Meredith shook her head. “No, this does. Asher, I want to give it a try. You and me. I was wrong to say no to your feelings before. I was scared and dumb and I don’t want to live my life that way anymore. I want to be fearless and brave and I want… I want to be open and alive again.”
Asher felt his heart speed up as her arms went around his neck. “You do?” he asked, not believing what he was hearing.
Meredith nodded her head and then leaned her head against his shoulder. “I do,” she whispered.
Asher closed his eyes and sighed as he held her tightly against his chest. “That makes me very happy,” he said before pulling back and angling his head to the side so he could kiss her properly.
She laughed and pulled back a short moment later, touching her lips with her fingers. “So scratchy,” she added, before she began kissing him this time.
Asher grinned and tried to ignore the feeling of a box knocking against his head.
“Can you put the box down? It’s hard to concentrate when you keep smacking my head with that thing.”
Meredith stepped back and held the box out to him. “This is for you. Sorry. Open it,” she ordered.
Asher took the box and lifted the lid to see a somewhat mashed up looking pink cupcake and looked at her questioningly. “You bought me a cupcake?”
Meredith shook her head. “Not really. Jane gave it to me to give to you. But guess what it’s called.”
Asher reached in and lifted the cupcake out, taking a little bite since he was still full from the chocolate milkshake Tai had made him. “It’s good. What’s the name?”
Meredith grinned and wiped a smear of icing off his lip with her finger before tasting it. “It’s called, My One and Only.”
Asher grinned and leaned over to kiss her softly. “You’re my one and only, Meredith.”
Meredith nodded. “Well, let’s see how it goes. Let’s date for a while and see if we can mesh our business and personal lives. If we can, then you and I could very well be each other’s one and only.”
Asher frowned at that. “Where’s your faith, Meredith?”
Meredith frowned and looked away. “I’m not faithless, I’m realistic. Cautious. Smart. I’m not asking so much. Let’s date for a couple months and see how it goes. If everything goes well, we can move things forward.”
Asher sighed, wondering why he was so disappointed. “Fair enough. Let’s date then.”
Meredith nodded and kissed him on the cheek. “Okay, let’s go find you a razor. No kissing me until you’re smooth and soft again.”
“It’s called lumbersexual. A metrosexual who wants the rugged look because women go for that.”
Meredith laughed and shook her head as she stared at him for a moment, her eyes warming and her face softening. “Razor. Now.”
Asher grinned and took her hand as they walked the three blocks to her apartment where she very kindly let him borrow a razor.
Chapter 21 – D.T.R.
Meredith sat at her parent’s dining room table and felt Asher slip his hand into hers. She glanced at him and smiled. She hadn’t brought a man home to her parent’s house since Kam and she couldn’t help remembering what that had been like. Her parents had been somewhat in awe of Kam Matafeo. He was so large and so kind and happy and bigger than life.
Asher was tall, thin, sharply dressed and looked like what he was, a sophisticated man on his way up in the world. Her father was impressed, she could tell. Her mother kept batting her eyelashes at him and Asher was being kind enough to pretend to not notice.
Tristan on the other hand.
“So I hear your band is playing this weekend down at the Rattle and Hum. Is Meredith considered one of your groupies or would you classify her as a girlfriend?” he asked in a concerned tone.
Meredith reached under the table and kicked her brother squarely in the calf, making him grunt in pain as his eyes laughed at her.
Asher turned and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. She grimaced and knew she’d have to make this one up to him.
He turned to Tristan and smiled politely. “Well, let’s define groupie. Someone who follows a band from town to town in order to enjoy the music and the performers. Meredith has only been to a couple of our gigs. We were friends and business partners before we decided to start dating more seriously, so no. Not a groupie.”
Tristan wasn’t willing to let it go though. “So is she your girlfriend? Have you had a D.T.R.?”
Meredith’s father, Robert Jensen frowned at Tristan. “D.T.R.? What does that mean, Tris? I swear I don’t understand half the things you say these days.”
Tristan smiled and leaned forward. “It’s an acronym for define the relationship. I’m just asking Asher here, what his intentions are towards my sister. I’m doing my brotherly duty.”
Robert laughed and looked at Asher. “You’ll have to forgive Tristan, Asher. He’s always taken his brotherly responsibilities seriously. I remember when he was in the ninth grade and Meredith was in the seventh grade and there were a few mean girls picking on her and he decided to take things into his own hands.”
Meredith grinned remembering. “This is so embarrassing,” she muttered, glancing at Asher who was smiling at her curiously. “I’d made some smart remarks about this girl who wore so much makeup you could not see her skin. It was wrong of me and dumb and thoughtless. This girl’s older sister found out about it and she started targeting me. She would put notes on my locker calling me names. I went home crying a few times. When Tristan found out, he was furious. He found the girl, oh what was her name, Tris?”
Tristan was no longer smiling as he looked out the window. “Her name was Karen London and she was not a nice person.”
Meredith laughed. “Well, he found out who she was and had it out with her. Well, instead of fixing the problem, she fell for him and stalked him for the next two years. Didn’t you end up taking her to Homecoming the next year?”
