“No,” he sighs, scrubbing a hand down his face. “Not really.”
“Do you want—”
“No,” he interrupts before I can even finish asking. “It’s not something I can talk about right now, but… thank you for asking.”
Wow, it’s almost like he’s making an effort to be nice. Well, as nice as can be expected after that phone call with his brother.
I like it.
And I have to give him credit for at least trying.
“Are you still coming to the planetarium with Isla and me tonight?” I ask even though I heard him tell James as much already. “Or if you need some time to, you know, decompress? We could maybe reschedule or I could see if they’ll do a later presentation for us.”
“No,” he shakes his head. “I don’t want to reschedule. That stargazing thing is all I’ve been looking forward to today.”
“You’ve been looking forward to it?”
Why does that sound so sweet? This is the man who was just yelling and cursing like a sailor two minutes ago, and now? Now he sounds sweet and vulnerable.
“Yeah, of course,” he shrugs, giving me a funny look. “Why wouldn’t I? Seeing you and Isla having so much fun out on the rooftop deck the other night made me want to do it all over again.” His lips twitch into something that could almost be called a smile. “Too bad they won’t have s’mores at the planetarium. Do you think they’d bring some in for us if I ask?”
I smirk. Who would have thought the fancy aristocrat would love such a common American snack? “Doesn’t hurt to ask. That Lord Grayrose title has to be good for something, right?”
Now he really does smile. “I like the way you think. I’ll make a phone call.”
I can’t pretend I understand the stress he’s under or the triggers that make his moods swing wildly from one end of the spectrum to the other. I’m just glad we’re good for now.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
ELLA
“This is so cool,” Isla whispers as we step inside the planetarium. “Look at all the stars on the ceiling! It’s just like what we saw the other night, but brighter. And closer!”
Keir and I exchange a smile as he directs her to the center of the large, domed room. “Tonight we’re going to have the whole place to ourselves, sweetheart,” he says as a handful of employees start carrying in supplies from a side door. “And we’ll have s’mores, too.”
“Yay, s’mores!” she cheers, her tiny voice echoing through the cavernous space.
I can only watch and shake my head. I guess it does pay to be a billionaire with a title and family connections up and down the country, huh?
“You convinced them to let us have a campfire?” I ask, my mouth falling open when I see two guys bring in what looks like a portable fire pit.
He frowns. “Not exactly. They said they don’t have the right kind of ventilation, and that an actual fire would probably set off the sprinklers and the smoke alarm. The best they could do was apparently an electric fire pit and a toaster oven as a backup.”
I laugh. Turns out all that money and those family connections only go so far after all.
“Even if we can’t melt them at all, we’ll still have chocolate and marshmallows and graham crackers at the end of the day. Can’t really complain about that.”
“You say that now,” he smirks. “I’ll let you break the news to Isla.”
“In that case, we might have to take our chances with building a fire.”
The sound of his laughter follows me as I head off after his daughter. “Hey, kiddo,” I call out. “Pretty cool setup they have here, isn’t it?”
“Yeah! That nice lady over there told me that I can have all the candy I want tonight!”
An older lady tosses me a friendly wave as she walks out of the room. I instantly hate her. “Yes, that was super nice of her.”
Whatever.
This is supposed to be a fun, slightly educational outing for Isla. I’m not going to stop her if she wants to get all hopped up on sugar.
At least it’ll keep her from thinking about her mom and dad. That’s enough of a win for me.
Keir joins me as Isla wanders off to ask the manager a million questions about stars, planets, the galaxy, the candy at the snack bar—basically anything and everything that pops into her inquisitive little mind.
“The older she gets, the less I can keep up,” Keir murmurs as his hand lightly rubs against the small of my back. “She’s so smart and she has so much energy. I don’t know where she gets it.”
I smile up at him. “Watching her makes me wonder if you and Saffron were the same way when you were kids. It would be really sweet to see some old home movies or something if your parents have any.”
His smile falters, but only for a second, and I make a mental note not to mention his parents—or the rest of his family, for that matter—again tonight. “I’ll have to ask,” he says, his expression smoothing out again after a moment. “I don’t remember being that energetic, but Saffron definitely was. She still is, most days.”
“Yeah, I can picture that. We probably should have invited her to come along tonight, but I honestly didn’t even think about it until just now.”
“Nah,” he makes a dismissive gesture. “She already gets to see the two of you more than I do. Tonight is for the three of us.” That sentence hangs in the air for a few seconds as a sudden, awkward silence stretches out between us.
Tonight is for the three of us.
How am I supposed to keep my knees from going weak when he says things like that? It’s impossible not to let my mind wander and my imagination start to run wild when he practically paints a picture of what life as a couple might be like.
“This has been a pretty rough couple of weeks,” he says, making me wonder if he was somehow listening in on my thoughts. “I’ve been an asshole, and I’m sorry about that.”
Lord, I’m not sure I’m ready to have this conversation right now. Especially not here, with random strangers milling around.
Keir doesn’t seem to mind, though. Or maybe he just doesn’t notice. Aside from tracking Isla as she moves around the room with the manager, he hasn’t taken his eyes off me since we got here.
“It’s okay,” I say, clearing my throat and hoping I don’t sound like an emotional mess all of a sudden. “You’ve had a lot on your mind. A lot going on with work and… and everything else.”
“Yeah, that’s true,” he nods. “But it still doesn’t excuse the way I spoke to you. You’re a good person, Ella, and I want you to know I’ve thought that since the beginning. No matter what else I might have said—or might still say in the future.”
I snort. Leave it to Keir to take a sweet moment and qualify it by saying he’ll probably still be an asshole again sometime soon. At least he’s being honest, though. And neither of us is yelling, so that’s a plus.
“I’m sorry for some of the things I said, too,” I offer, then frown as he starts to laugh quietly. “What? I thought we were having a moment here.”