Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
HANNAH
Waking up alone stings more than it should.
Especially because Asher is always up before I am. He starts every morning at five with a morning run, but he’s usually back by the time I wake up.
I check the time and frown. It’s after eight, which means I’ve overslept my alarm.
Or someone turned it off.
“Asher?” I call out, but when he doesn’t materialize, I push myself up and tug my robe around my shoulders.
The man has a thing for making me late, because at least once a week, he decides to let me sleep later than I should, saying some version of “What’s the point of being your own boss if you don’t get any of the perks?”
When I first graduated, I had a job at a small investment firm, but I hated it. You’d think, seeing as I’m submissive in relationships, that I’d be able to follow orders at work, and you’d be absolutely incorrect.
I hate coloring inside the lines when I work, which is why I pivoted the first chance I got.
A client at the firm was looking for someone who wouldn’t play it quite so safe with their portfolio and asked if I would be interested in taking him on, away from the firm.
I hadn’t been there long enough to have had to sign a non-compete, and I would have been an idiot to pass up the opportunity.
If I’m honest, when I think about the beginning of my business, things seem like they fell into place a little too easily, but then I tell myself that maybe it’s just the universe paying me back for all the shit I endured growing up.
A yawn escapes me as I move toward the coffee machine in the corner, only to find a full cup sitting in front of it with a Post-it Note.
I reach for the coffee first because I literally cannot function without it, taking a long sip before picking up the note.
I know you’re pissed I turned your alarm off, but you needed to rest. Drink this.
I’ll be back with breakfast before your first meeting.
I shake my head, unable to stifle the stupid grin that tugs at my lips.
This right here is why I struggle to believe he’s being deliberately deceitful.
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.