“Why, what happened a few years ago?”
“That is a story for another day; it’s getting late, and you need your rest. I should go. Now that I know you work in the building, why don’t you come up to my office for lunch? I’ll order in.”
“Oh, I couldn’t bother you.”
“It’s not a bother, in fact, I insist, don’t make me call your boss.”
“Well, I wouldn’t want my boss to get in trouble, so sure, I’ll come up for lunch. Asher, thank you for a wonderful evening. Spending time with you and your family was really nice.”
Grabbing my coat and her hand, we walk to the door. I lean down and place a soft kiss on her cheek. I can feel her smile on my lips.
“Good night, Willow, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
At home, just falling asleep, the familiar sound of the ocean plays in my ears. Opening my eyes, there’s Olivia sitting in the sand with yellow roses in her lap. She places them on the sand beside her, stands and walks over to me. Placing one hand on my cheek, she says, “Ash, you did well, I’m so proud of you. I knew everyone would love Willow.”
“Wait, you know about Willow? Olivia I . . .”
“Ash, it’s OK, honey. This is what I’ve been trying to tell you. To open up your heart, you’re ready. Ash, you can’t control destiny. I’m just here to help you move forward. I want you to move forward.”
She places her hand over my heart, and whispers, “Ash, I love you. I know your heart has been broken for far too long. You have to let me go; you have to let your heart heal. It’s already begun, just let it happen.”
I close my eyes, and she kisses my lips, when I open them, I’m alone in my bed with the sun shining on my face.
Chapter 9
Willow
Monday morning I wake up feeling rested and absolutely wonderful. It was nice to tell Asher about my mom last night. I think I needed to tell someone and to get it off my chest. What I did should be unforgivable, but he didn’t judge me. He even offered to help me find her. He also said he’ll always be by my side. I know we just started seeing each other, but there’s more meaning in his words than he probably realizes, and it warms my heart. There’s an implication of us being . . . an us. I really like the sound of that.
Getting into the office, I make Amelia her espresso and head into her office. She’s just hanging up her phone with a smile on her face.
“That was my boss, making sure my employee is free for lunch, and that she is in his office on the twentieth floor at noon,” she says with a smile.
With a smile on my face, I place her espresso on her desk.
“Amelia, I hope this doesn’t become weird now that I’m seeing your brother. Oh crap, is that what we’re doing? Are we seeing each other?”
“Yes, that is exactly what you’re doing and don’t you worry about a thing, you and I are just fine. I always knew there was something special about you. I have some reports I need you to put together for me, for this afternoon. If you could get those done, then make sure you’re in that elevator by a quarter to twelve.”
“Thanks, Amelia, I’ll get right on the reports for you,” I say, and then leave her office.
After working all morning and putting the final touches on the reports for Amelia, it’s time to head up to see Asher. I’ve never been up past my floor. Making my way to the elevator, I check my appearance in the mirrored doors. Not too bad. Scarf in place, hair and make-up still good from this morning. With a dab of lip gloss and a fluff of my hair, I take the ride to the top floor.
Stepping off the elevator, it looks much the same as my floor. An older woman is sitting behind a reception desk, talking on the phone. I wait until she’s finished, and then I go to tell her my name, but before I can even open my mouth, she says, “Ms. Emery, Mr. Wellington is expecting you. You can go ahead on in. I think he’s finishing up a phone call, but he said for you to go right in. He’s the second door on the right. Lunch will be here in just a little bit. Can I get you anything while you wait?”
“Umm, no thank you,” I say, thinking she’s a very pleasant woman.
I walk to his door and knock twice softly, crack the door open a hair and peek inside. Asher is sitting at his desk; his suit coat is off, and his vest is unbuttoned as is the top two buttons of his white dress shirt. His tie is nowhere to be seen. He eyes me instantly with a smile and motions for me to come in and have a seat.
