“Thanks.” She put her lettuce leaves next to her, leaned against a potting bench, and narrowed her eyes at him. “So, what brings you here?”
“Well, since we’re already meeting for dinner tonight, I thought I’d pop in and see if you needed any help with anything since you’re moving in what? Three weeks?”
“Are you trying to help me right out the door?” she teased.
“No. I’d never dream of it.” He grinned and took a step closer. “But I also thought it would be nice to see you again. I’m growing kind of fond of you.”
“Kind of fond of me, huh?” She chuckled, and he looped his fingers through the belt loops of her jeans and pulled her closer to him.
“Very fond of you.” He lowered his voice. “It was impossible to get you out of my head last night.”
“Well, you could have had me.” She drew a breath, surprised at how forward she was with Austin.
“You say that, but I’m not sure that’s the case.”
“Oh, it is.” Her heart started pounding as he brought his lips closer to hers. She felt the heat rolling off his body, and she wanted to feel his lips against hers.
“How can I be sure?” His voice was low as he brushed his mouth softly against hers before pulling away.
“Trust me. You had me on the rink.” She winked and sucked in a breath as he hovered his mouth so close to hers. She tasted a hint of peppermint on her lips and wanted so much more from him.
“I’m not sure anyone can actually have you.” He took a step back, and it was like all the wind had been knocked out of Ashley. She needed to be kissed, craved to be kissed by Austin North, and the man took a step back, leaving her lips tingling and her knees buckling.
She put her hand on her hip and frowned at him. “Why didn’t you kiss me?”
“I thought you might not be ready.”
“I’m more ready than you know.”
He laughed and leaned against a shelf full of seedlings. “I spoke to Erika a bit, and I’ve been thinking a lot about what you said about me.”
“Which part?” she asked, but he stayed quiet. “You mean that I think you’re only interested in me because I’m leaving town?”
He nodded, and his blue eyes darkened a shade that made Ashley’s breath catch in the back of her throat. There was something so sensuous behind his gaze that it made her thoughts turn into a jumbled mess. The more she looked at him, the more she wondered why in the world she was leaving Washington.
Oh, yeah. Work. A job. A new family.
“It’s not true.” He folded his arms across his chest.
“Okay.” Ashley nodded.
“That’s it? Okay?” He asked, his brows furrowing.
“Well, I’m no psychiatrist, but it makes sense to me, and you’re allowed to have your opinion, and I’m allowed to have mine.”
His arms dropped to his sides, and a sexy smirk rested on his expression.
“Now what?” she asked. “I’m not wearing a turtleneck, if you notice.” She pointed at her exposed neck that only had a pink scarf pulled around it.
“You think I’m setting myself up not to fall in love.”
“Whoa, buddy.” She giggled. “I never said anything about love. All I meant was that you have a reputation of not having serious relationships, not even dating. Yet, you find the one person who has a very limited time in town, and you pounce. That’s all.”
“And the same could be said about you.”
Ashley brought her brows together in a scowl. “How do you figure?”
“You’re interested in me and making it known that you want to sleep with me, which you’ve implied you don’t make a habit of.”
“Right.”
“So, I think it’s safe to assume that you’re only wanting to sleep with me because you’re leaving town and it’s safe. There’s no threat of any kind of relationship in your horizon. I’m on one coast, and you’re on the other.”
“Hmph.” Ashley didn’t particularly care to be analyzed by a millionaire. “Don’t change this around on me.”
He laughed. “Turnabout is fair play.”
“Not when it’s directed at me.” She chuckled and felt her cheeks flush.
Austin took a step forward and quickly ran his hands along her cheek and hovered his mouth close to hers once more. He pressed his body against hers, and her breath hitched as his eyes locked on hers.
“Is this what you wanted?” he asked, his voice low as his mouth brushed against hers.
Her lips tingle from where his mouth touched hers, and she dug her hands into his hips.
“Yes,” she barely moaned as his mouth touched hers again, but not in a kiss, just another tease as his eyes stayed fastened to hers. “Kiss me.”
His hands slid down her back as he leaned over her, bringing a hand back to her chin when he kissed her softly, her lips parting and begging for more. She felt his mouth part, and she eagerly opened hers, begging for his kiss to deepen.
She shut her eyes and felt his fingers glide along her jaw as he kissed her again, softly, only to have another moan escape her lips as she kissed him back.
Austin broke from her and stood, hovering over her, taking her in as she blinked her eyes open. But before she could say anything, he took her into his arms and kissed her the way she’d been craving. There was nothing holding him back. His lips parted, and she followed quickly, welcoming the warmth and sweetness of his kiss. It was pure intoxication as his mouth pressed harder against hers and her fingers tangled through his hair as she felt his body against hers. Her mind went with numb with anticipation and need as he lifted her onto the bench and continued kissing her as she wrapped her legs around his waist.
It was like everything in her world stopped as she stayed in his arms and their kisses deepened with longing. She began to slide her hand under his flannel, but his fingers twined with hers, and he stopped her, slowly pulling away.
