TWICE SHY (A SECOND CHANCE ROMANCE)

by Ivy Spears

  I placed my hand on his chest, desperate for something to hold on to. “Oh my God! You’re so big, Asher.” I shook my head back and forth violently, letting the sweat drip down my cheeks freely. “You’re fucking huge!” I sprung my head back onto the pillow, desperate to not break.

  “Bella,” he moaned, looking down at his cock. “I need to keep going.”

  I glanced down in shock. His cock was only halfway inside of me. How was that possible? It felt like a hammer was stretching my pussy apart and he was only halfway inserted inside of me! Holy crap!

  I nodded. “Okay, go… go ahead.” I tried to brace myself.

  Asher looked relieved and then pushed more of himself inside of me. He stopped a few more times and then kept pushing more and more inside of me, bit by bit. “Holy shit, I’m almost… I’m almost completely in there, baby.”

  I risked the look down and realized he was right. I had no idea how my body was even able to take so much. “You’re… you’re stretching me out so much, Asher.”

  Asher shook his head. “It only feels that way.” He moved his body back and forth a few inches. “I need… I need to move while I’m inside of you, Bella. Please, baby, you have no idea how crazy this is making me.”

  I tried to move my legs further apart but they were clamped up in shock. “I… okay but slow at first, okay? I’m… try not to break my pussy apart on the first try.”

  Asher groaned loudly and grinned. “You say it like that’s an easy task.”

  I felt a deep blush creep into my cheeks.

  “And that only makes it harder,” he said huskily. He took his cock out of me a few beats and then pushed it back inside my pussy slowly, working the tip in and out as he looked into my eyes. “Fuck, Bella.”

  I flinched slightly, taking the brief pain as much as I could. It only lasted a few seconds before I felt Asher starting to loosen the bounds of my wall fully and before I knew it the pain was replaced with pleasure.

  Asher panted heavily, linking his hands through my fingers and pushing them down on the sheets so he was in control of them while he kissed me passionately. He pumped his cock into me over and over again, slowly at first and then faster and faster while we both gasped for air.

  I had never felt the kind of pleasure Asher gave me, never known my body was capable of such things and before long I was releasing my cum all over his growing cock.

  Asher let out a sigh of relief. “Thank fucking God! I didn’t know how much longer I could control myself!” And then he let his load loose inside of my pink walls, panting in satisfaction after he was done and slowly climbing off of me.

  Both of us sat in my bed for a few minutes, catching our breath and staring at the ceiling. I pulled my head up, resting it on my hand to look over at him.

  Asher tilted his head to the side. “You okay?”

  “Are you joking?” Of course, I was okay, I was better than okay. I had never known such pleasure in my entire life. All I could think about was how I wanted that feeling to last forever. I grinned and pulled his face toward mine. “Let’s do it again.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  The morning light flashed brightly through the window the morning after I lost my virginity. That, combined with the sound of men already hard at work in the barn was enough to wake me up.

  Apparently, Asher was a heavy sleeper.

  Or maybe I had just worn him out. The thought pleased me.

  I looked at his sleeping face, resting peacefully. The rise and fall of his bare chest that glistened in the little amount of light the window was letting in. Ugh, could he be any more perfect?

  I slipped out of bed and threw some clothes on, the last thing I needed was for him to wake up and catch me staring at him like some kind of freak. I left a brief note on the counter and tiptoed out the front door to head into town to grab some bagels and coffee for Asher and I plus the rest of the crew. The inside of my legs ached with every step and movement I made.

  The soreness was something I was going to have to get used to but experiencing a little discomfort was way worth what I had been through last night. It had taken all my self-control to not wake Asher up and jump his bones moments before. Not that I thought he would have any complaints, but still, I should practice at least a little self-restraint.

  Marge’s was pretty dead, as expected, besides a few regular stragglers out for their day at work or stopping in for a quick bite before they got back on the road for the morning.

  I put in my order for a jug of coffee and a few dozen bagels and waited patiently behind the counter for the old woman working to gather my order. She was moving at a snail's pace. On any other day it might have bothered me but today I was glad for the silence, thankful for the time to gather my thoughts.

  I couldn’t help but feel different. Maybe it was corny but I felt like I was a woman now. And I’d stayed true to myself, I’d waited until I was in love. Actually, I’d never fallen out of love, it had just taken a little time for Asher to snap out of it.

  Asher.

  Just the thought of his name sent butterflies through my stomach.

  “I guess there letting anyone in this place these days,” a voice said loudly from behind me. “They should really learn to take the trash out back to the dumpster.”

  I swung around and found Ashley standing in the doorway of the diner, her eyes traced into little slits as she looked me up and down. She was just as done up as the first morning I met her on Asher’s porch. Short white skirt with a blue halter-top that matched her nail color perfectly. Her hair and makeup were flawless, not an inch of her was out of place.

  Jeez, had she already been up for hours getting ready or what?

  “Great.” I rolled my eyes and turned back around, hoping that my order would magically appear and I could get the hell out of there. I wasn’t scared of Ashley or anything, I just didn’t feel like dealing with her this morning, not when everything had been so magical until she walked in the door. But my luck was starting to run out, the waitress was still pouring the coffee into a large container slower than ever.

