“That’s great news, Ellery.” Cassidy smiled.
“Baby, that’s wonderful. I don’t think you have five paintings done, do you?” Connor asked.
I looked down as the waitress set my club sandwich down in front of me. “No, I don’t. I need to start painting, and quick.”
“When’s the opening?” Cassidy asked.
As I gave her a perplexed look, I bit down on my bottom lip. “I don’t know. I was so excited, I forgot to ask.”
“I’m so happy for you.” Connor smiled as he leaned over and kissed me.
While eating our lunch, we talked about Camden’s party and then Cassidy had to go and say something she shouldn’t have.
“Ben’s coming to Camden’s party.”
Julia began to whine, so I reached over and took her from her stroller. I didn’t want to look at Connor because I knew he was going to be pissed.
“Don’t give me that look, Connor. I’ll have you know that he’s a very nice guy, and I like him. In fact, we’re going out tonight, with Camden.”
Connor leaned across the table. “You’re letting him into Camden’s life?”
“I like him and, from what I can tell, he likes me.”
“Does he know about Camden?”
“Of course he does! Do you think I would hide that from him?”
Putting my hand on Connor’s arm to try and diffuse the situation didn’t help. Cassidy stood up and threw some money on the table.
“I think I’d better leave before you or I say something we’ll regret. Ellery, I love you and we’ll talk later,” she said as she kissed me on the cheek.
She walked out of the restaurant, and I looked at Connor. “Are you happy now?”
Connor shook his head and rolled his eyes. “She had no reason to get upset like that,” he said.
By this point, Julia was tired and getting fussy. “I don’t want to talk about this now. I need to get Julia home for a nap.”
“Come here, baby girl,” Connor said as he took her from me. “You’ll never get mad at your daddy.”
“Just wait until she’s a teenager and wants nothing to do with you,” I said.
“Ellery, don’t say things like that,” he said with a shocked looked on his face.
I smiled as we got up from our seats and walked out of the restaurant.
Chapter 17
Connor
Denny was waiting for us outside the restaurant. Once we reached the limo, I handed Julia to Ellery and I folded up the stroller and put it in the trunk. Ellery buckled in Julia as I slid in and shut the door. When I looked over at her, she was staring at me.
“What?” I asked.
“What is your problem?”
“I don’t have a problem, Ellery.”
“Yes, you do, Connor. Why would you start about Ben?”
“I didn’t say anything about Ben. I simply asked if he knew about Camden. That’s all.”
“You gave Cassidy a look of disgust when she told you he was going to be at the party.”
“Listen, I love my sister and Camden very much. She needs to be careful of who she brings into Camden’s life.”
“Wait a minute,” Ellery said as she glared at me. “You’re afraid that Camden will push a guy away and break your sister’s heart.”
As I looked out the window, I couldn’t say anything. She was right. I only wanted Cassidy to be happy, but if Camden didn’t like someone or felt threatened, he could be a handful. I didn’t want my sister getting attached and then having her heart broken when the guy left because of him. Ellery reached over and grabbed my hand.
“Connor, I understand that you’re concerned for Cassidy. Trust me, I don’t want to see her or Camden get hurt either, but she’s a grown woman and is capable of making her own decisions.”
“I know she’s capable of making her own decisions, Ellery. I just don’t want her to get hurt. I’ve always protected her and Camden, and I’m not about to stop now because some guy wants a piece of ass.”
“Connor!” Ellery snapped. “I can’t believe you just said that.”
As Denny pulled into the parking garage, I opened the door and took out Julia’s car seat. Ellery grabbed the diaper bag and followed me into the elevator.
“I’m sorry I said that. Maybe I didn’t mean it. Hell, I don’t know what I meant. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what happens. But I promise you this: if he hurts her, he’ll have me to deal with.”
Ellery looked over at me and smiled. “Or me, and I’m not really sure which one of us is worse.”
“Oh, that would be you, my love.” I smiled as I stepped off the elevator.
Ellery slapped me on the ass for that comment, and I felt a twinge below. “You shouldn’t have done that, baby.”
“Calm down, Black. I have a baby’s diaper to change.”
While Ellery took Julia upstairs to change her diaper, I went into my office. A few moments later, Denny came in, shut the door, and sat down.
“Are you going to tell Ellery about Ashlyn?” he asked.
“I don’t feel like I have to. I’m keeping her in the loop about the trial and she seems content with that. I don’t want to upset her any more than she already is.”
“But you promised her no secrets, Connor, and this classifies as a secret.”
“She can’t focus on Ashlyn and the trial anymore. She’s going to be doing a showing at an art gallery in Chicago, and they need five paintings. She needs to focus on that without any distractions. Between painting and Julia, she’ll be too busy even to think about Ashlyn and the trial.”
Denny sat there and shook his head at me. “Will you ever learn?”
“Trust me. I know what I’m doing.”
“You know what you’re doing about what?” Ellery asked as she opened the door and stood there.
I had to think fast or she’d start asking a million questions. “Damn it, Ellery. You ruined the surprise,” I said.
Denny glared at me. I held out my arms for her and told her to come sit on my lap.
