I stared up at him blankly, weighing his apology, and my heart clenched, sensing his sincerity. Our eyes locked and held, something strong and intense passing between us. A roughness touched my palm and I twisted my hand to intertwine my fingers with Asher’s.
God, there was something so right about his hand in mine. We’d done this before. Fun family-style things like Grace at dinner or jumping from a boat. But this definitely felt different.
“Okay.”
“Yeah?” he said with a smile, the grin growing until his perfectly straight teeth appeared behind his pierced lip. Gosh, he was hot.
“Yeah. Um. . .do you have dinner plans?” I asked him, remembering that I still needed to go to the store.
“I was just going to grab something in town. What do you have in mind?”
“Well, I was really craving Italian. I never got my spaghetti from last night.”
“What do you think about homemade pizza? I had a brick oven installed at my place.”
“No way!” exclaimed. “Let’s do it. I need to stock up the cabin, but then I can head over with all of the ingredients.”
“Whatever. I’ll help,” he replied, tugging me forward to enter the market I had been in earlier that day.
Together we perused the shelves, Asher dumping a ton of random things in my cart that I absolutely would never eat. Hopefully, he planned to pay for his own things because I was absolutely on a limited budget while I figured out what to do about my job situation.
We were almost through the store when we came upon the health and beauty section. Boldly I turned toward the condoms and tossed a box in the cart, right on top of the ice cream Asher had thrown in there. I turned to glance at him over my shoulder as I continued to push the cart toward the registers. He cocked one of those dark eyebrows at me in question and I simply smiled in return.
Asher lingered back as I loaded the conveyor. The older woman took her time scanning each item and Asher found it amusing to toss a home styling magazine at the end.
“We just moved into town,” Asher told the woman as he draped an arm across my shoulders. I had to bite back the satisfying sigh. The guy I had crushed on for so long was touching me and treating me like I was more than just. . .me. I knew it was just for show, but I really wanted it to be real.
Maybe it could be while I was here.
“How lovely,” the woman replied. “How long have you two been married?”
“Today is our one-year anniversary. We’re hoping to make a baby tonight.”
I watched as the woman scanned the condoms at the same time Asher revealed that lie, but the woman surprisingly didn’t stop her movements. Instead, she said, “Well, unless times have changed, those things won’t help.”
Collectively we all burst into laughter, alarming the worker and guests in the line next to ours.
“You’re probably right,” Asher told her as she finished ringing up our items. He handed her his black American Express card despite my protests. While she processed the payment, Asher slipped his arm free and went to work bagging the items.
Something about this felt so normal and surreal. I was a fool to believe that it could ever be something that would happen in real life.
“Have a nice night,” the woman said with a wave and a wink in my direction as I pushed the cart out of the store.
I waited until we were out of ear shot to smack Asher’s stomach. “Why would you say that?” I asked with a laugh.
“Aw, come on. You know it was hilarious. Do you know how many women wish they could be Mrs. Asher Blake one day?”
I wanted to join in his laughter, except I was one of those girls. Despite thinking I’d grow out of my crush, it only seemed to get stronger as I got older. There was some engrained feeling inside me that Asher was mine.
“Hey, come on, Addison. It was just a joke.” He followed me toward my car I had parked in the market parking lot earlier. I had no idea where Asher had left his vehicle. “Addison,” he repeated.
“I know it’s a joke, Asher. Believe me. I am well aware of the many women that would do just about anything to be your wife. I’ve been backstage at your concerts, remember?”
I started haphazardly tossing bags into the car’s trunk as he stood there stoically.
“Hey,” he said, then he began tugging the bag from my hand and setting it in the car. “Hey, Addison. I didn’t mean anything by it. Honest.”
“I know,” I said, taking a deep breath. “I know. I’m just out of sorts today. That’s all.”