Chapter 1 #2
All too soon he set me back down on the ground, and the hug was done. He smiled down at me and tucked a chunk of hair that had escaped my ponytail behind my ear. “I see you guys took the easy way here,” he chuckled.
I winced. Fantastic. Here I was thinking how sexy Ash looked and I clearly looked like a sweaty mess.
I forced myself not to fix my hair. “That obvious, huh?”
He snickered. “Not so much on you,” he told me, then turned to his sister. “You gonna need some oxygen? Or a little nap after that?”
Beth shoved Ash, and his muscular body didn’t move at all. He chuckled. “That was pretty sad.”
“Oh, shut up,” Beth grumbled. “I’m getting some water. You want one, Nat?”
“Um, yes, please.” I glanced at Ash one last time, then followed Beth into the house.
I stepped over the threshold of the sliding glass door into the house and was transported into a dream. “Oh, Ash,” I whispered.
He stepped up behind me, and I could smell his woodsy, masculine scent. “You like it?” he asked.
“Huh?” I glanced over my shoulder at him. I couldn’t think with him this close. Why had this man always affected me like this? I’ve met celebrities and billionaires. Hell, I’d danced for royalty and none of them impacted me the way Ash did.
He smirked as if he knew exactly what effect he had on me. “The house? You like it?”
I shook off the haze and looked around the room. I didn’t know where to even begin. To the right, a beautiful masculine living room filled with textured fabrics and leather. To the left was a gorgeous chef’s kitchen. It was stunning. “It’s amazing.”
Beth pushed a glass against the water dispenser on the stainless-steel fridge. “Little much for one person, I always say,” Beth teased.
“You’re single?” I turned to him and let my gaze trail down his body. What was wrong with the women in Hollow Peak? How the heck was a man like him single?
“I am.” He raised an eyebrow at my obvious inspection of him.
“He’d have to actually date if he wanted to not be single,” Beth grumbled as she walked up and handed me a glass of water.
“I date,” Ash said.
Why did hearing him say that make my gut clench?
Beth snorted. “No, you have hookups. There’s a difference.”
Ash raised an eyebrow. “Is there?”
I shrugged and flapped my hands wide. He had a point. “I mean, he’s not wrong.”
Beth’s chin dropped as she stared at me. “Bu…but, what?” She stared at me in disbelief. “What do you mean? You’re a romantic. You love that stuff.”
I shrugged. I had been a romantic. Now I was a realist. “Hookups are a lot more honest.”
Beth’s face dropped, and suddenly she wrapped her arms around me. “Oh honey, no wonder you needed to come here.”
What was that supposed to mean?
Beth squeezed me tightly. “A couple of weeks here and you’ll be a completely new woman.”
I snorted. It would take a hell of a lot longer than two weeks to do that. “I’m here to relax, not have a spiritual awakening.”
“Why can’t you do both?” Beth asked.
“Good lord,” Ash groaned.
I turned and grinned at him. “What? You don’t think I’m going to come here and suddenly everything will be all hearts and roses?”
“No.” He stared down at me for several seconds. “Besides, there’s nothing wrong with you, so there’s nothing to change.”
Beth stuck her finger in her mouth and pretended to puke. “Gross.” Then she wrinkled her nose and shoved her brother again. “And ew, don’t look at my friend like that. You’re practically her brother.”
“How the fuck am I practically her brother?” he snarled.
“Because I’ve been friends with her forever.”
“And?” Ash pressed.
“And it’s just gross,” Beth said, then turned to me. “You want the tour?”
I looked at Ash. The softness that had been on his face a moment ago had shifted into the tense scowl he’d so often worn back when I’d known him. “Is that okay?” I asked him.
“What?”
“Is it okay if Beth gives me the tour of your place, or would you rather not have me look around?”
“Go ahead, why would I care if you looked around?”
“I don’t know, it’s your space. I don’t really like people nosing around in my stuff.”
“You aren’t people, Nat.” His face softened as he looked at me, and I couldn’t help but smile back at him.
“Ew,” Beth groaned. She grabbed my arm and pulled. I stumbled as I tried to change the direction of my feet to follow her away from the kitchen. “We’ll start upstairs,” she told me.
I followed Beth up the stairs and paused at the little landing at the top.
A chair sat tucked in the corner like a cozy reading nook.
A buffalo-plaid blanket lay draped over the back of the worn leather chair.
A stack of paperbacks sat on the little end table, and a bookmark hung out of the lone book not on the stack, like it was waiting to be picked back up again. Who knew Asher Briggs was a reader?
“Pretty nice view, hey?” Beth asked.
I glanced toward the large living room windows that reached almost to the ceiling, giving a clear, beautiful view of the lake and valley below. Ash had perfectly aligned the layout of the house so that every room had an amazing view.
“It’s incredible.”
“Wait till you see his bedroom. It’s unreal,” Beth said.
I followed her into the master suite. “Wow.” I spun slowly to the side to take in the entire room. “I can’t believe he’s single. This looks like it was built for a couple.”
“I know. Who puts a fireplace in their bedroom?”
Ash walked in behind us. “Someone who’s used to the power going out and knows how cold it can get up here in the winter,” he growled.
“It’s gorgeous, Ash. The entire house is. Your designer really knew what they were doing,” I told him.
“Thanks. I think it turned out pretty good, but I definitely wouldn’t call myself a designer.”
“You did this?” I turned to him.
“Well, I do build houses for a living.”
“I know.” I looked around this gorgeous log home with new appreciation. “But I thought you built them, not designed them.
He chuckled. “Normally I do, but it’s kind of hard not to learn a thing or two about design when you build ‘em.”