“Denny and I were just talking about your art studio.” I smiled.
A beautiful smile graced her face as she looked at me. “What art studio?”
As I glanced over at Denny. He rolled his eyes. “The one I’m building you so you can paint.”
Ellery threw her arms around my neck and hugged me. “Connor, I’m so excited! So tell me about this studio of mine!” she said excitedly.
“Yes, Connor, tell Ellery your plans for the studio,” Denny said smugly.
“We can discuss it later,” I said as I tapped her on the nose and shot Denny at look. “You’ll love it, but I have to finish something up. Please let me surprise you, baby.”
“Okay, but you know how impatient I am.”
“Yes, I know you are,” I said as I heard Julia cry.
Thank God for Julia, I thought to myself. Ellery got up from my lap and walked out of the office. Denny got up from his chair and shook his head. “You better get moving on those plans for that art studio you just promised her.”
“I’m going to do that right now,” I sighed.
I pulled out my phone and dialed Paul. It went to voicemail, so I left a message for him to call me back right away. He could locate a place for Ellery’s art studio.
***
As I walked out of my office and passed the living room, I noticed Ellery sound asleep on the couch. I grabbed a blanket from the closet and gently covered her with it. I needed a scotch, so I walked over to the bar and poured myself one. The smoothness going down the back of my throat soothed me, as did the sight of my sleeping wife. My eyes gazed at her as my mind was punishing me for keeping something from her. A few moments later, she opened her eyes and looked at me from across the room.
“How long have I been sleeping?”
“I’m not sure. You were asleep when I came out of my office,” I said as I walked over to her, sat down on the edge of the couch, and pushed a few strands of hair from
her face.
When she sat up, she took the glass from my hand and took a sip. As always, she made the same face when she drank it.
“Why do you take a sip when you don’t like Scotch?”
“I was thirsty.” She smiled.
I leaned closer towards her and brushed her lips with mine. Her lips responded seductively as she hardened our kiss. Just as I laid her back and hovered over her, kissing her passionately, my phone rang. Taking in a sharp breath as I broke our kiss, I pulled my phone from my pocket and saw that Paul was calling.
“Baby, we have to continue this later. I have to take this; it’s Paul.”
“It’s all right. Go ahead and take your call. I’ll go check on Julia.”
“Hey, Paul,” I answered as I walked into my office and shut the door. “I need you to find me a space that I can convert into an art studio for Ellery.”
“I’ll get on that right away, Connor. Do you have a certain area in mind?”
“Somewhere close to the penthouse. I think she’ll like it better if she’s close to home.”
“Got it. I’ll call you when I locate something.”
I had a good feeling about this art studio. It was something that I should’ve done a long time ago, but with Ellery’s illness, the wedding, and now Julia, she didn’t really paint too much, and I didn’t give it any thought. Perfection was what I needed the studio to be. It needed to be a distraction from the daily grind of the trial.
Chapter 18
Ellery
As I picked up Julia from the changing table, my phone started to ring. I held her up over my shoulder and walked over to take it from where it was sitting on her dresser.
“Hi, Peyton.”
“Hey, Elle. I thought we were going to see that bitch in jail.”
“We are. The day we talked about it was visiting day, so now we have to wait until next week.”
“Oh okay. I was just wondering because you were really adamant about going and then you never mentioned it again. I thought that maybe you’d changed your mind. Actually, I was hoping you’d changed your mind.”
“No, Peyton, I haven’t changed my mind.”
“Okie dokie, Elle. What are you doing?”
“Staring at my sexy husband as he’s standing in the doorway. I’ll call you later.”
As I hit the end button, Connor walked over, took Julia, and sat in the rocking chair. My greatest love was watching my husband with his daughter. I took the new clothes I bought for Julia and hung them in the closet. My stomach tied itself in knots when Connor asked me a question.
“What haven’t you changed your mind about?”
I stood facing the inside of the closet as I hung up the clothes one by one. My skin started to feel fiery and nerves set in. I needed to think of something fast.
“What?” I innocently asked.
“I heard you say to Peyton that you haven’t changed your mind.”
“Oh, that. It was about going with her next week to look at flowers for the wedding.”
“Why would she think that you’d change your mind?”
“She didn’t. She was just making sure that I didn’t change my mind,” I said as I looked at him in confusion.
“Shouldn’t Henry be going with her?” he asked.
“Did you go with me, Mr. Black?”
“Good point.” He smiled.
Emerging from the rocking chair, he took Julia downstairs and put her in her swing. I followed behind as I let out a sigh of relief. If he ever found out that I was going to see Ashlyn, I didn’t know what he’d do.
I picked up toys around the living room and put them in a basket, then walked to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. Connor came from behind and wrapped his strong arms around me, taking in my scent as his hot breath traveled down my neck. As I put my hands on his arms and tilted my head to the side, his lips began their journey across my skin.
“I wish Mason was here right now to take Julia for a while so I could fuck you on this kitchen counter.”
“We don’t need Mason. You can still do it. Julia’s being good in her swing. We may not have a lot of time, but we can certainly try.”
