“Okay.”
I was surprised by how quickly he let the conversation go. Then again, I’d been surprised by how serious he was—by this whole conversation. It was like we’d entered an alternate dimension.
But just as soon as we entered, we were back out when Ian gave me his signature playful smirk.
“I was going to grab some breakfast, but I didn’t want to get myself something wrong to eat,” he deadpanned, making a joke about how I always tell him he picked the wrong thing to eat. “So, no pancakes for you.”
Biting back my smile, I rolled my eyes, letting the conversation go. “Ugh. I’d want eggs anyway.”
“Do you do it on purpose?” he asked, not even bothering to hide his disarming smile.
I did do it on purpose, sometimes. Ian and I bickered, and I knew he intentionally provoked me more often than not. I didn’t know why we continued, but it seemed natural. At first, we would argue about food or where to eat, both of us having been on our own for so long. But then it came with hidden smiles and mischievous looks, like some weird form of foreplay.
Or it felt like foreplay to me. Maybe he just liked to see me irritated. Maybe I was the only one who got heated and wanted to shut his mouth with my own.
“No,” I answered, shoving my thoughts down. “You’re just really bad at making decisions.”
His grin went from playful to victorious. “Then it’s a good thing I got eggs too.”
I shot him a glare, and he returned it with a wink before shuffling papers around. “What are you working on?” I asked to keep myself from running over to the kitchen and devouring the pancakes I’d never tell him sounded like heaven.
“Applications. I let Erik know there was no way I could take over the London office once it was complete.”
“Oh…” I’d been curious about that, but in all our meetings, we’d never addressed how they’d run the London office at the end of it. Ian was the main contact there and had spent a majority of the last six months overseas, but there had never been a decision made.
“Don’t act so shocked.”
“I’m not,” I fibbed. “I just know how much this project means to the both of you.”
“It still does. So, we need to find someone to train. I’ll have to travel frequently at first for set-up, but I won’t ever be there for long.”
He held my stare, letting me feel the sincerity of his words sink deep. It was his way of letting me know he wasn’t leaving me—that he didn’t want to. Warmth flooded my chest at his sacrifice. I knew how much his work meant to him, and he was choosing us over a project he’d been working almost a year on. When was the last time someone had given so much up for me?
The loud cry of our baby from the other room broke the moment, and I blinked out of my trance.
Before I could stand, Ian was already up. “I got her. Here,” he said, handing me a stack of applications. “Look these over and let me know what you think.”
Shocked, I blinked at his retreating back. Maybe because I always had to prove myself, it stunned me that he handed me these applications like he genuinely wanted my opinion on who to hire. A slow smile stretched my lips, and I ignored the way pride filled my heart and instead focused on the papers in front of me.
“Who’s the stinkiest baby in the whole wide world?” Ian said, coming back in the room. “You. Yes, you are. The prettiest, stinkiest baby there ever was. Mommy’s not allowed to have any more Chinese. No, she’s not.”
“Yeah, right,” I muttered.
He smiled and settled himself back on the couch, resting Audrey on his chest. My body froze as I took them in, just like it did every single time it happened. When would my body adjust to seeing this big playboy cradling our daughter? Probably never. Some ingrained gene that made me salivate at him being a protector to her. His big hands patted her back as he kissed her head, and I literally had to bite my lip to hold back the moan.
Jesus, Carina. Get a grip.
It had to be the hormones. My emotions had been all over the place, and Ian had taken each one in stride. The only one I’d managed to hide from him had been my deep arousal around him. I was like an animal in heat when he was near.
“How did you sleep?” he asked.
I swallowed the saliva building in my mouth and forced an answer past my tight throat. “Uh, pretty horrible actually. She was up for a couple hours between feedings last night.”
“Why didn’t you come get me?” he asked, genuinely shocked.