Jamison smiled when he saw her rush off. "A hot water bottle is more convenient," he remarked.
Katrina nodded quickly. "Alright, I’ll go get one right now." She hurried out, leaving just Jamison and Ivy alone in the bedroom.
The air instantly turned awkward, thick with an inexplicable tension—something that felt almost like… intimacy.
"Lie flat," Jamison instructed, breaking the silence. "I’ll massage the pressure points first, then we’ll do the acupuncture." He gave her a reassuring look. "Don’t worry, you’re not a guinea pig this time."
Ivy pressed her lips together and looked away, clearly uncomfortable.
Catching her reaction, Jamison’s lips twitched up in a rare, amused smile. For once, she wasn’t firing back with her usual quick wit—something he only ever saw in moments like this.
In the hush that followed, his long, clean fingers slipped under the edge of the blanket. The second his hand touched her, Ivy flinched.
She tried her best to act unaffected, but for some reason, her whole body felt ill at ease—far more so than the last time. She was still half-turned away, but Jamison’s hand slid beneath the covers and pressed against her stomach, coaxing her to roll over and lie flat.
The skin under the hot water bottle was almost scalding.
Jamison frowned. "Why didn’t you wrap it in a towel? Aren’t you worried about burning your skin?"
Ivy grimaced, her face scrunched up from the pain. "Couldn’t be bothered…"
So when it got too hot, she’d just move it away. Once it cooled, she’d put it back on her stomach.
Hearing her say she was too lazy to move, Jamison looked puzzled. "Didn’t you see a doctor? Are you taking your medication like you’re supposed to?"
"Yeah, I am…"
"No effect at all?"
"It helps… It used to start hurting days in advance and last until it was over. This time, it just started yesterday…"
Ivy was tense all over, her answers soft and scattered, nothing like her usual crisp tone. Jamison might have thought she was being coy, if he didn’t know her better.
“So you weren’t feeling well yesterday, but you still went out shopping?” Jamison sounded unconvinced.
Ivy mumbled, “I only started feeling bad after I got home…”
As soon as she mentioned yesterday, Jamison seized on it. “You told the truth, let them know you don’t have HIV—are you planning to go after Emma?"
Ivy opened her eyes and looked straight at him. “What, are you here to defend your precious niece-in-law?”
Jamison just smiled faintly.
She noticed how the faint lines at the corners of his eyes made him look not old, but mature—almost dangerously attractive. But remembering who he was, her irritation flared again. Of course he’s on Micah’s side.
“Who Micah marries isn’t my concern. That’s for his parents to worry about,” Jamison replied, sounding completely indifferent.
“Really?” Ivy looked genuinely surprised, frowning. “Then why did you call me the other day, telling me I was messing up their relationship and that I should stay away from Micah?”
Jamison’s mind blanked for a moment as he realized she’d caught him contradicting himself.
She waited, still staring at him, clearly expecting an answer he couldn’t give.
Luckily, he recovered fast. He pulled his hand back. “Alright, let’s get started with the acupuncture.”
Ivy stared at him, silent.
She couldn’t shake the feeling that he was dodging her question.
But why? What was he trying to avoid?
“Did you pick a fight with me that night on purpose? Was there ever really anything wrong?”
She’d suspected as much the very next day and even called to press him about it, but he’d never given her a straight answer.