Chapter 6
I WAKE TO a ringing off in the distance.
I know it’s the alarm. I’m silently praying that Asher turns it off before I’m so awake that I can’t fall back asleep.
I cuddle deeper. He’s pressed into my back.
His arm leaves my waist, and finally, beautiful silence.
His arm comes back around me, pulling me even deeper under him, and I feel his breath on the back on my neck.
The goose bumps he’s causing are bringing me to the surface of consciousness.
It’s Monday, the day after shopping with his mom.
I got back to his house at around eleven.
He and Beast were waiting out on the porch when we pulled up.
Asher kissed his mom then helped me carry all my new stuff into the house, where he threw them into his closet.
Yes, threw, not set them down nicely. He swung his arm back and tossed them through the open closet door.
When he turned around, I could tell he missed me as much as I missed him.
The next thing I knew, my clothes were gone.
He picked me up, threw me onto the bed, and made slow love to me.
It was so beautiful that it brought tears to my eyes.
I was glad the darkness hid them from him.
Afterwards, he pulled me close and dragged the blanket over us.
I had my head in the crook of his arm and his fingers were at my hip.
We both talked about our day. He told me that he helped Trevor pull an engine from a truck he was rebuilding. I never knew that you could pull an engine from a car, or truck, for that matter, and I really had no idea why you would ever want to. Our conversation went something like this:
“Did you have fun with Trevor?” I asked, running my fingers along the ridges of his abs.
“No, but we did get the engine pulled from his truck.”
“Why would you take the engine out? Doesn’t a car need that to run?
” Yes, I’m stupid, I know, but hey, I’m a New Yorker.
We hardly drive. We take the subway or a taxi to most places, and if my car needs a mechanic, I take it to Juan and leave it with him.
I don’t hang around to see what he’s doing while my car is in the shop, which is probably why my repair bill is always a lot.
..hmm. I could feel him laughing silently, then he couldn’t hold it and burst out in a loud laugh, and I started to get offended.
“Yeah, your car needs an engine to run. He just wants to put a stronger one in his truck.” This fascinated me. I mean, who knew that you could change your engine and get a faster one?
“Cool,” I whispered, thinking that I should get a faster engine for my bug.
“Not gonna happen,” he said, looking down at me. Then he kissed the top of my head. I grinned into his chest. It was funny that he thought he could boss me around. I seriously couldn’t wait to pull up to meet him on a motorcycle.
“How was it shopping with Ma?”
“Um, let’s just say that I will only be going shopping with her every few months.
I felt like I should have prepared better.
Maybe ran around Target a few times, or even went to the strip mall and marched into each of the stores a few times.
She’s a serious shopper, and if they had a competition, I’m sure she would come in first place. ”
“Yeah, that’s Ma,” he said through his laughter. Then, I wrapped myself tighter around him, listening to his heartbeat and feeling him run his fingers through my hair. I fell asleep feeling like this was exactly where I was supposed to be.
I doze off again, only to be woken by the sound of the alarm for the second time.
I feel his lips kiss my shoulder, and his tongue run up my neck just below my ear as he kisses me again.
Then he squeezes me into him. His warmth leaves me and I feel the cool air rush in behind me, and hear the alarm go off yet again.
I roll over until I am lying where he had been.
I pull his pillow down and wrap myself around it.
I can hear the shower, and I open one eye and look at the time.
It is dusk out, and the alarm says it is five thirty.
I can’t believe he has to get up so early.
I have to get up by nine so I can get ready and go see the lawyer.
I see the closet light come on and I lift my head.
Asher is wearing a towel, and I watch in fascination as he pulls it off and pulls on a pair of black boxers that mold to his thighs and ass. He seriously has the most amazing body of anyone I have ever seen. He must have felt me looking because he turns around, smiles, and shakes his head.
“Go back to sleep, baby. It’s too early for you to be up.”
“Do you always wake up so early?” I ask, cuddling back down into the bed.
“Depends on the job.”
“Hmm,” is all I am able to get out before I fall back to sleep. I feel my hair slide off my neck and lips just below my ear.