Tristan groaned and shook his head. “Well, she never bothered you again, did she?”
Meredith laughed lightly and shook her head. “No, she didn’t. You really are a pretty great brother. Go ahead. Do your duty. Torture Ash to your heart’s content. You deserve it after having to put up with Karen.”
Tristan shook his head and laughed before turning to Asher. “Excellent. So what are your intentions? And before you answer, just know that I will kill you if you break her heart. If you cheat on her, you’re dead. If you steal her identity and leave her broke before you move to California to make it big in the music business, you’re dead. And don’t even think about dumping her because it’s you and not her. Got it?”
Meredith’s mouth fell open in surprise. Tristan seemed kind of sincere in his threats. She looked at Asher to gauge his reaction and relaxed when she saw he was grinning.
“So the only way to get out of this relationship with her is if she breaks up with me? I can live with that.”
Tristan nodded his head. “Then we understand each other. Good.”
Meredith’s mouth fell open. “Look, Tris. We’re just dating. This is casual. We’re giving it a couple months to see if things work out before we decide to be serious.”
Asher frowned and turned his body towards her as her mother, Janet walked around the table serving bowls of corn chowder. “So if we’re just casual, does that mean you can date other people and I can date other people too? I guess we do need to D.T.R.”
Tristan lifted an eyebrow and took a spoonful of soup as his eyes laughed at her. Meredith cleared her throat and fidgeted with her napkin as she refused to meet Asher’s eyes.
“Well, um, yeah. I think the normal protocol for this stage of our relationship would be for us to still be free to see other people until we get to a point where we want to be exclusive.”
Asher’s face turned to stone and he shook his head slightly as he turned back to his bowl and began eating his soup, not responding. Meredith glanced around the table and saw that her father was wincing, her mother was looking a
t her with disappointment in her eyes and Tristan looked highly amused. Great.
“So is that not what you were thinking? Were you thinking we were exclusive or something?” she asked quietly, now wishing that they were having this conversation anywhere else but here in front of her family.
Asher shrugged and kept his face turned away from hers. “I’ve found it’s a waste of time to have any preconceptions where you’re concerned, Meredith. But I’ll admit I wasn’t looking to date anyone else right now. When I’m interested in a girl, then I focus on that girl. How can I find out if she’s the one for me if I’m playing the Bachelor?”
Meredith frowned, not having thought of it like that before. “Come on, Ash. We can’t be exclusive this soon in the relationship. It’s not how things are done. It implies a commitment that isn’t there.”
Asher turned and speared her with his blazing bright blue eyes and she swallowed nervously. “No commitment, huh?” he asked softly.
Meredith shook her head, feeling sick for some reason. “No commitment.”
Asher nodded his head. “Good to know. Mr. Jensen, did Meredith tell you that our dating website is up to almost four thousand members?”
Meredith watched as Asher smoothly changed the subject to business and even pulled Tristan into the conversation. She watched him as he smiled and charmed and laughed with her family but she could see the tenseness in his jaw. He wasn’t happy. He wasn’t happy with her.
She sighed and ate her chowder. Why couldn’t he just be happy with the way things were? Why did he always have to push her faster than she wanted to go? A commitment? What was next? Marriage? She laughed at the thought and went back to dinner. Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. She was fine just being who she was, doing what she was doing and going at her own pace. Business was good, her social life was low key and manageable. And she wanted to keep it that way.
When Asher kissed her on the cheek that night instead of ending the night with his usual passionate kiss, she refused to comment or make an issue of it. He’d get used to the way things were. And she was setting the rules this time. And if he didn’t like it? Well, then he knew what he could do.
Meredith went to bed that night feeling very good about things. D.T.R. Everyone should do it.
Chapter 22 – Casual
Asher fumed as he paced his apartment thinking of Meredith’s blasé attitude about their relationship. Casual? His feelings were nowhere near casual. They were passionate and crazy and too big for his heart. Sometimes he felt like he was going to explode with his feelings for her. And she could sit there and tell him that it would be fine for him to date another woman because this was no big deal? He felt like screaming.
Meredith liked being in control. Especially of relationships. She felt safer that way. And designating their relationship as casual kept her in the driver’s seat. Well, things were about to change. He walked over to his laptop and pulled up his emails for the day. He clicked on the one from Brogan he’d read earlier that day and disregarded.
Hey Ash, looks like our site just had its second four level match. You won’t believe this but you’re part of it again. You and this girl named Maya are a perfect match. I double checked all the data and it’s legit. What do you want me to do with it? Trash it or let it happen?
Asher began typing. Let it happen, Brogan. Four level matches are rare. It’d be dumb not to see if there’s anything there, right?
He sent the email and then turned around in his chair and stared moodily out the window. If Meredith wanted casual, she was going to get casual.
Chapter 23 – The Matching Game
Meredith woke up feeling excitement fizz through her body like the finest of Italian sodas. Their first social was that night and she wanted everything to be perfect. She’d set up ice skating for all of their local singles down at the ice rink. She’d rented it for the entire evening so it would be filled with the finest of Fircrest’s singles and most of Tacoma’s too if her numbers were correct. She jumped out of bed and showered and got ready for the day. She could just imagine it now, skating around the rink with Asher at her side as romance blossomed around them. She’d even arranged for a local news station to do a story on their new site and their social mixers.