He hangs up the phone, stands and walks over to where I’m sitting. Man, he smells good. He bends over and kisses my cheek, and then says, “It’s good to see you. How’s your day so far?”
“It’s been great, just like every day. I absolutely love working for your sister. I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”
“No, Willow, you could never be an interruption. Well, I take that back, you are an interruption, but a good one.”
A buzz comes from his phone and the woman from reception tells him lunch has arrived.
“Thank you, Charlotte, you can just bring it in.”
She brings in two bags of takeout and places them on his desk, then says, “Mr. Wellington, Ms. Emery, enjoy your lunch.”
“Oh, please, call me Willow,” I tell her.
With a smile, she says, “Sure, it’s nice to meet you, Willow. Enjoy your lunch.”
She turns around and walks toward the door, then closes it behind her.
“Your assistant is very polite; I don’t think I’ve met anyone at your company that hasn’t been.”
Asher sits down in the chair next to me and pulls out food from the paper bags, and it smells heavenly.
“What smells so good?” I ask.
“I knew you liked the deli food from the other night. I had more soup and sandwiches delivered. I hope you like them.”
He divides up the food; then hands me a spoon for the soup.
“You really know a way to a girl’s heart. Comfort food is always a good choice.” We spend the next thirty minutes enjoying tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. The conversation is again, light and easy. “I better be getting back, I still have a few things I need to prepare for Amelia for her meeting.”
“She’s not working you too hard, is she? I know her boss and I can have him have a word with her.”
“NO!”
I think I said that with a little too much force. “Really, she’s not. Amelia has always been great. I don’t want things to change between any of us because we’re seeing each other.”
“Relax, I was joking. But there was a little seriousness in there, I guess. You’d tell me if it were too much for you, wouldn’t you?” he asks, looking at me with concern.
“I’m not sure if I would tell you that, I love my job. I know I have cancer, but I got this job based on my education and my resume. I wouldn’t want any special treatment. But thank you for your concern.”
He gently takes my arm in his hand and says, “I know you got the job because you deserved to get the job. I’m not saying you didn’t, please don’t misunderstand me. I was only speaking out of concern. I know you’re fully capable of doing your job, and I admire your work ethic, even going through chemo. Please don’t be upset with me.”
“Asher, I’m not, I think I overreacted. This is all new to me. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you.”
He pulls me into his warm body, kisses me on the cheek, and says, “Thank you for having lunch with me. I have a meeting until five, and then I’m hitting the gym. Will you have dinner with me tonight? There’s this Italian place right by my house I’d love to take you to. Can I pick you up at six-thirty?”
“That sounds great, thank you again for lunch,” I say as we walk out of his office.
He walks me to the elevator, and pushes the down button. With another kiss on the cheek, I head back down to my floor.
Asher
After the gym, I head home to shower and get ready to pick up Willow. I have an ulterior motive to take her to the restaurant by my house; I want to bring her back here and show her my
house. We’ve always spent time at her house, and I want her to be comfortable in my home as well. It will be the first time I’ve had a woman in the house since Olivia, besides my sisters and mother. It feels right and I know I’m ready to take the next step with Willow.
I grab my keys and head out the door to my car, but not before I catch my reflection in the hall mirror. There’s a smile there, slowly erasing the years of sadness. It looks good there on my face, I’ve missed the feeling of being happy. I stop at the florist for another arrangement of flowers, then pull up in front of her condo.
She answers the door and looks beautiful with another scarf around her neck. I wish she felt like she could be more comfortable around me.
“These are for you,” I say, handing her the flowers.
“Thank you, always the perfect gentlemen,” she says with a smile.
She walks into the kitchen, puts them into a vase, and then places them on the island.
“Are you ready to go?” I ask, extending my arm. She takes it; then we make our way to the car. I open the door for her and help her get in. “I hope you like Italian, this place is amazing.”
