Grant coughed and shook his head. “You’re in trouble now, Lance.”
Without missing a beat, Ian added, “Mom, don’t you have a charity ball coming up? I bet dancing with a few of your friends would help Lance distinguish between them.”
Kenzi chimed in her idea. “Mom, you love a good auction. You should put Lance up for bid as a dance partner at the ball.”
With an impish smile, Emily added, “If the money goes to charity, you have five single sons.”
Grant threw his napkin at her and smiled. “You hush.”
Emily threw it back. “You don’t like the idea? But Grant, it’s for charity.”
The easy banter between Emily and Grant sent a stab of jealousy through Asher that he tried and failed to suppress. He placed a hand over hers on the table in a public display of ownership. “Four single sons. One is taken.”
He hadn’t meant to say it, but once it was out there he wasn’t about to retract the statement. He kept his hand on Emily’s and tried not to be offended by her shocked expression.
A collective, amused silence fell over the table. If they were waiting for him to say more, they’d be waiting a long time. Asher didn’t crack under peer pressure, not even from his family.
Sophie was the first to speak again. “Four it is.” A shadow of sadness changed her expression for a moment. “Three really, since Andrew will be deployed again.”
Dale took his wife’s hand in his. “He’ll be here tomorrow. Let’s focus on the reasons we have to be happy.”
The smile returned to Sophie’s face. “You’re right.” She leaned over and gave her husband a kiss on the cheek. “I don’t know what I would do without you.”
“And you’ll never have to,” he answered.
The exchange wasn’t an unusual one, but this time it moved Asher. It’s always been there—their love—but Asher had seen it as a weakness, not a strength.
In a low voice, Emily said to him. “You’re hurting me.”
Asher instantly lightened his hold on Emily and met her eyes. He thought about how he’d treated her up to that point and felt an uncharacteristic wave of shame. Emily was a good person, a better person than he’d ever be, and she’d come to him out of desperation. The more he got to know her, the more he learned about himself, and that changed the way he saw her attachment to her museum. It was more than a dream for her; it was also all she had left of her family. Did she feel that she would be alone without it? I should have helped her. Instead I took advantage of her. My family stepped forward to do what I should have done. “I won’t ever again, Emily. I promise you that.”
The dinner plates were cleared away, and Sophie asked if anyone wanted dessert. Asher was impatient to get Emily alone again, but he looked around the table and back at Emily. She was happy with his family, and they were enjoying her. If she wanted to stay, they would stay. He didn’t tell her his decision aloud, but they exchanged a look, and he knew she understood.
Emily gave his hand a squeeze and tears filled her eyes. “If your cook made that strawberry tart again, I’m in.”
A general agreement spread around the table and Asher found himself in a situation he’d rarely found himself in. He was with his family, choosing to stay longer . . . and he was smiling.
Chapter Thirteen
‡
After dinner, Asher asked Emily if she wanted to go for a walk and Emily agreed, but she was nervous. She had no idea what to expect. He’d apologized, and she’d accepted his apology. His behavior during dinner had been proprietorial and part of Emily wanted to tell him she belonged to no one, but a larger part of her wanted to belong.
It was a difficult admission to make. Since her mother had passed, Emily had grown used to being alone, looking out for herself. It wasn’t something she’d let herself think about, instead she’d focused on the museum and making it a reality. The past month had been a roller coaster of emotions, but it had also shown Emily what her life lacked—family.
They walked hand in hand through the garden near the house until they came across a gazebo that overlooked a small pond. The sun was setting, but Asher flipped a switch and illuminated the area. “My family seems to really like you.”
“I really like them. They’re wonderful people. If I tried for the next hundred years I couldn’t thank them enough for how kind they have been to me.”
Asher led her into the gazebo, leaned against a railing, and pulled her into his arms. “I’ve never seen my mother so calm this time of year. Usually we’re all walking on eggshells, trying not to say the wrong thing.”
Emily relaxed into his embrace. “What happened, Asher? What was so terrible that your family gathers for but won’t talk about?”
Asher rested his chin on top of Emily’s head and sighed. “Kenzi was a fraternal twin. My parents had planned a trip to Aruba for their anniversary, then found out they were pregnant. Their trip was doctor approved, but my mother went into labor while there. They were premature. Kenzi survived, but the baby my parents named Kent didn’t.”
Emily leaned back so she could see Asher’s face. “How old were you?”
“I was young. Too young to be told the circumstances around what had happened, but old enough to understand that it had changed my family. My mother hasn’t been the same since. My father, either. Shortly after they lost the baby, my father’s political career was hit by a scandal. The news accused him of supporting a mistress with government funds. He claimed he never cheated on my mother, and she believed him. It’s one of the many subjects we don’t discuss.”
“I can’t imagine Dale cheating on Sophie. The way he loves your mother reminds me of how my grandfather loved my grandmother. I never saw them together, but he never remarried. Even by the time I came along, he was still talking about her being the love of his life. When he passed, my mother said it was hard to be sad because she knew he had someone waiting for him at heaven’s gate. It wasn’t the same for her, but I like to think they’re all together now.”
