“Nat,” he groaned, his hips stilling as he thrust up and pressed deep. His cock throbbed inside her as he came, his fingers digging into the soft flesh of her ass.
She stared down at him, watching the pleasure sweep across his face as he spilled himself inside her. As there was nothing left between them…no secret left to uncover, no boundary they hadn’t crossed. Her breath caught at the intimacy of feeling him without a barrier between them…something she’d never experienced with anyone before.
So, it hadn’t just been last night, when they’d been swept up in the day’s events. When they’d started this all because of a challenge—a flimsy excuse, but one apparently both of them had needed to admit to wanting to try something they knew better than to gamble their friendship on. But she had complete certainty, even as she felt his warmth inside her, that this wasn’t an anomaly.
The two of them had always clicked, more so than even she and Nash—though now it was clear this thing between her and Asher spilled into the bedroom as well. Their ease around each other had allowed them a level of comfort she hadn’t ever had with anyone else. Something she wasn’t sure she’d ever find again. Wasn’t sure she even wanted to.
She didn’t need to think about that now, though. Not while he was tracing the rough pads of his fingertips along her spine. Not when he was kissing her jaw, pressing his nose to her neck and inhaling deep. Not as he gripped her tight and flipped her beneath him, grinning down at her squeak of surprise, his sleep-mussed hair hanging down and tickling her breasts as he kissed his way across her chest.
She allowed her lids to flutter shut as he closed his lips around her nipple and got lost in the feel of his body against hers.
Later, she’d contemplate what this all meant. Later, she’d play this over again in her mind, breaking it down and locking it away in neat little boxes so it made sense.
Later, she could worry about what the aftermath would be when she left.
“Appreciate you helpin’ me, sugar,” Gran said from her perch in the grass in the Havens’ backyard. “I might feel like a spring chicken, but I haven’t been one in a while.”
He, Nat, and the kids had come over earlier in the day after Nat’s momma had called, inviting them over for the afternoon. Owen was currently napping, Caroline on monitor duty, and Nat sat several yards away, her and June’s laughter floating to him as they dug in the dirt.
He dropped two bags of soil on the ground near where Gran sat on a garden cart. “Well, I’m happy to let you use me for my muscles anytime, Gran.”
“I’m glad you said that. Why don’t you get on down here and help me dig some holes for these flowers?” She gestured to the patio, where at least six flats of flowers sat. “I’ll be out here all night if I do this by myself.”
“That’s a lot of flowers. Doesn’t your son employ a gardener?”
“Pfft.” Gran swatted the air as if batting away his suggestion. “You know I’m not about all that nonsense. If I can do the job myself, I intend to do so. And if I can’t, I intend to sucker someone else into helpin’ me.”
Asher laughed, his attention snagged by a shout of excitement from June. She was beaming, jumping and running circles around Nat, whose head was back, her face tipped toward the sky and a brilliant smile on her lips.
“Something besides me and all these flowers got your attention?” Gran asked.
He blinked, shaking his head as he met her gaze. “What? Never. I’m totally focused on you.”
“I might not be able to haul eighty pounds of dirt over my shoulder like you, young man, but my eyes haven’t gone bad just yet. Pretty easy to see your bride’s snagged your attention.” Gran glanced over to where June and Nat were rolling down the hill near a large oak tree, their gardening supplies long forgotten as their laughter rang across the yard. “And I can see why. She’s really something special when she’s with those kids, isn’t she?”
He couldn’t deny the truth of that. He’d spent their entire friendship knowing she was caring and compassionate, loyal and protective. But seeing it come out of her and be showered on his niece and nephew—his only remaining family—was something he hadn’t been expecting. “Yeah, she is.”
“You really are a love-sick fool for her.” Gran shook her head and smiled at him fondly, and he bit his tongue, hating that they had to lie to her. That she thought this was something more than it was—just one friend helping out another. Never mind that the help had seeped into other areas, blurring all boundaries. Never mind that Asher wasn’t so sure he minded all that much.
“So, what’s in the future for y’all?” Gran asked.
He shook his head and punctured the ground with the garden spade. “We’re just holdin’ on till this guardianship comes through. Hopefully.”
“Not a doubt in my mind, sugar,” she said. “And what comes after that’s taken care of?”
Well, what came after that was Nat leaving Havenbrook—as well as him and the kids—behind. As soon as the final decision came through, she’d be on the next plane out of Memphis. He couldn’t say that, though. Couldn’t even tell Gran that the thought had his stomach all tied up in knots. Had been keeping him up every night since their wedding.
“To be perfectly honest, I’m not sure.”
Gran hummed. “Nat told me you had a meetin’ set up with a label…”
One that had been scheduled for the day after his sister had passed away. It’d been weeks since Aubrey’s and Nathan’s deaths, and though the pain of that loss still weighed on him, it had eased just a bit. Now, instead of a fist squeezing his heart at the mere mention of her name, he only felt a lingering sadness knowing she was gone. Knowing he’d never talk to or see her again. Knowing the only thing he had left of her were these kids he and Nat were fighting so hard for.
He cleared his throat, his gaze focused on the ground as he dug another hole. “I obviously canceled that.”
Gran reached out and squeezed his hand. “Of course, sugar. No one would’ve expected otherwise. You got another one lined up yet?”
“No.” Asher blew out a heavy breath, the call earlier from his manager sitting at the forefront of his mind. Carla was understanding of his situation and was giving him time to figure out what he wanted. But that was the problem, wasn’t it? He didn’t know what that was. “I had a call this mornin’ with my manager, and she’s wantin’ to know what I wanna do. What direction I wanna take.”
