Because a man who goes to such lengths to take care of me, to make sure I’m safe and happy and healthy, can’t possibly want to break my heart.
Or maybe that’s just the part of me that can’t stand to see this end talking.
Moving through my morning routine, I take fifteen minutes to stretch out my sore muscles and finish my coffee before getting dressed in what I refer to as my working-from-home uniform. A soft green sweater paired with wide-legged cream pants.
I pin my hair up in a clip and swipe a layer of mascara and lip gloss on before checking myself in the mirror. I’m just put together enough for my video calls and more than comfortable enough to spend the day moving my workspace around the apartment.
I’ve never been very good at sitting still for long periods of time, to the point I considered a career as a nurse or doctor just so I would always be on the go, but for one, I’m terrible at chemistry, and second, I pass out at the sight of blood.
So I spend my days propping my laptop on every surface that’s high enough for me to use and pacing back and forth while I talk through strategies with my clients.
The sound of the door opening has my heart rate picking up, the giddiness of seeing Asher just as strong despite seeing him almost every day for months.
Before last night, I thought that was a good sign, but now I’m starting to think I’ve been wearing my rose-colored glasses since the day we met.
Asher appears in the doorway, his hair windblown and cheeks pink from the cool New York morning.
He grins when he catches sight of me, and my heart does another traitorous flip. It’s like the organ that keeps me alive is begging to be broken. “You’re beautiful.”
I roll my eyes, but warmth touches my cheeks at the compliment. Before meeting Asher, I could have counted how many genuine compliments I’d been given on one hand. Not just surface level, “You’re hot” or “You have a nice personality.”No, genuine compliments that made butterflies erupt in my stomach.
Asher crosses the room and immediately tugs me into his arms, holding me tightly for long seconds as if the couple of hours he was away from me were too much.
It’s a ridiculous notion, but the way he looks at me sometimes honestly makes me believe I’m the only woman in the world.
“I bought your favorite,” he murmurs against the top of my head.
“Egg bites?” I ask hopefully.
He chuckles. “Gotta make sure my girl is fueled for her day of kicking ass.”
I shake my head. “Thank you, Ash.”
“Have dinner with me tonight?”
I drag my bottom lip between my teeth. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
His face drops slightly, and I immediately ache to fix it, but I keep my lips pressed together. If this is ever going to work, I need to be able to stand up to him.
Asher sighs and tugs me back against his chest, holding me just a little too tightly, as if he thinks I might slip away if he doesn’t. “I’ll give you tonight, Hannah, but I’m not letting you go.”
There’s a promise in his words that should perhaps frighten me, but it doesn’t.
It makes me feel safer than I have in years.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
ASHER
Dragging myself away from Hannah is always hard, but today it felt almost impossible.
The shadows of doubt that have crept into her pretty green eyes since last night make me think she’s getting ready to run, but she doesn’t realize she’ll have two pissed-off Doms chasing her if she does.
The delicate situation we’ve woven for ourselves is becoming more and more difficult to navigate, and we’re now at the stage where we might have to take Hannah’s choice away, something I’ve been dreading since it first became an option.
She’s spent her whole life being underestimated and belittled, having her life written for her when all she ever wanted was to be loved, and I hate the idea that we’re going to do the same thing her family has.
Rowan drops into the seat across from me, his desk littered with documents that likely need attention, but he’s ignoring them.
