Page 61 of Caging Liberty
“Ivy…”
“I don’t want to get anyone in trouble. I just want you to be honest with me.”
I take a deep breath and speak evenly. “I don’t have a timeline.”
“How long was the last?”
“The last what?”
“The last conquest.” She peeks at me. “Again, I’m not judging. I just—”
“Six months.”
Her lips part as though she wants to say something, probably argue with me about my own life, but it’s my turn to interrupt her thoughts.
“I was in college, there was this cute girl who worked in a coffee shop. I flirted with her for a month before she agreed to go out with me. We dated for six months after that.”
Lib’s forehead wrinkles like she’s confused.
“The women I’ve fucked on the island didn’t need some grand effort from me. I’ve only been with the ones who are here because they want to be here. They aren’t conquests, they’re just people.”
“What about Desiree?”
Annoyance floods my system just from hearing her name, and my mind reels back to earlier. Desiree said she had a talk with Lib today.
Oh, Jesus.
“She’s the one who’s been talking to you about me, isn’t she?”
Lib folds her arms over her stomach. She doesn’t respond because she doesn’t need to.
I roll my shoulders and blow out a frustrated breath. “Desiree is going to tell you whatever she needs to so that you’ll stay away from me. She’s jealous of you, that’s it.”
Lib shifts her position so that she’s facing me.
I sigh. “She and I had a little fling in the past, and I regret it deeply. I’m pretty sure I’mherconquest. I’m not sure if she truly wants me or if she just can’t stand the idea of someone not wanting her.”
Lib blinks, an emotion I can’t read crossing her face.
“If you want real honesty, I remember you from that charity event too. Also, I’ve heard plenty about you from your husband over the years. You aren’t some random, new whore to me. I know who you are, and I do genuinely want you to be okay. And yes, I find you intoxicatingly desirable, and I very much want to sleep with you. But this isn’t some fetish. I—”
“Is there a crematorium around here?”
I close my mouth and feel my brows pinch.
“Is there one?”
“You mean like at a funeral home? Why?”
“Please just tell me.”
I pause for a moment, wondering where she’s going with this. “No.”
“You swear?”
I don’t bother responding. I just stare at her and wait for her to explain what the hell she’s talking about.
“Oh my god.” She scrubs her hands over her face.