Asher hugged Emily closer. He was quiet for a moment then said, “My father gave me a tour of the exhibit after you left. It’s remarkable how closely it mirrors your museum.”
“That was the genius of your mother and the event planner she hired. I wouldn’t have been able to organize anything of this caliber on my own. Not yet.”
They stayed as they were, simply holding each other. Emily didn’t want to ruin the mood by bringing up the fate of her museum, but it was a wall between them that could no longer be ignored. Even though she tried to sound as if her whole world didn’t hinge on his answer, her voice wavered as she asked, “Have you made a decision about your facility in New Hampshire?”
He held her back from him and met her eyes. “I can’t see how I could move forward with it now.”
Relief flooded through Emily, but it was quickly followed by a need only he could fill. His hunger for her lit an equally consuming one in her. “You’re not angry with me for being here with your family?”
He framed her face with his hands and caressed her cheeks lightly with his thumbs. “Anger is not at all what I’m feeling right now.”
Emily tipped her head back and closed her eyes in anticipation of his kiss. Despite the coolness of the night air, her skin was warm and tingling, eager for his touch. He gave her a tender kiss instead of the hot assault she’d expected. When he broke off the kiss, her eyes flew open in confusion. She searched his face for a hint of what he was thinking. He wanted her, but he was holding himself back. “What’s wrong?”
He chuckled and kissed her forehead. “My parents’ garden is hardly the place for what I want to do with you.”
Emily looked around. When she was with him it was too easy to forget everything else. Her cheeks warmed with embarrassment. “Of course, I wasn’t suggesting—”
He hugged her to his chest. “Never be embarrassed with me, Emily. I love your honesty, your openness. I hope to hell what you feel around me is as good as what I feel around you.
Most of the time I want you so badly, I can’t think. If you don’t believe me, listen to the idiotic things that come out of my mouth whenever you’re around. I’ve never threatened to carry a woman off anywhere, but you bring out a side of me I didn’t know existed.”
Emily blushed again, but this time for an entirely different reason. Her mind flooded with images of their bodies intimately joining again and again. “I shouldn’t tell you this, but that was pretty sexy, even though I was too angry with you at the time to want to go anywhere with you.”
He groaned. “I’m trying to do the right thing here, but now all I can think about is dragging you to my apartment and making love to you all night.”
Emily licked her bottom lip. “I’m not angry anymore.”
He set her back from him and took a deep breath. “You accused me of being a man who thinks only in terms of what I want. I don’t want to be that man. Everything else aside, this is the week my family comes home to support my mother. Andrew will arrive tomorrow morning. I should be here.” He ran a hand through her hair. “You should be here, too. What we want can wait one week. I have work I need to do even while I’m here, but next week, everyone leaves; come back to my apartment in Boston and I’ll take some time off. We’ll celebrate your exhibit all day and all night long.”
Emily had glimpsed this side of Asher before, but there was a new look in his eyes that had her heart beating wildly and her mind racing. The artist in her paid attention to detail, sought to capture expressions by understanding the emotions behind them. He looks like a man who is falling in love.
Panic rose within her. Isn’t this exactly what happened in Paris? I wanted more than he’d said, so I imagined it was there in the way he looked at me, in the way he treated me. But it wasn’t. He. Left. What if it’s not there now?
“Are you ready to go back?” Asher asked and took her hand in his.
She knew he meant back to the house, but the question elicited a strong response within her. A few hours earlier, she’d been packing her bags with the intention to leave. She hadn’t allowed herself to think about what she’d be walking away from. I don’t want to go back to New Hampshire yet. I’m happy here.
What is wrong with me? Everything that’s important to me is in Welchton.
Or is it?
Asher, how can you give me so much and so little? She wanted to grab him by the shoulders and demand answers to the questions relentlessly ruining what would otherwise have been a romantic stroll. Are you serious about me? What happens after the exhibit? Are we building something together or back on the wild, temporary ride to nowhere?
Asher touched her face. “Is something wrong?”
Emily lied with a shake of her head.
Yes, I shouldn’t be in love with you.
But I am.
Several days later, Asher woke alone in his bedroom at his parents’ house with a smile on his face. Life was good. Things were under control at work, and he was clearing his schedule for the next week. One whole week of Emily. Just Emily. He should have been tired from doubling up his meetings and forcing his normally longer days into a nine-to-five workday, but he had never felt better.
He and Emily had spent every evening with his family in one fashion or another. They stayed in for a welcome home family dinner for Andrew. They’d opened Emily’s exhibit to the public and spent several evenings there, meeting the first exclusive wave of those his mother had invited for special viewings.
He thought he’d admired Emily before, but watching her hold her own with both the hard-to-impress art elite as well as those who made their living by critiquing the work of others, brought his admiration to a whole new level. She didn’t waver before their questions. Her belief in the importance of her collection and her dream shone through whatever nervousness she claimed she had. He wasn’t surprised when his mother reported that most who attended the exhibit were prepared to commit to some level of patronage. The younger philanthropists wanted more details on how the money would be spent before signing their checks, but, according to his mother, that was the trend every museum was facing. Her generation had given for the accolades and saw it as an investment in the arts. The younger generation felt divided between the arts and social causes. They were harder to win over, but generous once they had been.
