"Shut. Up." She slapped my arm. "You really think if he didn't have feelings for you, he'd let you know where he lives?"
"I—"
"And let me guess, you shared his bed with him?"
"I—"
"If you tell me that he cooked you breakfast the next morning, I will literally shit myself right now."
"He didn't."
"Oh." Her shoulders sagged.
"But he wanted to. He just didn't have any food."
"Ash, my dear best friend in the whole entire world, are you—and I ask this with all my love—are you fucking blind?"
"Just because I stayed over and he offered to make me breakfast, doesn't mean he's in love with me."
"No." Adriane shook her head. "But it could mean that he likes you."
I closed my eyes and sighed. "Does it matter? He said goodbye, and I bet he's out working as we speak. He's not here professing his love for me."
She thought for a moment, and then once again, her eyes widened. "I have the best idea."
"Oh, God," I groaned. "I'm not hiring him again."
"No. I have a better idea."
"And what's that?"
Adriane grinned. "Come with me to Dr. McKenna's baby shower."
I drew my head back. "What?"
"Next weekend she's having her baby shower. It's a co-ed one, so her husband and his friends are going to be there."
"I'm not crashing her baby shower."
"It won't be crashing."
"Yes, it will," I argued.
"I'm allowed to bring someone … I think."
"See!" I waved my hand toward her. "You think. You don't even know."
"Well, we can say you wanted to come to thank her for letting her husband fly all the way to Fiji to rescue you."
I tilted my head and blew out a breath. "Seriously?"
Adriane shrugged. "It will get you in the door."
I stood. "I can't." I grabbed my glass off the coffee table and started for the kitchen. "I can't use her baby shower just to see Nick again."
I heard her follow. "I'm going to talk to her on Monday. She's cool, and I bet she wouldn't mind you coming."
I spun around, and she almost ran into me. "And what if he's there with another woman? What if he ignores me? What if he laughs in my face if …"
"If you what?"
I looked out the kitchen window. "If I tell him how I feel."
She grabbed my arms and looked into my eyes. "If he does that, I will personally kick his ass, but I doubt he will."
"You don't even know him."
"No, but I know you, and I know that any man would be lucky to have you as his girlfriend."
"Nick said something similar when we said our goodbye."
"What if he didn't tell you how he feels because he doesn't think you could be with a male escort?"
"I can’t be with a male escort," I stated.
"Maybe he'd quit." She lifted a shoulder. "You don't know until you tell him how you feel."
"And if he doesn't feel the same way?"
"Then you move on. It's not like you two see each other all the time. You didn't even know him three weeks ago."
"I'm scared. I haven't had my heart broken since Douglas."
"I know." Adriane smiled warmly. "But would you rather have your heart be broken or have your heart not feel complete ever again?"
Adriane and I finally ordered food. We binged a series on Netflix, ate, drank, and just hung out. She was too buzzed to drive home, so she stayed the night. Having her there had me temporarily forgetting about Nick.
That was until I woke up the next morning.
I wondered if he’d had a date, if he’d slept with the client, and if he’d thought about me at all. I even thought about him on Sunday. Clearly, I couldn't get over him in just a few days.
I had a lot of work to do when I returned on Monday morning. It kept my mind off of Nick until Adriane texted me: Spoke to Dr. McKenna. She wants you to come to the shower, so you're coming.
That night, while cooking dinner, I got a call from Everleigh.
"Hello?" I answered.
"Sister, sister!"
I smiled, realizing that I actually wanted to speak with my sister for the first time in several years. "Hey, what's up?"
"I have to go back to Fiji."
"Why?" I breathed.
She paused for a moment. "To identify Doug's body."
I stopped stirring the pieces of chicken I was sautéing. "For real?"
"Yep. I got a call this afternoon from someone in Fiji. They think one of the bodies at the airport is his."
"Do you think it's him?"
"I haven't heard from him, and I don't think they'd call me to come identify his body if they weren't certain."
I started to move the chicken around in the pan again to prevent burning. "When do you leave?"
"In the morning. I booked my flight before calling you."
"You're going alone?"
"Yeah. Corinne just got home, and I don't think she wants to go back." I'd forgotten that the wedding party had been left behind and had to wait to go home when flights were available. Plus, she lived in Alabama.
"I don't blame her."
"And I don't think you'd want to meet me there."
I shook my head. "I can't get off work, and yeah, I don't think I ever want to go back."
"Understandable. I'm going alone for one night to play the grieving widow."
"Are you?"
"Am I what?"
I pulled the pan off the burner. "Grieving."
"In front of people. I had to come up with a story that we weren't supposed to go on our honeymoon right away, and he and his parents had already planned to leave without me because I wanted to spend an extra day with you and Mom and Dad."
"You know," I sighed, "if it was a real marriage or whatever, then you might have ended up dead too."
"You think so?"
I grabbed lettuce from my fridge to make a salad to go with my chicken. "I'm assuming they went to the airport to get away from the tsunami, so you would have been with him and died too."
Everleigh was silent for a few moments. "You're right."
"What's going to happen with the inheritance and Dad's medical bills?"