A low growl developed in the back of his throat as he reached his hand between my thighs and started cupping me below. I quickly turned around to face him. He picked me up and set me on the counter while his hands made their way up my shirt and to my breasts. I brought my hands to his head and ran my fingers through his hair. Our mouths devoured each other. Suddenly, we heard someone clear their throat. I jumped, and Connor looked across the kitchen.
“Am I interrupting something?” Denny asked as he walked to the refrigerator.
“Damn it, Denny.”
“Relax, Connor. Julia would have made sure you two didn’t get any further.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at his comment as I got off the counter and straightened my shirt. Just as I was about to say something, my phone rang. I looked over to where it was sitting.
“It’s a call from Chicago. I bet it’s Sal’s brother. I’ll be right back,” I said as I walked out of the kitchen.
“Hello.”
“Ellery?” a male voice spoke.
“Yes, this is Ellery.”
“Hi, this is Vinnie, Sal’s brother. He said he was going to call you about my art gallery showing here in Chicago.”
“Yes, Vinnie, Sal did call me, and I’m very interested in doing a showing.”
“That’s great, Ellery. I’ve seen your work and I think you’re an amazing painter. Is there any way you can fly out to Chicago and we can meet for dinner to discuss the opening?”
“Sure. When would you like to meet?”
“The sooner, the better. That way, you can get a feel for what I’m expecting.”
“I can probably fly out tomorrow,” I said.
“That’ll be great. Call me or send me a text to confirm, and I’ll make reservations for dinner. I look forward to meeting you, Ellery.”
“Thank you, Vinnie. I’ll be in touch.”
Excitedly, I walked back to the kitchen, where Denny was holding Julia and Connor was sitting across from him.
“Well?” Connor asked.
“I’m flying to Chicago tomorrow to have dinner with Vinnie. So make sure the plane’s ready.”
“Yes, ma’am!” Connor smiled. “I’ll clear my schedule for tomorrow and fly with you.”
“You don’t have to go, Connor. I know how busy you are.”
“You’re not going alone, end of discussion, Ellery,” he said in a serious tone.
I looked over at Denny as he raised his eyebrows at me. When I slowly walked over to where Connor sat, he looked up from his phone at me.
“What?”
“I love you, but if you ever take that tone with me again, I will hurt you. Do you understand?”
The corners of his mouth curved up into a sinister smile. “Then I’ll make sure to use that tone more often, especially in the bedroom.”
“Or in the kitchen, if that’s what you prefer,” Denny chimed in.
I couldn’t help but laugh as I walked over and kissed Denny on the cheek.
***
After having the best sex with Connor, first in bed and then again in the shower, we packed a light bag, grabbed the diaper bag, put Julia in her car seat, and headed to Mason’s loft to pick him up. Opening the door, he slid into the seat across from us and sat down next to Julia.
“Hello, princess! We’re going to have so much fun in Chicago. Uncle Mason is going to take you to the American Girl store.”
“Don’t you think she’s a little young for that?” Connor asked.
“Bite your tongue! You’re never too young for those beautiful and fun dolls.”
Once we arrived at the airport, we boarded Connor’s plane and headed to Chicago. Upon arriving in the Windy City, we checked ourselves into the Trump Towers and headed to our rooms. Connor handed Mason a key to his own room. Mason looked at him in confusion.
&nb
sp; “I have my own room? Aren’t nannies supposed to stay with the couple and their child?”
“You have your own room where you can hang out with Julia when we need you to. Your bar is fully stocked with the best liquor, so please enjoy. But not while Julia’s with you.”
“Have I told you how much I love you?” Mason winked at him.
Stepping into the suite, I threw myself on the luxurious king-sized bed. Connor asked Mason to take Julia to his room while we got ready for dinner.
“Dinner isn’t for a few hours,” I said.
Connor walked towards the bed, unbuttoning his shirt. He slid it off and laid it across the chair. I stared at his sexy, ripped abs and shivers ran across my skin. He climbed on the bed and hovered over me while he gazed into my eyes.
“I want to make love to you, Ellery Black; right here and right now. I want to touch and feel every inch of your bare skin, and I want to feel your excitement all over me. Then I want to take you into the bathtub and soap up your naked body while making love to you again.”
I gasped. His effect on me was riveting, and I was already wet just from his words. He always made me feel like I was the only woman on Earth, and his constant hunger for me made my body tremble. I stared into his mesmerizing eyes as he slid his hand down my yoga pants, not stopping until he felt how aroused I was.
“God, you’re so wet, baby,” he moaned as dipped his finger inside me.
I arched my back and threw back my head, begging for more as he ripped off my pants and tossed them on the floor.
***
While I freshened up my makeup and fixed my hair, Connor went and brought Julia and Mason back to the room. Mason walked into the bathroom and looked at me.
“Look at your glowing face, Miss Ellery. You must’ve had amazing sex.”
I didn’t turn around. I looked at him through the mirror and smiled.
“I knew it!” he exclaimed.
“Oh, stop it. You knew we were going to when he had you take Julia to your room.”
Mason took a few steps forward and leaned in closer to me. “Just tell me one thing: is he as amazing in bed as he looks like he’d be?”