“Can I come in?” I asked.
“No. I just want to be alone right now.”
I knew I needed to apologize to her, but I was afraid it would come out wrong. “Rory, please. I’m coming in, and I don’t want you throwing something at me.”
I saw a small smile grace her face. I walked over and sat down on the bed. “There’s a little bit of a smile. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry for what I said and how I said it. I’ll be honest with you, Rory, I didn’t realize it came out that way. Please forgive me, sweetheart.”
She looked up at me with her sad eyes and nodded her head. I let out a deep breath and wrapped my arms around her. “For the record, you’re not staying in another room and you’re not walking behind me. Now let’s eat breakfast and then head to Connor’s and Ellery’s place.”
****
“Ellery, you’re looking as beautiful as ever.” I smiled as I kissed her cheek.
“Ian, good to see you, buddy,” Connor said as we shook hands.
Ellery grabbed Rory and dragged her upstairs. Connor grabbed his coat and we climbed into the limo to go look at the property he was interested in. Once we arrived, I looked at the empty field.
“This is it?” I asked.
“Yep, this is it. What do you think?”
“I think it’s a field, Connor.” I chuckled.
“Good eye.” He winked. “Look beyond the field, Ian. I want to build one of the largest art galleries in New York, and this is the place to do it.”
I stood there with my hands in my pockets, nodding my head. “For Ellery?”
Connor looked over at me and smiled. “Yeah, for Ellery.”
I started walking forward towards the field. “You two are a perfect couple. You give me hope,” I said.
“Hope is what Rory should be giving you, Ian. She’s an amazing woman.”
“Yes. She is an amazing woman.”
Connor walked up and placed his hand on my shoulder. “Relationships aren’t easy. I almost lost Ellery a few times over things I never should have done. She’s my first and last love. Me and you aren’t that different, Ian. From what I can see, she’s completely changed you as Ellery did me.”
I laughed softly. “She’s changed my views on a lot of things and she’s changed my life. I don’t know what I would’ve done if she hadn’t come back with me from Paris.”
Connor sighed. “Yep, I know what you mean. I don’t know what I would’ve done if Ellery hadn’t come back with me from California.”
“I guess we’re lucky.” I smiled.
“We sure are. Now, what do you think about the property?”
“It’s a field, Connor. It’s really not property yet. But I’ll turn it into a property and you can go and build Ellery the biggest art gallery in New York.” I smiled.
“Thank you, friend,” he said as he patted me on the back.
Chapter 12
Rory
“Would you like to feed her?” Ellery asked.
“Really? I would love to feed her.”
Ellery handed the baby to me and I laid her in my arms and put the bottle in her mouth. She grabbed hold of my finger and stared up at me with her beautiful blue eyes.
“She’s so beautiful, Ellery. You and Connor make amazing babies.” I smiled.
“You and Ian will make beautiful babies too. You’re drop dead gorgeous, and Ian, well, look at him.”
“Thank you, but, I don’t think Ian ever wants children. Hell, he gets pissed off when you mention the word marriage.”
Ellery cocked her head and looked at me. “Why?”
“I don’t know. He’s totally anti-marriage. He wants nothing to do with it and we got into an argument this morning in the hotel room because the girl that brought up our breakfast thought we were married and Ian snapped at her. He was totally out of line and he saw nothing wrong with it.”
“Are you two okay now?” she asked.
“Yeah. He apologized after I yelled at him and locked myself in the bedroom.”
Ellery laughed. “Sounds like something I would do.”
I looked down at Julia as she was drinking her bottle. It felt so good to hold her and so natural. “Ian still has a lot of issues, and a lot of them have to do with his mom. He feels betrayed and I think she just really left her mark as far as he’s concerned with relationships.”
“Help him work it out. Connor was a hot mess before I stepped into his life. You need to peel away the layers until you find the man Ian truly is.”
I smiled at Ellery. “Thank you.”
The elevator doors opened and Ian and Connor walked into the living room. Ian stopped and looked at me as I was holding Julia. Connor and Ellery went upstairs for a moment to freshen up before we headed out. Julia finished her bottle and I sat her up to burp her.
“Aren’t you going to say hi to Julia, Ian?”
He gave me a small smile and sat down next to me. He looked at Julia and smiled.
“Hey, Julia.”
She screeched and laughed at the same time. “Do you want to hold her?” I asked.
“No. You keep holding her. She’s happy with you.”
“Here, just take her,” I said as I started to hand Julia to him.
“No, Rory. I don’t want to hold her. I’m not a fan of children.”
His words startled me. I sort of knew that already, but to hear him say it made it very real. “How can you not like children?” I asked.
“I don’t want to discuss this now, sweetheart.”
I sat there and stared at him in disbelief.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” he asked.
I couldn’t say a word to him. His issues were on a deep, unreachable level. I looked down at Julia, because at that moment, I couldn’t look at the man I deeply loved.
“Rory, please. We’re going to have a great night with Connor and Ellery. Please, don’t be upset with me right now. I promise, you can punish me later.” He smiled as he reached over and lifted my chin with his finger.
He was right; we were going to have a great night with great friends and I didn’t want anything to ruin it. His issues were something that I was going to have to forget about for tonight and deal with later. I gave him a small smile as the elevator doors opened and Mason stepped out.
“There’s my princess. Come to Uncle Mason, sweetie.” He smiled as he walked over to me. “Hi, Rory, Ian. It’s good to see you.”