Chapter 3 #3
“Glad you like it,” he says in a way that makes me think he’s really glad I like it.
I follow him down a hall that runs beside the kitchen.
I look for Beast but don’t see him so I turn around to search him out.
When I walk back through the kitchen, I stop.
Beast is lying on the couch on his back with his legs straight up in the air.
I feel an arm slide around my waist and Asher speaks close to my ear.
“Looks like he made himself at home.” A shiver runs across my skin and I know that he can feel it when his arm goes tighter.
“Should I tell him to get down?” I ask.
“No, baby. He’s fine,” he says in his deep drawl. I love that he calls me baby, and at the same time, it scares me that I love it. “Let me show you the bedroom,” he mumbles. At his words, I get another shiver. This one’s in a completely different place.
We walk past two rooms with the doors open.
One is an office and the other is a workout room.
Across the hall from both is a bathroom.
At the end of the hall, he opens the door.
I follow behind him and realize that this is his bedroom.
There is a platform bed that’s so big, everyone I know could sleep on it and no one would even touch.
The sheets and blankets are a mess and there are clothes scattered all over the floor.
Next to the bed is a wall of windows and the shades are slightly open.
I can see a deck off his room as well. Beside the bed are nightstands built into the wall.
There is a long, black dresser in the same color of the bed and side tables.
There are two doors. One is open and I can tell that it’s my dream closet.
It’s the size of my apartment back in New York.
I walk toward it without thinking and turn on the light.
I could fit a chair and a table in the space and still have room to add a king-size bed.
There are shelves on both sides that have a few pairs of shoes and boots on them and along the walls there is plenty of space to hang clothes. There are a few pieces of clothing hanging but most of it is in piles on the floor.
“Oh my God, I’m in love.” I hear Asher laughing behind me so I turn to look over my shoulder. “You have committed a huge crime,” I tell him with a completely straight face. He’s still laughing. “No, seriously, this closet should be taken care of and should never have stuff defacing the floor.”
He throws his head back, laughing so hard that the tendons in his neck are out. I catch myself wanting to run my tongue along them. I double blink at that thought. When his eyes come back to mine, he’s still chuckling.
“I don’t even like doing laundry. I’m not a big fan of hanging shit up,” he tells me.
“Oh, of course,” I whisper. Geez, I’m such a dork.
He’s a guy. They don’t care about dream closets and having the space to show off all their fashion treasures.
I step out of the closet and cross my arms under my breasts.
His eyes drop to my cleavage so I quickly uncross my arms. Then, I realize I’m standing in his bedroom and I’m sleeping in his house while he’s here.
I look at the bed then back at him. He’s watching me the whole time.
When we make eye contact again, there is something working behind his beautiful blue eyes that makes me hold my breath.
He breaks eye contact and runs his hand over his head.
I clench my hands into fists. I want to know if his hair will feel prickly against my palms. “Um...” I say, trying to clear my brain now that it seems to have gone into an Asher fog.
He looks up and smiles. I see his dimple and that doesn’t help.
Now I want to lick his cheek and taste his dimple.
His smile widens and I swear he can read my mind. Crap, crap, crap.
“Here, let me show you the bathroom and you can change and get ready for bed,” he says.
Thank God for small favors, I think to myself until we walk into the bathroom.
There is a large walk in shower that’s made out of rock with a glass door that makes it look like an open cave.
Next to the shower is a bathtub that dreams are made of.
Well, at least girl dreams. I can’t picture Asher filling it with bubbles and having a soak.
Then, I’m bombarded with thoughts of Asher naked and in the bathtub.
I’m staring at the tub when I hear him moving behind me so I turn around.
He has my bag in his hand and is setting it on the sink.
“Feel free to take a bath and get into bed. I gotta make a few calls.” I would love to take a bath in his tub. Well, I would love to take a bath in his tub with him but I push that thought away.
“Uh, thanks,” I say, feeling strange. He smiles and leaves, closing the door behind him.
I stand there for a few more minutes, trying to figure out what the heck is happening.
Then I realize I’ve been standing here staring at the tub so I jerk out of my Asher tub fog and go to the sink.
