Page 57 of Ice Cold Hearts

I jab him in the side with my finger, making him laugh.

“Pipe down and let me finish,” I say in a pompous tone.

My heart lightens when he laughs again and pulls me closer.

“I want to do life with you. That means when you have a problem, I do too. There is no part of you that will ever be too much for me. I’m not afraid of your feelings, and I’ll do everything I can to prove it to you. All you have to do is let me in,” I plead.

“I’ll do my best.”

“That’s all I’ll ever ask.” I gather my courage for what I want to say next. “Who made you feel like this? If you feel comfortable telling me, that is.”

Ian rolls to his side, propping himself up on his elbow so we’re face to face. His face is tight and his usually bright hazel eyes are ditchwater-dull.

“You don’t have to tell me now,” I say quickly.

“No.” His voice is determined. “I need to do this. You’re the third woman the three of us have dated. Colleen was the first, and Rachel…” He takes a slow breath. “Rachel was the second. She was a pro at handling the media, and later, we found out how obsessed she was with the attention. Near the end of the relationship, Alexei found out she was tipping the paparazzi off to where we would be.”

My stomach twists in disgust. “Is that what ended things?”

Ian shakes his head. “Things ended when they found out the real reason I left the relationship. I let them think I was just tired of it, but it was because she sat me down and told me she was done with me. She…” His voice cracks. “She told me there was something wrong with me, that I felt too much and that I needed to be medicated or institutionalized because it was abnormal for men to feel things like I do. Alexei was livid, and I’d never seen Oliver look more furious in his life. They threw her out of the house the minute they found out. They never liked how dismissive of me she was or how annoyed she’d be when I got emotional, but they let me handle it on my own terms until then. Until I saw how upset they were when they were chucking her stuff out on the lawn, I didn’t know how much they cared.”

I’m buzzing with fury. “Out of curiosity, do you have her address? I have some eggs and toilet paper that need repurposing.”

He laughs then presses a soft kiss to my lips.

“You’re very sweet, but no need. I’d go through worse than that if I got you at the end,” Ian confesses.

I pull him to me for another kiss. Our tongues tease each other as we tangle ourselves together. His hand slides from my waist up to my breast. I moan as he pinches and teases my nipples. Ian moves his head down toward my neck, but before he can kiss me, he gives a gaping yawn.

I giggle and place a kiss on the tip of his nose. “You should get to bed.”

I start to stand, but he grabs my wrist. “Please stay with me. I don’t want to be alone tonight.”

His eyes are wide and pleading. Even if I had wanted to say no, I wouldn’t have been able to. How Rachel could have ever hurt such a gentle soul is beyond me. She must not have had a heart.

“I’m going to move the baby monitor closer and text the group chat so Alexei and Oliver know what’s going on, but I’ll be right back, okay?”

“Okay,” he says, burrowing under his covers.

Audrey’s still asleep, and neither of the guys respond, so I’m assuming they’re down for the count too. I rummage through his drawer for a shirt I can use as a nightgown and change into that.

Ian pulls me to him immediately and nuzzles into my neck.

“Emily,” he mutters, “it’s going to be so hard not to fall in love with you too soon.”

He starts snoring before I can respond.

I just hope he still loves me once he finds out who Audrey’s father is.

19

EMILY

My eyes flutter open as Ian trails open-mouthed kisses up my neck. I arch my back and my hips press into his hard length.

“Morning, Kitten.” He smiles against my neck. “Feeling rested?”

“Mm-hmm.” I press my ass harder against his hips.

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