Never Say Never: Gravel Hill Boys Book Two

37. Ian

I would’ve givenmy left nut to follow Madison to bed last night, but she was exhausted after the two orgasms I’d given her. And with that horse now out of the barn, I wouldn’t have been able to keep my hands off her.

After a long shower—not cold, because fuck that—where I’d jacked off to memories of that massage, I fell into bed only to wake in the early morning hours, raring to go but determined to keep my hands, as well as my mouth and my dick, to myself until Madison invited me to do otherwise.

As the city came to life, I went for a run, and on my way back, I stopped at a hardware store and then a breakfast café where I picked up an order of eggs benedict for her and shrimp and grits for me. The chef I hired came every other day to prepare lunch and dinner, while I took care of breakfast.

When I got back to her apartment, I peeked into Madison’s room. Still asleep, she was burrowed under the blankets, lying on her side, with her leg thrown over a pillow. I closed the door gently, then tucked the eggs benedict into the oven to keep warm. I gobbled down my breakfast before starting on my next project—babyproofing this apartment. All the glass, marble, chrome, and sharp edges gave me the heebie jeebies. The last thing I wanted was to see my kid crawling around in this space and bonk his head on that huge slab of marble Madison called a coffee table.

My sisters’ homes were a lot warmer and child-friendly, but Bridget went the extra mile when it came to making sure her kid was safe. Taking a page from her book, I emptied the bags I’d brought from the hardware store and got to work. If I could finish before Madison awoke, I’d be able to surprise her with not only her favorite breakfast, but a safe place for our baby to come home to.

I’d just finished when I heard her moving about upstairs. Since she was a neat freak—that was at least one thing we had in common—I put my babyproofing supplies back into the bag and stashed it in the front hall closet. Then, I took her eggs out of the warmer, set them on a tray and carried them up to her bedroom. She was coming out of her bathroom when I entered.

“Ian,” she said, color rising in her cheeks. She ran her hands over her belly, and I was filled with unfamiliar warmth.

“Morning, beautiful. How’d you sleep?”

She climbed back onto the bed. “Good. You?”

I couldn’t help but grin. “Probably not as good as you.”

Unable or unwilling to meet my eyes, she pulled the covers over her legs. I set the tray on her lap.

“You made eggs benedict?”

“I went out for a run and picked it up on my way back. You were still asleep when I returned, so I kept it in the warming oven. I’m hoping those eggs haven’t turned to rubber,” I teased. “If you don’t like them, I’ll make you something fresher.”

“You’d do that for me?” She finally met my gaze. “Why?”

Was she kidding? “Why? Because you’re not only growing our baby, you’re stuck on bedrest for now. As far as I’m concerned, you deserve breakfast in bed every day, hour-long foot rubs, and massages with happy endings.”

Her skin flushed a deeper shade of pink as she picked up the fork and poked around at the congealed hollandaise sauce atop her eggs.

“You also deserve lots of orgasms, and if you let me, I’ll make sure you get them every day.”

She sucked in a quick breath. “Ian.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Last night…last night was…”

Yeah, I was proud of myself. I was also turning myself on with all the orgasm talk. Since I was still in my tank and running shorts, I shifted to hide the growing rocket in my pants. Madison was already an unnatural shade of pink. A glimpse of my crotch right now might send her over the edge.

“Last night was awesome,” I finished for her. “Did you know that sex can help reduce your blood pressure? I mean, it’ll shoot up for a bit there with all the O’s, but then it levels out and drops. Orgasms also help reduce stress, leading to better sleep. It’s all good and I’m here for it.”

She stabbed the egg, breaking the yoke, and then stirred it into the hollandaise, although she’d yet to put a bite in her mouth.

“You’re a regular medical encyclopedia.”

Uh oh. Her tone had gone from wary to snarky. “I’ve just been reading about what’s happening to your body right now. And with your blood pressure being a concern, I’ve been looking into ways to reduce it.” I shrugged, feeling a little embarrassed. “No big deal.”

She dragged the fork through her eggs. Instead of eating, she was destroying them. “Exactly. No big deal.”

“What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong? Let’s see. I was about to tell you that what happened last night shouldn’t happen again, but since it meant nothing to you beyond a way for you to lower my blood pressure, I guess I don’t need to worry about it, right? It’s not like you’re into me or anything. In addition to playing doctor, I guess you’re a pharmacist too.”

“Pharmacist?”

“Yeah, you’re just filling a script. I need my blood pressure lowered, and you’re making sure it happens. A little unconventional, but hey, it worked right?” she snapped. “Look how calm I am.”

“Um…not exactly.”

“Let me be clear, Ian. From now on, all of my prescriptions will be filled at my local pharmacy. Your services are no longer required.”

“My services? What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“What do you think it means? I’m not some charity fuck for you to get off because you think you’re doing me some kind of favor.”

Rising from the bed, I glared down at her. “Excuse me, darlin’, but if I’d fucked you last night, you’d’ve known it. Besides, I’m not real big on charity, especially when it comes to fucking—or anything that may lead to fucking.”

“Lower your voice when you speak to me,” she hissed between gritted teeth. “This situation is bad enough without you broadcasting to the entire city what you did to me.”

I gaped at her. “What I did to you? What the hell did I do to you?”

The look she gave me said I should understand exactly what I’d done to her. I pointed to her belly. “Okay, besides that. What the hell happened between last night and this morning. Are your hormones out of whack? Things were good and now suddenly, you’re mad at me.”