“I’ll be home around six, and I’ll call you when I take lunch, baby.” I feel him kiss me again, but I am too far gone to get any words out, so I just grunt my agreement. I hear him chuckle then he kisses me again before he leaves.
STANDING WITH MY hip resting against the side of Asher’s kitchen sink, I am drinking coffee while watching Beast eat.
More specifically, I am watching Beast eat out of a very nice dog bowl that is next to a very nice water dish, neither of which I bought.
They are the large ones that hold an endless supply of food and water so your dog can enjoy food and clean water whenever they want.
I have no idea when Asher bought them. All I know is he must have done it yesterday.
Then I watch as Beast finishes eating and walks to the sliding glass door.
He lays down in a giant dog bed that is also new, and proceeds to chew on a very large dog bone.
I smile and let the feeling of warmth run through me.
He obviously likes my dog, and plans on us being here with him often enough that Beast will need food and water dishes and a bed for when we come to visit.
I’m not ready to start staying over all the time.
I mean, I am, but at the same time, I don’t want to over stay my welcome.
I know Dad has people coming out to put in a security system today, so I will be sleeping at home tonight without Asher.
On that thought, I go to his room and make the bed, clean up the bathroom where all my stuff has gathered then I collect all of my clothing from his closet and pack up. I gather Beast and we go to my dad’s place so he can go with me to the lawyer.
I AM STUNNED. I mean, this kind of thing doesn’t happen to people every day. I am sitting across from Mr. Stevenson and I can’t find my voice. My mouth is moving and I’m sure I look like a fish out of water.
He sits forward in his chair. “Are you okay, darlin’?” Mr. Stevenson asks.
It has to be a trick question. I mean, I am a millionaire.
That’s good, right? Everyone wants to be rich.
I just don’t know what to think about being told that I will be one million five hundred and thirty-six thousand dollars richer by the end of the month.
Part of me wants to tell him that I can’t take it, but then a bigger part of me realizes how many people I can help with that money.
“Um, I—I just need a minute to process this,” I tell him honestly.
“Take your time.” I look at him then over at my dad. He is holding my hand and his face looks shocked as well.
“Can I ask a question?”
“Of course,” he says, sitting back in his chair.
He looks like he belongs in an old movie.
He has on black slacks with a button up shirt but instead of a tie, he has one of those silver pendants that have two pieces of leather hanging from it.
On his feet, he has cowboy boots and I know that he wore a cowboy hat because it is sitting on his desk.
“Why did they leave it to me and not my mom?” Why would they leave me anything when I don’t even know them?
“I’m not sure of their reasoning. A few weeks before the car accident, they came in and changed their will so that you would be the sole beneficiary of their estate at the age of twenty-five.
Now, your mother contacted me about their estate shortly after the death of her parents and I explained the situation to her.
She was upset, but said she understood why her parents left their estate to you.
I’m surprised that she never told you about this. ”
I’m not surprised she didn’t tell me. We aren’t close and she never talks about her parents.
Maybe she doesn’t talk about them because they left me the money.
That might also be why she treated me so poorly growing up.
She feels that I took something away that should be hers.
I decide I am going to call her later and tell her I will give her half of the money.
They were her parents and I’m sure they would want her to have some of it.
“Are you okay, baby girl?”
I turn toward my dad. His eyes are concerned, and I know I’m so lucky to have him. His love is unconditional. No strings, no stipulations. He just loves me. He doesn’t even care that I now have money. And I know that if my mom was sitting where he is, she would be mentally spending every penny.
“Yeah, Dad. I think I need to call Mom later and talk to her about this.” I squeeze his hand. I can tell by the look on his face that he wants to say something.
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea, baby girl.”
“Dad, I want to tell her that I’m going to give her half the money.”
“No, that’s your money. You are going to keep every fucking penny. That bitch is not getting one cent of that money.”
“Dad,” I whisper. “They were her parents. No matter how you feel about her, they gave her life. I feel like they would have wanted her to have something from them.”
“Fuck, no. They left it to you, not her, and they did that shit for a reason.”
“Dad—”