10. Asher
Asher
The front receptionist waved at me from her desk as I walked into the Maria Knight Memorial Fund office on Monday. I couldn’t remember her name.
Gaby? Gertrude?
I gave her a brisk nod as I walked toward the back offices, brushing the snow off my shoulders and wiping a hand over my head.
The staff didn’t pay me much attention since I was here often enough.
Quinn worked a lot and some days we came here to hang out and work with her, especially on the rare days Knight had to be out of town because he hated the idea of her being alone.
She liked to claim she hated it as she grumbled, but I knew she didn’t.
Except today I wasn’t here to see Quinn.
I heard her voice before I saw her.
As I turned the corner, I found her sitting at her desk on the phone. She was playing with a pen in her hand as she nodded at whatever the person on the other end was saying.
She smiled and then laughed. Her laugh might be musical but her singing was truly atrocious. Yet, for some reason, I found myself wanting to hear more of it.
What the fuck is wrong with me?
I also kind of hated that someone else was making her laugh, even if it was small, and I wondered if I could make her do that. She seemed to give them out freely enough.
Except I wasn’t the kind of man that usually made people laugh. My general glowering didn’t lead to a lot of conversations, which was how I preferred it. But with her, I wanted to make her laugh.
Her eyes darted to me as I stepped in front of her desk.
“Sure thing, Mr. Hanson. Miss West will call you back when she’s available.” She smiled as my eyes narrowed.
Who the fuck was Mr. Hanson?
And why the fuck did it seem like she had talked to him enough times to be friendly?
I had no right to be jealous over her talking to a man on the phone at her job. But he was making her laugh and that pissed me off.
Jealousy wouldn’t listen to reason or logic.
Especially mine when it came to her, it seemed.
I wasn’t sure I’d ever been jealous in my life. Add it to the growing list of emotions Sutton was bringing out in me.
“Have a great day.” She ended the call then smiled shyly up at me.
I hadn’t seen her in two days because it felt too aggressive to be bothering to see her so soon.
But I was harassing Quinn for updates, much to Knight’s annoyance.
I just wanted to make sure she was good.
It’s what I did with all six of my other friends.
Kind of. In a way. Except I didn’t go more than a few hours without seeing or hearing from them. “Hi.”
“Who was that?”
That was not what I meant to say—it just came out before I could stop it. And I certainly didn’t mean to say it in that tone.
She didn’t seem offended but she did frown in confusion.
“Mr. Hanson? He’s been calling every few days.”
“Why won’t Quinn get on the phone with him?”
Her lips twitched, holding back a smile. “Mr. Hanson has a lot of money.”
I just managed not to spit out that I would have more.
“And he wants to make a donation. Quinn dealt with him before she hired me so he wants to talk to her but he keeps getting me.”
I didn’t know what the fuck was funny about that. I doubted Knight would be too pleased about some asshole wanting to talk to his woman.
I tilted my head and studied her. Her long honey-blonde hair was loose today, a slight curl through it.
She looked just as stunning with her hair up as she did down.
The light was making it shine. I wasn’t sure what she was doing to make it shine like that but it looked so silky I wanted to touch it.
Her coconut scent lingered in the air and for some fucking reason, it was giving me a semi.
I shook myself out of the distraction and focused back on Mr. Asshole Hanson.
Was she smiling and laughing because she was impressed with him? Because he was donating a lot of money? That wouldn’t be a problem; I could beat anyone with the money I had growing daily in my accounts.
“Isn’t there a donation department that deals with that kind of thing?”
She shrugged. “Yeah, but I don’t mind.” I narrowed my eyes at her as she tapped her chin, mischief dancing in her eyes while she thought.
I was clenching my jaw so tight I thought it was going to crack.
“He might call so much because he’s an eighty-two-year-old man who lost his wife about a year ago. I think he’s just lonely.”
She lifted an eyebrow at me as my shoulders relaxed. I grunted, deciding that a response wasn’t needed now. I finally put the coffee down that I’d been holding in front of her on the desk.
She didn’t look at it. “Quinn isn’t here.”
“I know.”
“Then…” This time her eyes did dart down before moving back to me with surprise on her face.
“You brought me a coffee?” I nodded as she sent me a big smile.
“You are a serious life saver.” She grabbed the cup and took a big sip with a sigh.
