It's Our Time (Carolina Rebels 3)

I get out of the bed and close the door. “Hurry up. We have to be quick!” The last thing I want is her coming back in to find us both naked. Ian listens, thankfully, and we get dressed as quickly as possible.

Last night was amazing. Ian had to cover my mouth quite a few times to keep me quiet. You never realize how quiet the apartment is until you have a three-year-old sleeping in the bedroom next to yours and you’re having fantastic sex over and over that just begs you to be loud.

I want more, still. It doesn’t help that Ian is being all touchy-feely this morning. Trailing his fingers down my arm here. A kiss there. Standing close and smiling while we cook the birthday girl her breakfast. When Logan comes to sit with Savannah while we go shopping and then to swing by the airport—thank goodness Savannah woke up as early as she did—he gets worse. The moment we step outside of the apartment, he has me up against the wall, kissing me hard and long enough to leave me breathless before he’s pulling away and dragging me down the hallway.

“I know one thing I want to get her,” he says when we get to the mall. He has his hand in mind, that’s it, but I feel like our bodies are flush against one another for the heat traveling between us.

“What’s that?”

“A necklace. Maybe one with her birthstone? I don’t mean to copy what I’ve given you, so if I see something else that I like better, I’ll get that. Are you going to pierce her ears? I could save her birthstone for earrings?”

“I was going to wait until she was older to see if she wanted them pierced.”

He nods as he leads us into a jewelry store.

“Ian, this isn’t going to be cheap jewelry. I mean, don’t you want to buy something that won’t be expensive? She might lose it or break it or—”

“No,” he answers simply, cutting me off. He peers into a glass counter.

“But—”

“No, Sydney.” Ian looks at me. “You could lose it or break it, too. If you’re that worried, then tell her she can only wear it on special occasions or something. I’m not skimping out. Yeah, it might be crazy, but if she doesn’t lose it, then I want it to be nice enough to last.”

Okay. He’s really serious about this. There’s no way to talk him into buying something from somewhere else that won’t cost as much. I nod.

“You can look at engagement rings if you want.” It’s said casually as he assesses the necklaces. Is he serious? I don’t get a chance to say anything because an associate comes up and asks if we need help. “Yeah, what’s the smallest chain size you guys carry in here?”

“Fourteen inches, which is a size smaller than what’s considered a choker length for women.”

Ian glances at me. “That should fit her like a regular necklace then, right?”

The woman takes his attention. “Who are you shopping for?”

“Our three-year-old daughter.” Her eyes widen just slightly, but Ian misses it because he’s back to looking at possible pendants. “I don’t want it to be too long on her.”

“You could always try it and if you’d rather her have a smaller size, come in and order another. It’ll be good to keep the larger one for as she grows.”

I frown. I feel like she’s trying to make a sale rather than be genuinely helpful. It doesn’t help that she hasn’t acknowledged me yet. Her full attention has been on Ian the entire time.

“Silver or gold, babe?” he asks, giving me a quick glance.

“Her bracelet is gold, so if you wanted to keep doing that, you could. Which pendant are you thinking? It might go better with silver.”

“Now, the necklace you’ll buy will come with a twenty-inch chain already, so you’ll

be buying the smaller chain separately,” the woman pipes up.

“No problem,” Ian murmurs. He first points to a pendant that is stunning with the aquamarine birthstone sitting in the middle. I want to tell him no on instinct because the damn thing is surrounded by tiny diamonds. They may be small, but they are diamonds nonetheless. Then, he points to a heart design. Also diamonds. It’s beautiful, though. I’d want that necklace.

“What about this one for the birthstone one instead?” I point to another one that only has accents.

“Yeah. That one is better. But which one between the two?”

“How much are they?” I ask the woman, finally reading her name tag. Katie.

She reaches in to pull the two we pointed at and a moment later reveals that the birthstone necklace is under two hundred dollars, but the heart necklace? A little over a thousand. A thousand dollars! On a necklace for a three-year-old? No! It’s bad enough that he’s considering the other one, but that’s outrageous. I can’t help but keep glancing at it. So freaking gorgeous.

“Not about the money,” Ian reminds me.