Page 83 of Saving Ian Pope

Ian gave his crinkly-eyed smileandwrinkled his nose—peak happiness. The lawyers had shut down the blackmail attempt by Messica, Thea was returning home from Italy shortly, and the hype around his single and album had reached a fevered frenzy.

Leave it to me to deliver the buzzkill.

Sarah finished her notes for the adjustments and started packing up her offerings. As Ian and I helped her with the clothing racks, I said, in a very offhand manner, “I need to go to LA for about a week.”

Ian dropped a dress he’d been handling. “What? Now? You’ll be back for the release of the single.”

“Of course. I wouldn’t miss that for the world. It’s...Chloe. She’s having a hard time right now, and I want to be there for her.” As Chloe was always having a hard time, this statement hadn’t been too far off the mark.

“Of course, you need to be there for Chloe. She’s helped me so much, I guess I can be without my girl for a week.” He picked up the dress and put it back on the hanger. “When are you leaving?”

“A few days. I just need to book my ticket.”

Holding up his hand, he said, “Call Penny and don’t give me any shit about paying for your own ticket. A last-minute reservation like this is going to cost you, and I want to do this for Chloe, too. She needs you. I’m going to make sure you get there.”

“Thank you. You’ll be okay?”

“Better than okay. I’ve got so much to do. I need to head into the city for a few days.” He tickled my side. “Don’t worry. Denny’s not invited.”

“I’m not worried about Denny, but if I ever see him again...” I balled up my fist and punched the air.

“I’m sure he’d be terrified, Tinkerbell.”

I landed one of my punches on his bare shoulder. “What are you doing in London?”

“Several meetings, one with my accountant. I try to meet with him twice a year, and with the new release and tour dates coming up, he wanted to see me to go over some figures.”

“So, you’ll be busy, and don’t worry I’ll be back for the release date.”

And when I come back, I’ll be free to love you even more than I already do.

Chapter 27

IAN

It was almost a relief when I put Ivy on the plane to LA. Her nerves the past few days had the air crackling between us, and I’d been so busy I didn’t have the time to settle her down or even discover the source of her tension. Not that she’d tell me, anyway. Helping Chloe would probably give her some peace.

I experienced a vague sense of unease that Ivy had to have a purpose—someone to help. If she didn’t think I needed a savior anymore, would she stop loving me? Would she move onto another project? Maybe that’s why the vibe between us had shifted before she’d left.

She’d been distracted. My jokes hadn’t made her laugh. My touch hadn’t soothed her. I’d made it past the two-month boyfriend cutoff, but I could be an outlier. Why didn’t she want to meet my family? Why’d it take her forever to accept a fucking coat from me? Would she even come back from LA?

I’d dropped her off at Heathrow at eleven thirty for her two o’clock flight, which was the precise time for my meeting with Julian Abbott, my finance guy. In the interim, I attended a meeting with the PR team and grabbed some lunch.

By the time I got to Julian’s office building, Ivy had texted me that she’d boarded and sent me pictures of herself settling in. According to FlightAware on my phone, her plane was still on the tarmac, so before I entered the building, I called her.

“I got your pictures. Are you comfortable?”

“Yes, perfect. I’m hoping to sleep, but I have a few books on my Kindle just in case, and I have your whole album on my phone so I can listen to your voice across the miles.”

Didn’t sound like she was ready to dump me. I wedged a shoulder against the corner of the building to get out of the wind. “Shh, top secret.”

“Don’t worry. I’m very good at keeping secrets. Oh, we’re pulling away from the gate. I love you.”

“I love you, too. Say hello to Chloe for me and be careful.”

I muted my phone and dropped it into my pocket. The lift took me up to Julian’s office on the tenth floor, and I waited in his reception area for about a minute while he finished a phone call.

I tapped on the open door. “Hello, Julian.”

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