Four hours later, while Faith was still watching Hannah, I sat in a coffee shop downtown, a hot cup of caffeine in one hand, and a small, thick envelope in the other.
I didn’t have to wait long. Mom walked in five minutes before the time we’d agreed to.
She sat across from me and tapped her long, red nails on the table. “I don’t even warrant a trip to see your new house? Or Hannah?”
“Like you give a flying fuck about Hannah or anyone else.”
Her eyes narrowed, and I cursed my temper. I had to play nice for the next ten minutes.
“Do you have it?” I asked.
“Do you?” She countered.
I stared her down.
She finally sighed, taking the paper out of her purse and smoothing it’s folded edges on the table. “Here you go. It says I will never claim Hannah, or pursue custody, and that I terminate any grandparent rights. But it makes me sound old...grandparent rights.”
She hadn’t even done well with the parental ones.
“And it’s signed?”
“Not yet.” She motioned toward the envelope.
I lifted the flap, showing her the edge of the stack of bills inside.
She licked her damn lips.
“I’ll need a pen.”
“I can help you with that,” Lewis Martin said, turning from the table next to us to provide a pen for her. The notary had come highly recommended by my lawyer for his...discretion.
She took the pen and scrawled her name across the bottom of the paper. Had it been that easy for her to sign us away? I’d recovered, but Jess…
“ID?” Lewis asked.
Mom showed him her driver’s license, and he copied down some information. Then he stamped the paper, signed and handed it to me.
My mom would never touch Hannah. Ever.
I folded the paper and put it in my jacket pocket, zipping it in to keep it secure.
“Thank you, Lewis,” I said, and the man took his leave.
“Give it to me.”
I pushed the envelope over ,and she quickly put it under the table, thumbing through the bills.
“It’s all here?”
“All hundred grand? Yes. I guess that’s the going rate for five-year old girls, huh?” I spat back, unable to be nice any longer. “Or just the ones with the Bridgerton name?”
She shot me a look. “You always were an asshole. Your sister was so much easier.”
“And look where that got her...and Hannah.”
She rolled her eyes and stood up. “Nice doing business with you.”
“This a one-time deal, Mom. Never again.”
“Uh huh.”
“If you see Jess, tell her she’ll get the same deal. I just want what’s best for Hannah.”
Without another word or even a goodbye, she turned and walked out.
I sagged in my seat, closing my eyes for a second and absorbing the win, even if it was a moral loss.
I’d do what I had to in order to protect Hannah.
“Hey, what are you doing here, gorgeous?”
My eyes snapped open to see Ivy looking down at me, a hot cup of coffee in her hand.
“Whoa. Hey, babe.”
She stroked her hand down my cheek. “You look like you’ve been battling ghosts or aliens or something. Everything okay?”
She had no clue just how close she was to the mark.
“Just taking care of some business. I’ll tell you about it at my place tonight. If you’ll join us for dinner, that is.”
Her smile was radiant, warming me from the inside out.
“I’d love to.”
“I’d love you to keep that on, so I can take it off.” I took in the pencil skirt and tucked-in white collared shirt she wore with her polka dot heels. It was retro hot, and I could think of nothing else besides getting my hands up her skirt.
She bent down and kissed me, too deep for public and too chaste for what I wanted—craved when it came to her.
“I have some work to do with Zach, but I’ll be over as soon as I’m done for the day.”
I stood and kissed her again. “Deal.”
“Don’t look at my ass as I walk away,” she threw over her shoulder as she made her way across the coffee shop.
“No deal!” I answered with a laugh until I saw where she sat.
Zach was here, sitting at a table against the wall.
I waved, and he returned the gesture. God, I hated that guy.
But I sure as hell wasn’t going to let him ruin my day.
I had my mom in my past and Ivy in my future.
That was more than enough
I checked my watch as I walked in the door. There was still an hour before I had to get Hannah, and Ivy’s car was in the driveway.
Man, I loved it when her car was in the driveway.
I set down the bag from the obnoxiously overpriced craft store I’d been directed to for Hannah’s art class supplies, and listened carefully.
Yep. There was music coming from somewhere.
I followed the sound, making my way down the stairs into the walk-out basement. It was coming from the exercise room.
Opening the door softly, I saw Ivy in yoga pants and a sports bra with her ass in the air.
Ariana Grande played through the speakers, and given the view, I had to agree with the singer—God was definitely a woman.
“That might be the best view I’ve had all day,” I said loud enough to make her aware I was there, but not too loud to startle her.
She looked back through her arms at me. “Well, hi there. Just doing a little yoga, if you don’t mind?”
“I definitely don’t mind. My workout room is your yoga studio anytime you want.” I made my way to the weight bench and sat down to enjoy the show.
Fuck, she was hot. Her ass was toned and round—and when she shifted her pose—right in my face.
“Damn, Ivy. This might be the hottest workout I’ve ever seen.”
“Awh, am I getting you worked up over there?” she teased, sliding into something that looked like she shouldn’t bend that way.
“Yes,” I answered honestly. There was no reason lying about it. The woman was sex incarnite.
