Chapter Nine – Addison
Something warm was pressed against my back, and for a split second, I imagined that it was Katy curled up in my bed beside me. It wouldn’t have been the first time. She was prone to slumber parties after a night of scary movies.
But as I inched away to get a bit more space between us, the arm draped around my waist tightened and pulled me backward. That’s when I remembered where I was.
Opening my eyes, I glanced around the dimly lit room. This was Asher’s bedroom, his historical library haven. And he’d shared it with me. I felt special and wanted, but I knew that it wasn’t going to last very long. Asher was notorious for being a love ‘em and leave ‘em type. Though my heart wished for the opposite, I was not under any false pretenses of what this time with him would be.
Sex and conversation. Both tended to come easy. The sex because our chemistry was off the charts. The conversation because I’d known him most of my life. I knew a lot about Asher, probably more than he suspected.
“You’re thinking too hard.” His gravelly voice washed over me in a lover’s caress.
“How can you tell?” I asked as I rolled over in bed.
We’d been doing this for the last couple of nights, both of us preferring to stay in his house instead of my parent’s cabin. It was just easier this way. I actually felt more at home here.
Yesterday we’d gone over and closed everything back up, including the water shut-off valve I couldn’t find the day I arrived, and transferred the food I’d purchased over into his fridge.
I secretly liked his house better anyway.
“Your back grows tight when you’ve got something on your mind.”
He was right, of course. I received an email from my boss yesterday and I was expecting a call from him this morning regarding my job.
Asher and I discussed my options yesterday and I decided I’d be putting in my notice. There was no way I could stay at a place that undermined me.
The problem was that I needed to take legal action against them if they ignored the cease and desist letter Asher’s lawyer sent on my behalf yesterday. I was certain that was what prompted the email from the office. It certainly wasn’t because they were missing me over there. I was one hundred percent sure that Dan hadn’t even realized I hadn’t returned to the office. The man spent more time on the golf course than minding his employees. Except of course, when there was a juicy story he could pull out of an unfortunate situation.
Delicately I rested my hand on his cheek, stroking my thumb along his scruffy jawline. I wasn’t sure which look on Asher I preferred, the scruffy five-o’clock shadow or clean-shaven. Both were just as handsome and sexy as the other. But last night, when his head was between my legs enjoying his personal feast, I’d enjoyed the small scratches from his beard. It was an entirely different sensation.
“You have that call today, right?”
“I do. I think around ten,” I told him as I slid my hand down his cheek to his neck, then followed a path to his chest, where my hand stopped just above his heart. He casually draped his hand over the top of mine, holding it tight against his warm skin.
“What do you think will happen?”
He’d been curious about my decision, especially after I asked if his lawyer could send a simple cease and desist on my behalf. I’d offered to pay, but Asher said he’d cover it.
“I don’t see a way I could ethically go back and work for someone that would put my name on such scandalous photos. It was wrong and I deserve to work for someone that understands how good I am at my job.”
“Want me to help you start looking for another job? I have some ideas,” he said and something crossed his eyes, but I couldn’t place what it meant.
“That’s okay. If I can't find anything after a couple of months, I could always move back to Carson and work for the paper. I interned there between college semesters. It’s just not where I saw myself, you know?”
“Yeah, I get it.”
“What will you do today?”
We’d tried not to spend every waking hour together, but we ended up that way regardless. Asher and I had similar likes and dislikes. Both of us enjoyed the outdoors, so we made it a point to try a new hiking trail every day this week. Today would be the first day we skipped doing something together. I had plans to make use of that outdoor shower today, though. He just didn’t know it yet.
I also needed to call my parents. I’d refrained while they were off on their romantic getaway, but I’d heard from my brother that they were due back today. And my mom would be eager to talk to me and tell me all about their trip. It also helped if I called them because they couldn’t interrupt whatever it was Asher and I were up to. Like last time.
Asher subtly slid one of his legs between mine.
“I planned on making some breakfast and then working on a few songs.”
“Will your hand be okay?”
He hasn’t spoken much more about his dystonia, and whenever I brought it up, he tended to change the subject. What I did know was that his band was in the dark regarding everything.