"I've been waiting to find out where Doug is before I look into that."
"And if it is his body?"
"I'm not sure."
I blew out a breath. "I hope you still get it, or we're going to have to come up with another plan."
"Well, as far as everyone knows, the marriage was real."
"True."
"Speaking of marriage, how's Nicholas?"
The fork I was holding fell from my grasp, followed by a lie that rolled off my tongue. "He's good. He's working right now."
"That's good. I really like him."
I closed my eyes. "Me too."
I didn’t lie.
Paul: Your girl is here.
I stared at the text before starting my engine to drive to Seth's for the baby shower. Did Paul mean Ashleigh was at Seth's? How was that possible? It had been over a week since I'd seen or spoken to her because I still didn't know what to say or do. Was Paul behind this somehow? He was the only one who knew I was going to profess my love to her. At least that was what I told him I was going to do, but I was still scared as shit actually to do it.
Me: What are you talking about?
Paul: Ashleigh is here at the shower. Did you know she was coming?
Me: No.
I could practically see Paul's grin as I read his next text: This is going to be exciting.
Me: Whatever. I'm on my way.
I started my Rover and headed toward Seth's. The entire drive I wondered how it was possible for Ashleigh to be there because I didn't think any of my friends would invite her without telling me, even if they wanted to prove that they'd won the bet.
Or would they?
What was I going to say to Ashleigh when I got there? It wasn't a
s though she knew I was struggling with my feelings. With any other client, I would walk away and never look back. But obviously, Ashleigh wasn't just any other client.
She was more.
So much more.
Instead of talking to Ashleigh as I told Paul I would, I got a tattoo over my heart to remember her by. I'd always gotten ones that had meaning, and so I'd sketched from memory the moment I fell in love with Ashleigh James under the Fiji moonlight while a country song played in the background then had my tattoo artist replicate it in color to stand out against my usual black and gray ones.
As I pulled up to Seth's house, I decided that I would treat Ashleigh like any of my other friends. I had to gauge how she would react to seeing me again before I took her aside and told her I wanted more. I did want more with her obviously, and I had to man up. None of my friends thought they would ever leave the game, and now they were all happy with growing families. Meanwhile, I was wallowing at home, not able to work or think about anything other than Ashleigh. That had to mean something.
I got out of my SUV, grabbed the gift I'd bought, and headed to the front door. Taking a deep breath, I rang the doorbell and waited. A few moments later, Seth opened the door.
"I heard someone was having a baby?" I held up the gift bag with a huge grin.
He smiled. "And I heard you owe me a grand."
I rolled my eyes. My friends were worse than women with their fucking gossip. "Whatever. Are you going to let me in?"
He lowered his voice. "You know she's here, right?"
I rubbed the back of my neck. "Yes, but I don't understand how."
"Her best friend works for Cat."
I balked. "Really?" I searched my brain for her friend's name. "Adriane works for Cat?"
"Yep, and between you and me, I think Cat had a part in this too."
I thought for a moment. Did that mean that Ashleigh did have feelings for me too? That she’d talked to her best friend about me, and they’d come up with a plan to find out how I felt about her? Did women work that way? I’d thought I knew the ins and outs of women and their brains since my job was to know what women wanted.
My job …
The job I hadn't been able to do.
The job I didn't want to do.
The only job I knew how to do.
"What do I do?" I asked as I stood at Seth's front door.
He crossed his arms over his chest. "What do you want to do?"
Even though all of my friends were happy and in love, Seth had been in love with Cat the longest. He had literally wanted to be with her since they were kids, and he would know what I should do.
"Honestly," I started to whisper, "I want what all of you have but with her."
"Then tell her."
"What if she doesn't want me?"
"Something is going on, man. Trust your gut."
"My gut." I chuckled.
"I saw you two together on the plane ride home. It didn't seem like you were having a client/escort relationship."
I started to argue that we were putting on a front because her family was on the plane, but thinking about it, I hadn’t been putting on a charade at that point. How I’d been acting toward her, by giving her kisses and whatever, was all genuine. I’d wanted to do it, and I wanted to keep doing it.
Seth continued. "Just get your ass inside and see what happens."
"Okay." I took a deep breath. He stepped aside, and I entered, looking around immediately for Ashleigh, but I didn't see her—or anyone for that matter.
"Everyone is out by the pool."
"Right." I set the bag down with the rest of the gifts and then headed outside. A bar was set up just outside the door, and I made myself a drink as I listened to the laughter and chatter. When I looked up, my gaze landed on Ashleigh and her tan legs and ample rack. Fuck, I'd missed her tits and her legs wrapped around me, even though it had only happened that one time—the one time we made love. Needless to say, I missed her, and my reaction to her proved it.
Taking a big gulp of the vodka and grapefruit juice, I started toward her. It felt like I was walking for miles and everyone was staring at me. Everyone was staring at me, and before I got to her, I gave Cat a hug and then moved to Ashleigh. She looked up at me, and I saw her take a deep breath as though she were nervous too.
"Snookums," I greeted her with a grin.
She smiled warmly. "We're back to that one?"
