Baby is curled up on the comforter. He offers her his hand; she gives it a tiny sniff before accepting his finger under her chin. “So this is the infamous cat,” he says. “She’s even uglier in person.” Asher switches to scratching her between her ears while Baby rumbles a purr.
“She likes you.” I seat myself on the bed on the other side of Baby, with her between us as a shield.
“You sound surprised.”
“Baby doesn’t like—” I cut myself off before I can sayBrayden. “Well, she doesn’t like most people. Bray wanted me to adopt a different cat.”
“I’m sureBraydid.” He switches to rubbing Baby under her chin. Her purring goes full-bodied as she stretches up to meet his hand. I shouldn’t think anything of it: how the judgment of cats is swift but accurate.
“He won’t be back for a while,” I say.
“I thought you were supposed to go out tonight with him.”
I did. I went out and flirted with my fake husband and when it got to be too much, I left. He’s still somewhere, probably drinking, probably not alone.I swallow that down. It’s late. Asher is sitting on my bed, petting the cat, looking at me as if he can see what no one else can. I owe him—if not the truth, but maybe some part of it. “Things with Brayden can be complicated.”
Asher nods. “What is it you see in him, exactly?”
Money,I don’t say, because it’s not just money. It’s knowing that my migraine meds will be refilled at the pharmacy, that my tuition checks will go through.Security. Something you don’t know how much you value until you don’t have it. “Brayden was there for me when no one else was.”
“And he gives you what you need?”
I scan the room around us meaningfully. “Sure.”
“I didn’t ask if he paid your mortgage. I asked if he gave you what youneed.”
I should tell Asher to go to hell. A real wife would. That this is none of his business and to get the fuck out of my house.Ourhouse. I haven’t saidNo, Brayden doesn’t give me what I need, but I haven’t saidYes,he doeseither. Maybe that silence is in itself an answer.
As if sensing the tension in the room, Baby picks herself up, hops off the bed, and flounces out the open door, leaving Asher and I looking at each other: his dark eyes are even darker in the half-light.
“Why don’t you like Brayden?” I ask.
Asher snorts. “Because I’ve met him.”
“Why’d you come over?”
“Because you asked me to.”
As if it’s all that simple. “What else would you do if I asked?”
Asher’s smile plays at the edge of his mouth. “Try me.”
No.I should say that, once, clearly, directly.No, you’ve got this all wrong. No, I’m Brayden’s wife.
Asher is studying me now, gaze at my neckline. The chain of the lock necklace seems to tighten at my throat. A reminder that Brayden hasn’t touched me. Brayden is the one in this marriage who respects the other person’s boundaries. My skin flushes all over. In my lifebefore, I could ask for anything I wanted and have that handed to me. Now, Ineedsomething I can’t quite shape into words.
I jump up. “I should get you a shirt.” But I don’t move any farther than that.
Asher rises from the bed and loops an arm around me, drawing me toward him so we fit against one another. “What would be the point,” he says, “when I’d just take it right off again?” His hand is at my waist. He runs a finger up and down the terrycloth of my towel. “If I had a beautiful woman in my house, I wouldn’t be out drinking. If I had a wife like you”—he leans forward, the air between us buzzing—“I wouldn’t get up off my knees.”
“Is that what I should ask for?” My pulse quickens. My body leans in. Despite the air conditioning, the room is too hot.
Asher shakes his head. “If I do this right, that’s what you’ll beg me for.”
Fuck.Fuck.This wasn’t how tonight was supposed to go.Wasn’t it? Isn’t this what you wanted when you sent him that text?“Sorry, about—” I gesture to my wet hair, my dull, practical beige bra. Because of course I put it on not expecting anyone to see it.
Asher smiles at me, more with his eyes than his mouth. “I cannot imagine why you’d be apologizing.”
That’s enough for me to send the straps of my bra down my shoulders. No barer than I was a second ago, except for the warm puff of breath Asher exhales over my skin.
