His brow knots and I can tell there’s more he isn’t telling me, but I don’t push him.
Maybe I should be more afraid. I don’t know the details of his horrors, but I dobelievehim when he says he wants to be different. He’s here, a fire chief in a small Kentucky town, and he’s been disconnected from that dangerous world for over two years. The thought of him being some dark prince? What hecouldbe but chooses not to? His honesty matches his strength of action, and it makes me respect himmore.
“Does anyone else know this?” I venture now.
“No.”
I look down at my hands in my lap. “Why me?”
“Because I need you to understand why I am … how I am.”
I say nothing. Asher is right; just because I’m having his baby doesn’t mean he can simply change his mind on relationships. And why would he? After a life like that? How could he ever trust another person when his own parents let him down so badly?
“We can do this.” I move the conversation on. “Maybe we make a pact?”
I need to set boundaries because, when there aren’t any, I’m tempted to cross them. Especially now, when he’s been so open and honest with me.
“A pact?” he repeats, a hint of curiosity in those charcoaleyes.
“Yeah,” I answer. “We strictly stay friends. Co-parents. And we always put the baby first. We still get to know each other, but for the pact’s sake, maybe we stay out of your woodshop?”
His jaw tenses but he nods slightly in agreeance.
“And … a safe word? Something to signal if we notice that we’re, you know, looking at each other like we might want more …” I offer.
Asher’s eyebrows shoot up in question. “A safe word?”
God. He must think I’m some sort of horny, sex-crazed lunatic. He pulls his hand back into his own lap, and I hate that I feel the loss of his warmth so much.
“I don’t need a safe word, Liv. I don’t want to fuck this up.”
Glad he’s got lots of willpower because I’m fresh out.
“So it’s a pact.” He states evenly. I still have so many questions, but I don’t want to push Asher tonight. He already seems a little lighter, more relaxed, than I’ve ever seen him. I want to tell him that I want to knowhim,the real him, that he isn’t a shadow of his father. That all that trauma is what makes him who he is. But I can already tell that will take time for him to see.
So instead I just give him a small smile, letting him know I’m grateful for his honesty.
“A pact,” I repeat as I pray to the pregnancy gods to help me resist those eyes, those hands, and thatbodythat I’m almost positive will make me wish more and more every day that the line we just drew didn’t exist.
CHAPTER 27
Olivia
“You’rewhat?” Ginger’s slaps both her hands down to the table, her eyes as big as saucers as we sit in the big house backyard the next evening. It’s an at-home girls’ night because there’s no way we were getting CeCe to the Horse and Barrel when she’s so pregnant. Plus, after what almost happened in Asher’s woodshop last night, I needed a night in.
The only sounds to be heard under the Ashbys’ big pergola as the sun starts to set are the trees swaying in the breeze at the edge of their manicured property. It’s the kind of summer night where the temperature’s just right—not too cool, but not too hot either. There are times this place feels like heaven and, tonight, it’s the perfect escape from the absolute ass I made of myself when I rubbed up against the father of my child, practically begging him to fuck me.
But the way he opened up to me about his past is a staunch reminder that, even though there is an obvious attraction between us, it’s not enough for Asher to change his mind about relationships, but I respect that and that he wants to put our baby first.
“When did this happen, andhowdidInot know about it?” Ginger continues, sipping on her ice-cold lemonade.
“At your wedding.” I cringe as Ginger lets out a high-pitched squeal.There it is.
“You’ve been together forthatlong and I didn’t know?”
“Well, no, technically it was only once. Well, and some light groping on his planer table last night in his workshop.”
That gets CeCe’s attention, and Cassie almost spits out her drink all over the table.