“Well...that’s a shame...because I’m pretty focused here,” she said with a wink, challenging me.
Challenge accepted.
She changed her pose again, her ass sliding up...and right into my hands.
Without preamble, I slipped her yoga pants and panties right over the plump curve of her ass, and set my mouth on her pussy.
Her gasp quickly turned to moans as I worked her over, using my tongue, my lips, and my teeth to bring her quickly, sharply to the edge. I gripped her hips in my hands so she wouldn’t fall, and used her position to my full advantage, taking away any ounce of control she had and simply lavishing pleasure on her.
“Fuck. Connor. I. How do you do. God!” She cried out when I swirled my tongue inside her and then went right back to sucking her clit.
“Turn your head,” I said against her slick folds. “Watch what I’m doing to you.”
I waited until she met my eyes in the mirror, and then I turned back to my prize, and went at her like a starving man.
“Oh. My. God. That’s...holy shit,” she moaned.
Her body tensed in my hands, and I bit lightly on her clit as she came, bucking and screaming my name. All while watching me in the mirror.
As she came back down, she turned incredulous eyes on me. “You get me there so fucking fast. It’s like it’s out of my hands.”
“Right, because you’re in my mouth,” I answered, sitting back on the weight bench.
She stripped me and straddled me. “Let’s see how I take it out of your hands.”
She slid down slowly, taking me inside her tight heat inch by inch. Pleasure exploded behind my eyes. How the hell did this just get better? Every time was closer to heaven.
“Now you watch me,” she whispered once I was in her to the hilt, biting my ear
lightly.
I turned my head to see us in the mirror, her soft, supple curves riding the chiseled lines of my body. “Damn, you’re beautiful,” I told her.
“Just watch me fuck you,” she ordered, and then began doing so.
I met her thrust for thrust, and when she came again, I flipped her so her back was on the bench and kept going, pushing hard and fast for the last few thrusts until I came so hard I saw the fucking planets.
“Wow,” she said. “Just. Wow.”
“I always knew these mirrors had potential,” I said with a grin, kissing her again just because I could.
“Yeah, they sure know how to ruin a girl’s workout.” She laughed. “Or maybe given my heartrate, they sure know how to add to a girl’s workout.”
I’d add to her workout anytime she wanted.
Chapter 15
Ivy
“Whoa,” Hannah said, dragging out the word as her eyes trailed up and up and up until her head angled straight toward the sky. “That is huge.”
“You excited?” I asked, squeezing her hand, her other occupied holding Connor’s.
“Yes!” She bounced between us as we walked along Pier 57, heading toward the giant Ferris wheel.
The air was cool for late May, a wonderfully chill overcast day with no rain. A perfect day for an outing, especially since it was the only one this week Connor had already had his morning skate, and I didn’t have a celebrity event to attend either.
“We’re in luck,” Connor said, his smile easy and effortless as he watched Hannah beam. “Not a long line.”
That much was true, only a handful of people waited for the ride, and Connor was handing the operator our tickets after a short ten-minute wait.
Hannah’s bouncing stopped as we were ushered into our own personal cabin—Connor springing for the elite tickets that would allow us this special day with Hannah completely solo. Her breaths grew short, her eyes wide as saucers as the door was properly sealed behind us. She tightened her grip on my hand as she gazed down at the glass floor beneath our feet.
I knelt to her level, tipping her chin up. “We don’t have to do this,” I said. “If you’re uncomfortable say the word and we’ll get out right now.”
She chewed on her lip, shifting from one pink-glitter-shoe to the other. “No,” she said, determined. “I’m excited. Scared, too, but you’re here. And Uncle Connor. So, I’m safe.”
My eyes flashed up to Connor’s like I could feel the tug on his heartstrings at her declaration. Such a small thing, one I knew I took for granted—to feel safe with someone. Something sank in my stomach, knowing Hannah hadn’t always felt safe. Hadn’t always felt the security of a stable family, of a constant in her life, until recently.
I wrapped my arms around her as the cabin started to climb. “You’re always safe with me,” I said. “With us,” I amended, glancing up and over her shoulder.
Connor’s dark eyes churned as they locked with mine—a magnetic, electric look that melted my insides while filling my chest with something so powerful I trembled. The moment was pure sunshine on a gray-sky day. A warm breeze in the summer. A sweet treat on an otherwise normal day.
Love. This is what loving someone is like.
I released Hannah as we shuffled to the leather seats in the cabin. The tension in her little shoulders was gone, the breath in her lungs easy and smooth—the result of trusting two people so completely there was no longer a thing to fear.
The realization was enough to spread icy-fear through my blood. What would happen to her if I ruined things between me and Connor? Not that we’d defined what we were or that I’d managed the courage to tell him how I really felt.
Dangerous.
What Connor and I had done—were doing. Giving into our wild passions was one thing, but lately, we’d behaved as a couple would, like Eric and Pepper would. Dates and late night conversations, whispered
secrets, and dreams and shared moments where I’d never been so vulnerable with someone in my entire life. Never trusted a man so completely as I did Connor.
