Undeniable Attraction Read online

  ALSO BY J B HELLER

  Vipers Den Novella Series

  Part One- Piper & Kade

  Part Two- Pixie & Jake

  Part Three- Tay & Nate

  A NOVEL BY J B HELLER

  Copyright © 2015 by J B Heller

  All rights reserved.

  Published by J B Heller

  [email protected]

  Cover Design & Formatting by EB Designs

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  Editing by Colleen Snibson Editing

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  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  DEDICATION

  This book is for anyone who has a dream and is too afraid to follow it. Trust in yourself, and anything is possible.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Empty and alone, that was my future. When I used to think about the woman I would one day fall in love with, never did it enter my mind that she wouldn’t feel the same way about me. Now, here I am, left with nothing.

  Love is a cruel, hard bitch. I finally found her, perfect for me in every way, and she fell in love with someone else. Not just someone else, but a douchey little pretty-boy. The only thing left for me to do now, was drink away my pain.

  “Another!” I demanded, holding my shot glass up in the air.

  “I think you’ve had enough tonight, Gabe, don’t you?” Sally hissed towards me.

  “Would I say another if I thought that Sal? Now do your damn job and fill my glass.” Great, now she was going to get all bitchy on me. She was doing that thing with her lips that chicks do when they’re trying to look serious.

  “I said no. You need to leave.”

  A heavy sigh left my lips. “Just fill the glass, Sal, I need it yesterday.”

  She still looked pissed but she relented. “Fine, one more but that’s it, Gabe, I’m cutting you off.”

  “Whatever,” I mumbled.

  I needed as much booze as I could get my hands on. This shit with Sloan was eating me alive. I couldn’t think about her off playing house with that douchebag anymore. The only way to rid her from my thoughts was to drown them in booze.

  My head was spinning and my body was warming up nicely. Wouldn’t be long and I’d be as smashed as I had planned on getting, except Sally was about to ruin all my hard work. Bitch.

  I should probably take this party back to my place anyway. I didn’t want to pass out in the bar and wake up to find her molesting me again, a shiver ran down my spine at the repulsive memory.

  I didn’t want to touch another woman again. Sloan was the only woman I’d ever wanted to keep, and now, no other would do. I planned to spend the rest of my days blissfully drunk off my arse. I had enough money to support my new career path, professional drunk, and since I owned my house I figured I was set.

  I smashed my last shot and set the empty glass on the counter, then pushed to my feet. I didn’t need to worry about my tab; I had a standing tab at Freddie’s, a perk of knowing the guy, and busting his wife shagging the staff behind his back.

  As I staggered out to my car, I saw another car just like mine parked beside it. Exactly the same. I hit what I thought was the unlock button on my keys, but apparently I was wrong. The alarms started blasting and the lights flashed repeatedly. I grabbed my head with both hands trying to keep my brain from bursting out of my skull.

  My keys slipped from my hands and I dropped to my knees to search for them so I could stop the goddamn noise. When I found them, I hit all the buttons until the sound stoped. My night was going from bad to worse real fast; I had to get out of there.

  Getting to my feet I headed to the driver’s door, clearly I was seeing double before because the other car was gone. Just as I went to drop myself into the seat, a high pitched voice pierced my sensitive and still throbbing skull.

  “What the HELL do you think you’re doing? Are you crazy? You’re going to get yourself killed, or worse, kill someone else. Give me your keys, Gabe!”

  Ahh shit. It was Ivy. I haven’t been into work for the last two weeks, and she’s been busting my balls about getting back to it, but I just can’t do it. To be honest, I was a little surprised she was even here. This isn’t Ivy’s type of place. She’s all smooth curves and this place is full of rough edges.

  I slowly turned around to face her and leant on my car for support. “What are you doing here Ivy? Shouldn’t you be at home knitting or something equally wholesome?” I said in a bored tone.

  Her jaw dropped. I’ve never been rude to her before but she won’t take the hint and just leave me the hell alone. She’s fucking determined to pull me out of this dark place I’d found myself in. I felt like a right shit talking to her like that, but I had a bottle of Jack waiting for me at home and it was calling my name.

  “I don’t knit and I’m not some goody-two-shoes who doesn’t have a life and sits on her couch every night watching game shows. So don’t pretend you know anything about me. Freddie called me, told me you needed a ride. I cannot believe you were about to get in that car and drive yourself home. Look at yourself, Gabe,” she seethed as she glared daggers at me.

  Before I could stop it, my inner cocky bastard made himself known. I blamed the booze. “I have looked at myself, even I’d fuck me, but I don’t swing that way,” I said with a smirk on my lips.

  Ivy scrunched up her nose in disgust. “Ew, Gabe. Just, ew.”

  Her cheeks turned crimson. I always have liked making her blush. It was one of my favourite past times. I probably shouldn’t be so hard on her, she’d come all the way here just to make sure I got home okay. She really was just a sweet girl trying to help me out. Poor thing probably thought her job was at stake if I didn’t get my shit together soon.