Satisfaction bloomed in my chest at her excitement over something so simple.
“Did you text Quinn for my order?” She sounded shocked as she looked up at me.
I moved around the desk and leaned on the side so I had a better view of her. Because I would be okay to watch her all fucking day.
I didn’t bother answering her question, because yes, I had texted Quinn for her coffee order.
“We’re friends,” was the answer I gave. It had shocked me a little when she said it in the car, but it was fine. I didn’t like her in any other way. I was just trying to help her out a little, because I could. “I need your keys.”
She choked a little on her coffee, cleared her throat, and then looked up at me. “Pardon?”
“Keys.” I held out my hand, waiting.
“Need more information, Asher.” She raised an eyebrow, watching me.
“It snowed.”
A lot.
It was April, which meant that despite having warmer days, we could still sometimes see a dump like this. The worst part was that it was heavy, wet, and the roads were likely to turn icy since the temperature was dropping overnight to just below freezing.
“I know, I drove in it this morning. I think it’s supposed to stop by three,” Sutton said, looking over her shoulder out the window and the heavy flakes coming down.
It was lighter than it had been earlier, and I would be able to get the worst of the snow off her car without her having to do much work later, which was why I’d shown up now after watching the radar all morning.
“Your car is old, you can’t plug it in at the office. I’m going to start it and brush off the snow.”
Surprise lit up her face, like it was shocking that someone would do something for her. I didn’t want to be pissed off, which I was sure whatever she was going to say would make me, so I spoke again. “Please.”
A surprised puff of laughter came out of her before she shook her head and grabbed her purse. “Why did that word sound foreign coming out of your mouth?” she asked as she dug around.
“Because it was.”
She found the keys but as she reached out to pass them to me, she pulled back. “You don’t have to do this, Asher. It’s not cold enough that it needs to be started.”
I raised an eyebrow, my hand still out even though she was one hundred percent right. It wasn’t cold enough to start. She sighed, rolled her eyes, and then gave them to me.
I nodded as I turned away and then headed outside. Her car was thankfully out of her line of sight.
“Well?” I asked, coming up next to the mechanic and his crew who were pulling supplies off their truck and looking at her car.
“Tread is terrible. The tires wouldn’t have lasted another winter. Doesn’t look like she switches them,” one of the men said.
“Replace them, then take a look at the battery and let me know on that too,” I said as I passed them her keys.
“You got it. As requested we’ll be done in thirty minutes max.”
I nodded, waiting a few minutes before I headed back inside.
The mechanic was the best that Jaxson could find.
He was more than happy to accept the money I’d offered for him to come here and switch out Sutton’s tires for new winter ones.
I’d change them to summer tires in a few months but the risk of snow and freezing wasn’t gone yet so I couldn’t do that now.
Money made a lot of things easier.
The men were moving quickly. The car was up on a jack, tires already coming off. I didn’t think I’d be able to replace the battery today but at least I could leave knowing she had safer tires. It would have to do for today.
I returned inside, making my way to Sutton’s space at the back. She looked up from her computer as I moved to the side of her desk and swiveled her chair to face me, crossing one leg over the other.
“Aren’t you worried about leaving my keys in my car? They say you aren’t supposed to leave your car unattended while heating it up. What if it gets stolen?”
I sent her a look. “Would probably be doing you a favor if it did.”
She scoffed. “It’s a good car, Grizzly. It may be old but it’s safe and works just fine.”
“Grizzly?”
“Yeah, like a grizzly bear. They’re huge, intimidating, and you grumble kind of like a bear. I thought you’d like it more than Teddy for a nickname.” I scowled at that as she sent me a cheeky smile. “Teddy bear, because I actually think you’re softer than people know.”
“I am not.”
“Sure, Grizzly.” She reached up and patted me on the shoulder.
“Ash is a nickname.”
“Yeah, but I wanted one that was just for me.”
How the hell am I supposed to object to that?
She would probably let this go eventually.
“How was the rest of your weekend?” I asked to distract her. It worked.
She told me about how she went for a walk with Sophie, how they had lunch at a café and then made dinner with Iris.
She told me how after she finished getting Sophie to bed she watched a few episodes of Schitt’s Creek.
When she asked if I had seen it and I shook my head she looked shocked.
She said it was her third time watching it and she found something new to laugh at every time. She didn’t think she’d ever tire of it.