And never once had it occurred to me that a bad fallout would result in pain for Hannah.
If we didn’t work, if he didn’t love me like I loved him, would I be strong enough to go back to the way things were before? Could I go back to hissing at him, glaring at him, fighting with him as I remained in Hannah’s life? Because she was the last person in the world I wanted to hurt, with Connor coming in a close second.
“Ivy!” Hannah squealed, pointing to the side of the glass cabin and thankfully drawing me out of my thoughts. “Did you see that splash? You think it was a whale?”
I followed her aim, smiling as we all looked out to the water that stretched to the horizon. The waves were a calm blue against the slate-gray sky.
“Could be,” Connor said.
“Or,” I said, grinning as I leaned closer to Hannah. “It could’ve been a narwhal.”
She gasped. “You think?”
I nodded. “They love to sneak out on gloomy days like this.”
Connor chuckled.
Hannah focused on the water with the intensity of a hawk. “That would be so cool!”
Connor tilted his head at me.
“Narwhals are loosely related to unicorns,” I explained.
“Oh,” he said. “I had no idea.”
“They have a horn,” Hannah said, not bothering to look at him. “How could you not know?”
“Yeah,” I said, laughing. “You need to stay on top of these things.”
The smile faltered on Connor’s lips, seriousness leaking into the light gaze he’d held seconds ago. He stood from his seat, slowly walking to the other side of the cabin as we ascended to the very top. Hannah stayed adamantly focused on the water, so I followed Connor.
“Hey,” I said, sliding my arm up his back. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think—”
“It’s fine.” He kept his eyes looking outward. “You’re not wrong. There are so many things I need to stay on top of and sometimes I worry I’ll never manage it all.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “My mother…”
“Is a class-A bitch,” I finished for him, making sure to whisper the last word. He finally looked at me, and I took a deep breath. “She is,” I continued, thinking of the scene I’d walked in on in the coffee shop, and Connor’s explanation of it later. “You are not her.”
Connor furrowed his brow. “Oh, I know that,” he said. “But my lifestyle..my past lifestyle. I didn’t exactly behave like a…dad,” he mouthed the last word.
“Because you weren’t,” I said, moving my hand to his coiled forearm as he gripped the cabin’s railing. It wasn’t because he was afraid of heights, hell I didn’t think the man was afraid of any physical entity. It was the mental demons that terrified him—the idea that he might not be good enough for Hannah or he might fail her. “No one can hold your past against you,” I said.
“Tell that to the blood-thirsty reporters who are dying for an excuse to dig out the skeletons in my closet.”
I jolted, the jab stinging true and fierce.
“Shit, Ivy,” he said when I’d dropped my hand. “I didn’t mean you.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me to him like I might run away in the enclosed cabin one-hundred and seventy-five feet in the air.
I shrugged.
“I know you’d never do something like that,” he continued.
“Only if the skeletons are meant to be laid bare,” I said, unable to lie to him.
“Wait, what?” He moved his hands to my hips, our bodies practically flush, and I trembled against him. “You’ve always said you want to be a positive change in your industry.”
“Yes,” I said. “That’s my dream. But I know some things, even dark things, need to be exposed for the greater good.”
He raised his brows, not following.
“For example,” I said. “When my editor brought to light that one of the industry’s most powerful players was a serial sexual assaulter.”
“Ah,” he said.
“That was dark business. Risky, too, but she had evidence, facts, victim reports, everything. Running that piece helped get him behind bars.”
“And spared future victims,” he said, nodding. A smile shaped his lips.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” I chuckled nervously.
“Because,” he said. “For all your talk of only watching Pepper’s superhero movies for the hot guys, you certainly are a hero yourself.”
I gaped at him, rolling my eyes. “You’re ridiculous.”
“I mean it,” he said. “You’ve got values and morals I’ve never seen. Especially when the easy route would be to walk the line your profession normally does. You’re incredible.”
I glanced down, my cheeks flaring. I wasn’t used to this.
Pepper was the smart one, the one people looked up to and marveled at because of her amazing brain. I was a shiny package with a knack for words and the ability to transform any event into a party.
“And,” he continued, forcing me to look at him. “You don’t let enough people see that side of you. Why is that?”
I parted my lips, the answer on the tip of my tongue.
I never let people close enough to burn me.
I burn them before they get the chance.
I love you, that’s why you’re different.
“A tail!” Hannah screamed, and I jolted in Connor’s embrace.
We both hurried to where she sat, bouncing in her seat and pointing toward the water again. “I saw a tail!”
“Good eyes!” I sank next to her. “You know it’s good luck if you spot one,” I said, winking at Connor who stood before us, not bothering with the immaculate view.
“Can I give it to someone else?” Hannah asked, suddenly serious.
“Why would you want to do that?” I asked.
She glanced at Connor. “Because,” she said. “I’m already so lucky. I don’t need anymore.” She returned her eyes to me. “Can I give it to Uncle Connor?”
I swallowed around the lump in my throat. “Sure you can.”
“Good,” she said, waving her arms toward him. “There. Now you have it, Uncle Connor! You’ll win the Cup for sure.”
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