“Yes, I love Italian. Actually, I think I like all food. I don’t think there’s much that I don’t like, except mushrooms. Oh, and brussel sprouts. Easy way to get me to throw up, brussel sprouts.”
“We wouldn’t want that, now would we?”
Parking at the restaurant, I head over to open her car door and extend my hand to help her out. “My lady.”
She smiles and takes my hand. We walk hand in hand all the way to the table. I pull out her chair, then sit across the table from her. We look at the menu, and both order the pasta and tiramisu.
“So you got out of telling me again about the Gorgeous Eyes comment.”
“You didn’t forget about that, did you? The first time I ran into you after the unfortunate shoe incident, the first thing I noticed about you was your eyes. They’re the most amazing blue color I’ve ever seen; I wondered if you wore colored contacts. Hence the, are those your real eye color question I blurted out.”
“Ah, I see, well, I have to say the first thing I noticed about you was the beautiful color of your hair and your green eyes.” Pulling out my wallet to pay for dinner, I guess it’s now or never time. “I only live a few blocks from here; I was wondering if you’d like to go back to my place?”
“For a drink? Because, I can’t have alcohol right now.”
“Actually, I don’t drink much, but I would like to spend a little more time with you tonight.”
“Sure, that sounds nice.”
I’m so glad she says yes. I’m so nervous. I’m not expecting to take her anywhere she isn’t ready to go, and I would never want to push her. If she’s not ready to take the next step, I’ll wait. I’ve been daydreaming about kissing those beautiful lips of hers. They look so soft and I find myself wanting to taste her. As I pull up in my driveway, I see the expression on her face of surprise.
“This place is spectacular! You live here by yourself?” she asks.
“Yes, I do.”
But, what I don’t say is that my wife and I used to live here. I know I should probably tell her, the timing just isn’t right. I can’t wait too much longer. I don’t want her to hear about it from someone else first.
Opening her car door and offering my hand, she steps out with a smile as she takes in my house. Making our way inside, I ask her what she would like to drink.
“Anything is fine; water would be great,” she answers.
I grab two bottles of water out of the fridge, hand one to her, and then sit down in the family room.
“I’ll give you a complete tour some other time, it’s getting late. I don’t want to keep you out too long, we both have work tomorrow.”
She sits next to me and takes a drink, then sets it on the coffee table on a coaster. Our eyes lock and the moment is just there. I lean in just a few inches from her face, then stop to see if she’s going to pull away. She doesn’t, she closes her eyes and I close the distance, placing my lips on hers. I don’t close my eyes, wanting to see if she’s really comfortable with this. Her face softens, so I know she’s OK with it. I close my eyes and enjoy the softness of her lips. Deepening the kiss, I touch her lips with my tongue. She parts hers, accepting my tongue. It’s a soft, slow tangle of lips and tongue. Her lips are everything I knew they would be. Placing my hand on her cheek and into her hair, I couldn’t have dreamt of a better first kiss. I slide my hand down her soft flesh, down her neck, between her scarf. She stiffens and breaks the kiss.
“I’m sorry, it’s not you, really it’s not. Please don’t get me wrong, I want to do this. I’m just a little scared. My last treatment is this Friday. Then, pending some lab testing, I’ll have the port removed a week after that. To be honest, I just don’t know how I feel about you seeing it. Well, that’s dumb. I know you’ve already seen it, but just not like this.”
“Willow, it’s fine sweetheart, we don’t have to take this any further than this. I completely understand. It’s just that I’ve wanted to kiss you for a while now. I’m sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable.”
“No, you didn’t, and if you don’t mind, I think I would like a repeat.”
She moves back in and kiss me again, this time I let her take the lead and enjoy what she is offering. Pulling away again, she kisses me on the cheek and then smiles.
“I should probably take you back home. Tomorrow, can you meet me for lunch again in my office?” I ask, standing to get my keys.
She stands and follows me to the door, and says, “I would really love that.”