  “You’re up early,” Ashley said loudly, coming up to stand next to me. “Getting some breakfast after your night of whoring around? How much did you make, huh?” She looked me up and down slowly. “I can’t imagine anyone would pay much to sleep with you.”

  “Back off,” I snapped, yanking my head to the side to meet her eyes for the first time. “Trust me, Ashley, you don’t want a piece of me, not this morning.”

  “Oh, but I think I do.”

  “Look…”

  “No, you look,” she cut me off. “You think just because Asher told me to back off that I actually will? You think you’re special or something? He’s done this a million times before… been fascinated with the new girl in town for about five minutes but he’ll get bored once he realizes you’re just a gold digging whore like the rest of them and come crawling back to me just like all the other times.”

  I laughed, refusing to take her seriously. “See, now I know you know nothing about Asher because the thought of him crawling back to anyone is hilarious. I’m pretty sure you chase him around until he caves in out of boredom because he has nothing else going on.”

  Her face was seething. “You’re a whore! You’re just using him!”

  I rolled my eyes, trying not to laugh in her face again. Using him for what? A quick barn fix up job, Asher would have done that for anyone, it was just the kind of guy he was.

  “There’s not going to be any trouble in this diner today, is that going to be a problem, ladies?” The woman behind the counter raised her eyebrows, looking back and forth between the two of us. “Because if it is I can always call the sheriff down to straighten it out.”

  I looked at Ashley, refusing to break her gaze until her eyes faded a few seconds later. She shook her head. “Nope, no problems here.” She moved closer to me and lowered her voice. “Enjoy it while it lasts, gold-digger.” She turned around on her heel and stomped back o
ut the door.

  I waited for the bell on the door to charm shut before I looked back at the waitress. “Sorry about that,” I mumbled, unsure of what else to say. The whole scene was embarrassing and would probably be all over town by lunchtime.

  I made a mental note to ask Asher what the fuck the deal was between the two of them and to make sure he made it clear to her, the last thing I needed was for my daddy to wake up to rumors that his daughter was a home-wrecker.

  The woman sighed heavily. “Don’t worry about it, honey, you aren’t the first girl Ashley has lost it over when it comes to Asher and you probably won't be the last.”

  I shifted uncomfortably, unsure if she was implying Asher went through woman quickly or if Ashley was just crazy enough to keep creating issues where there were none. I hoped it was the second one, I knew no one really knew anything about what was really going on between Asher and me but that was the problem with a small town… what people didn’t know they would make up.

  She must have noticed the look on my face because she cleared her throat loudly and reached down to straighten out her name tag which I noticed for the first time had the name Maggie scribbled across the center in black sharpie.

  “I just… I just meant that people aren’t used to having Asher around these days, that’s all.” She started stuffing bagels into a white paper bag. “Sure, some people treat him the same as before but some people just can’t get over having a millionaire so close to town… money changes everything, you know? Isn’t it sad?”

  “Millionaire?” I choked out. “Who’s a millionaire?”

  “Well, Asher, of course,” Maggie said slowly, looking at me strangely.

  “Asher’s not a millionaire!” I laughed loudly.

  Maggie shifted from one foot to the other. “He sure is.”

  “He…” I trailed off, looking at the serious look on her face. She must have lost her damn mind. Asher wasn’t a millionaire, he was just Asher. Same as when I had left him. “He… you must be thinking of someone else. Asher Dawson?”

  “Yup, that’s the one.” She set the bags on the counter and started to ring my order into the cash register. “There’s only one Asher in these parts, darling.” She frowned for a second. “Did you want any cream cheese or jelly to go with these?”

  “But Asher Dawson works for a construction company! He still lives at home with his mom and dad! He doesn’t… he couldn’t possibly be who you’re thinking of,” I told her, ignoring her question. I was still sure that she had the wrong guy.

  Maggie chuckled. “He doesn’t live with his parents! He has a house just outside of town and an apartment for when he does business in the city… while I mean; I guess he kind of does live with his parents since he paid off their bank loan for them a few years ago.” She shook her head. “I guess it all depends on how you look at it. Isn’t that funny? How different perspectives can change the facts of a story. I’ve always found that fascinating.”

  I stared at her face that now seemed to be in deep thought and tried to bring her back down to earth. “But Asher Dawson is fixing up my barn right now. He works… he works construction and home improvement. How could he possibly buy his parents house and one of his own on that salary?”

  Maggie looked uncomfortable. “Aren’t you close to him? Isn’t that what Ashley was getting so worked up about a few minutes ago?” Worry started to cross into her forehead. “I don’t want to have a reputation for telling everyone’s business…”

  I looked at her hopelessly. I wanted to speak, I wanted to say something but I was at a loss for words. What she was saying couldn’t possibly be true, none of it even made sense. I would have heard something about this, wouldn’t I of? The memory of me telling my dad I never wanted to hear Asher’s name again popped into my mind.

  Well, Asher would have told me, surely. Wouldn’t he have?

