“Tell me about it. It’s a fucking mess.” He sighed. “But nothing that can’t be repaired. The plan is to get the flooring done, and then we’re going to work on the walls. One room at a time.”
Ashley slowly turned and as she did, it meant she ended up facing him, still in his arms.
“Are you tempted to leave?”
“Not a chance,” he said.
“This is not an easy fix.”
“Baby, haven’t you learned yet, I’m not the kind of guy that’s into easy fixing?” He tucked some of her brown hair behind her ear.
She tilted her head to one side. “You don’t miss the open road, no commitments, no crazy house that needs a lot of work?”
He leaned in close. “The open road doesn’t haveyou, so unless you’re willing to come with me, I’m staying.”
Ashley’s gaze fell to his lips, and he knew deep down she wanted to kiss him. He wanted to kiss her. Those lips were a fucking dream. Last night, sleeping in the spare bedroom, he was aware of her being so close to him, finally.
“Ashley, I’m going to kiss you.”
“Okay.” There was a slight hesitancy to her voice, as if she wasn’t quite sure if she wanted him to kiss her or not.
“Tell me if you don’t want this,” he said.
“I don’t know what I want.”
He sunk his fingers into her hair, which was so soft. Cupping the back of her head, he pulled her in close, and then slammed his lips down on hers.
Ashley melted against him. The hand that wasn’t holding the lunches splayed out across his chest, and he wanted to touch her even more. With his other hand, he curved it down her back, moving down toward her ass. She released a moan, but he wasn’t finished kissing those luscious lips. All night long he’d dreamt about kissing her, of exploring this sexy-as-fuck mouth, and he wasn’t about to give up the chance to do so.
He heard commotion downstairs, and Ashley pulled away, breaking the kiss. He wanted to go and yell at those who interrupted them.
She licked her lips. “I better … you know, go and make myself useful.”
“Sticking by my side is useful,” he said.
Ashley smiled but didn’t say anything, brushing past him.
“Tell me what I have to do,” he said.
She stopped and turned to him. “What do you mean?”
“What do I have to do to make it up to you? For you to realize that I wanted you, God, I wanted you so badly, but I was trying to protect you?”
She nibbled her bottom lip. “I have no idea.”
Her gaze fell away from him and then she walked away.
Running fingers through his hair, he felt the frustration and hopelessness of his situation. He had fucked up big time and he’d not even realized it all those years ago. This is what he hated for being cast aside, left out in the cold all these years. Being part of a pack was new to him. Ashley was still so young and he didn’t want to be without her. Even his wolf wanted to stay. The wanderlust had faded quickly.
He’d looked at his bike this morning, parked outside of this house. He’d walked all the way home with Ashley last night, and this morning he’d gone through the town, greeting everyone, talking, chatting, feeling a part of the whole community. There was a time when his bike was his salvation. Straddling the machine was his way to escape. To move on. To not feel that clawing loneliness that had started to manifest. Wolves were pack creatures. They thrived together, but being alone, he’d tried to convince himself he didn’t need anyone.
Abandonment had given him the chance to live his life without anything or anyone.But that was a lie. A big fat fucking lie. He didn’t want to be alone.
Each time he saw Ashley and got close to her, he felt a peace he’d never experienced before. The desire to run had faded away to nothing. There was no reason for him to leave. His home—his salvation was right here, in a brown-haired, brown-eyed, sexy, curvy package. Phoenix didn’t exactly know what he had to do to win her, or earn her forgiveness, but he wasn’t going to stop. Not ever.
Following her downstairs, he watched her ass. He’d been trying to watch her for a long time. He hated that she successfully avoided him for so long. When he found out she worked at the DIY store, he’d been pissed as he couldn’t come up with any logical way of stumbling into her. Damn it, he’d been a fucking loser. She was his mate.
Seeing her that night had caused a mixture of elation and disappointment. He’d wanted nothing more than to throw her over his shoulder, find the nearest bed, and fuck her until his name was the only one spilling from those beautiful lips. Instead, he rejected her, for her own good.