CHAPTER THIRTY NINE
I walk down the stairs and find him already there.
Hardin is leaning casually against the railing, phone in hand, jacket perfectly fitted to his broad shoulders.
The kind of man who doesn’t wait, people wait for him. His eyes lift the moment he hears my heels, and the way his gaze travels over me is slow, deliberate. He doesn’t smile, but his jaw tightens slightly when his eyes trace the bare line of my back, the gold chain resting against my skin.
Heat coils low in my stomach.
As we turn toward the door, ready to leave, another presence intrudes.
“Hardin.”
I don’t need to turn to know who it is.
His mother descends the stairs with Ivy beside her, dressed for the night like they planned this arrangement. Ivy looks polished, eager, eyes flicking toward Hardin wi
