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This getaway was exactly what she needed. Coming off the win at the Preakness and rolling right into a special weekend had Cassie realizing that her life was pretty near perfect right now. For this moment, she would relish the fact that Ian had to care for her on some deep level...possibly even love her. If he only had feelings of lust, he wouldn’t have brought her to his home, wouldn’t have invited a teething, sometimes cranky kid, and he certainly wouldn’t be playing in the water with Emily like a proud daddy.
Cassie hated to place all her hope, all her heart, on one man...but how could she not, when he’d captured her heart the instant they’d been intimate in that attic?
Not wanting to miss out on a single moment, Cassie jumped into the ocean, reached beneath the water and pinched Ian on the butt.
The grin he threw over his shoulder at her told her she was in for a fun night.
* * *
Rocking a now peaceful baby had Ian truly wishing for so much. He’d convinced Cassie that he could put Emily to bed. He figured the little one was so tired from the day of playing in the ocean and taking a stroller ride around his neighborhood that she’d fall fast asleep.
She’d been fussy at first and Cassie had shown Ian how to rub some numbing ointment onto Emily’s gums. He’d given Emily a bottle, even burped her, and rocked her until her sweet breath evened out.
He glanced down to the puckered lips, the pink cheeks from the sun—even though they’d slathered her with sunscreen—and smiled. Was it any wonder Cassie worked herself to death? How could a parent not want to sacrifice herself to make such an innocent child happy?
Cassie worked so hard with her sister, worked harder in the stables caring for horses, and she busted her butt to make a secure life and happy home for Emily...all without a husband.
Oh, she’d be ticked if she knew he worried about her not having someone in her life to help her. Granted, she had her father, Tessa and Linda, but whom did she have at night? Who helped her at home?
God help him, but Ian wanted to be that man. The weight of a sleeping baby in his arms, the sweet smell of her skin after her bath and the thought that this innocent child had complete and total trust in him were truly humbling.
Once he knew she was asleep, Ian eased from the rocking chair and laid Emily into the new crib, complete with pink-and-white-striped sheets. When he stood up, she stirred a little, but she settled right in.
A sigh of relief escaped Ian. He’d mastered numerous multimillion-dollar movie deals, he rubbed elbows with A-list actors and he’d managed to start his own agency at the age of twenty-four. But putting a child to sleep all by himself felt like quite an accomplishment.
He glanced at the monitor beside the crib and made sure it was on before he stepped out into the hall and quietly shut the door behind him.
He barely managed not to jump when he noticed Cassie across the hall, leaning against the doorway to his bedroom.
“You did it,” she said with a wide smile. “I’m impressed.”
All thoughts fled his mind as he took in the muted glow that surrounded her from the small lamp in his room. Her long red curls slid around her shoulders, lying against the stark white silk robe she wore—and what she wasn’t wearing beneath. The V in the front plunged so deep, the swells of her breasts begged for his touch.
“I like your pajamas,” he told her, crossing the hallway and immediately going to the belt on her robe. “Reminds me of something...”
Cassie lifted her arms to wrap around his neck. “What’s that?”
“The fact I haven’t seen you naked in several days.”
She shifted, allowing the material to slide from her shoulders and puddle at her feet. Ian’s hands roamed over the soft, lush curves he’d come to love and crave.
“You feel so good,” he groaned as he trailed his lips from her jawline down the smooth column of her neck. “So perfect.”
When she trembled beneath his touch, Ian cupped her behind and pulled her flush against his body. Nothing had ever felt so right. Every time Cassie was in his arms, contentment settled deeper and deeper into his heart.
She undressed him rapidly, matching his own frenzy. Ian had brought other women to his home. Not many, but a few. Yet he knew the second he laid Cassie beneath him and looked down into her blue eyes...he never wanted another woman in this bed.
* * *
He knew she wasn’t asleep. The full moon shone through the wide expanse of windows across the room from the king-size bed and directly across their tangled bodies.
Cassie’s breathing wasn’t even and he’d felt the soft flutter of her lashes against his arm. Whatever thoughts consumed her mind, they were keeping her awake.