After taking her home, I climb into bed. I actually want to get to sleep. I want to talk to Olivia again. It seems weird, but I want to ask her advice on how I should proceed with Willow. She’s already been such an inspiration to get me to open up again. I don’t want to screw this up. The longer I lay there, the longer sleep doesn’t come. I toss and turn for hours. Finally, after what seems like an eternity I fall asleep, but Olivia doesn’t come to me.
I wake the next morning saddened, first because I didn’t get to see her and second I really was looking forward to her advice.
Chapter 10
Willow
After Asher took me home and walked me to my door, he again kissed me on the lips, a warm and slow passionate kiss. He kept his hands in mine the entire time. He didn’t touch my scarf or put his hands under it. I shouldn’t be so self-conscious about it, it’s not like he was trying to grab my breast or anything. The port is just below my collarbone and I freaked. I didn’t know where he intended to put his hands. I should’ve known he wasn’t trying to rip my clothes off. It was stupid, and I’m more embarrassed now to think I even thought that.
I shouldn’t have been afraid for him to touch it. He was well on his way to touching it, and if he wanted to, I shouldn’t have been embarrassed. I probably would have been more upset if he was repulsed by it, but he wasn’t. Not at any point has he been anything but a gentleman. If he was willing to touch me and not be grossed out, I should have let him. Now it will be almost two weeks before it’s out. Curling up in my bed with Lucy, we were both soon fast asleep.
Waking the next morning, I groan to myself thinking about last night and how stupid I was. I should get myself up and into the office.
At the office, it’s like any other day except for my lunch date with Asher. Just thinking about it puts a smile on my face. Wearing a button up blouse with just the top button undone, I go sans a scarf. Most of my wardrobe is low cut blouses. They’re modest and office appropriate, but I just feel more comfortable with a scarf to cover anything that may peek out and to cover the bulk of the port, so it doesn’t draw unwanted attention. But I’m feeling daring and why the heck not.
At a quarter to twelve, I peek my head inside Amelia’s office and mouth the words that I’m going to lunch. She has her ear to her phone and nods with a smile. Walking off the elevator, Charlotte greets me with a smile.<
br />
“Here, these are for you,” she says, picking up a bouquet of flowers from her desk. “He’s in a meeting in the conference room; he asked me to tell you to go ahead into his office. Lunch will be here any minute and Mr. Wellington will join you as soon as he’s finished.”
With a stupid smile on my face, I say, “Thank you, Charlotte.”
I take the flowers from her, then make myself comfortable in Asher’s office. A few minutes later my hair is swept off my neck and he kisses me just below my ear. Turning around to see him, his smile changes to a look of concern.
“Sorry, was that OK?” he asks.
Placing the sweetest smile I can manage, I say, “Yes, that was nice. How’s your day been so far? You look tired.”
“My day has been busy. I didn’t sleep very well last night, but I’m fine now that I get to see you. How about you? How’s your day?” he asks.
Charlotte gently knocks on the door, then enters the room with lunch.
“You look beautiful today, by the way. It’s nice to see you without a scarf. I know you’re self-conscious about it, but I have to tell you, you can hardly notice anything and you look stunning. I ordered sandwiches from the deli again; that seems to be our thing.”
“Thank you,” is all I can say, hoping he knows it’s not only for the food but, for the compliment and the encouragement as well.
“Saturday, if you’re feeling up to it, I was wondering if you’d like to accompany me to a benefit I need to attend?” he asks.
Instant fear takes over. I don’t have anything to wear to a benefit, but there’s nothing more I’d like than to spend time with Asher. I’d hate to turn him down because I don’t have anything to wear. I don’t want him to think that I don’t want to spend time with him. But it’s almost like he’s prepared for my mini freak out though.
“I was originally going to take Ava, but she insisted that I take you instead. She has offered to take you shopping Saturday morning to get the perfect dress, my treat of course.”
Running Into Love - The Complete Box Set Page 6