Ivy understood exactly what he meant and shot him a teasing glance. "What, planning to shamelessly stick to me in the next life too?"

He grinned, then suddenly lunged, pinning his wife beneath him. "Yeah, I'll stick with you in the next life, and the one after that, too…"

She let out an exaggerated groan. "You're so cheesy…"

He nuzzled her, voice low. "Not cheesy at all. Every inch of you is sweet—so sweet."

"Jamison, would you please act normal for once? You're such a menace! Ah—stop, that tickles! Quit it! It's after nine, we need to get up! Seriously, stop—!"

That evening, Ivy planned to make a brief appearance at the dinner party before slipping away to go shopping with Jamison. She needed to pick up a couple of new office-appropriate outfits.

They were just heading out the door when Jamison's phone rang—it was Naylor.

"We're on our way, don't rush us," Jamison said.

Naylor sounded confused. "On your way? You're coming too? Ms. Lester said you weren't."

Jamison hesitated for half a second. Ivy frantically gestured at him, and he suddenly remembered. He quickly backtracked, "No, I'm not coming. I've got something else to take care of—I'll just drop Ivy off."

"Oh, got it."

"So, what did you call about?" Jamison asked.

"My parents want me to arrange a dinner, invite you and your wife. They said they still haven't officially met her since you got married."

Jamison chuckled, remembering how Professor Penn had mentioned this when they'd visited him about Ivy's health. "Alright, you set it up. But honestly, I should be the one treating them—can't have my old professor footing the bill."

Naylor laughed. "Either way. How about tomorrow at noon? It's Sunday; your wife doesn't have to be on campus, right?"

"That works for us."

After hanging up, Jamison glanced at Ivy in the passenger seat. "Tomorrow at lunch, we're meeting Naylor's parents. They've been so worried about my personal life, always trying to set me up."

Ivy smirked. "Your professor and his wife are funny. Their own son's still single, but they're busy matchmaking for you."

"They worry about him too, but Naylor has no shortage of girlfriends. He doesn't exactly need blind dates."

That made Ivy think of someone. She arched a brow, curious. "So tell me—Dr. Quinn wasn't one of the people your professor tried to set you up with, was she?"

Jamison shot her a sidelong look but didn't deny it.

Ivy burst out laughing. "No wonder she's so hung up on you."

"It's handled now."

"I certainly hope so."

When they arrived, Ivy hopped out and headed into the restaurant, quickly spotting her best friend. "Mr. Wilson isn't here yet?" Ivy glanced around, not seeing tonight's guest of honor.

Katrina shook her head. "No, he just messaged—traffic's bad, he'll be a few minutes late."

Ivy gave Katrina a knowing smile. "So, you two are already exchanging messages?"

Katrina feigned innocence. "It's the twenty-first century—everyone swaps contact info. I'm going to be a lawyer, after all. Gotta build a network. Who knows, maybe Mr. Wilson will be my client someday."

Ivy just grinned and gave her a big thumbs-up.

They chatted for a while, discussing the Sheridan Carter attempted cult case and how Katrina's mother was recovering in the hospital.

Naylor finally rushed in about ten minutes late. He sat down, apologizing profusely. "Sorry to keep you ladies waiting."

Ivy took a sip of water and smiled. "No worries. You're the man of the hour—it's only fair we wait for the guest of honor."

With that, she stood up. "Excuse me, I drank too much water—need to use the restroom."

Katrina didn't think much of it until she noticed Ivy picking up her purse. Her eyes narrowed. "Hey, why are you taking your purse to the bathroom?"