“I don’t know; maybe it’s Adalynn. Can you hand me my phone, please?”
Ian walked over to the dresser and picked it up. He looked at it and then stopped and stared at me.
“What? Who’s it from?”
“It’s from your friend, Jordyn. She’s wishing you a happy birthday. Is today your birthday, Rory?” he asked sternly.
I looked down at the sheet that I had covering my br**sts. “Yes.”
“For f**k’s sake, why didn’t you tell me?” he yelled.
He had no right to start yelling at me. I threw back the sheet and got out of bed. “What did you want me say, Ian? Hey, guess what, it’s my birthday! Let’s go celebrate my shit life,” I yelled back as I grabbed my thong from the floor and put it on.
“Yes, you should have told me!” he spat.
“Why? What difference would it have made? My birthday is nothing. It hasn’t been acknowledged since I was ten years old!” I hollered as I put my bra on.
Ian walked over and took a hold of my arm. He spun me around and pulled me into him. “It means something to me,” he whispered. “I’m sorry for yelling at you. It’s just that we spent this time together and to find out from a text that it’s your birthday, it upset me.”
I broke our embrace and placed my hand on his chest. “I’ve gotten used to my birthday being another ordinary day. It’s no big deal, Ian. So, please, drop it.”
“The hell I will. It’s your birthday and I always help my friends celebrate their birthdays. We’re going to celebrate tonight, okay?” He smiled as he ran his finger down my cheek.
His warm smile, his seductive eyes staring at me, and the simple touch of his finger on my skin made it impossible to refuse him. “Fine, we’ll celebrate tonight. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to finish getting ready.”
Ian smiled and turned to walk out of the room. “Oh, by the way,” I said. “Do you think that we could stop at the store on the way home so I can pick up an iPod for Stephen?”
“We sure can.” He winked.
I read my text message from Jordyn and responded.
“Thank you, and how did you know it was my birthday?”
“It’s on your application. When I saw the date, I put it in my calendar on my phone. Do you have plans today?”
“Actually, Ian and I are doing something.”
“That’s good. Ollie and I want to take you out to celebrate. How about tomorrow night?”
“Tomorrow night will work.”
“Great! We’ll figure something out and I’ll text you with the details.”
“Thank you, Jordyn.”
“Happy Birthday, Rory.”
When I finished getting dressed, I went up on deck to find Ian leaning over the railing and staring out into the ocean. He looked like he was in deep thought. I didn’t want to disturb him because something told me he didn’t want to be. Don’t ask me how I knew that. It was just a feeling I had. I went back downstairs and popped a bagel in the toaster. As I was in the refrigerator, getting the cream cheese, I felt strong arms wrap around my waist.
“Go sit down and let me get that for you. It’s your birthday, after all.”
“Ian, I can make a bagel.”
“It’s not a request, Rory; it’s a command.”
I rolled my eyes as he lifted me up and turned me around, away from the refrigerator. I went and sat down at the table.
“Jordyn and Ollie are taking me out tomorrow night to celebrate my birthday.”
“Is that so? Where are you going? Just a quiet dinner, perhaps?”
“I don’t know. She said she and Ollie will talk about it and she’ll text me with the details.”
“We’ll see,” Ian said.
That struck me as odd when he said that. What the hell did he mean by it? “What do you mean, ‘we’ll see’?” I asked.
He walked over to the table, set my bagel down in front of me, and kissed me on the head. “We’ll see. That’s what I mean.” He smiled as he walked away.
I sat there while I took a bite of my bagel. If he thought that he was stopping me from going out with my friends when he consistently did it, he had another thing coming. We weren’t in a relationship and he didn’t control me. I’d spent my life being controlled by people, and I wouldn’t ever let it happen again.
I heard Ian yell my name as I went up on deck. We had docked, and his crew was standing on the side of the dock, waiting for us. Ian grabbed my hand and led me off the boat and over to the limo. One of his crew members grabbed our bags and set them in the trunk, which Joshua already had open.
“Joshua, we need to make a stop at the Apple Store so Miss Sinclair can pick something up, and today’s her birthday.”
“Sure thing.” He smiled. “Happy Birthday, Rory.”
Smiling, I thanked him as we climbed into the limo. “I wish I could go with you to see Stephen, but I have some business things to take care of since I’ve been gone,” Ian said as he kissed my hand.
“It’s okay. Don’t worry about it.”
Joshua dropped us off in front of the Apple Store. Ian and I walked in and I picked out an iPod. Ian told the sales clerk just to put it on his account. I told him no and that I was paying for it. He shushed me and then grabbed my hand and hurried me out of the store before I caused a big scene. The minute the limo door shut, Ian crashed his mouth into mine.
“What was that for?” I smiled.
“You turned me on when you started arguing with me. I couldn’t get you out of that store fast enough. If you only knew the things I want to do to you right now,” he said.
I sort of had an idea and I was pretty sure it had to do with that room. He still hadn’t mentioned it to me. Now I was wondering, since we had sex, if he’d take me there.
We pulled up to the house and Ian and I went our separate ways. I went up to my room and downloaded a bunch of songs on Stephen’s iPod; a majority of them being classical music.
“Hey,” Ian said as he slowly opened the door and stepped inside the room.
“Hey. I just finished putting the music on here for Stephen.” I smiled.
“Come here.”
I pushed the laptop to the side and walked over to Ian and right into his arms. “Happy birthday, Rory,” he said as he hugged me.
He held my face in his hands and kissed me passionately. “I have to go now, but I’ll be back later. Say hi to Stephen for me.”