Drake and Ashley: The Complete Story

by Noelle Stevens

I laugh. “Why do you say that?”

  “No cell phones? For the whole day? That’s unprecedented.”

  “I know. But the good news is, Drake’s lovely assistant won’t be able to call him and interrupt us again.”

  “I’ll want all the details when you get home. Have a great day tomorrow.”

  We hang up and I take out my laptop and work until I’m too tired to work any longer, and as I drift off to sleep, I’m filled with a yearning for Drake that I can’t deny.

  Thirty-Two

  ASHLEY

  Early the next morning I rise with the sun, eager to begin my day. The night before I got everything done for work that had to be done for that day, and with that information in hand, I email my boss and tell him I need to take the day off for personal reasons.

  He replies a short time later, thanks me for completing my assignments, and says that he’s fine with me taking the day off.

  Elated to not have to worry about my job for the day, I finish getting ready, and by the time Drake arrives at seven o’clock, I’m super excited to see what he has in store.

  “You don’t have your cell phone on you, do you?” he asks with a grin.

  “Nope. It’s in my room.” My eyes narrow. “What about you?”

  He puts his hands up like I’m going to search him—an interesting idea. “I left it at the hotel.”

  “Good.”

  After saying good-bye to my parents, we head out the door.

  “Where’s the sports car?” I ask when I see a black Jeep parked in the driveway.

  A smile lights his face as he opens the passenger door for me. “It didn’t fit in with our plans so I swapped it out last night.”

  I climb inside and gaze at him. “And those plans would be?”

  With a shake of his head, he laughs and closes my door, then goes to his side and gets behind the wheel.

  I stare at him, waiting for a hint, but none is forthcoming as he starts the engine and we pull away from my parents’ house.

  “I thought we’d have a light breakfast before we begin,” he says.

  My stomach rumbles in reply, and I laugh self-consciously. “Before we begin what?”

  “Nice try, but you’ll just have to wait.”

  I smile, happy to be in his capable hands. “Fine.”

  A short time later we’re sitting in a booth at a local diner with plates of fresh fruit, muffins, juice, and coffee. We eat our fill, then hit the road.

  The farther north we go, the better idea I get of where we’re going.

  When Drake exits the Interstate, I’m certain, and I turn to him with a wide grin. “We’re going on a hike.”

  He glances at me. “Not just any hike. We’re going in a slot canyon.” He smiles at me before focusing back on the road. “Have you hiked a slot canyon before?”

  “Once, a few years ago.”

  “What did you think?”

  “It was fun, and I only panicked once.”

  His eyebrows bunch. “Panicked? Why?”

  “Have you ever hiked in a slot canyon?”

  “No, actually, I haven’t, which is why I thought it would be different than the other hikes we’ve been on.” He glances at me again. “Now, tell me why you panicked.”

  “I was camping with my family in Utah, at Escalante State Park, and my dad thought it would be fun to check out the slot canyons. There were three that we explored, but on one of them we reached a point where we couldn’t go on—not unless we scrambled up a steep and awkward section of rock, and there was no way my parents could do that. The only option was to go back the way we’d come.”

  I look at Drake, who is listening closely.

  “The only way back was through an extremely narrow section,” I say as I grimace at the memory. “I’m talking so narrow that you have to sidle through sideways while you hold your backpack in one hand to drag along behind you. And you’d better hope you didn’t eat an extra muffin at breakfast.”

  He laughs.

  “Yeah. That wasn’t so bad either. The thing that freaked me out was when I heard people coming from the direction we needed to go, and I knew there was no physical way we could get past them.” Panic swells over me again as I relive the experience in my mind, making my heart pound.

  “What did you do?”

  “The place where we stood was a tiny pocket where several people could fit if we crammed together. My brothers had already scrambled up that tricky part to see what was up there, so it was just my parents and me. We pressed our backs against the wall as far as we could, and when the people we’d heard coming got to where we stood, my parents and I managed to squeeze by them and back towards the narrow path.” My eyebrows rose. “Barely.”

