Chapter 16
16
Charlie
C harlie rolled out the dough that had been resting for the last thirty minutes. Ash stood next to her with his own. They were shoulder to shoulder, quietly working. To say it had been difficult to keep their relationship a secret was the understatement of the century.
Ash had to maintain the friendship he had with her brothers and the amount of time he spent hanging out with them or they’d start asking questions—like if he’d broken things off with his girlfriend.
On a similar note, her family knew she wasn’t dating. She rarely went out with anyone—friends or otherwise. If she suddenly spent all her time taking trips to the city, they’d definitely be giving her the third degree.
It was her lot in life, she supposed. Being the youngest sister in a family of mostly men—men who were now married but few who had children—they needed something to consume their time. She had no doubt that the second she mentioned she was seeing someone, they would demand an audience.
Ash nudged her slightly, nearly knocking her off balance.
She laughed. “I’m trying to roll out the pasta dough, and you should be doing the same,” she admonished.
He reached forward to pinch some of the flour from the pile they had and rubbed his fingers over the dough. He hadn’t needed anymore, and he definitely didn’t need the second pinch he reached for either.
“You shouldn’t do that?—”
Ash turned to her and rubbed his thumb down her nose.
Her mouth dropped open as she stared at him.
He snickered, then motioned to her face. “You’ve got a little something… just there.”
Her brothers had planned on being away for most of the day—none of them even coming home for lunch. It had been one of the reasons they’d done one of their cooking lessons on a Thursday rather than on their usual Wednesday of the week, and it was definitely the only reason Ash would have been so bold as to flirt with her like that.
Charlie reached for her own dusting of flour and tossed it at him, marring his black T-shirt.
He let out a low rumble of laughter. It might have even sounded menacing if she wasn’t so enamored of him. Ash shook his head. “You really didn’t want to do that,” he said.
“Oh, yeah? Why not?”
Ash grabbed a handful of the flour without even looking at it. Charlie squealed and moved to dart away from him, but his arm reached out too quickly and ensnared her. It wrapped around her waist and pulled her against him. He held his hand over her head even though she pushed and shoved at his chest to be freed.
Laughter spilled from her lips as she shook her head. “Ash, don’t. You can’t?—”
Ash released the flour over her head, dousing her in a cloud of powder.
She gasped, blinking as the cloud dissipated. Preparing herself to lecture him on the wastefulness of what he’d just done, she lifted her eyes to meet his but only saw burning desire. His gaze pinned her like it had done so many times before. His arm tightened around her, making it impossible to slip away—though she wouldn’t have wanted to even if he’d given her the chance.
He brought his hand closer to her face, then rubbed his thumb over her lower lip. She tasted the flour immediately, and her tongue darted out to wipe it away. Without giving her a moment to make sense of his intentions, his mouth crashed down over hers, claiming her in a way she’d only dreamed about. He pushed his floured hand into her hair, and they clung to one another, giving up themselves in one of the rare moments they had alone together.
She soaked up his attention, the way he held her, the way she knew she’d never feel this safe or loved in another’s arms for the rest of her life. The blood in her ears roared like white water rapids. If she were to die in this moment, she would be content to have experienced the raw desire and passion that he’d given her.
Ash tore away from her.
No—he was torn from her.
In a flash of movement, loud voices, and broken dishes, Ash was yanked away from her. Daniel held his arms behind his back while Mason stood between herself and a surprised Ash. Neither one of them had heard her brothers come in while in the throes of their passionate kiss. And there were no words they could say to explain themselves.
Charlie screamed, “Daniel! Let him go!”
Ash wasn’t even struggling. He was only glaring Mason down. Out of all her brothers, Daniel would have been the only one strong enough to hold the firefighter back. He was taller and broader than Ash, but Ash made up for the height difference with all his training.
Charlie moved to get past Mason, but he threw his arm out to his side. “Go to your room, Charlie.”
She gaped. “What?”
He didn’t even bother looking at her. His voice was cool and menacing at the same time. “We’ll have a talk, later.”
She pushed his arm, but it remained immovable. “You’re not the boss of me.” It was likely a poor choice of words, but it was the only thing that came to mind. “Let him go, Daniel. Both of you need to leave right now.”
Daniel’s eyes darted from Mason to Charlie. There was a brief hesitation in the way he scowled—as if he might have had an inkling this relationship was taking place. But it quickly left when Mason whipped his head toward her. “I said get out .”
Charlie folded her arms. “I’m not leaving. Whatever you’re going to do, you’ll have to do it with me present.”
Mason growled. She’d never heard him so angry before. He was usually the level-headed, quiet one. Was he going to forcibly remove her? She wouldn’t have a chance against him if he threw her over his shoulder to accomplish it.
Her eyes darted to Ash, who still remained stone-faced and unmoving except for his heaving chest. She wanted to tell him to escape from Daniel’s grip. He could probably do it. He’d shown he knew so much more than he taught her in those self-defense classes. And yet he didn’t budge an inch.
Did he want this to happen?
Had he heard her brothers enter the house and allowed them to be caught?
Her stomach bottomed out at the thought.
