“Have fun in New York, sis.”
“Take care, Stephen. I’ll see you next week.”
Ian took my hand and we walked out of Hudson Rock and straight to the limo where Joshua was waiting to take us to the airport. After we climbed in, Ian put his arm around me and pulled me into him.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
“I’m fine. Now let’s go to New York City!” I said excitedly.
Ian chuckled as he tightened his grip around me.
****
Ian unlocked the door to our room and when I walked inside, I gasped. As I stood there, I looked around the suite.
“Rory, are you okay?” he asked with concern.
“This room, it’s—”
“Welcome to The Trump, sweetheart.” He smiled.
It was the most amazing hotel room I’d ever been in. Not that I’d been in many. Ian took our bags into the bedroom and I followed behind, throwing myself on the luxurious king-sized bed. Ian smiled as he sat down next to me and stroked my hair.
“I’m happy you like the room.”
“I love the room. Would it be wrong if I never wanted to leave?”
“No, but this is New York City, sweetheart. We just can’t sit in the hotel room the whole time we’re here.” Ian chuckled. “This is what we’re going to do. We’re going to make love first and then we’re going to change and get ready for dinner. I want you to experience Jean Georges. It’s one of the restaurants here in the hotel and it’s one of my favorites.” He smiled as he leaned over and his lips brushed against mine.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him on top of me. “I love that idea.”
“I knew you would,” he said as he began unbuttoning my top.
After a session of crazy sex that pretty much destroyed the bed, Ian and I showered and got ready to go down to Jean Georges. As I was putting the finishing touches on my makeup, I heard Ian on the phone.
“Can you send up the maid to fix our bed? We’ll be leaving the room in about ten minutes. Thank you.”
“Ian!”
“What?” he asked.
“How embarrassing!”
“What’s embarrassing?”
“You having the maid come up here and fix the bed. She’s going to know what we did and how crazy it was. Look at it,” I said as I pointed to the bed.
Ian laughed and he wouldn’t stop. “Rory, this is a hotel. People f**k in hotels. Half the time, that’s why they come here. The staff is used to it and won’t give it a second thought.”
“Well, I don’t want to be here when she gets here.”
Ian walked over to me and wrapped his arms around me. “You’re too cute and you make me laugh. I love you, sweetheart.”
“I love you too,” I said as I kissed him and then walked over to the bed.
“What are you doing?” he asked as I picked up the sheet from the floor.
“I’m trying to make the bed more decent.”
“Rory, stop.” He chuckled as he grabbed my hand.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. “Maid service.”
“What the f**k! You told them ten minutes, Ian.”
Ian laughed and walked over to the door and opened it. The maid walked in and straight to the bedroom where I was standing. I was so humiliated at what she must’ve thought, I looked at her and said, “I’m sorry, so sorry.”
Ian sighed, grabbed my hand, and led me out of the hotel room. We walked down to the restaurant and were promptly seated. It was a beautiful restaurant and I was happy Ian wanted to eat here. As we were looking over the menu, a beautiful woman walked over to our table.
“Ian Braxton, how wonderful to see you.” She smiled.
Ian looked up at her and then at me. I could tell he was nervous. “Michelle, nice to see you,” he said as he got up and lightly kissed her cheek. “I want you to meet my girlfriend, Rory.”
She looked at me, lightly shook my hand, and then turned her attention to Ian. “Girlfriend, eh? Ian Braxton doesn’t do girlfriends. At least that’s what you told me,” she said.
“Things change, Michelle,” Ian said calmly.
“Things may, but people don’t.” She smiled as she looked at me. “Nice seeing you again, Ian,” she said as she walked away.
Suddenly, I was very uncomfortable. The waiter brought my cosmopolitan and I grabbed it from his hand before he had a chance to set it down on the table. I did more than take a sip.
“Rory, I can tell you’re pissed.”
“No. What gives you that idea?” I asked sarcastically. “One of your many women, I assume.”
Ian rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair. “Yes, I won’t lie to you.”
I nodded my head as I threw back my cosmo. “Okay. I guess it’s something I have to learn to deal with around the world.”
“Rory, that’s not fair.”
“No, what’s not fair is me having to be subjected to that every time we go out!” I snapped.
“It’s not like I hid who I was before I met you, so you can’t hold it against me.”
In a way, he was right, but now that he was mine to keep, seeing the other women and knowing he f**ked them in ways he probably would never f**k me burned the blood that ran through my veins. We ate our dinner in silence. It wasn’t until after the waiter gave Ian the bill that he decided to say something.
“You need to stop behaving like this.”
I took in a deep breath and looked at him. “I’m hurt and upset, Ian. I’m sorry if you think I’m behaving like a child. See, the thing is, you don’t ever have to worry about running into someone like that from my past because there’s only you.”
“Rory.”
I threw my napkin on the table, got up, and walked out of the restaurant. I walked out of the hotel and onto the busy streets of New York City. I didn’t care where I was going, I just needed some fresh air. Was I being ridiculous? I think so. This was all new to me. As I was walking, I felt someone grab my arm.
“You will never walk away from me. Do you understand?”
I stopped dead in my tracks and the people that were behind us ran right into us. I turned around and apologized to them.
“You will let go of my arm now!” I said through gritted teeth. “Or I will scream and make a scene.”
“Right. That I know you will do.” Ian sighed as he let go of my arm. “Talk to me, sweetheart.”