Her eyes narrowed. “And why would I be mad at you, Ian?”

This morning had gone completely off the rails, and I needed to pull it back and tread lightly. “Honestly, I don’t know. I brought you breakfast in bed. I hired a chef to cook you healthy food. I’m doing everything I can to keep you relaxed and rested. I even babyproofed the living room, and this afternoon, I figured we could plan out the nursery so I can get started on it.”

She stopped playing with her food and given the way she was glaring at me, I half-expected her to toss it in my face.

Her brow furrowed. “What do you mean babyproofed the living room?”

“You’ve got all those sharp edges in there. I made sure the baby won’t get hurt when he starts to crawl around.”

“That’s ridiculous. It’ll be at least a year before I have to worry about that.”

“So?”

She lifted the tray off her legs and set it aside, then slid out of bed.

“Madison,” I scrambled after her as she darted out of the bedroom and stormed down the stairs. She came to a halt on the landing that looked over the living room

“Oh my god! Ian! What did you do?”

I pulled up behind her. “I told you. I babyproofed.”

“My furniture! You taped all that crap to my furniture! What is that? Bubble wrap?”

“Yeah, and duct tape. How else was I supposed to pad the corners?”

She rubbed her hands over her face. “This is unacceptable.”

“What do you mean it’s unacceptable? Do you have a better idea? I mean, personally, I’d get rid of all of this crap and go for something more kid-friendly. This shit’s dangerous.”

She whirled around on me. “What about your crap? Your house is a freaking museum. How are you planning to babyproof your treasures, huh? I can’t imagine you putting bubble wrap and duct tape on all those precious antiques of yours.”

I folded my arms over my chest. “I hadn’t really thought about it.”

“Ha!” she cried. “Well, you better. If you’re going to come in here and destroy my things, it’s only fair that you do the same to yours. And where are my objets d’art?”

I ran my tongue over the back of my teeth. “If you’re talking about those funny statues of yours, they’re bubble-wrapped and ready to be put in storage. And I haven’t thought about babyproofing my place because I didn’t think you’d ever let me take the baby home with me.”

The fight drained out of her as fast as it had spiked. She blinked up at me. “Ian.” Her voice had lost all of its sharpness. “I never thought… I mean…” She grabbed hold of the metal railing. “You’re right. Honestly, I can’t imagine handing over my baby and letting you go jetting back to Savannah, leaving me behind.” Her eyes filled. “I’m not sure I can do that.”

The last thing I’d wanted this morning was to piss her off or make her cry, and I’d done both. I slipped my arm around her shoulders and led her down the remaining stairs and over to the sofa. “We don’t have to talk about that now. We have a long time before we need to worry about it.”

“But you’re going to want to share custody, and since you’re the baby’s father, you’ll have every right to take her.” Her voice broke. “Or him. And I won’t have any choice but to let you.”

“C’mon, darlin’.” I sat down beside her and pulled her into my lap so I could wrap my arms around her.

“I’m going to be a terrible mother,” she sobbed. “You’re reading all these books. Worrying about how I’m eating and if I’m getting enough rest. Figuring out how big Little Satsuma is.” Her cries grew louder. “I didn’t even know what a satsuma was,” she wailed. “I had to look it up.”

I pulled her closer and placed a kiss on top of her head. “Don’t cry, baby, please. I had to look it up too. And the only reason I know all of this baby stuff is that my family had an intervention.”

She pulled back and looked up at me. Her beautiful eyes were wet and tears clung to her eyelashes, making her eyes bigger and bluer than ever. Her nose was red and her cheeks were pink, and despite all that, she was stunning.

“An intervention?” She sniffed. “Are you on drugs?”

I laughed. “No, no drugs. I’m just an everyday asshole who needed to be dropkicked into getting my priorities in order.” I kissed her nose. “Which is you. You’re what’s most important, and I needed a little come-to-Jesus-moment to see that. My family and my friends made sure I saw the light.”

“So they forced you to come here?”

“They didn’t. They just helped me see that it was time for me to grow up. I’m here because I want to be here. I swear. Even if you didn’t need the extra care right now, I’d still be here. Maybe not staying in your apartment, unless you wanted me to, but I’d be nearby. Going to your doctor appointments. Helping you get ready for the baby. Decorating the nursery.”

She sniffed again and more tears flowed down her cheeks. Without letting her go, I reached for a tissue from the box on the coffee table and dabbed at her eyes, then handed it to her so she could blow her nose.

The doorbell rang, and I checked my watch. It was probably Michal, the chef I’d hired.

“How about you finish your breakfast, and when you’re done, we can talk about the baby’s room and what you want to do in there. Okay? And if you don’t want those room temperature eggs, I’ll have Michal whip up something else. Okay?”

She sniffed. “Can I have quiche?”

I kissed her head again. “You can have anything your little heart desires.”

“With ham and spinach?”

“Absolutely.”

Michal bustled around the kitchen. Madison nibbled on berries and watched reality TV while awaiting her quiche. Exonerated, at least for now, I stepped into the shower. As I soaped up I thought about some of what had upset her earlier. My place in Savannah had taken years to curate, but it wasn’t safe for a baby either. And with all the gewgaws and doodads that could be swallowed by a baby crawling around, it might even be worse.

I hurried to finish, threw a towel around my waist, and called Bailey. “Hey, boss. What’s up?”

“I’ve got a project for you.”

“Shoot.”

“Grab a notebook and a for sale sign. There’s work to do.”