Mason’s arm remained out to keep her from interfering, but she couldn’t bring herself to move either. All she could do was watch Ash. He yanked his arms free from Daniel and rubbed his wrists, his eyes only flicking to her for a moment—but Mason didn’t miss it.
Her brother lunged forward and tackled Ash to the ground, knocking a nearby stool over and shattering its leg. Mason threw the first punch, and Ash’s head whipped to the side.
Charlie screamed again and bolted toward them, but it was Daniel who caught her around the waist and prevented her from interfering.
Ash could have fought back—could have knocked Mason on his backside if he’d wanted to, but he didn’t. He managed to get out from under Mason and back to his feet. She recognized the fighting stance, the way he held his fists up so he could block any oncoming attack. Why was he just letting Mason knock him around like that?
“Mason!” Charlie cried out. “ Stop .”
Mason stood straight, his fists at his sides as he breathed heavily. “How long?” he demanded.
Ash glanced at her.
“Don’t look at her. How long have you been cheating on your girlfriend with my sister?” He spit the words, but Ash didn’t react.
Charlie clawed at Daniel’s hold on her, and he loosened his grip but wouldn’t let her free. She growled at all of them. “Ash never had a girlfriend.”
Mason let out a derisive laugh. “And you believe him?”
“It’s true,” Ash muttered. He wiped his bloody lip with his hand and winced. “I made her up so Liam would stop trying to set me up with people I had no interest in dating.”
Another snort from Mason.
Slowly, Ash dropped his hands and stood straight. He shoved his hands in his pockets and, this time, avoided looking directly at her. “I’ve… this isn’t new . I’ve liked Charlie for a while now —been interested in dating her…” He swallowed hard, and the bulge in his throat bobbed from the effort. He glanced at her briefly, the only warning he gave her before he said quietly, “Ever since I kissed her—just that once—six years ago.”
It took a minute for the words to settle between them all. Charlie could see Mason doing the math in his head before his face turned bright red with fury. He took two steps and plunged his fist into Ash’s stomach, making him double over.
Charlie hollered at Mason, thrashed in Daniel’s grasp, and finally escaped her brother’s hold. By the time she got to Ash’s side, he was on his knees. She turned fury-sparked eyes to Mason. “Stop being a jerk.”
Mason shook out his hand and said, “He had no right, Charlie. It was wrong for him to do that.”
“I can take care of myself,” she snapped. Her eyes shifted to Daniel, who had remained silent the whole time, but his features were just as tight as ever.
“It’s okay, Charlie,” Ash groaned. “I deserved it.”
She snorted. “We’re both adults. We can make our own choices.”
Mason pointed a finger at Ash. “ He was an adult. You were still a kid .”
“You weren’t there,” she bit out. “You don’t know what happened.”
“I know he kissed you when he should have been keeping his hands to himself.” There was going to be no changing Mason’s mind. She could see that now. He was furious with his friend, and no amount of rationalizing with him would change that. Mason took a step toward them, and she held up a hand. He stopped, but his voice did all the damage and more. “I want you to leave and never step foot on this property again.”
Ash stiffened.
Charlie’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t have a say in what he does. This isn’t your home anymore.”
Mason glowered at her. “Then I’ll tell Wade what happened. I doubt he’ll argue, seeing as he has a little girl himself now.” He jerked his chin toward Daniel. “And Daniel still lives here. I’ll let him drag this sorry excuse for a?—”
“You won’t touch him,” Charlie snapped, her anger at its tipping point. “Don’t you think you’ve done enough damage?” She turned her gaze to Daniel, hating herself for pleading with him. “We can’t change the past. And right now, there’s nothing inherently wrong with our relationship.”
Mason snorted. He knew Daniel better than Charlie did. They were closer in age.
Daniel’s features scrunched into something menacing, and he took a step toward Ash, who surprisingly didn’t even flinch. “If you hurt her?—”
“Seriously?” Mason said. “If you think he’s going to treat her?—”
“I’ll make it my mission to hunt you down and deal with you myself.”
Chills rippled through Charlie’s body at the threat. Her blood went cold as ice as she watched Daniel turn and attempt to push Mason from the room. Mason jerked out of his brother’s path and sent another withering glare in Ash’s direction.
Then they were gone.
Ash groaned as he shifted to get to his feet, and Charlie scrambled to help him. He steadied himself against the countertop, not looking at her. His eyes remained locked on the place between his hands where they gripped the edge. “I’m sorry,” he rasped, finally.
“You don’t have to be sorry,” she whispered. “It’s Mason who should apologize.” She hurried to grab a rag and ran it under the cold water at the sink. Then she returned to his side and turned him to face her.
With a gentle touch, she pressed it against his jaw and his bloodied lip. “You didn’t have to tell them the whole story, you know.”
His eyes found hers, and he reached up to wrap his hand around her wrist. “Yes, I did. I couldn’t risk it coming out later and becoming a problem.” He took the rag from her hand and pressed a kiss to her palm, then he winced with the movement.
“You didn’t even fight back,” she whispered, emotion burning in her throat. “And now you’re hurt.”
His bright eyes found hers once more. “It was worth it.”
When she gave him an incredulous look, he chuckled.
“Because now, maybe we can actually make this thing work.”