I looked at him, trying to figure out who he was, and then it came to me. “Ben? As in Ben Winston, Debate Club President and tech geek extraordinaire?”
“Yep, that’s me!” He laughed. “I knew you looked familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.”
Just as I gave him a hug and Connor gave me a dirty look, Cassidy walked in.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I thought you were alone, Connor,” she said.
“It’s okay, Cassidy. Come on in,” he said.
Cassidy walked over to me and gave me a hug. “Where’s my niece?”
“She’s at home with Mason. I would like you to meet Ben Winston. Ben, this is my sister-in-law, Cassidy.”
They lightly shook hands as I turned and looked at Connor. “You owe Ben an apology.”
“For what?” he asked.
“You know for what, Connor. That was rude and uncalled for.”
Connor took in a sharp breath and shook his head. “Ben, I apologize for being rude.”
“It’s okay, Mr. Black. If some dude was staring at my beautiful wife or girlfriend, I’d be upset too. Well, it was nice seeing you again, Ellery, and nice to meet you, Cassidy. Mr. Black, we’ll be in touch in a couple of days,” Ben said as he started to walk out of the office.
“Hold on. I’m leaving too. I’ll walk out with you.” Cassidy smiled.
“But, Cass—”
I walked over to Connor and put my hand over his mouth. “She thinks he’s hot. Let her go.”
“Seriously?” he mumbled.
I removed my hand from his mouth and kissed him softly. “Leave your sister alone.”
“I didn’t say anything,” he said.
“Not yet you didn’t. But you have that look.”
Connor looked at his watch. “Let’s get the hell out of here.” He smiled as he put his arm around me.
Chapter 12 Connor
We both climbed into the Range Rover, and I sat there with my hands on the wheel. I looked over at Ellery as she looked at herself in a small mirror. When she stopped looking at herself, she turned her eyes to me.
“What?” she asked.
“I can’t believe what Cassidy did in there.”
“Why? She saw a hot guy and she took advantage of the situation.”
“Oh, so you think he’s hot?”
“Yeah, he’s cute,” Ellery replied as she put on her lipstick.
“I bet you thought he was hot back in college too,” I said as I pulled out of the parking space.
“Are you jealous because I said he was hot, Mr. Black?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m not jealous.”
“Yes, you are. I can tell by that look on your face.” She smiled.
“I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”
“Okay, babe, but there’s no need for you to be jealous. You know I think you’re the sexiest man alive,” she said as she stroked my cheek and gave me a small smile.
I smiled and we drove home. Ellery became impatient with the traffic because she wanted to get back to Julia. We didn’t talk about the meeting, but I could tell Ellery was upset about it. I didn’t want her involved in this at all. If I had my way, she wouldn’t know anything. I only wanted to protect me and shield her from this bullshit. She didn’t deserve to have to go through this because of my past mistakes and poor judgment.
When we arrived at the penthouse and the elevator doors opened, Ellery threw her purse on the table and walked into the living room. Mason was sitting on the floor and had Julia under her play gym. I walked over to the bar and poured myself a scotch. I pulled out my phone and sent a text message to Cassidy.
“Why did you need to see me earlier?”
“I wanted your opinion on a color for the office I’m redoing.”
“Then you should have stuck around instead of chasing after that guy.”
“Lol, Connor. Tell Ellery I’ll call her later. Bye.”
I shook my head and set my phone down on the bar. I stared across the room at Ellery as she sat on the floor and played with Julia. She looked up at me with her beautiful eyes and a small smile graced her face. Mason got up from the floor and said that he needed to go. He picked Julia up, kissed her, and then kissed Ellery goodbye. I gave him a simple wave from across the room and told him to take care. When he left, Ellery came walking over to me with Julia. I took the baby from her, kissed her head, and held her in my arms.
“I want to talk to Mason about working for us as Julia’s nanny,” Ellery said.
“What? I thought you didn’t want a nanny for Julia.”
“I didn’t at first, but did you see how he was with her? He’s a natural, and Julia seems to really like him. Plus, it’s time for me to start painting again and, with the whole Ashlyn ordeal, I’m going to need help.”
I smiled as I pushed back a strand of her blonde hair. “I’m happy you’ve decided that you needed help, and I think Mason would be perfect.”
“Good. I’ll set up lunch and discuss it with him.” She smiled.
“I thought we were having dinner with him and Landon tonight.”
“Landon told Mason they’d have to take a rain check because they have some event with the modeling agency to attend tonight.”
“Grab Julia’s diaper bag and car seat. We’re going out to dinner,” I said.
“Good, then we need to stop at the store and pick up some diapers and formula,” she said as she walked away.
We put Julia in the Range Rover and drove to the restaurant. As we were eating, she decided she was hungry and started to scream. Ellery instantly took her from her seat as people in the restaurant started to stare. I grabbed a bottle from the diaper bag and handed it to Ellery as fast as I could. The second the bottle hit Julia’s mouth, she stopped crying. We both let out a sigh of relief. It didn’t last long, because when Ellery went to burp her, she screamed the minute the bottle came out of her mouth. This was an upscale restaurant and the patrons weren’t happy that their quiet dinner was being interrupted by a screaming baby. I gave Ellery a look indicating that she needed to do something.
“What do you want me to do, Connor?” she growled.
“I don’t know; don’t burp her.”
“She has to be burped.”
Suddenly, Ellery looked over at the couple that was sitting at the table next to us and staring. “What? Have you never heard a baby cry before? Turn yourselves around and mind your own business.”
“Ellery!” I snapped.
“You know what? I’m over this,” she said.
Ellery got up from the table and headed out of the restaurant. I sighed and called over the waitress for the bill. As soon as she gave it to me, I threw the money on the table and walked out after her. I found her walking down the street, carrying Julia over her shoulder. I quickly caught up with her.
“You know, that was inexcusable back there,” I said.
“I know it was, and I’m sorry,” she said as she kept walking.
I lightly took ahold of her arm. “Elle, stop and look at me. I love you, no matter how much you embarrass me.” I smiled. “It’s going to take time to adjust to having to go out with a new baby. We’ll make mistakes along the way, but we’ll get it right eventually.”
Ellery laughed when I said that. “Trial and error, right?”
“That’s right, baby, trial and error,” I said as I kissed her head.
She handed Julia to me and we walked back to the Range Rover. After we stopped at the store to pick up diapers and formula, we went home.
After we gave Julia a bath and changed her into her pajamas, I sat on the bed and fed her a bottle while Ellery took a shower. I stared down at her as she was looking up at me. She had the same eyes as Ellery, which made me melt. This little girl was going to be my undoing, and I had a feeling she was going to take advantage of it when she was older.