  No, a voice somewhere in the back of my mind informed me.

  A vision of the look on Ralph's face popped into my head when I said I was going to call Asher's boss. He was almost laughing, the thought was amusing to him...

  And all the fancy cars Asher was driving around...

  Suddenly, I felt like I was on the edge of a nervous breakdown.

  Maggie sighed, clearly feeling sorry for me. “He doesn’t work for a construction company, love, he owns one,” she paused. “Actually, he owns several now… well, there’s not a contractor in the state you can find that’s not under Asher’s care these days and he just purchased his first company in Georgia last month…”

  Her words sank into my skin but I shook my head slowly, shocked.

  “You really didn’t know?” she pressed the issue.

  I pulled myself out of my trance and slapped a fifty-dollar bill down on the counter before yanking the bag of bagels and jug of coffee toward me. “Keep the change,” I mumbled before bolting of the diner and letting the screen door slam shut way too hard behind me.

  I was going to kill him.

  ***

  I slammed the bag of bagels down so hard on the counter that it split apart across the bottom. Not learning my lesson I slammed the coffee down just as hard, sending it splashing over the top and onto my father’s white counter tops. “ASHER!”

  A light shuffle came from down the hall.

  “ASHER!” I called again. “GET OUT HERE!”

  Asher turned the corner a few seconds later, a damp towel around his neck and a pair of gray sweatpants on his waist was the only evidence of coverage. His bare chest and the sudden appearance of pants that didn’t exist in this house was enough to temporarily distract me. “You took a shower? Where did you get those pants?”

  Asher shook his head back and forth, sending specs of water flying everywhere. “I had someone bring me over some clothes.” He ran the towel over his head. “Now what has you so worked up that you had to walk in screaming my name?” He raised his eyebrows. “Didn’t you do enough of that last night?”

  My heart sent shock waves through my bones at the memory of his naked body on top of mine but I pushed them away. “Oh, you had someone bring them over, huh? You mean like a servant?”

  “A servant? No… a guy who works for me.” He nodded toward the backyard where sounds were flowing in from the barn. “You got breakfast?” He moved toward the counter, looking interested.

  It was clearly an act to keep me from asking any more questions. How could he just stand there and lie to my face? “So, were you ever planning on telling me, Asher?”

  “Telling you what?” He took a bagel out of the bag and held it out to me. “You should eat something because trust me, you’re going to need your energy to make it through today.” He looked me up and down like he was undressing me with his eyes.

  “Put some ice on it,” I snapped, determined not to get caught up in his sex antics and forget the point. “I know, Asher! I know that you’re… that you’re rich!”

  “Oh,” Asher’s face fell. “That.”

  “Yeah, that.” I put my hands on my hips. “Were you ever going to tell me?”

  He dropped the bagel and sighed heavily. “Of course I was going to tell you…” He trailed off, meeting my eyes. “Maybe, I don’t know, I hadn’t really thought about it.”

  “So, you were just okay with keeping it from me?” My mouth hung open. I was so angry I could have screamed. Where the hell did he get off? Keeping something like that from me!

  “Does it even matter? What does it really change? So, I have money. Who gives a fuck?” He shrugged. “What? Is it going to hurt your rep or something? Sleeping with a millionaire?”

  “That’s not the point, Asher!”

  “Then what is it?” He looked exasperated.

  “The point is that you lied to me!”

  Asher grunted. “I didn’t technically lie to you, Bella, I just let you think what you wanted to think.” He walked over to the dining room table and grabbed a black shirt off the surface, yanking it over his head. “You had your mind made up about
me a long time ago.”

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean, Asher? I did not!”

  “Oh, come on, Bella.” He gestured toward me. “You just assumed when you came back that I was the same guy you left behind. That I was still dragging my feet, going through the motions, you wanted to believe that I was working some nine to five and still mooching off my parents. So, that’s exactly what I let you think.” He moved past me, grabbing his keys off the table. “You’re always right, remember?”

  His words hit me like a sludge hammer. Was he right? Had I been so sure of what Asher was that I hadn’t even given him the chance to be something different? The answer made my heart heavy. The things I had said to him… the way I had talked down to him. He was right, I had never given him the chance to prove me wrong.

  “You still... you still should have told me, Asher.”

  “You’re probably right but, honestly, you didn’t deserve it. The girl I used to know wouldn’t have just stopped believing in me, not after everything we went through together.” He turned around and started to move toward the door.

  Wait. What? How had this turned around on me?

  “Asher!” I called out. “Wait!” I closed the distance between us and pulled on his huge arm muscles, forcing him to look at me. “I didn’t… I never stopped believing in you, okay? I just let my pride do my talking for a while. I wasn’t over what happened before I left.” I swallowed and traced my hand up and down his jawline. “But it was wrong to carry all that over into today.”

  Asher shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. “What do you want from me, Bella? An apology? That’s not me… it never has been. I can’t give you that, I can only give you what I have… I’m not… I’m not normal.” He pushed a piece of hair behind my ear.

  My heart felt heavy in my chest, beating way too heavily for him.