CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Asher
“Meet me in Bear Valley? That’s it? After you leave the whole of Cedar Falls talking after last night, that’s the text you’re going to send me?” Nita says as she meets me on the sidewalk in Bear Valley, where I’ve been waiting for her to meet me.
“It worked, right?” I give her a quick hug. “You’re here.”
“I am here. You’re just lucky my babysitter was available today or else you’d be standing here with that smug grin on your face waiting forever.”
“Remind me to thank her.”
“Noted.”
“And screw the town for talking.” I shrug as we begin to walk slowly down the sidewalk.
And I mean that, sincerely. I refuse to let their stupid gossip affect anything about what happened last night in a negative way.
“At least I’ve actually earned the gossip they’re dishing on me this time around. ”
“True,” she says and then nudges me. “So . . .”
“So . . .” I toy with her. “Dare I even ask what the gossip is about?”
Nita laughs. “Wayne’s curious how a man can last that long.”
Wayne? The man who knocked on the bathroom door at Connor’s. “Poor Mrs. Wayne then.”
“I know, right? And Judy Jensen is grumbling over how it’s you who pulled in the new, wealthy, eligible bachelor in town when she clearly has more to offer him than you do.”
“Fuck her,” I say as I point to a cute shirt displayed in a storefront.
“My sentiments exactly,” Nita says as she angles her head to look at it.
We window-shop. This is our thing, the way we spend time together and unwind. When you struggle financially, there’s not much else you can do, so we’ve fallen into this routine where we head here or there and stroll around while we talk.
“Nah,” she finally says as we move to the next window. “That color washes me out.”
“What about Carson?” I grimace. “I need to call him and apologize.”
“He’s fine.” She rolls her eyes and swats at my arm. “He came back into the bar. One minute nursing his bruised ego. The next lying about how he knocked the guy—er, Ledger—out cold.”
“Which didn’t happen, by the way, but if people believe that then they should also believe I was bringing Ledger back to consciousness with a little mouth-to-mouth,” I say coyly with a flutter of my lashes.
Nita bursts out laughing. “Personally? I think every woman in town is jealous of you, so you just keep on doing what you’re doing because you know what? Screw them.”
“I’m not going to argue on that one.”
“So, because there is in fact gossip and you did in fact disappear from Connor’s, can I assume the two of you worked through your differences, then?” She leans in and looks closely at a diamond pendant in the jewelry store display.
“In so many words, yes.”
“And the answers you were looking for were satisfactory and that more than kissing happened—according to Wayne, that is.”
I laugh and point to a yellow diamond ring that sparkles. “Wayne is correct, yes, but you already knew that.”
“So what changed your mind? Or rather tipped the scales for you?”
“I decided that maybe this is what I need right now. Maybe he is. That I’m walking into whatever this is with the knowledge that he has a life, that I have a life, and in two months he’ll be gone.”
“So, enjoy the time you have, void of any expectations?”
“Yes.”
“How very mature of you.”
“Or stupid of me,” I mutter.
“It’s only stupid if you forget to keep your heart locked down. Something that I might add that you’re pretty damn good at.”
At least I have her vote of confidence on this.
“Oh, look.” She tugs on my arm to go inside an apothecary store. There are soaps and lotions and a million other things to sniff and sample and fawn over. “Talk about pamper central.”
I’m mesmerized by the scents running into one another and the décor and the product packaging. I pick up a tin and smell the candle inside. “Definitely pamper central.”
“I could buy one of everything in here.”
“I wouldn’t complain about that,” a woman says as she approaches us, smile big, eyes kind. “I’m Sarah. Owner and jack-of-all-trades here. Just let me know if you have any questions. Everything is locally sourced and made in my own garage,” she says.
“Oh. Wow. That’s incredible.” Nita picks up another sample jar and smells it.
“Thank you. I was laid off from my corporate job and was struggling with how to make ends meet. I fell back on what I knew best to save the day—making soaps and oils. It’s something my grandmother taught me when I was little. It was our bonding time. Who knew it would save the day?”
“It’s amazing how that happens sometimes,” I say. “Congratulations. By the line at the cash register and the boxes stacked for UPS to pick up, it looks like it was the right decision.”
“It definitely was.” Sarah smiles before being pulled away by a customer’s question.
“I’m going to get a little something to take to Gran when I see her later,” I say. In less than ten minutes, I’ve purchased the gift I picked out for her, and we’re heading back out the door.
“I definitely need to come back here.”
“I know. It’s a treasure trove.”
“You should tell her you grow lavender,” Nita says. “Maybe do a trade. Lavender for free products.”
“I wouldn’t complain about that,” I say, looking back over my shoulder to note the store’s name. Just in case I need to know it in the future.
“What are we doing here, anyway?”
“Besides having some girl time?”
She narrows her eyes and stares at me. “What are you up to?”
I point to the little boutique at the end of the street. “I hear they’re having a huge sale this week.”
Nita’s eyebrows shoot up. “Hell. I wasn’t going to ask for details about last night—”
“Yes, you were.”
“You’re right.” She laughs. “I was. But if we’re playing hooky to come here to buy you lingerie, I don’t think I need to ask.”
“Not lingerie.” She narrows her eyes and tries to understand. “More like needing to up my bra and panty game.”
“He was that good you’re going back for seconds, huh?”
“Or fourths or fifths.” I slide a look her way just in time to catch her mouth shock open into an O. “So yes, I need something more than my practical T-shirt bra and boring panties.”
“Otherwise called lingerie.” She laughs. “There’s more to lingerie than garters with stockings and scraps of lace, Asher, although I’m pretty sure Ledger wouldn’t mind you adding those to your repertoire either.”
I roll my eyes as we cross the street. “So you’re really not going to ask about last night?”
“Oh honey, you bet your ass I’m going to ask. I want all the details. His skill level. Your orgasm count. Size and shape are important details too.” She hooks her arm through mine as we enter the shop. “And every damn detail in between.”
I laugh. I can’t help it because Ledger was right. I have the goofiest smile plastered on my face.