“But it wasn’t the dress,” a male voice said.
Ivy spun on her metal work stool. She knew that voice. But it didn’t belong here, in her lab on a Sunday morning.
“Carter?”
Chapter 22
“Why are you here?” Ivy rose up from her stool and turned to face a tired-looking Carter Burke. His dark curls looked as if he’d been running his fingers through his locks over and over. His beard looked ragged. “Don’t tell me you were just passing through Westchester,” she added.
He wore a white button-down shirt and clean slacks, but she suspected he only had a closet full of cleaned and pressed clothes thanks to his dragon-lady assistant.
Ivy glanced down at her own rumpled black pants. At least she’d pulled a white lab coat over her gray t-shirt. She was pretty sure there was a stain on it.
“I couldn’t work yesterday,” he said.
He kept his blue eyes fixed on her. She wondered if he even saw the windowless room lined with research tools around her.
“Tired?” she said and tried for a smile.
“No, Ivy. I missed you.”
“I think that’s my cue to leave.” Penelope scooped her computer up and headed for the door.
“You missed me?” Ivy challenged. “You’ve only known me for one night.”
“It was the best night I’ve had in a long, long time,” he said quietly. “I’d like to take you out again.”
Yes, yes, yes!
But her life wasn’t one grand adventure.
“I don’t have any friends at MoMA,” she said. “And I don’t like our chances of avoiding arrest if we tried a midnight tour of the Met.”
He shook his head. “Nothing that will get us arrested this time. Just dinner. No makeovers. No dinosaurs. You, me, and your favorite food. Which is?”
“Sushi,” she said.
“That works.” He smiled. “We’ll start with raw fish and you can tell me all of the usual first date stuff.”
“And then what? We continue dating while you shut down my lab? Maybe go wine tasting in the Hamptons in your Tesla while my research is boxed up and moved to storage? Spend Saturday night making love on your terrace and then I spend Monday looking for new funding?” Her hands formed fists and her voice rose. She wasn’t screaming at Carter Burke. Not yet.
“Ivy—”
“Even if I could set aside my work, which means everything to me, I know this won’t last. You might think I’m fun and adventurous now, but a few dates in and you’ll be bored.”
“I doubt that.” He crossed his arms in front of his chest.
“You have so much power,” she continued. “You have assistants who move mountains on your orders.”
“All she did was order a dress and find a hairstylist,” he growled.
“Which I never asked for! I came to talk about my funding. Yes, I took you on an ill-advised adventure. I thought I could convince you. Silly me.” She shook her head. “I should have turned away when that dragon-lady showed me the gown. That’s not me, Carter.”
“No, you’re more than a dress, and I damn well know it.”
“I am. And this is my world.” She waved to the lab. “Right now, I need to focus on work. I’m sorry—”
“Don’t use the ‘I need to focus on work’ line on me,” he said bitterly. “I know that one really well. I thought…I thought you stayed over on Friday night for me, not just your research. I asked you.” He shook his head. “I guess I’m the fool for taking you at your word. My mistake. But I get it now. If I can’t deliver on your funding, if I can’t come through for you, then you don’t want me.”