They were going to get so much traction off of tonight that she might need to hire an assistant. She squealed at the thought and began planning what to wear. She wanted to go snow bunny chic. All white. White skinny jeans, white turtle neck sweater, faux white fur vest with matching hat and gloves. She could already imagine Asher’s reaction. She laughed and couldn’t wait to tell him about some of the fun activities they had planned for the evening. They were going to have a volunteer kissing booth for charity. All proceeds were going to the local homeless shelter and she’d already signed him up. Brogan got a pass because he was married of course. She could just imagine Taryn’s reaction if she ever saw Brogan kissing another woman. She winced and tried to get the image of blood out of her mind. Not a pleasant picture.
They were going to have fun contests with prizes and games that Jane had helped her to come up with. All the girls were going to put their mittens and gloves in the middle of the rink and every guy was going to pick up the glove and then find the match. They had to skate together for one dance before it was back to free skating. It was a fun way to meet new people and she couldn’t wait to see how much fun everyone was going to have.
Luckily the day passed by quickly. She remembered to text Pule and Tristan and threatened them with death if they didn’t show up that night. She got two replies almost immediately.
No. I’d rather die.
She glowered at her phone and texted her brother back.
Show up or I’ll never forgive you.
She waited a moment and then she heard a notification beep.
I’ll live.
She growled and then read Pule’s text.
I don’t ice skate. I’m Samoan. Stop being bossy.
Meredith’s good mood began to fade as she stamped her foot in frustration. Why were men so stubborn? Did they not realize how much fun tonight was going to be? If only women showed up tonight it would be a huge failure. A failure that would be caught on the evening news. She texted Pule back.
Please, as my friend, will you come and support us? We really need you there, she texted, going for the polite and slightly desperate tack.
He texted back. Fine but you owe me for this. FOREVER.
She grinned. Who knew polite desperation could work so well? She decided to ignore Tristan’s text and just pray that he’d change his mind during the day. She checked in with Belinda’s Bakery to make sure the hot chocolate and donuts would be ready. She had wanted to have the My One and Only cupcakes there, but she had decided to save those for their big Valentine’s Day dance at The Iron Skillet instead.
As she was putting the final touches on her hair and makeup, she realized she hadn’t heard from Asher once that day. She’d been so busy she’d totally spaced texting him. Since they’d started dating each other, they’d gotten in the habit of texting a few times a day, a couple phone calls and seeing each other at least once. It was kind of strange to go from a disconnect to a complete connect with someone. Especially someone who she connected with on all four levels. She had to admit that she felt more alive since she’d started dating Asher. Life seemed better and she was … well, she was happy.
Meredith paused and frowned into the mirror at her shocked eyes. She was happy. What did that mean? Did that mean what she thought it meant? Meredith put her lipstick down and sat back in her chair as she stared at her reflection. Being with Asher Murphy made her happy. She felt more energy when she was around him and life was now in Technicolor instead of its regular grays, browns and taupes.
“Don’t you do it,” she whispered sternly to herself as her face went from happy and carefree to slightly horrified. “Don’t you fall in love,” she ordered.
She stared at her face and noticed that her eye
s were bright and filled with light. She sighed and banged her hand on the counter. “Falling in love with Asher Murphy is so dumb,” she said out loud. “The timing is all wrong. Now is the time to focus on business and building the company. Falling in love would mean everything would change.”
“Hey! Who are you talking to?”
Meredith jumped in surprise at Cleo’s voice right outside the bathroom. “None of your business!” she shouted back.
She finished her hair and makeup quickly, still blushing at being caught talking to herself and walked out, twirling around for Cleo and Tai’s approval.
Tai smiled and clapped his hands. “You look gorgeous, Meredith.”
Cleo nodded her head and smiled at her friend. “You look like every man’s winter dream come true. I hope you’re taking a turn at the kissing booth. I bet we earn a ton for the homeless shelter. Make sure you bring extra Chapstick.”
Meredith winced. “Well, I actually didn’t sign myself up for that. I signed up Asher but um, I never got around to putting my name down,” she said innocently.
Tai laughed at that while Cleo frowned. “He’s not going to like that. I can’t imagine Asher wanting to kiss a lot of strangers.”
Meredith frowned. “Well, tough. He’s part owner and we all have to do our part tonight.”
Tai snorted. “Good luck with that. So are you ready to go?”
Meredith nodded and grabbed her purse. “Thanks again for coming to help serve the donuts and hot chocolate. You guys are the bestest, best friends a girl could have.”
Tai smiled and helped Cleo up from the chair. “You helped both of us with our openings. Of course we want to help. Plus it will be fun to watch everyone trying so hard to look cool while falling on their rears.”
Cleo smiled sadly. “I just wish I could be out there ice skating.”
Tai picked her up in his arms and kissed her gently. “Soon, sweetheart. Very soon.”
My One and Only: Book 1 in the Love and Weddings Trilogy Page 17