Chapter 23 #2
Asher stopped me just before we reached the stairs.
“Hey.” He put his soft hands on my cheeks.
“I know you have to do what you have to do to get through this, but remember, it will be over at some point. This won’t last forever.
” He glanced at the front door and back to me.
“And when it is, when we walk out that door to leave, it’s you and me again.
No matter what goes on inside, it’s you and me out here. I’m yours. Don’t forget it.”
I slid my hands inside his coat and held his hips. To remind myself this man truly existed, that I hadn’t plucked him from my dreams, but also to agree, I whispered, “You’re mine.” I placed a soft kiss on his lips, and to myself whispered, “He’s mine.”
Asher stepped back and laced our hands together. “Now, let’s go pull off the most epic rebellion ever.”
I chuckled, because of course he brought it out of me, and marched for the door. It opened as we approached.
“Good evening, sir,” Marcus drawled.
“Marcus, how are you?”
He nodded once. “Very well, sir, thank you.”
I introduced Asher, uh, Ashley, to Marcus and handed over our coats.
“Is he a butler or something snooty britches like that?” Asher whispered as I led him toward the front sitting room with my hand at the small of his back.
“Basically. He’s part of the staff here at the house.”
Rumbles of conversations and the occasional laugh reached us before we reached them.
I expected Asher to tense at the reminder of what we were about to do, but he didn’t.
He was excited and jittery, but not stressed.
He wasn’t sweating with heart palpitations as I was.
Essentially, I was walking into the lion’s den with a man at my side.
No matter what they saw in Asher, I couldn’t drop the fear completely.
We stepped under the archway, and dozens of eyes turned to us.
Asher, my wonderful, perfect, stunning boyfriend, smiled wide and nodded. “Hello.” His voice didn’t carry loudly, but it didn’t have to because the room had quieted. Mother had apparently spread the word, and all were aware I was bringing a date tonight. Something that had never happened before.
“There he is,” Mother said, and I stiffened. He?
“Darling, you’re late. Was the traffic dreadful?” Mother added when she reached us and curled her arm around my free one.
She meant me. Of course she meant me.
Asher squeezed my hand slightly, reminding me I wasn’t alone. Maybe it had meant something different, but that was how I took it. I wasn’t alone in this.
He was mine. In my corner, at my side, mine.
“No, Mother,” I said and didn’t elaborate.
“No matter. You’re here. Ashley.” Mother peeked around me to Asher. “I’m glad you could make it.”
“Thank you for the invite,” Asher said with the soft voice he adopted as Ashley. The masculine inflection he hid now rang crystal clear in my ears.
“Darling, go speak with your father while I introduce Ashley to everyone.”
I was already shaking my head. “I don’t think—”
Asher patted my arm and squeezed my hand. “It’s fine.” With a show Mother would hate, he cupped my cheek and breathed over my lips for only me to hear. “I’ll be fine, old man.”
I narrowed my eyes and warned, “Behave.”
He winked and stepped to Mother’s side. “You have a beautiful home, Mrs. Dorset.”
“Thank you, dear.” Her pleasant demeanor was all a front, but Asher was well aware of it. “Do you know the Jamesons?” Mother asked as she steered Ashley toward them.
“Nope, not at all.”
I stood in place, not seeking out my father, and stared as Mother did exactly as she said, introducing Asher to everyone.
After the Jamesons with their son, William—not my best friend, who would’ve loved to have been here tonight instead of in Aspen with his family—Mother moved on to Mr. and Mrs. Carmichael and their two daughters, Sofie and Emmaline.
Both women Mother had pushed me toward at one point in time, along with so many others.
“She’s very pretty,” Mary said, startling me from gazing at Asher as he moved throughout the room.
“Thank you.”
“How long has this been going on?”
Did we have an official start date? “Uh, a month or so.” Sounded good.
“So mysterious. I didn’t believe Mother when she said you were bringing a date tonight. Actually, I thought it might be Georgina, then Mother assured she wasn’t.”
I snickered and resumed watching Asher make the rounds with Mother. “No, she isn’t Georgina.”
“She’s the one, huh?” Mary asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t play stupid. It’s not a good color on you.”
“Here, brother.” Paul stopped on my other side with a glass of scotch poised in front of me. “To the man of many surprises.”
I took the glass and clinked his. “Not many, just the one.”
“She got a sister?”
I snorted and choked enough Asher turned my way with brows raised.
I shook my head and held up my free hand to stop him from worrying.
Once I could speak again, I said, “Yes, several, but they’re all younger.
Maybe she has a cousin.” And I patted myself on the back for getting that out without breaking into laughter.
The desire to do so died when Mother stopped beside my father to introduce Asher.
“Excuse me,” I said and stormed to them.
“Brandt,” my father was saying. “Any relation to the railway Brandts? Pretty sure I know a few of those.”
“I doubt it,” Asher said. “But that’s my stepdad’s name. He adopted me and my brother when he married our momma.”
“Oh,” Mother said with a sad tone Asher wouldn’t understand the meaning of. Mother saw divorce as something for the lower classes. Us rich folk had too much money on the table and stuck it out, for better or worse—with a side of quiet infidelity.
“What was your father’s last name?” Father asked just as I came to stand at Asher’s side and curled my arm around his waist. Father hadn’t figured out this was the very man who’d demanded an apology from him.
Asher snuggled into my shoulder, not missing a beat of the conversation. “Wilson, but Momma never married him, so my brother and I had her maiden name of Davis until she married Ben.” He laughed softly. “No matter how many last names you ask of me, none will be someone you know.”
Mother and Father blinked, clearly unsure how to respond.
Father cleared his throat, brows lowering, before he shifted his gaze to me. “I see. Well, I’m at a loss as to what you two have in common, but it was nice to meet you.”
Dismissed. A part of me wanted to remain in his face to make him uncomfortable, but the part that won out was the side of me that wanted to take Asher far from their toxicity.
“Come meet my sister and brother,” I said as I pulled Asher away.
“I can’t tell if they’re all robots or brainwashed.” Asher glanced around at those we passed. “Remind me not to drink the Kool-Aid tonight.”
“Definitely.” I kept a genuine smile on my face as I brought Asher to my siblings. They both noticed, giving me odd stares before finding their manners.
“I’m so happy to meet you.” Mary beamed.
“Same,” Paul added. “You’re like a unicorn. The women of this state will be vying to scratch your eyes out for taking the most eligible bachelor.”
I rolled my eyes. “We aren’t engaged.”
Asher poked me with an elbow. “You didn’t tell me you were the most eligible bachelor. I have a cousin that makes personalized T-shirts. I’m getting one made for this, you know.”
Mary laughed.
Asher turned his bright eyes to her. “Help me with what it should say? ‘I survived the fight to the death’ with a pile of dead women below my feet?”
“No, no. It should be simple. Who needs so many words once you’ve won?”
“That’s enough, you two,” I said.
Paul chimed in with a laugh. “Just his face stamped with ‘Game Over’ should do it.”
“Perfect,” Asher said as I pulled him away.
“You’re my siblings. You should be on my side,” I chastised them both.
“Oh, we are,” they said together, then laughed while Mother and Father gave us scathing glares from across the room.
“They like me,” Asher teased as I pulled him into an empty corner of the room.