CHAPTER 107: I JUST GOT PAID

Ivy got an alert on her phone on their last night at the beach house. When the notification pinged, Ivy blinked at it, then blinked again, her pulse quickening. Her salary. Her full salary — despite the fact that she had worked barely two weeks that month. Then excitement burst out of her.

She jumped up, a squeal escaping her lips before she could stop it, startling Winn where he stood by the dining table, arranging wine glasses and plates.

"Everything okay?" Winn asked, turning toward her with an arched brow. He’d grown used to her unpredictability.

"Yes!" Ivy exclaimed, her eyes wide and gleaming. She dashed across the room, and without hesitation snatched up his laptop from the couch. "I just got paid. Can I borrow this?"

Winn chuckled. Her enthusiasm was infectious. "Sure," he said. "What do you want to do?"

"I need to send in my mum’s monthly payment for the nursing home," she said quickly.

"I did that already," he said casually, turning back to the table as if he’d just mentioned picking up milk on his way home.

There was a pause. "You... you did?" Ivy looked up from the laptop, blinking, her excitement replaced with confusion — then gratitude.

"Yeah," Winn said, still facing the table, lining up cutlery. "I paid for the year." He shrugged. "I’m looking into some other options that will be much more comfortable for her unless you want her back at your house with a full-time nurse. It’s up to you."

He didn’t get to finish his next sentence because the sound of her soft gasp was followed by the unmistakable thud of her body colliding against his back.

"Ivy—" he started, laughing as her arms wrapped tightly around his shoulders. Her warmth pressed against him, her breath brushing his ear. The spontaneity of it made his heart thud faster than it should have.

She scattered kisses all over his back and neck, her hands gripping his shoulders as she nuzzled into him. "You are an angel!" she exclaimed. Her lips traced patterns that made the fine hairs on his skin prickle.

"If you get excited like this, then I should give you the moon," Winn said.

"Why didn’t you tell me?" she asked.

"It was nothing, really," Winn said lightly, shrugging. "Just a few thousand. Didn’t mean anything."

"Not to you! It is a lot to me. To my mum," she said. "You...you have no idea what it feels like to have someone care enough to do that for you."

"You’ve been doing everything by yourself for so long," he said. "It’s time you shared the responsibilities." His hand stayed steady on her hip. "You shouldn’t have to carry the weight alone."

"Thank you, Winn," she whispered. She pressed a light kiss to his shoulder, and he felt the tension drain from him at the sound of her gratitude, the quiet vulnerability beneath the sparkling excitement.

"Now get your ass down and come have dinner," he ordered, the playful edge returning to his voice.

"He is rich and can cook. Did I hit the jackpot or what?" Ivy said with a grin, hopping down gracefully.

"Did you forget something else?" he asked.

"What?" she asked.

"He can fuck too," he said bluntly, letting the words hang, a smirk playing at his lips. There was a teasing cruelty in the way he said it — a wink at their private, unspoken electricity that neither of them could resist.

Ivy rolled her eyes and, in a split second of defiance, smacked his ass. "Arrogant much?" she snapped.

"Did you just..." he turned sharply, eyes wide, "Did you just smack my ass?"

Ivy took a step back. "Uh oh," she said, and before Winn could react, she bolted. The furniture — the chairs, the coffee table, and the massive sectional sofa — became obstacles and hiding spots in their playful skirmish.

Winn’s heart raced in sync with hers as he sprang into action, giving chase with the ease of a predator who had no intention of letting his prey get away.

"I’m sorry!" Ivy laughed as she ducked behind the wide back of a leather armchair. Her blonde hair fanned out around her. Her laughter was intoxicating, teasing, and he couldn’t help but grin, feeling the pull of every heartbeat and every shiver that went along with it.

"Oh... you will be sorry when I get my hands on your ass!" Winn warned, circling the chair with a playful growl in his voice. Ivy ducked behind the big sofa, pressing herself low and trying to catch her breath — she was loving this as much as he was.

"I didn’t mean to! My hand slipped!" she cried, laughing so hard she stumbled slightly.

"Let’s just say my hand is going to slip too," he said with a grin, anticipation threading every word. In the blink of an eye, he vaulted over one of the chairs, landing near the other end of the sofa.

With a swift, fluid motion, he grabbed her and pulled her backward onto the soft cushions, the impact softened by the leather and plump pillows. They collapsed together, tangled limbs and laughter echoing off the walls. Ivy’s hair tumbled over his chest and face in golden waves.

"I’m sorry," she begged between laughs, her arms wrapping around him instinctively.

Winn chuckled, brushing her hair from her face. "You make me really happy, Ivy," he said, his thumb tracing the curve of her cheekbone. He could feel her heartbeat against his chest, a frantic, joyous rhythm that matched his own.

"So... you’re not going to smack me?" she asked, eyes wide and sparkling, the corners crinkling into the cutest puppy face imaginable.

A wicked grin crossed Winn’s face. His hand came down hard on her ass, the sharp smack echoing through the quiet beach house. She yelped, and instinctively jerked forward. Her pelvis grinding into the hard length of his cock beneath her. Winn’s grin deepened. That was the reaction he wanted.

That helpless, instinctive arch of her body against his — it made his blood hum.