I chuckled. "I don't know. What do you prefer, snookums or baby?" As I waited for her answer, I still felt all eyes on me. Everyone was quiet or whispering, except for Gabe's son, Liam, and Vinny's boy, Colton, who were playing in the pool with Gabe and Vin.
Ashleigh broke her stare, glancing at who I assumed was Adriane sitting next to her and then back up at me. "What do you want to call me?"
I leaned down and whispered into her ear, "Mine."
My heart hammered rapidly in my chest as I waited for her to respond, our gazes locked, my nose inches from hers. The seconds felt like hours.
"Kiss her already!" I heard Paul shout behind me.
I flipped him off without breaking eye contact with Ashleigh.
Finally, she spoke. "I like that one the best."
"Yeah?" I beamed.
She nodded. "Yeah."
I set my glass down on the table beside us and reached for her, pulling her up out of the chair. Cupping her cheeks with both of my hands, I didn't hesitate to kiss the lips I had been dreaming about for a week. I didn't care that all of my friends were around, her best friend, or even the children. Nothing mattered except Ashleigh.
"Get a room!" I heard Vinny call out.
With my lips against Ashleigh's, I flipped him off too. When we finally broke apart, people started clapping. I looked around. "Oh, fuck off."
"Hey!" Autumn scolded and nudged her head toward the pool. "Watch your language."
"Sorry," I replied, but really, I wasn't. My friends could all fuck off.
Brad walked over and extended his hand. We shook. "Welcome to The Fallen."
The entire time we mingled and did what was expected at a baby shower (games and shit), I couldn't keep my hands off of my girl. They were either threaded in her long brown hair, resting on her bare knee, wrapped around her shoulders, or clasped with hers. It felt good to be able to touch and kiss her again.
"Did you drive yourself?" I asked as everyone ate cake.
She shook her head. "Adriane drove."
"You want to come back to my place after this?"
"Do you have stuff for breakfast in the morning?" She grinned.
I leaned in and whispered, "The only breakfast I want to eat is your pussy."
She thought for a moment. "I could work with that."
When the party was over, and people started to say their goodbyes, so did Ashleigh and I.
"I'll get you your money on Monday," I stated to Paul.
"Nah. It's all good, man. I'm just happy you got your head out of your ass." We shook, he and Ashleigh hugged, and I moved onto Gabe.
"I'll have your money for you on Monday."
He smiled and looked at Ashleigh and then back at me. "No worries. I'm good."
I nodded, shook his hand, and then moved on to Seth while Ashleigh gave Gabe a hug goodbye.
"I don't want it either," Seth replied.
"Okay," I said, shaking his hand.
"I can't wait to meet your baby girl." Ashleigh beamed. "Thank you for letting me celebrate with all of you."
"I'm glad it all worked out," Seth replied.
We moved on to Vinny. "Do you want your winnings?" I asked.
He grinned. "No. Save it."
"All right." We shook.
Ashleigh shook his hand too. "It was nice to meet you."
"Likewise," Vin replied.
We said goodbye to Brad next. "What about you?" I questioned. "You want your winnings?"
He smiled. "Consider it your membership fee."
I chuckled. "To the club you started?"
"Exactly."
We shook. "All right. I'm good with that."
Ashleigh hugged him goodbye. We walked away, and she asked, "Why do you owe them all money?"
"Because of you."
"Me?" she gasped and held her hand to her chest. "Why me?"
"Before we left for Fiji, they bet me that I'd fall in love with you in paradise."
"Really?"
"I thought they were out of their minds and took the bet."
"But if you owe them, that means you lost."
I wrapped my arm across her shoulders and kissed the side of her head. "No, baby. It means I won the best prize I could ever want."
We lay in my bed, Ashleigh's head on my chest. I never wanted her to leave my arms again and I was going to do everything in my power to keep her as mine.
"You got a new tattoo." She raised her head abruptly as her finger traced over the palm tree, ball lanterns, and moon over the South Pacific on my chest.
"This old thing?" I teased.
"Is it Fiji?"
I looked down at her finger that was still running across my skin. "Yeah."
"Why would you get one to remember we were kidnapped?"
I stared into her chocolate eyes. "You know that trip was so much more than the bad."
"Yeah." She blew out a breath.
I rose, causing us both to sit up in the center of the king-sized bed, and cupped her cheek. "Plus, it was the trip that gave me the chance to fall in love with the most beautiful woman in the world. My tattoo is a copy of the moment it happened."
Ashleigh's cheeks turned pink. "You love me?"
"Yes," I simply replied.
She grinned. "I love you too."
I woke to an empty bed.
Sitting up, I looked around for some proof that it wasn't a dream that Ashleigh had come over after the baby shower and we’d fucked all night. Her bra was lying on the floor next to the bed, and I grinned.
It wasn't a dream.
I heard a sound coming from downstairs, and after slipping on my boxers, I went down to see what was happening. Ashleigh stood in front of my coffeemaker, wearing one of my t-shirts, the bottom of her ass cheeks peeking out below the hem. She was stunning, and I honestly would be okay with coming downstairs each morning to find her exactly that way.
Paradise & Vodka (Saddles & Racks Book 6) Page 15