“No.” I softly smiled as I looked down. “We don’t talk about it at all. We’re just enjoying each other right now.”
“And that’s how it should be. You two have your whole lives ahead of you.” She winked. “Now, I think I’m going to buy this dress.”
“There you are,” Ian said as we walked through the door.
“Hey, baby.” I smiled as he kissed me hello.
“It’s about time. I thought maybe you went and kidnapped my girl, Adalynn.”
Adalynn looked at him and rolled her eyes. “Keep calm, Ian. You know us girls when we shop.”
“Did you buy anything, sweetheart?” he asked.
“No, she didn’t, but she tried on the most beautiful wedding dress. Oh, Ian, you should’ve seen her.”
When Ian looked at me, I could tell he wasn’t very pleased.
“It was nothing. I was bored,” I said as I put my hand on his chest.
Ian gave me a small smile and walked over to the bar and poured himself a drink. “Adalynn? Rory?” he asked.
“No, thank you, darling. I have to get home. Daniel and I have invitations to go through. I’ll call you later, Rory,” she said as she leaned in and kissed my cheek. “Ta-ta, Ian.”
“I’m sure I’ll be seeing you at breakfast tomorrow,” he said.
Adalynn turned around and looked at him before heading out the door. “Thank you for the invite, Ian. I’ll be sure to stop by before I head to Prim.” She smiled.
As soon as she left, I walked over to the bar and asked Ian to pour me a glass of wine. “We had fun today and Adalynn found the perfect dress.”
“That’s good,” he said as he took a sip of his bourbon.
“Is something wrong, Ian?”
I could tell by his demeanor and the way he said “that’s good” that something wasn’t right with him. “Are you upset that I tried on a wedding dress?” I bravely asked.
“You really shouldn’t be doing things like that. I don’t want you to get your hopes up. You know where I stand on marriage, Rory.”
And just like that, he brought me down from my high. A few words spoken from his mouth changed my entire mood. I could sense an argument brewing if I kept pressing it, so I simply told Ian what he wanted to hear.
“I know, my love. Don’t worry. It was only for fun, nothing else.” I smiled as I kissed him softly on the lips.
“Well, I’m glad you had fun.” He pulled me into an embrace and kissed the top of my head.
I stood there, wrapped in his arms while a part of my mind was thinking about that wedding dress and the other part was thinking about how Ian wanted nothing to do with marriage.
Chapter 9
Ian
I was wrapped up in her. My arms were wrapped around her tightly and our legs were tangled around each other. She was sleeping soundly. I couldn’t. I was up all night, thinking about Adalynn’s wedding and what kind of effect it was going to have on Rory. I didn’t want her getting any ideas and I didn’t want it to tear us apart. She said she understood, but I did think she was lying. A girl like Rory deserved everything. I could give her anything she wanted. I could love her till death do us part. I could give her all of me. I just couldn’t give her marriage.
I finally fell asleep, only to be woken up by the alarm clock. I opened my eyes and Rory wasn’t in bed. She was always in bed. I turned off the alarm and got up to put on my pajama bottoms. I checked the bathroom first and she wasn’t there. I walked down to the kitchen and smiled when I saw her bending over, taking something out of the oven.
“What are you doing, sweetheart?”
“I hope I didn’t wake you,” she said as she walked over and kissed me.
“No, the alarm did.”
“Well, since today is Charles’s day off, I thought it would be nice to make you some blueberry muffins.”
I stood there. I couldn’t believe she got up that early and made me muffins. My heart started to ache a little because this woman amazed me, yet again.
“Rory,” I whispered as I pulled her into an embrace. “I can’t believe you did this.”
“Why, silly? I love you and I know how much you love fresh blueberry muffins in the morning.” She smiled.
“You’re amazing. I love you.”
“I love you too. Now go sit down and I’ll bring your coffee and muffin.”
“No,” I said as I led her to the chair and made her sit down. “You sit down and let me serve you.”
I poured us each a cup of coffee and set two muffins on a plate and took it over to the table. The smile never left her face as she watched me the whole time.
“No run today?” she asked.
“I thought maybe we could use the gym downstairs today. It looks like it’s going to rain,” I spoke as I looked out the window.
“Yeah, it does look like rain.”
I took a bite of the blueberry muffin and almost choked. It was the worst blueberry muffin I ever had. I tried so hard not to show it, but it was too late.
“What’s wrong? You don’t like it?”
I didn’t know how to tell her it was awful. “It just seems different from how Charles makes them. Did you forget an ingredient? Maybe?”
A look of disappointment swept across her face and I felt like the biggest asshole around.
“I don’t think I forgot an ingredient. Damn it!” she said as she got up from the table.
“Sweetheart, it’s fine. Please don’t worry about it.”
She walked over and picked up the recipe card from the counter. “OH SHIT! FUCK! I forgot to put in the sugar.” She pouted.
“Aw, baby, it’s okay,” I said as I got up and wrapped my arms around her. “You tried and that’s all that matters.”
“You don’t understand. I wanted to do something special for you and, as usual, I fucked it all up. How could I forget the sugar?”
I looked over on the other side of the counter, where a measuring cup sat with sugar in it. “Is that it over there?”
“Ugh.”
“Sweetheart, it’s okay. It can happen to anyone. So what, you forgot to add the sugar. You had it measured out, which means you thought of it. It’s the thought and I love your thoughts.” I smiled as I brushed my thumb over her soft lips before gently kissing them.
I picked up Rory and set her on the counter. “I’m changing up our exercise routine today.”
“Why? What are we doing?” she asked.
“First, I’m going to take you upstairs and fuck you fast and hard. Then, when I’m finished, you’re going to get on top and fuck me fast and hard. It’s going to be an awesome workout, sweetheart. I promise.” I winked.
Rory smiled as she wrapped her legs tightly around my waist and her arms around my neck. “Let’s go start that workout, Mr. Braxton.”
The one thing I loved about my girl was that she was so easy to please. I picked her up from the counter, took her upstairs, and we both had one hell of a workout.
“Mr. Braxton, Mr. Black is on line two for you.”
“Thank you, Jan. I’ll take it.”
“Connor. How are you, friend?” I answered.
“Good, Ian. How are you?”
“Things are great.”
“How’s Rory doing?” Connor asked.
“Rory’s good. Thanks for asking. What can I do for you?”
“I ran across a piece a property here in New York City and I was hoping that you’d come out and take a look at it for me.”
“Sure. When do you want me to come out there?”
“How about next week? And bring Rory with you. Ellery’s been asking about her and wants to see her.”