Maud passes me the beer and I thank her, then lift it up to my brother. “Here’s to being allowed out on a school night because we don’t have screaming kids or randy dogs.”
Instead of lifting his glass, Asher lifts a brow. He suddenly looks less grumpy and more…smug.
“What are you grinning like that for?” I ask him. Then it hits me. I just mentioned us both not having kids.
“Shit. Francie’s pregnant?” I say, unable to keep a massive smile from my face.
He nods. “Yes, but it’s still the first trimester and I’m not supposed to tell anybody.”
“And you’re doing a damn fine job of it.” But my smile doesn’t waver. “To little Ashers or Francies” I say, keeping my voice low. “Have you figured out how to put a tracker on a fetus yet?”
“Fuck off.” He’s still grinning. “And while the kid is in Francie, I don’t have to worry.” He tips his head to the side. “So when are you going to settle down anyway?”
I blink at the abrupt change in topic. “When hell freezes over,” I say. But the truth is, it hits me deep in the gut.
I can’t. I can’t put somebody else in the position I’m already in.
Asher takes a long drink, eyes still on me over the rim of his glass. “It’s funny, I thought that too. And then… Francie, you know? It just happens. And I swear it begins with wanting to come home, back to Liberty.” He takes a long sip of beer. “Hudson thinks it’s his idea that you came back. But I’m not buying it.”
I arch a brow at his attempt at reading me. I blame Bro’s Book Club. Life was easier before my brothers got in touch with their emotions. “You think I have another reason to be here?” I ask him, hoping he doesn’t know how close to the truth he is.
He shrugs. “You tell me.”
That makes me huff out a laugh. “Maybe I like being with you all.” I keep my face impassive. I can’t tell him about my eyesight. Not yet. Not until the gala is over. And all the test results are back.
Asher studies me for a moment, like he’s looking for cracks in my armor. He’s always been that way. Always trying to solve a puzzle, find the pattern, uncover the formula.
Finally, he nods once. “Okay, sure. You just felt like coming home.”
“Exactly.” I lift my glass and take a long drink, pretending that’s the whole truth.
Because it’s easier that way.
He leans back on his stool, a knowing glint in his eye. “Still sounds like bullshit, but I’ll let you get away with it for now.”
I’m about to reply when the door opens and the movement catches my attention. A flash of red hair passes to my left. My chest tightens before my brain even catches up.And then another part of me tightens, because Jesus, this woman is absolutely perfect. Wearing a pair of jeans and a white top, her pale skin contrasts perfectly against her blazing hair.
A moment later she’s at the bar. Her eyes meet mine and her cheeks pink up. The memory of her skin, salt and sweet on my lips rushes through me.
And then, because I’m an asshole, I look away.
I can’t fall for this woman. I can’t risk wanting more. I can’t give her – or anybody else – a piece of me.
The consequences are too harsh. And the kind that nobody should pay.
God knows it’s already costing me way too much.
SADIE
It’s been one of those long, messy days, full of stock deliveries, supplier calls, and the kind of customers who want to tell you their life story before they buy a bookmark.
Oh, and Zach Fitzgerald chased me like he hated me then made me see stars so hard I couldn’t stand up.
Yeah, there’s that. So it’s just my luck that he’s here, sitting at the bar with a beer in his hand, looking far too composed for a man who had his hands on me this morning.
Andinme, too.
I walk straight to the counter, pretending not to notice him, even though every nerve in my body knows exactly where he is.
