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The familiar smell of hay greeted him before he even hit the entrance. As soon as he crossed the threshold, Ian spotted Nash cleaning out a stall.
“Morning,” Ian greeted him.
Nash nodded a good-morning and continued raking old hay. “Cassie isn’t here yet,” he said without looking up.
Ian grinned. Apparently he and Cassie weren’t very discreet...not that they’d tried to be, but they also hadn’t been blatant about their relationship, either.
“Hey, Ian.”
He turned to see Tessa striding into the stables, all smiles with her hair pulled back.
“Congrats on the win.” Ian couldn’t help but offer a quick hug with a pat on her back. “That was one intense race.”
Tessa laughed. “You should’ve seen it from my point of view.”
Her eyes darted to Nash, then back to Ian. “What brings you out this early?”
Ian shrugged, sliding his hands into his pockets. “Just looking for Cassie.”
Tessa’s grin went into that all-knowing mode as she quirked a brow. “She actually was up most of the night with Emily. Poor baby is teething and nobody is getting any sleep.”
“But Cassie has to be exhausted. You just got back late last night,” he argued, realizing he was stating nothing new to Tessa.
Shrugging, Tessa sighed. “I know. I offered to take Emily for the night, but Cassie wouldn’t hear of it.”
Probably because the last time Cassie had been without her child, she had been locked in the attic with him.
“She’s spreading herself too thin,” Ian muttered.
Nash walked around them and pulled a bale of hay from the stack against the wall, then moved back into the stall. Ian shifted closer to the doorway to get out of the quiet groom’s way.
“Follow me,” Tessa said with a nod.
Intrigued, Ian fell into step behind the famous jockey. She stopped just outside the stables, but away from where Nash could overhear.
“This isn’t where you tell me if I hurt your sister you’ll kill me, is it?” he asked with a smile.
Tessa laughed and shook her head, eyes sparkling with amusement. “You’re smart enough to know that goes without saying. I wanted to discuss something else, actually.”
“And what’s that?”
“Did Cassie ever tell you about the little getaway she and Grant came up with for me? Grant felt I was pushing myself too hard, never taking time for myself to regroup and recharge.”
Ian grinned. “Must run in the family.”
“Yeah, we Barringtons are all made of the same stubborn stuff.”
Ian had no doubt the almighty Damon Barrington had instilled all his work ethic into his girls and that hard work and determination were paying off in spades.
“I’d like to return the favor,” Tessa went on. “Are you up for taking a few days away from here?”
Was he? Did he want to leave Lily when they were still negotiating a contract? He didn’t mind leaving Max. The actor could handle anything and Ian was very confident with their working relationship.
It was Lily that worried him. But he couldn’t be in her face all the time. He’d spoken with her a few times since their dinner meeting. She’d promised a decision once she realized which agency would offer her the most and which one she’d feel most at home with.
He had to believe she’d see that his company was hands down the front-runner.
And a few days away with Cassie? He had deals and meetings to get back to, but after days without her, how could he not want to jump at that chance?
“Should I take that smile to mean you’re going to take me up on this offer?”
Ian nodded. “I think I will. What did you have in mind?”
Fourteen
How long could a baby be angry and how many teeth would be popping through?
Cassie had just collapsed onto the couch for the first time all day when someone knocked on her door. She threw a glance to Emily, who was playing on the floor and crawling from toy to toy...content for now.
Stepping over plush toys and blankets, Cassie opened the door and froze. Ian stood on her porch looking as handsome as ever, sporting aviator sunglasses and a navy T-shirt pulled taut across his wide shoulders and tucked into dark jeans.
She didn’t need to look down at her own outfit to know she was just a step above homeless chic with her mismatched lounge pants with margarita glasses on them and her oversize T-shirt with a giant smiley face in the middle.
And her hair? She’d pulled it up into a ponytail for bed and hadn’t touched it since. Half was falling around her face; the other half was in a nest on the side of her head.
Yeah, she exuded sex appeal.
“Um...are you going to invite me in?”