  I look at Drake and laugh—his mouth is hanging open and his eyes are wide. “We survived,” I say, “although as we headed back through that extremely narrow section, I was worried more people could be coming towards us, and then what would we do?”

  “What about your brothers?”

  “They caught up with us a few minutes later.”

  “Maybe the slot canyons aren’t such a great idea after all,” he says.

  I cock my head. “Are you claustrophobic, Drake?”

  He grins. “Only when I’m in small spaces.”

  I laugh, then without thinking, I rest my hand on his arm and say, “I’m sure it will be fine.” His gaze goes to my hand, then to my face. I’ve been feeling so comfortable with him this morning that I’ve forgotten about the space that has been between us lately.

  My smile falters, and I drop my hand from his arm.

  DRAKE

  Ashley’s touch warms me, and I want to reach out and pull her against me. But as I glance at her and see that she’s biting her lip as she stares out the window, I hold back, biding my time until just the right moment.

  “According to the GPS we should be there pretty soon,” I say.

  She turns her gorgeous smile on me, and I stare at her a moment, thrilled to have this chance to win her back, but slightly nervous that I’ll fall flat on my face.

  The morning hike isn’t the only activity I have planned, and I hope that Ashley will enjoy the time we spend together—and want more of it.

  An image of Rachel, and other women I’ve dated, comes to mind, and I hold back a laugh at the look that would have been on their faces if I’d announced I was taking them to the desert to hike in a slot canyon.

  “What’s so funny?” Ashley asks.

  “Nothing.” I don’t want to talk about other women. Especially when that’s a sore spot for her.

  “Come on, Drake. I can tell you were thinking of something funny.”

  I scramble to come up with a convincing answer. “Uh, I was just imaging what would happen if I got stuck in one of those narrow canyons you were talking about.” I chuckle. “Come to think of it, that’s not funny at all.”

  A wry smile turns up one side of her mouth. “Actually, it would be pretty funny.”

  “What would you do if that happened?”

  With mock disappointment, she says, “I’m afraid I’d have to leave you there for the coyotes to snack on.”

  “Ouch. That’s harsh.”

  “Or I could give you a shove and see if that sets you free.”

  “I vote for that option.”

  “Hmm. I guess we’ll just have to see what kind of mood I’m in at the time.”

  “My life in the hands of a woman’s mood. Those don’t sound like good odds.”

  Her lips purse as one eyebrow rises. “Your odds will always increase if you treat me right.”

  I feel a bit of a sting behind her words, and despite my best efforts, I become defensive. “When have I not treated you right?” Then I remember a time or two when I didn’t. “I mean besides when I asked you to play housekeeper at my cabin. And when I was rude to you when you were my assistant.” Now cringing, I steal a glance in her direction.

  “Besides those?” she asks as a laugh plays around the corn
ers of her mouth.

  I nod.

  “I forgave you for those incidents a while ago, Drake.”

  “Good,” I say. “Then I probably shouldn’t remind you of them.”

  “Probably not.”

  Almost not wanting to ask, I do anyway. “Are there any times you haven’t forgiven me for?”

  She gives me a sideways glance. “There was one. Just recently.”

  I immediately know she’s talking about the failed dinner at my house nearly two weeks earlier when I’d said we should date other people, and I don’t know how to fix it. “What can I do to get us past that?” I’m desperate to lift that burden from my shoulders.

  Thirty-Three

  ASHLEY

  More than anything, I want to know what’s going on in his head. Was his desire to date other women influenced by Jasmine? And if it was, do we even have a chance of making our relationship work?

  “Let’s play a game,” I say as I get a brilliant idea of how to have my questions answered.

  “A game?” Drake asks, clearly caught off-guard. “What kind of game?”

  “Truth or Dare.”

  His eyebrows rise. “Okay.”

