Turning to start loading the rest of the bags into the trunk, I found myself tugged into Asher’s arms. The heat of his body immediately transferred to mine, warming the skin beneath my thin cotton shirt.
Something about the embrace was both familiar and sensual. I was too scared to tip my face up to gaze at his foot taller face. But he did it for me.
Asher reached up my back and twisted my hair in one of his hands, wrapping the long strands around his wrist. In a quick jerk, he tilted my head back and then sealed his lips against mine. God, I knew I could get lost in his kiss, but we were in a public space. Both of us intent on hiding out for the time being.
“Where are you parked?” I whispered against his lips. Asher pulled back in confusion and I repeated my question.
“Down the street in front of the bookstore.”
“Okay, well, I can take the groceries back and then head over to your place. If you want.”
“I’ll follow you. No sense in you hauling that all in by yourself. Really, you could just stay with me. I’m only here for a couple of weeks.”
Shaking my head, I said. “I can’t. The temptation would be too strong.”
“What temptation?”
“I’d be tempted to have my way with you,” I said sort of joking. I wasn’t sure how much of it was the actual truth.
“Who ever said you couldn’t?” he asked, tucking his hands in his jean pockets. I noticed he did that frequently, something I’d never seen him do before. Then I remembered how he stormed off the night before and I sobered.
“I’ll meet you at your place in an hour.”
Slamming the trunk closed, I moved toward the driver’s door and hoped the lock didn’t act up again. The electric mechanisms in the older car were temperamental at best. Luckily I was able to slip into the car and turn on the ignition without a problem. The odds were favoring me for once. The white reverse lights highlighted Asher’s tall and muscled frame as I peered in my rearview mirror. It felt wrong leaving him there staring at me like he’d just lost his cat. I knew for a fact that he’d never had a pet.
My gut clenched, and even though I had crept the car backward, I slammed on the brakes when my window aligned with Asher’s body.
“Get in the car.”
“Are you-”
“Get in the car before I change my mind.”
The moody SOB hustled to the other side of the car and yanked at the handle until Bessie decided he was worthy to entire. If she was a human, the two of them would have been a perfect match.
The main road in the town was busy as I pulled out of the parking lot. Luckily Asher was only in my car for a couple of seconds before we approached his large SUV. I stopped and put on my hazards so that he could exit, surprised when not a single car honked at me. If I had been back near my home with Katy, I could almost certainly guarantee that unkind words would have been exclaimed in my direction.
“See you in an hour,” he said as he hopped out of the car.
I waited for him to enter his vehicle and turn on the ignition before putting Bessie back in drive. It seemed she was also sad Asher had left her confines because she sputtered and puffed as she got going. The car acted up the entire way out of town until Asher caught up. Then the damn car soared up the mountain.
Apparently, I was living a real version of Stephen King’s Christine and my car was just as in love with Asher as I was.
He flashed his headlights as he pulled into his driveway and I continued on. Bessie’s exhaust popped and crackled as I continued the small distance down the road and turned into my parent’s driveway. This time I had the device to open the garage and I slid Bessie inside. She groaned as I turned her off, probably afraid she’d never have Asher’s ass pressed against her seats again. Honestly, I could totally understand.
I popped her trunk, cringing at the squeak of the hinges as I exited the car. I’d really hoped to upgrade Bessie this year, but now with my job in jeopardy, that probably wasn’t going to happen.
Like the pro I was, I slipped my arms through the handles of as many bags as possible before lifting them out of the trunk and heading toward the door to the mudroom, which gave way to the kitchen.
I slipped my shoes off in the mudroom. It was completely up to date, as was the rest of the cabin, a project my Uncle Austin and Uncle Logan worked on for my mom. I was pretty sure my dad would live in a cardboard box so long as my mom was there. He’d spent so many years on the small bunk of a bus that he didn’t care where he laid his head. My mom was the reason they traveled in style now.
God, I loved this place.
Trudging through the hall to the kitchen, I set the bags on the island counter and began putting everything away except for the items needed for the pizza. I was lucky the store had the dough ready to go. Frozen pizza dough just didn’t taste the same. The last bag I grabbed held the condoms I’d tossed in the cart as a joke. Continuing with the new tradition, I put them in the same bag as the pizza sauce. I mean, Asher may be hesitant, but a certain part of me wanted him; however, I could get him. Whether he broke my heart or not.
Because as nonchalant as I tried to come across to him, Asher and I were going to be complicated and I was going to get hurt. That man had held a special part of me since I was ten.
Before heading over to Asher’s, I took a quick shower and changed my clothes. There was no way I was wearing the same thing I’d planned to wear to dinner with Bradley when having dinner with Asher. The two men were not even in the same stratosphere. Plus, Asher had seen me dressed head to two in sweats the one year I caught the flu while visiting my parents on tour. The man had even held my hair back when I vomited in the roadside gas station bathroom. I’d been fourteen at the time and overwhelmingly embarrassed, but he had been so incredibly kind to me. Rubbing my back and buying me more Gatorade and chicken soup. I was pretty sure that was when I had fallen in love with him the first time.