Chapter 11 – Asher
Eleven
ASHER
The Damien & Natalie Reese Wedding
Clayton House
Scottsdale, Arizona
“You said that I wouldn’t have to marry her.” Damien glared at me from across the men’s bathroom. “Those were your words, verbatim. Remember?”
“Of course, I remember, Damien.” I nodded. “I gave you the same guarantee I give everyone else.”
“I trusted you with my future, Asher,” he said, “but most importantly, I paid you.”
“I’m aware.”
“So, what makes you think I won’t beat the hell out of you for screwing me over?”
“You’re not the fighting type.”
“If you think I won’t make you regret ever crossing me for this…” He struggled to crack his knuckles. “You’re wrong. So, either cough up the thirty thousand I gave you, or start talking.”
“You know I don’t do refunds,” I said. “But I am a man of my word, so I suggest you just be patient. Oh, and…your bow tie is crooked. You should probably fix that before we step out of here.”
“The wedding starts in four hours.” He seethed. “Four. Fucking. Hours.”
“I tried to make you cancel it four weeks ago, remember?”
“No, you…” He shook his head, but the look in his eyes said it all.
He was the reason this came down to the wire. Not me.
“I should’ve just told everyone pressuring me to propose to mind their business.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I love Natalie, truly, but…”
I braced myself for the same story I’d heard a million times before.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
“Mr. Reese?” A soft voice suddenly sounded from the other side of the door. “Are you in there?”
“Yeah, hold on.” He sighed and crossed the room, opening the door. “Um, Miss Elizabeth?”
“Yeah…I need to talk to you.”
“Right now?”
FUCK.
I immediately pulled out my phone.
I thought you said the Reese event was NOT a Katie Elizabeth wedding.
Kelsey
It isn’t.
She’s here. IT IS.
Oh. Well, I guess it is then.
That’s all you have to say for yourself?
Please don’t fire me, though! (I’m still getting the hang of thorough research.)
I’m definitely tempted. (Google isn’t that damn difficult.)
“Unfortunately, Natalie has changed her mind at the last minute about going through with this marriage.” She sounded genuinely hurt. “She didn’t know how to personally tell you, and I know my words don’t mean much, but I really am sorry this didn’t work out.”
“Natalie is calling it off?” He smiled, but then he looked down. “I mean, did she give a reason?”
“She did, but I think it’s best if you hear it from her,” she said. “Something unexpected and really emotional occurred.”
“I see.” He nodded. “Well, um, thank you. I’ll go talk to her.”
He glanced at me and mouthed “Thank you” before following her out into the hall.
The door shut without Katie seeing me, and I let out a breath.
I decided to wait fifteen minutes before—
“I’ll grab your wallet for you, Mr. Reese,” Katie’s voice sounded as the door opened again.
Her eyes widened as she spotted me through the mirrors.
“I should’ve known something was up.” She gritted her teeth. “Today had all the familiar touches of ‘Asher Brooks disaster’ written all over it.”
“Can we skip the part where we insult each other for a few minutes and just fast forward to where we go our separate ways?” I asked.
“No.” She narrowed her eyes. “Want to tell me how you managed to pull this one off?”
“Have I ever revealed my hand to you?”
“She was all-in, one hundred percent in, all day yesterday and this morning.”
“Emotions are like the weather, Katie,” I said. “They’re capable of changing unexpectedly.”
“All of a sudden, she’s looking at his bank statements and seeing how much debt he’s supposedly hiding from her? How he doesn’t really own the home they’ll be living in and is behind on the rent by six months…How exactly would she get that information on the day of her wedding?”
“The better question is why she didn’t have this information before…”
“So, the groom paid you for this one?”
“Miss Elizabeth,” I said, glancing at my watch, “as much as I’d love to stand here and spar with you, I have someplace to be, so feel free to talk to the walls for as long as you like.”
I walked to the door and opened it, but she rushed over and moved in front of it—blocking me.
“You’re going to let me finish talking to you, Asher.”
“By ‘finish,’ do you mean I’ll never have to put up with another line from you if we run into each other again?”
“Who hurt you?” She puffed out her chest. “Like, who ruined love for you so badly that you have to inflict your pain on other people?”
I let her question hang in the air unanswered.
