Page 26 of Sinful Abandon

“Heather, is that who I think it is?” he asks, causing me to turn my head.

“Who?”

Jarrod points a finger. “Over there. Alexander Asher. You used to work for him, no?”

Like whiplash, my head flies to the other side, my eyes roaming until I see the blond hair and golden eyes of the man I used to lust after. Not only is he attractive, but he also has more money than God. Like Jarrod, he’s kind of an asshole, but I can deal with that. Obviously.

“Go say hello,” he demands.

“No,” I practically hiss at him.

“I’m surprised you didn’t try to bed him, what with his empire and all,” Jarrod says, which causes me to blush. “Oh, I see. You did try to bed the head of Asher Industries. Wise girl but not wise enough.”

I lean back and feign insult. “Why do you say that?”

“Because he didn’t want to marry for convenience. He married for love.”

That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. The Asher I knew used women just as much as they used him. While he could be fun at times, you couldn’t get too close. He’d turn callous, vindictive. Hell, he even had a thing for married women because they wouldn’t expect much from him in the form of commitment.

Still, I tried to turn him around, but he was like ice. A wall so sturdy, I couldn’t penetrate it.

All for the best though because, now, I have Jarrod.

“And you know this how?” I fold my arms in front of my body and raise my brows.

Jarrod speaks as if he is saying the most disgusting thing in the world, “He gave up his claim to his billion-dollar inheritance.”

My face scrunches up in confusion. “Are you telling me the man is broke?” I look back at Asher. He is decked out from head to toe in a designer suit and shoes and a twenty-thousand-dollar Rolex. “He hardly looks like he is struggling for cash.”

“It’s true. Now, imagine if you’d married him and the next day he told you he was walking away from all that money?” He tsks and continues, “Don’t worry. I promise you, I will never walk away from my trust.” He gives me a wink and takes a sip of his Pellegrino.

I turn back to Asher. He’s seated at a table, looking down at his iPhone. With his lush lips, square jaw, and perfectly tanned skin, he looks like a god among mortals. His face is stern as he reads whatever it is on his screen, but something catches his attention, and he looks up. Whatever it is makes his eyes dance and his cheeks rise.

A blonde woman walks to the table. She is pretty but not overly beautiful. She has dark eyes and a heart-shaped face. Asher rises from his table and greets the woman with a kiss. But not just any kiss. He places his hands on the sides of her face and pulls her in with an embrace so intimate, I feel like I’m interrupting their sacred moment just by being in the same room.

When he pulls back, she looks up at him like the world is in his eyes. And he is looking back at her the same way.

The two take a seat and start talking and laughing. She has a gorgeous ring on her finger, and he has a simple band. This is not some taken woman he is shacking up with for the weekend. The bond between them is clear. This is his wife.

An odd thought strikes me.

Some people really do marry for love. Well, it seems Asher married for love. The verdict is still out on Miss Thang over there.

I turn to Jarrod. “Why would he give up his inheritance?”

He is looking at his iPhone, probably answering emails. He talks while typing, “No one knows. Now, he’s doing something with music. I can’t quite remember. Nevertheless, he’s married, and I give it six years before she finds someone whose pockets are lined deeper than his.”

I let out an amused snort. “I give them six months.”

“In for the night?” Charlie, my doorman, asks as I walk into the lobby of my building.

“Yes.” I walk over to his desk. “Any deliveries?”

Charlie looks under his desk and pulls out a UPS envelope. “This came for you.”

He hands it over, and I look at the sender—Joseph Vance, Private Investigator.

I take it and don’t miss the questioning look Charlie is giving me.