  I would never fire her. She’s the best office girl I’ve ever had. She runs the whole office by herself and helps me with my case load. Even if I had decided to become a pro drunk, I’d spent too much time building my company up to just close the doors. I busted my arse to get the rep that McLeod Investigations Inc. had. But, I was far too drunk to figure out all that.

  I took a moment to look at her. Wait, what is she wearing? I couldn’t stop myself from staring as I did a double take... She was wearing these pink frilly shorts that barely covered her pert arse and a matching singlet that did little to hide her perky boobs. Her long blonde hair was in a messy bun thing on top of her head and there wasn’t a trace of makeup on her pretty face.

  Too soon, Ivy interrupted my perusal of her bangin’ body. “Gabe! Did you hear me? I said give me your keys. I’ll lock it up while you go get in my car.”

  I shook my head. Had she’d been talking to me?

  She poked a finger into my chest before continuing her lecture, “Don’t shake your head at me! I’m not letting you get behind the wheel in this state.”

  I was so stunned by her sudden assertiveness that I didn’t even try to argue. “Okay,” I mumbled under my breath.

  Dropping my keys into her waiting palm, I stumbled over to her car and fell into the passenger seat. Who knew little Ivy could be so bossy. I had to admit, her take-charge attitude was kind of hot. I felt my dick twitch for the first time in a long time, but for Ivy? That shit is not happening, not now, not ever.

  I laid my head back on the headres
t and closed my eyes while I waited for Ivy to get back in the car and take my drunken arse home.

  Something hit me upside the head and I surged forward, only to hit my head on the dash of Ivy’s car. The sweet sound of Ivy’s muffled laughter hit my ears as I turned to glare at her for waking me so abruptly.

  Her laughter disappeared and pissed off Ivy was back, hands on her little hips and a scowl on her pretty face. I couldn’t help it, I smiled up at her. She looked so damn cute when she was mad.

  “I don’t know why you’re smiling but stop it. You have nothing to smile about.” She lifted her finger and began ticking off my shortcomings. “One- you’re drunk. Two- you smell like you haven’t showered in a week and three- you seriously need a shave. I wouldn’t look so smug if I were you,” she said with a raised brow.

  “God you’re cute when you’re mad,” I drawled as I started to climb out of her car.

  Her jaw unhinged and her cheeks came alive with colour. She stomped her foot, at a loss for words. “I… You… Shut up and get out of my car,” she demanded.

  It was very rare that Ivy didn’t have something witty to say back to me, so I went ahead and counted that as a win. Gabe, 1 – Ivy, 0.

  While climbing out of her car I tripped on my own big feet and face planted into the grass. She didn’t even try to help me. Geez she’s mean when she’s pissed. “Thanks for the save there, Ivy,” I grumbled.

  With her hands back on her hips, her gaze narrowed on me, making her eyes squinty. “You would have just taken me down with you. No thank you.”

  She was right, but still, it was just rude.

  Dusting myself off, I slowly got back up. I rummaged around in my pockets trying to find my keys when, Ivy cleared her throat behind me. I looked over my shoulder to find her dangling my keys in front of my face. Smartarse. I snatched them from her and stumbled to my front door. I steadied myself on the doorframe and selected the right key, but it wouldn’t go in the hole.

  Ivy ducked under my arm, took the key from me and slipped it into the lock. She looked at me over her shoulder before she turned the key, opened the door and strolled right in as if she owned the place. I watched silently as she dropped my keys in the bowl on the hallway table, then continued down the short hall and disappeared. That was when I decided I should follow her, but when I laid my eyes on her, I stopped dead still.

  “What the hell are you doing? Put that down!” I yelled.

  Bitch was pouring my Jack down the sink. I rushed over to grab the bottle from her hands, but I was too late, it was gone. I was furious. “Get out, Ivy. You got me home, your job is done. I don’t need or want you here! And you owe me a bottle of Jack.”

  She spun around to face me. Her normally soft and gentle features were contorted with rage. She shoved me with both hands and given my drunken state, I stumbled back into the fridge behind me. She was breathing hard as her little hands curled into fists by her sides and the colour returned to her cheeks, but not in a good way. Shit.

  I put my hands up in front of me as a peace offering. “Ivy, I—”

  “Shove your apology up your arse, Gabe. I don’t need or want it. You need to get your shit together. So Sloan didn’t want you, deal with it. Life goes on. People fall in unrequited love all the time. But they still get up every goddamned day and get on with life. You’ve been moping around for long enough. You have a business to run and I am sick of doing it for you. Pull your head out of your arse or I’ll quit.”

  With that, she turned away from me and stormed out of my house, slamming the front door behind her.

  Well shit.

  CHAPTER TWO

  The morning sun was too bright. It was the first time I had seen it for a while, since I spent most mornings sleeping off the previous night’s binge. I stood in front of my floor to ceiling window, looking out over my backyard.

  When my grandparents died, they left me this house. I considered myself lucky; I may have had shit parentage, but my grandparents more than made up for it. They raised me right, Grandpa kicked my arse whenever I was out of line and if he were still alive today, I’d thank him for it.