“Ash, this is more than just a thing or two.”
He shoved his hands in his pockets, and when he looked at me, I’d swear he was practically blushing. “Thanks.” He looked around the room. “I can’t take all the credit. I drew up the design and then had Caleb look over the plans and give me a couple of suggestions on things.”
“His guest room is nicer than my entire house,” Beth said.
“There’s nothing wrong with your house,” Ash told her.
Beth snorted. “Yeah, right, except my kitchen cupboard doors keep falling off.”
“And I’ve told you I’d install a new kitchen anytime you wanted.”
“I can’t afford that,” Beth said.
“Never asked you to pay, Beth.” Ash looked at his sister knowingly, and Beth sighed.
“I know, but I don’t want my big brother having to rescue me.”
He shook his head. “It’s fixing your kitchen, not scaling a ravine in the middle of winter with my trusty St. Bernard and some brandy. Jesus,” he muttered.
I couldn’t help but laugh at the description, but as soon as I did, Beth glared at me. Clearly not the time.
Trying to lighten the mood, I clapped hands. “Let’s finish this tour.”
Ash stepped toward the bedroom door. “Come on, I’ll show you.”
I started to follow him out of the room when Beth spoke. “I thought I was giving the tour,” she complained.
“Yeah, well, my house, my prerogative.”
Beth rolled her eyes. “He just wants to show off.” There was no bite to her tone when she spoke, just affection, which was nice to hear.
In the world I lived in, a comment like that would have been a catty jab or a passive-aggressive shot, but what I heard in Beth’s tone was just affection for her older brother.
I paused again at the top of the stairs and looked out at the valley. “Can you blame him?”
Ash looked at me and smiled warmly. My heartbeat kicked up a notch. God, he was sexy.
He led the way into another bedroom. A large king-sized bed rested against the far wall, angled so the person could look at the view from their bed.
“This is the kind of thing I needed Caleb’s help with. He tweaked the design a bit so that we had a view from everywhere. I was more worried about the view from my room and not the other bedrooms.”
I smiled. No wonder Beth didn’t begrudge his success. How could she when he was still the same old Ash I remembered? Sweet and self-deprecating. Never braggy or boastful. Just an all-around good guy.
He hadn’t changed at all over the years. He was still the sweetest guy I’d ever met.
“Wait till you see the playroom he built for my kids,” Beth said affectionately.
I turned and looked at him. “You built a playroom for your niece and nephews?”
Ash shrugged. “If I want them to come here, I’ve gotta have something for them to do.”
Beth snorted.
Ash looked at his sister and narrowed his eyes. “What?”
“I think a drawer of toys in the corner would have sufficed.” Beth linked arms with me. “Wait till you see this thing.”
She towed me down the stairs to the main floor, then down another set of stairs to the basement.
“Wow!” I stopped at the entrance to a playroom filled with a ball pit with a little basketball net at the end. A little play kitchen stood in one corner, with a shopping cart filled with plastic food. “This is…umm….” Before I had a chance to finish Ash spoke.
“A bit much?” he asked.
“No, not at all. I was going to say this is amazing.” I turned to face him.
“Yeah?” A slow smile curved up the corner of his mouth.
“Yeah. If you don’t have favorite uncle status with a setup like this, something is wrong with the world.”
Ash chuckled. “That’s what I was going for.”
“No kidding.” Beth snickered. “Except my kids never want to leave.”
“My work here is done.” Ash glanced at me and winked. And I think I fell a little more in love with him than I already had.
Shoot.
So much for being over my stupid childhood crush. Adult Ash was so much better than anything I had ever dreamed of. Not only was he gorgeous and smart, but he built a playroom for his niece and nephews. One that factored in what each of them liked to do. Who did that?
How could I not fall in love with a man like that?
No.
I wasn’t here to fall in love.
Especially not with my friend’s older brother.
“This is amazing, Ash.” I looked at him, then Beth. A wave of longing swept through me at what they had together. As an only child, I’d never experienced anything like the bond they had. The closest I’d ever come was spending time with their family. “You guys are lucky to have each other.”
“Yeah, she’s all right,” he joked.
Beth smacked her brother’s arm, and he winced and rubbed his arm mockingly. “Ouch, after all I do for you, this is how you repay me?” he asked.
“Shut up,” Beth laughed.
I glanced around the room, then back at Ash. “Your place is amazing.”
“Thanks.”
“And on that note, I should probably get back to the cabin and start cleaning. I can’t imagine what kind of shape it’s in after not being used for the past three years.”
“It shouldn’t be too bad, I hope. I air it out a couple times a year.”
I cocked my head to the side and looked up at him. “You do that?”
He shrugged. “No big deal. It’s opening the door and making sure nothing has moved in.”
I couldn’t help myself. I walked over to him and threw my arms around his waist. After a second, his muscular arms wrapped around me and pulled me close.
“Thank you, Ash,” I whispered.
“Of course.”
I leaned back and looked up at his face. Warm brown eyes looked back at me. “It means a lot to me that you didn’t just tear down his cabin. You could have. But you didn’t and…” Emotion clogged my throat.
My parents had never understood the appeal of the place. After my grandpa died, they couldn’t get rid of the cabin fast enough. I don’t know what I would have done if Ash hadn’t bought the property.
I’d come here for some R&R and to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. Continue in the world of dance that I love or listen to my body and make a change? Unfortunately, at the moment, neither decision felt right, and lusting after Ash wasn’t going to change that.
God, I needed to figure my life out. And I couldn’t think of a better place to help me do that than my grandpa’s old cabin.