His eyes were filled with want and need, but he straightened up and smiled a deliciously crooked smile as he let out a wistful sigh.
“You’re incredible. Everything about you is . . . incredible,” he said, linking his hand into hers as Ashley hopped off the bench.
“It’s probably good that you stopped since we’re in my employers’ greenhouse.” She tried to catch her breath, but it still felt like her world was spinning. She’d never been kissed like that. The anticipation, the need, and the longing for so much more were nearly dropping her to her knees, and yet there wasn’t a single thing she could do about it.
“Things are going to get pretty complex,” he said, his voice still low with need.
“How do you figure?” she asked, looking up into Austin’s eyes.
His smile widened, and he shook his head. “You’ll know soon enough.”
Chapter Fourteen
Kissing her had nearly blown his entire plan. Sure, he had self-control, but there was self-control, and then there was self-inflicted torture, and he was certain it was the latter he’d chosen. Tasting her lips made every thought in his entire his mind lead back to the bedroom. The saving grace was that the greenhouse was visible from the Finns’ kitchen, and he didn’t feel like putting on a show for Sylia.
Austin’s plan was to tease Ashley into submission. If she were as eager as she let on, it would be as torturous for her as it was for him, but it was imperative that when they finally made love, she would fall. And he wanted her to fall hard.
He knew Ashley Malone was the woman for him, and he’d never thought someone who collected turtlenecks and snow boots and enjoyed watching other peoples’ children would do it for him, but she had.
Morning, noon, and night, all he could think about was her, and he refused to believe that she knew what she was talking about when it came to why he liked her. He wasn’t interested in her because she was leaving. He was devastated that she was leaving, and it would be his mission to make her know what she would be missing, but it all had to go according to plan.
Austin walked back with two glasses filled with soda as Ashley stared at the mini-jukebox stationed at their table. She was flipping through songs as he set her drink in front of her.
“Okay, a large Meaty Marvel coming out in about fifteen minutes.”
“Did you get the salads too?”
“Of course.” He smiled and took a sip of soda.
“Good, because what you pulled back at the greenhouse has me starving.”
Austin chuckled. “That was hours ago.”
“And I haven’t eaten since,” she teased.
He loved the way Ashley went about her business. If she was hungry, she said it. If she wanted to tell him how she saw him, she explained it. If she wanted to sleep with him, well . . .she let him know. And now he had to fight every single second of the day not to give in, or his mission would fail. The anticipation had to build, and she needed to get to know the real Austin North.
“Tell me what your favorite part of living in Washington is.” Austin smiled at the server as she delivered their chopped salads.
“I love the seasons.” She stabbed a crouton with her fork. “How about you? Could you ever see yourself living somewhere other than here?”
He shook his head. “Even if we didn’t have the resort to look after, I’d want to live here.”
And he meant it. He loved everything about the mountains. In the summer, his family would spend time at the lake, stopping by his grandmother’s bakery on the way to pick up pies and sandwiches for barbecues at his brothers’. And he loved the winter when he could spend his days on the slopes and leave behind the nagging feeling that there was something more in this world he should be doing.
Then he met Ashley, and things started to click.
She nodded. “It’s a beautiful place. I have to confess that I wished I’d spent more time in Silver Ridge. I love it here in Cherry Hill, but Silver Ridge . . .” She shook her head. “I don’t know. Just somehow seems magical.”
Austin beamed. “It does, doesn’t it?”
“That’s the hard part about moving. I’m sure my new family will be awesome. They always are, but it’s hard to beat living here.”
“Where did you grow up?” he asked, hoping he could pull more out bit by bit.
Her jaw tensed. “Florida.”
“Whereabouts?”
“Jacksonville.” She took a sip of soda, and he realized that was all she was going to say about that.
“Does your family still live there?”
Her eyes met his, and she smiled. “In all honesty, I don’t know. I haven’t been in contact with my mother since I was nineteen. My father passed away when I was seventeen, in the middle of their divorce.”
He saw the pain flutter through her expression, but she pulled the emotions right back in.
“I’m so sorry to hear that.”
She shrugged. “It may sound harsh, but it was all a long time ago, and he was never truly my father.” She cleared her throat. “Or at least a father I’d want for my own child.” She let out a sigh. “And the divorce was a long time coming. They never should have been married, even though they swore up until the end that they loved one another more than life itself.”
Austin refused to let his emotions show through. He didn’t expect his one simple question to finally allow answers to come his way, but these also weren’t the answers he was expecting. Granted, they were fragments of a bigger picture he was trying to piece together, but it was a start.
“So, they loved one another but were getting a divorce?” he asked.
“It wouldn’t be my idea of love.” She smiled. “It was more like WWIII every day and night. I never knew when the next bomb would drop or when we’d all be hit by falling shrapnel from the day’s events. So, they called it love, and I called it misplaced infatuation. They didn’t love each other. They just didn’t want anyone else to have the other.”
“Wow.” Austin shook his head, starting to see the bigger picture. “That sounds brutal.”