  “We’ll start once we get on our hike.”

  “What are the rules?”

  “For the truth part,” I say, “the questions will have yes or no answers.”

  “And for the dares?” He glances at me. “You’re not going to make me do anything crazy, are you?”

  I shake my head. “Of course not.” My goal isn’t to do stupid things on our hike, but to get to the core of Drake’s intentions.

  “Here we are,” he announces as he pulls off the road and parks the Jeep. Then he reaches into the backseat and says, “I have something for you.”

  Curious, I turn to see what he’s getting.

  “It’s a Camelback,” he says. “I filled it with ice water this morning.”

  I take it from his outstretched hand. “Nice. Thank you.” We climb out, put the Camelbacks over our shoulders, then start walking. “I hope you brought your first-aid kit today.”

  He laughs. “Why? Are you planning on getting hurt?”

  A smirk forms on my mouth. “Depends on the dares you give me.”

  “I’ll keep your accident-prone nature in mind when I think up your dares.” He grins. “Speaking of, are you ready to start your game?”

  Am I ready to hear the truth? “Yes.”

  “Okay. Who goes first?”

  “I’ll go first.”

  He smiles. “All right.”

  I turn to him with a smile. “Truth or Dare?”

  “Hmm. Let’s start with a dare.”

  He’s going to make this hard. “Okay.” I cast my gaze around the area as I try to think up something good, then a lizard sunning on a rock catches my eye. “See that lizard?”

  Drake stops and looks where I’m pointing. “Yes.”

  “Catch it.”

  He laughs. “What if I fail?”

  “Good question. What should the penalty be if we fail a dare or don’t tell the truth?”

  He tilts his head. “How will we know if the other person isn’t telling the truth?”

  I stare at him, wondering if he’s planning on lying. “Why wouldn’t we tell the truth?”

  He frowns. “For the record, I’m planning on telling the truth.”

  Relieved that he seems as intent on honesty as I am, I say, “So am I, so I guess we only need a penalty for failing a dare.”

  Stroking his chin as he gazes at the landscape around us, he murmurs, “Hmm.” Then he turns to me with a slow smile. “If one of us fails at a dare, then we’ll have to kiss something the other person designates.”

  Interesting. “Okay. I guess that would work.”

  He looks at the lizard, which hasn’t moved since we’ve been talking. “Here goes nothing.” He takes a tentative step in the direction of the lizard, then slowly stretches his arm in its direction. The moment his shadow slides over the rock and approaches the lizard, the critter scurries to a neighboring rock.

  “That thing’s fast,” he mutters.

  Smothering a laugh, I watch as he keeps his hand outstretched and takes a step closer. Again, the lizard dashes out of reach.

  After several more tries, the lizard runs under a rock and is gone. Drake turns to me with a wry grin. “I guess I fail. What do you want me to kiss?”

  Me. Pushing that aside as too easy—for both of us—I glance around, then point to a rock wall. “That.”

  With a glance in my direction—do I detect a hint of disappointment in his eyes?—Drake strides over to the rock and plants a kiss right on it, then turns to me with eyebrows raised.

  I nod. “Your turn.”

  “Truth or Dare?” he asks as he approaches me.

  Not quite ready to spill my guts, I say, “Dare.”

  A smile plays at the corners of his mouth as he rubs his hands together. “Let’s keep walking while I come up with something good.”

  “Okay.” Canyon walls soar on either side of us, but the trail is plenty wide. “Looks like you’re not going to get stuck anytime soon,” I say.

  Drake laughs.

  A few minutes later we come to a large, muddy, bog-like spot.

  “I know what your dare is,” he says.

  I look from his face to the mud and back again. “No.”

  “No, what? I haven’t told you what it is yet.”

  “It has something to do with that mud, doesn’t it?”

  He laughs. “This game was your idea, Ashley.”

  Maybe I should have said “Truth”. “What’s the dare?”

