The warmth in his deep voice slid over me like a hug. “Hi Ash.”
His long legs covered the deck, and suddenly he was in front of me. He wrapped his arms around me and picked me up off the ground the way he always did. With a laugh, I wrapped my armsaround his neck and closed my eyes with a sigh. Nothing felt like a hug from Asher.
But the Ash I remember didn’t have arms like that. His entire body felt like a rock, with muscle upon muscle.
All too soon he set me back down on the ground, and the hug was done. He smiled down at me and tucked a chunk of hair that had escaped my ponytail behind my ear. “I see you guys took the easy way here,” he chuckled.
I winced. Fantastic. Here I was thinking how sexy Ash looked and I clearly looked like a sweaty mess.
I forced myself not to fix my hair. “That obvious, huh?”
He snickered. “Not so much on you,” he told me, then turned to his sister. “You gonna need some oxygen? Or a little nap after that?”
Beth shoved Ash, and his muscular body didn’t move at all. He chuckled. “That was pretty sad.”
“Oh, shut up,” Beth grumbled. “I’m getting some water. You want one, Nat?”
“Um, yes, please.” I glanced at Ash one last time, then followed Beth into the house.
I stepped over the threshold of the sliding glass door into the house and was transported into a dream. “Oh, Ash,” I whispered.
He stepped up behind me, and I could smell his woodsy, masculine scent. “You like it?” he asked.
“Huh?” I glanced over my shoulder at him. I couldn’t think with him this close. Why had this man always affected me like this? I’ve met celebrities and billionaires. Hell, I’d danced for royalty and none of them impacted me the way Ash did.
He smirked as if he knew exactly what effect he had on me. “The house? You like it?”
I shook off the haze and looked around the room. I didn’t know where to even begin. To the right, a beautiful masculineliving room filled with textured fabrics and leather. To the left was a gorgeous chef’s kitchen. It was stunning. “It’s amazing.”
Beth pushed a glass against the water dispenser on the stainless-steel fridge. “Little much for one person, I always say,” Beth teased.
“You’re single?” I turned to him and let my gaze trail down his body. What was wrong with the women in Hollow Peak? How the heck was a man like him single?
“I am.” He raised an eyebrow at my obvious inspection of him.
“He’d have to actually date if he wanted to not be single,” Beth grumbled as she walked up and handed me a glass of water.
“I date,” Ash said.
Why did hearing him say that make my gut clench?
Beth snorted. “No, you have hookups. There’s a difference.”
Ash raised an eyebrow. “Is there?”
I shrugged and flapped my hands wide. He had a point. “I mean, he’s not wrong.”
Beth’s chin dropped as she stared at me. “Bu…but, what?” She stared at me in disbelief. “What do you mean? You’re a romantic. You love that stuff.”
I shrugged. Ihad beena romantic. Now I was a realist. “Hookups are a lot more honest.”
Beth’s face dropped, and suddenly she wrapped her arms around me. “Oh honey, no wonder you needed to come here.”
What was that supposed to mean?
Beth squeezed me tightly. “A couple of weeks here and you’ll be a completely new woman.”
I snorted. It would take a hell of a lot longer than two weeks to do that. “I’m here to relax, not have a spiritual awakening.”