“It was. From the moment I understood what was going on in life, I came to learn that I wasn’t ever meant to be in the picture. I was a mistake they hadn’t ever gotten over, so they fed me some of the time, forgot me most of the time, and blamed me for the problems between them all the time.”
“Ashley, I’m so sorry.” Anger fueled Austin’s thoughts as he watched the pain Ashley had fought so hard to keep away smothering her as she explained. He wanted to hop the table and put his arms around her and tell her everything was going to be fine, but it wouldn’t be. Those memories were in her past. They’d always be there, and now he understood why she wasn’t rushing to repeat what she saw but why she craved what she did from families like the Finns. The thought nearly made him ill.
“That’s why they didn’t visit when you were in the hospital from your accident.”
“They literally didn’t care.” She let out a deep sigh. “And I can’t imagine it. I know how attached I become to the children I watch and how much I love them all and want to do anything for them.” She shook her head. “So, I just don’t get it.”
“They had to be sick.”
“In many ways,” she agreed and blew out a bit of air as embarrassment filled her gaze. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Huh? Like what?” Austin wrinkled his forehead.
“I don’t know. Just . . . oddly.” She twisted her hands together.
“Honestly, I was thinking about how incredible you are. How incredibly resilient and brave you are.”
She smiled. “Lots of people have had it far worse.”
“Well, it’s not a competition most would want to have.”
“True.” She nodded.
“But it explains a lot.” He smiled and let out a sigh.
“I knew it would, which was why I never wanted to say a word. I’m a textbook case.” She laughed, and he knew there was no one who would ever intrigue him as much as Ashley Malone.
“I’ll tell you this . . .”
“What?” She leaned forward.
“I think you’re shortchanging yourself.”
“How so?”
“You’ve spent so many years taking care of others, you’ve never let someone take care of you. You crave a family, yet you don’t want to have one of your own.”
She nodded in agreement. “I can’t argue with that.”
“You won’t replicate what was done to you,” he began, but his phone buzzed.
Austin didn’t pick up his phone, so Ashley cocked her head slightly when it vibrated again.
“It’s totally fine for you to look at your message.” She chuckled. “I promise I won’t get offended. I know it’s not some plan after hearing my sob story to bolt. Wait, or is it?” She laughed.
“Is that what people do nowadays? Have an out?” He chuckled and slid out his phone, his expression changing from happiness to horror, followed by delight.
His family was about to get bigger by one, and he didn’t want to miss it for the world, but he also didn’t want to miss what few possible dates he had left with Ashley, especially after what she just revealed. He knew how hard that was for her, and now wasn’t the time to leave her alone.
He looked up at Ashley, who glanced around the pizza place and turned her attention back to Austin when she’d given him enough time to type back a text.
“Everything okay?” she asked, her eyes inquisitive.
“More than okay.” He beamed. “My brother’s wife just went into labor. Autumn and Joe are at the hospital. She’s already fully dilated and—”
Ashley hopped up from the table, nearly spilling her drink. “Well, what are you waiting for? You’d better get over there.”
Austin laughed and shook his head. “It’s okay. My mom and grandmother have already settled into the waiting room. I—”
Ashley grabbed his hand and pulled him to the counter, where she requested that their pizza be put into a box and handed it to him. For someone so small, she really had some st
rength behind her. The moment the pizza came out of the oven, she shoved the box into his hands and attempted to get him out the door.
“Your brother will be so grateful for this. Now go.”
“Do you mind coming with me?” he asked and watched Ashley freeze.
“Your family will be there,” she stated.
“Right. That’s usually how it works at these momentous occasions.” He grinned, knowing what he was in for by bringing Ashley by to such a big event, but he was ready for it. He knew if Ashley was craving a family as much as he thought, she’d instantly fall in love with his. Was it playing fairly? No, but if she wasn’t going to give him a chance to prove himself using normal channels, he’d pull out all the cards.
After a few seconds of silence, her lip tugged at the corner and she relented. “Okay. This sounds like a fun way to spend the evening. As long as you don’t think they’ll mind.”
“They’ll be delighted there’s someone new they can talk to. Trust me. My mom and grandmother have raised four sons and love the idea of getting a little female time when they can.”
He saw fear dart through Ashley’s gaze, and he did his best to keep the smile off his face. This was precisely what Ashley needed, whether she knew it or not.
“How far away is the hospital?” Ashley asked.
Austin had hoped she’d have waited until they got down the mountain before the question popped up, or at least buckled in the car and firmly on the road.
“About forty minutes down the mountain.” He smiled as they walked into the parking lot, knowing it was stunned silence resting between the two of them. She was either going to bolt or buckle down and face her fears. When she took the pizza box back from him, he let out a sigh of relief.
“Well, I might need to sneak a piece on the way there. I’m starving.” She glanced at Austin, and her eyes carried an excitement he hadn’t seen for a long time. He also noticed she was limping, but she eyed him quickly, and he knew to keep it to himself.
“Maybe two pieces are in order.” She smiled, and his chest tightened, wishing she’d let him in just a little bit more.
A Surprising Fact About Love: Small Town Romance (Silver Ridge Series Book 4) Page 12