we very loud?” He asked, and walked over to the refrigerator. Ivy was following him with her eyes, a little nervously. She was afraid that Leon would see it on her face, that she was lusting after his brother.