The Wedding Party And Holiday Escapes Ultimate Collection. Кейт Хьюит

her for scaring them. But put in the same position, she wouldn’t have done things any differently. At least she knew everything was going to be okay. Deidre and Blake would make it. They would be happy.

      Now, if only she could feel so confident about her own life.

      “You couldn’t wait until I got inside the house,” Deidre said, handing Ivy a new bag of ice and taking the melted one. “You had to take her down right before I walked in.”

      Ivy set the ice over her swollen, purple knuckles. “It’s not as though I planned to hit her. It just sort of happened.”

      She barely even remembered doing it. One minute she was just standing there, the next Dum was on the floor and Ivy’s hand was throbbing. She’d never hit another person in her life. There had just been the beer bottle incident, and luckily for them both she had missed.

      When Dee recovered from the shock, she’d begun to wail about calling her attorney and pressing charges, then the four of them had packed up and left. The villa had been blessedly peaceful ever since.

      “How’s the hand, Sugar Ray?” Dillon asked. He sat in a chair across from Ivy, a goofy grin plastered on his face. He was enjoying this far too much.

      “I think I’m going to cut my boxing career short.”

      “It looks as though you two are getting along better,” Deidre said, looking back and forth between them.

      “I guess you could say we’re working things out,” Ivy told her.

      “I’m glad. At least this trip wasn’t a total waste.”

      “Have you told Blake’s parents?”

      “We called them from the road and caught them just as they were leaving for the airport.”

      “I’m a disgrace to my family,” Blake said. “And I’m probably out of a job. And a house.”

      “And you guys are okay with that?” Ivy asked.

      He shrugged and sat on the arm of the couch, beside his new wife. She smiled up at him. “They’ll get over it.”

      “Do you have anything lined up?” Dillon asked him.

      “Not yet,” Blake said.

      “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. If you need a job, there’s always a position open for you in my company.”

      “I’ll definitely think about it.” He looked down at Deidre and grinned. “Right now I just want to enjoy being a newlywed.”

      “We’ve decided to leave early for our honeymoon,” Deidre told them. “We’re going to drive up the coast, then be back in time for the cruise when it leaves Saturday night. Either of you is welcome to stay for the rest of the week.” She shot Ivy a smile. “Or both of you.”

      Ivy struggled to suppress the depraved excitement clawing its way to the surface. She glanced over at Dillon and saw that he was trying really hard not to smile. She didn’t doubt they were thinking the exact same thing.

      Three days alone, with this big house all to themselves.

      Did it get any better than that?

      Sunday came way too soon.

      After spending every waking hour together for the past three days, the idea of being apart was almost impossible for Dillon to fathom.

      As he helped her carry her bags out to the limo that would take her to the airport—his flight wasn’t scheduled to leave for another few hours—it occurred to him that he had gone and done something really stupid.

      He had fallen in love with Ivy all over again.

      And Ivy had made her position very clear. Her career was the only thing important enough to fill the number one spot in her life right now. She’d worked too hard, for too long, to throw it all away on a man she wasn’t sure she trusted.

      Well, she hadn’t actually said that, but he knew that was what she was thinking.

      It was kind of ironic. Ten years ago she’d been ready to settle down and start a life with him, but all he’d wanted was to have fun. To goof off. Now that he was finally ready to slow down and be with her, she had already moved on to bigger and better things.

      And if it were his career in jeopardy, he couldn’t say for sure that he wouldn’t make the same decision.

      They had genuine feelings for each other. Their timing was just way off.

      For some reason that didn’t make him feel any better.

      The driver put the bags in the trunk, and Dillon opened the door for Ivy. “I had a good time this week.”

      She set her purse on the seat and turned to him, the car door between them. “Me, too. Do you think Dale will tell anyone he saw us together?”

      “I doubt it. And if he does say anything, I’ll deny it. Your career is safe.”

      “Thank you,” she said, but instead of sounding relieved, he could swear he heard disappointment in her voice.

      The driver got in and started the engine.

      “I guess this is it,” she said.

      Dillon nodded. “I guess it is.”

      He kept his hands clamped down tightly on the car window, so he wouldn’t touch her. Because he knew if he got hold of her again, he might not be able to let go. And that would be a mistake.

      It hadn’t worked the first time, and they had no guarantees it be any better now. Odds were they would have ended up right where they’d been ten years ago. Divorced and bitter and hating each other. At least this time they were parting as friends.

      She had a life, and he had a life, and they were both better off keeping it that way.

      “Have a good trip.”

      “Goodbye.” She rose up on her toes and pressed a kiss to his cheek, then she turned and climbed inside the limo. He stood and watched as the limo rolled down the driveway and disappeared around the corner.

      It was the second damn time he’d watched that woman walk out of his life.

      Ivy had two major problems.

      Problem number one was that she was pretty sure her career was officially over.

      For the seventh day straight she’d sat at her desk, staring at the computer screen, until her eyes burned with fatigue and strain. Instead of tapping across the keyboard the way they usually did, her hands lay limp and useless in her lap.

      Seven days, and she hadn’t written a darned word.

      What was once so clear to her, so obvious and logical, no longer made sense. The magic was gone. And the explanation was simple. She was a fraud. A charlatan. She’d been giving millions of trusting, naive women lousy advice.

      It was humbling and embarrassing to realize that everything she believed in, everything she knew about her life, was a lie. Or at the very least, grossly misconstrued. It was a wrong she needed to right or she feared it would gnaw away at her, little by little, until there was nothing left. Unfortunately, she didn’t have the slightest clue how to fix it. What her next move should be.

      Which brought her to problem number two. Dillon.

      She missed him.

      She missed him like she’d never missed anyone before in her life. The first time she’d walked away from him had hurt, but it had also been a relief. The fighting, the heartache—it had been over. All she felt this time was pain and loss. A deep, sharp ache in her chest, as though her heart had been ripped out, filleted, haphazardly sewn back together, then shoved back in the wrong way.

      After she’d kissed Dillon goodbye and the limo had set off to the airport, it had taken her exactly three seconds to realize, to admit