  With a look of glee, he says, “I dare you to jump across that area without getting any mud on you.”

  “How is that a dare? It’s more like a test.”

  “Whatever you want to call it, it’s yours to accept.”

  “Okay, fine.” Wanting to get a running start, I move backwards several yards, and then I take off, and when I reach the edge of the muddy area, I leap. In my mind’s eye I’m flying over the boggy area with the grace of a ballerina, but when I land a moment later, and my feet sink to my ankles, I know I’ve failed this dare.

  On top of that, my feet are completely stuck.

  I turn my head—my encased feet prevent me from turning my body very far—and see Drake doubled-over with laughter.

  Nice.

  “A little help?” I call out.

  With residual chuckles shaking his shoulders, he walks around the bog, but stops several feet away from me. “I don’t really want to step in that.” His grin is barely suppressed.

  “Uh, yeah.”

  He reaches towards me, and I stretch my hand out to meet his fingers, but he’s too far away. “Come on, Drake. I can’t do this by myself.”

  “All right. The dare was my idea.” He smiles. “And despite your earlier threat to leave me if I got stuck, I’m not going to leave you.”

  “Well, thank goodness for that,” I say with all the sarcasm I can muster under the circumstances.

  He takes a careful footstep, then manages to reach my hand. “I don’t want your shoes to come off, so pull them out slowly.”

  I do as he instructs and a moment later I’m standing on solid ground. My shoes are caked in mud, but at least they’re still on my feet. “That was fun,” I say without a trace of humor.

  Laughter bubbles out of Drake’s mouth. “I enjoyed it.”

  I frown at him, although I’m not really mad. “I’ll bet.”

  He helps me walk beyond the bog to a nice shady spot.

  “Ready for your penalty?” he asks.

  In all the excitement of being stuck in the mud, I’d completely forgotten about that, and I wonder what he’s going to make me do now. “I guess so.”

  He smiles. “For your penalty, you are to kiss me right here.” Then he points to the middle of his cheek.

  My heart stutters as desire surges through me. “O . . . Okay.”

&n
bsp; He bends slightly so that I’ll be able to reach him, then tilts his head towards me.

  I stare at the tanned skin on his face, wanting nothing more than to touch it, kiss it, stroke it. My fear is once I start, I won’t be able to stop. But I have to do it. That’s how you play the game.

  I take two steps in his direction until I’m standing beside him. A gentle breeze lifts my hair away from my face and I tuck the loose strands behind my ears, then I push up onto my tiptoes until I’m only inches from his cheek.

  The scent of his aftershave wafts over me, and I close my eyes as I inhale. It takes a determined effort to keep my hands from sliding around his neck, and I curl them into fists at my sides. My lips soften as they get closer, ever closer, to his skin.

  My tender lips brush across his rough cheek while his scent engulfs me.

  Drake.

  Love and longing cascade over me, but I know I need to pull away, to draw back, to not give myself to him just yet.

  Not until I know he’s truly committed to me.

  Thirty-Four

  DRAKE

  Ashley’s sweet scent wraps around me, and when her lips touch my face, I want to turn my head so that our mouths will come together in a passionate kiss. But when I shift my head ever so slightly, she breaks contact, and I know she’s not ready. Not yet.

  “My turn,” she whispers, and I hear a slight trembling in the timbre of her voice.

  I straighten, then smile down at her, elated at the frank look of desire in her eyes. I know that look is reflected in my eyes, which gives me the confidence to move forward with my plan.

  Where do you hope to end up, Drake?

  With an imperceptible shake of my head, I push away the insistent thoughts, not ready to look that far ahead. For now, all I want is for Ashley to know that I truly love her, and that she can trust me—completely.

  We continue walking.

  “Truth or Dare?” Ashley asks from partially lowered eyelids.

  I’m ready to take this game to the next level—I think. “Truth.”

  Her eyes widen and her lips part, and I wonder if I’ll be able to be honest with my answer.