“By now, I’m sure you’ve made enough money off this hurtful venture.”
Not even close…
“And—” she said, continuing, “it’s time for you to quit before I find ways to hurt you.”
“Excuse me?”
“I’ve pulled up some public records on you, and they aren’t pretty at all.”
I arched a brow.
“Two bankruptcies exactly seven years apart,” she said. “Three cars that got repossessed because you stopped paying, and a string of broken leases from apartments you abandoned. How does it feel for someone to dig that up and throw it in your face?”
“Good.” I gritted my teeth. “Maybe this someone will understand why I’m not quitting.”
“No, this someone is committed to fucking ruining you if she or anyone on her staff ever sees you within five hundred feet of any event from here on out.”
“Well, since you want to play the research game, is it my turn?”
“No.” She shook her head. “It’s time for me to leave.”
“Your left hand is still bare as fuck because your terrible boyfriend hasn’t locked you down yet.” I slammed my hand against the door, preventing her from leaving. “You work eighty to a hundred hours a week, not because you love weddings, but because you don’t have a life outside of planning them.”
“You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You buy new romance books every week to fall in love with strangers and go to bed fingering yourself to fucking fictional characters…” I paused as her cheeks reddened. “Is that not true?”
“None of what you said is true.” The look in her eyes said differently. “But good to know you’ve spent time coming up with insults. Clearly you think about me far more than I’ve ever thought about you.”
“Says the woman who searched for all my public records,” I said. “Too bad your sexual records aren’t public…Then again, I’m sure there’d be nothing but ghosts there.”
“Fuck you, Asher.”
“Whenever you’d like to.” I crashed my mouth against hers, and she wrapped her arms around my neck.
I pinned her against the door with my hips, controlling her lips with mine.
“I hate you…” She moaned as I darted my tongue against her mouth, silently demanding that she open wider for me.
She gave in, and I grabbed a fistful of her hair as I kissed her harder.
I slid my hand under her dress, slow enough for her to feel every inch of it coming.
She sucked in a breath, but she didn’t stop me—didn’t push me away.
Didn’t even pretend she wanted to.
My fingers brushed higher, teasing, waiting—feeling the heat between her thighs before I even touched her.
“Still going to pretend you don’t want this?” I murmured against her lips.
She didn’t answer.
Her silence said everything.
I pressed my thumb against her clit, and she broke.
A sharp inhale. Nails digging into my neck.
“Fuck…” I felt it then—how wet she was, how ready.
Like she’d been waiting for this.
I slid two fingers inside her slowly this time—watching her mouth fall open as she took them.
“Just like that… don’t stop.” I hissed against her mouth.
She was in a daze, not paying attention to me, so I pulled out.
“What are you—” She breathed. “What are you doing?”
“Handling this situation myself.” I grabbed her hips and turned her toward the mirror.
Not gently, not asking.
She caught herself on the counter, her breathing already uneven.
“Look at yourself,” I said.
Her eyes flicked up and met mine in the glass. Then they stayed there.
That was all I needed.
I pushed her dress up slowly, exposing inch after inch until there was nothing left to hide.
Her panties were already pushed aside.
My fingers slid back inside her, slower this time—deliberate.
I made her watch me…Us.
Her lips parted, chest rising and falling harder with every movement.
“You see that?” I murmured. “That’s what you do to yourself every night… isn’t it?”
She didn’t answer.
Her body gave her away long before her mouth ever could.
I felt her pussy throbbing against my fingers, felt her on the edge as my cock stiffened against her ass.
Keeping my gaze locked on hers, I bit her neck and watched her chest heave up and down as she said, “I hate you, Asher,” upon reaching her orgasm.
“I hate you, too…” I held her taut until she stopped shaking.
We stared at our reflection for several minutes, letting the silence settle between us.
I yanked off her panties and stuffed them into my pocket. Then I smoothed her dress into place.
“That never happened.” She spoke first. “Do you agree?”
No. “Sure.”
“Because I’m seeing someone, right?”
“Right.”
“Well…” She moved to the door and opened it. “I hope to never see you at any of my weddings again, Asher Brooks.”
“Likewise, Katie Elizabeth.”
“Goodbye.”
I said nothing, letting her have the last word before she finally left.
Thankfully, we didn’t have any run-ins for several months after that…