  Their son, my father, was a deadbeat. My grandparents did everything for him, but all it took was getting involved in the wrong crowd when he hit high school. He got into hard-core drugs, knocked up his druggy girlfriend and here I am. I’m not a religious guy but I thank God every day for my grandparents’ intervention in my life.

  This house was too big for just me, but I wouldn’t even contemplate selling it. I loved this house. It symbolised love and family, things I no longer saw in my future. I had wanted those things, but only if Sloan was a part of it. Without her, I wasn’t interested.

  I felt and looked like shit. Looking around my room, I counted over a dozen empty bottles scattered across the floor. I ran my hands through my greasy hair, Sick! I’m no pretty-boy by any stretch of the imagination, but I do like to maintain a sense of hygiene.

  I kicked off my boxers and climbed into the shower. The hot water felt great pounding on my skin. My tan had begun to fade and my skin was looking washed out from lack of vitamin D. I slumped against the wall and slid down to the floor. I had been neglecting everything since she, crushed me, including my daily workouts. My abs weren’t looking as impressive as they generally did; all the recent booze had taken a toll on my body.

  I washed my hair and body all while sitting on the floor.

  When I got out of the shower, I couldn’t be arsed getting fully dressed so I just threw on a pair of boxer briefs. Then I headed to the kitchen to grab a rubbish bag and fill it with the empty bottles littered around my room. On my way to the rubbish bins out the back, I found more bottles lying around the house. The last few weeks were a blur and now I knew why. Opening my liquor cabinet, I emptied that out as well.

  In the kitchen, I got myself some aspirin and a coke. I felt a little better already. As I was rummaging through my fridge for something decent to eat, I heard a knock at the front door. I closed the fridge door with my foot and went to check out who it was.

  Work was my life and I had been neglecting it for far too long, drowning in my own misery. Because I wasn’t home that much, I rarely got visitors. I spent all my time working cases.

  Swinging open the front door, I was met by Ivy, who was fierce and ready for a fight. This was a side to her I had never seen before last night. In my drunken, hazy memories, I half thought I had imagined her bossy attitude. Clearly, I had not.

  “Ivy, what are you doing here?” I asked cautiously.

  Her eyes glazed over as she licked her lips, she still looked fierce but now in a sensual way. I felt my dick twitch and begin to swell. I swallowed hard and hoping she wouldn’t notice, looked down and realised I still hadn’t put any clothes on. Shit. My dick was clearly outlined through my briefs, and was getting harder by the second. The longer she looked, the harder I got. Fuck!

  I covered my junk with both hands before speaking. “I, ah, sorry, come in and I’ll go get some clothes on.”

  She didn’t say anything, just nodded, and licked her full pink lips again. Shhiiitt. I sprinted down the hall, through the kitchen and down the corridor to my room and threw on the first pair of clean pants and t-shirt I could see. I was suddenly pleased I’d cleaned up a little that morning, even though Ivy saw the state of my house last night. Memories of last night came flooding back, like a movie playing in my head.

  The image of Ivy, wearing those tiny pink shorts and skimpy singlet, was not helping the wood I was sporting. Ivy’s pretty and all, but I’d never been attracted to her. She had never made my dick twitch or had me struggling to keep myself from stripping her bare, for me to look my fill, then—. I shook my head, not helping!

  Taking a deep breath I ran my hands through my hair. I had sworn off women and now, all of a sudden, I had a raging boner for quiet little Ivy. No not quiet little Ivy; fiery and demanding Ivy. The Ivy that ripped my head off last night, and was now standing in my living room. She’d g
one and turned the tables on me. I had no idea how to deal with this little spitfire. I knew how my dick wanted me to deal with her, but that was not going to happen. A tap on my door pulled me from my thoughts, but before I could answer Ivy come waltzing in, full of confidence and charisma. Who was this girl?

  “What are you doing?” I stuttered like a schoolboy talking to his crush.

  She shrugged her right shoulder but kept coming towards me. “I have something I need to say to you, but you were taking a really long time and. If I had to wait any longer I would have lost my nerve, so I came to you.”

  “Oh.” That was all I could muster.

  “You should sit down because I’m pretty sure this is going to come as a shock to you,” she told me as she pointed at my bed.

  I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion; I had no idea what was going on. I moved the few steps to my bed and sat on the end, waiting for her to fill me in. She started fidgeting as she began pacing my room while flexing her fingers. Suddenly, she came to a stop in the middle of the room and blurted out three little words that, had I been standing, would have knocked me off my feet.

  “I love you.”

  My jaw dropped; I blinked a few times and each time I opened my eyes she was still standing there, twisting her fingers together anxiously. I had to say something, but I had no idea what. “Ivy, I… I don’t know what to say. I had no idea you saw me like that. I mean, you’ve never said anything, not even hinted at being interested.”

  She was nodding, her long blonde ponytail bobbing up and down with her head. Ivy was a very efficient and logical person, I could tell she was listening to my response and taking it in. “I know, and that’s on me. I didn’t mean to blurt it out like that. Actually, I didn’t mean to tell you at all.”

  “So, what did you want to say to me then?” I asked her gingerly.

  “Well, I mean, I was going to tell you I had feelings for you, just not the extent of them,” she explained.