I took a shower before I left my house so I just dig through my bag and find my pajamas.
They are white cotton sleep shorts with a yellow drawstring that matches a yellow tank top.
I tie my hair in a knot at the top of my head and wash my face.
Then I dig through my bag and find my toothbrush and toothpaste.
After I’m done, I put on some nighttime skin cream.
That is one thing my mom taught me. It was good advice to never go to bed without night cream.
She would say, ‘No man wants a woman with wrinkles.’ How she would know this, I don’t know.
She has been getting Botox since she was twenty and that’s probably the last time her face showed an expression that wasn’t surprise.
I open the door to the bedroom and the room is dark except for one of the bedside lights.
I realize Asher made the bed while I was changing and for some reason that makes me smile.
I think about going out and getting Beast but he won’t move if he’s asleep unless I carry him, and that’s not going to happen.
I wonder where Asher is sleeping. Then I realize I’m tired and don’t care.
I look at the clock on the side table and see that it’s after two in the morning.
Without thinking, I crawl into bed. It smells like him so I pull the covers over me and I’m, once again, dead to the world.
I WAKE UP feeling warm and cozy. It takes me a minute to realize that it is not Beast behind me. Beast doesn’t have arms. I keep my eyes closed and hold my breath, trying to figure out what has happened. Then, I hear the door open.
“Oh my,” I hear a woman’s voice say and my eyes pop open, and I’m looking into the eyes of a beautiful, older woman and she’s looking back at me. Asher’s arm goes tight around me and I look over my shoulder.
“Morning, baby,” he rumbles into my ear. I’m so humiliated that I blurt out the first thing that pops into my head when I turn back to look at the woman.
“We didn’t have sex!” I basically yell at her.
The lady looks at me again and smiles so big that I can see all of her teeth. “I’ll just be in the kitchen,” she says and Asher starts laughing as she’s closing the door behind her. I swear I hear her giggle. As soon as I know the door is closed, I turn to Asher. I’m really going to kill him.
“What are you doing here?” I ask.
“This is my bed,” he says, smiling.
Grrrrrrr. I want to choke him. “I thought you were sleeping on the couch or, like, in another room or something,” I say and wonder why he thinks this is so funny.
“Why would I do that? My bed is big. Plus, your dog was taking up the whole couch.”
“You should have woken me up. I would’ve slept on the couch with Beast,” I tell him, trying to shove his arm off me.
“My bed is big enough for both of us. We didn’t even have to touch, but the minute I got into bed, you were all over me,” he says, hugging me tighter.
“Oh my God, you’re so full of it. I was asleep. I didn’t even know you were here. How could I be all over you?” I yell at him knowing full well that my face is turning red.
“When I climbed into bed, you wrapped yourself around me,” he says, watching my face. I can feel it getting redder by the second.
“I didn’t,” I say, even though I most likely did. I have always liked to cuddle.
“You did,” he says, smiling.
“Whatever,” I mumble, trying to hide my face.
“At least tell me that’s not your mother,” I say, covering my face with my hands.
He starts laughing and pulls me down in the bed so I’m basically lying under him.
Feeling his skin against mine, I uncover my eyes and see that he’s not wearing a shirt.
How I missed that, I have no idea. His chest is awesome.
It’s wide and you can see the definition of all the muscles.
He doesn’t have a lot of chest hair, just enough that you could feel it against your chest as he moves inside of you.
His tattoos start under his collar bone and go around his shoulders and down his arms. They look like fire but it’s all tribal.
Running in and out of the flames are names and a pair of military type boots.
Then the same design goes down his other arm but with a gun and a military type hat.
It’s shaded in black and has bright colors running through. It’s truly a piece of art.
“Yes, that’s my ma. She probably came to make sure you were okay. I’m sure Dad told her what happened last night,” he says, startling me out of my perusal of his body and tattoos. I look up into his smiling face, wondering what he thinks is so funny about his mom finding me in his bed.
“This is so embarrassing. She probably thinks I’m a slut,” I say, wondering if this is normal for him.