Asher offered Emily a generous donation, but she refused it. She said she wanted to do this on her own, and he respected her more because of it. While watching her walk people through her exhibit, it was impossible not to want her to succeed. His stomach twisted painfully every time he considered how close he’d come to taking it away from her. He wanted Emily, but even more than that, he wanted to see her dream become a reality.
With that in mind, in a meeting with his team who had been working in New Hampshire, he told them he would be buying the lots from his company and making the project a personal one. Until that phase was completed, he wanted them researching and pitching alternate sites.
Asher rolled onto his back and sighed. Like every other morning that week, he’d woken with a throbbing erection. Although he was enjoying the week with his family more than he had in a long time, he was looking forward to having Emily all to himself. Waiting to be with her again was excruciating, but it had also taught him something.
He’d never put much thought into the differences between the casual affairs he’d had with women and what his parents had, but he saw it clearly now. His personal goals were still paramount to him, but Emily’s happiness affected his own. When she was laughing and smiling, he was filled with unexpected warmth that made every moment of his day more vibrant. Colors were brighter. Food tasted better. When he breathed in, he felt lighter.
He imagined the pleasure he would find in just a few days when Emily would be beside him in his bed. He would leisurely claim every inch of her until neither of them could stand, then spend the next day exploring the limits of their sexual stamina again. A knock on his door pulled him back to reality.
Ian called through the door. “Asher, are you up?”
Asher looked at the large tent in his sheet and swore. “I’m not dressed. What do you want?”
“We need to talk before you head off to the office. Meet me in the library.”
“I’ll be down in fifteen minutes.” After a very cold shower.
Asher threw back the sheets, stood, and stretched. He checked the clock beside his bed. He had time before his first meeting. Hopefully whatever Ian wanted to discuss would be brief.
A short time later, Asher entered the library and saw Ian standing beside the lit fireplace. “I don’t have long, but what do you need?”
“Close the door.”
Asher raised one eyebrow in surprise then closed the door behind him. It wasn’t like Ian to be secretive. He studied his brother’s face. Something was wrong. Something serious. Asher walked across the room and stood in front of the fireplace. “What’s going on, Ian?”
Ian looked Asher over from head to toe then said, “I want to make sure we’re all on the same page about Emily.”
Asher’s jaw tightened in preparation of a conversation he knew wasn’t going anywhere good. “And what page would that be?”
“Having Emily here and raising money for her museum has given Mom something good to focus on. We were all talking, and we don’t want anything to threaten that.”
Folding his hands over his chest, Asher narrowed his eyes and asked, “Stop dancing around what you want to say, Ian.”
“Don’t buy Emily’s land. Don’t demolish her grandfather’s house. I know that when it comes to business for you, profit always comes first, but this project needs to happen. If your money is tied up abroad, and you can’t afford to relocate your facility, tell me and we’ll figure something out. Between us, we easily have the liquid assets to cover what you’ll lose.”
It bothered Asher that his family had seen him with Emily and still thought he would move forward with his facility. “And what would you all do with half a town in New
Hampshire?”
Ian ran his hand through his hair in agitation. “I don’t fucking know, Asher. I’m hoping it doesn’t come to that. Is it going to come to that? With you, I honestly can’t tell.”
“That’s a wonderful opinion you have of me.”
Ian let out a long breath but said nothing.
A memory of something his father had said came back to Asher. “I could explain myself and change what you think of me, but I’m too damn proud. Always have been. Tell me, who does that sound like?” Asher slammed a fist against the wall. His family mattered to him. Emily mattered to him. He’d spent most of his life trying to be the opposite of his father and didn’t like discovering he was following in his footsteps. “I’m already actively seeking another location for my facility. So tell the family they don’t need to save Emily from me.”
Ian’s stance relaxed. “Thank God. It’s not just Mom everyone is worried about. Emily is a nice woman. No one wants to see her hurt.”
Asher tensed again. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“You know how you are. Don’t be that way this time.”
Ian’s words echoed in Asher’s head. ‘You know how you are. Fuck. Is this how they all feel about me? Don’t be that way this time. Do they all see me as an uncaring, ruthless bastard? Even Kenzi? The thought made Asher even angrier, even if he didn’t know who he was most angry at.
Asher glared at his brother. “As enlightening as this conversation has been, I have an early meeting this morning. Is there anything else you needed to get off your chest?” Ian opened his mouth to say something, but Asher raised his hand. “I was joking, I really don’t want to hear it.”
With that, Asher turned on his heel and strode out of the library. He was angrily shrugging on his jacket when Emily appeared.
She read his mood and instantly looked concerned. “Is everything okay?”
Always Mine (The Barrington Billionaires, Book 1) Page 13