12. Sutton
Sutton
“Hi,” I said as I pulled my door open. Asher was standing in my doorway in dark jeans and a white button-up with the sleeves rolled.
The man looked way too good for a Sunday morning. And he filled out those jeans disturbingly well.
“You look beautiful.” Asher’s voice was gravelly and deep as he looked me up and down.
I was also wearing a pair of jeans, a white T-shirt, and a new pair of pink runners. I loved being able to buy myself something new when I needed it. It was the perfect outfit for this beautiful spring day, no matter what we ended up doing.
“Thanks,” I said, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. I’d actually spent the time curling it this morning rather than tossing it into a ponytail. Sophie let out a gurgle from behind us and we both turned. “She clearly wants attention too.” I stepped back so he could come into the apartment.
“Hey, sunshine.” Asher bent down in front of her stroller. “You’re beautiful too,” he muttered, his accent crisp. When she reached for him, he grabbed her hand to give it a kiss, and she giggled as she rubbed his face. “You being a good girl for your mama?”
I cocked my head and looked at him. He must have sensed it and turned to look at me over his shoulder. He shrugged.
It was like we were having a conversation without needing to talk.
“I read that Mama is easier for babies to say so it tends to be their first word. I figured I can use it around her, just to make sure.”
I blinked back the tears that suddenly sprang to my eyes.
This man.
“So where are we spending our day?” I asked, trying to tuck my emotions away. He gave Sophie one more kiss before standing up and moving behind the stroller.
“Ready?”
I gave him a skeptical look but when his lips twitched and he fought off a smile, I just shook my head, letting him get away with it for now.
Thank God the elevator was working today so I didn’t have to explain why we would have to carry Sophie and her stroller down four flights of stairs.
It was hit or miss when it worked, so I kept an extra stroller base that I’d found at a secondhand store in Iris’s car so she wouldn’t be stuck if it was ever out of order.
We made our way outside and I felt so strange walking beside Asher as he pushed the stroller along.
I didn’t have anything in my hands and since I’d had Sophie, that had never happened.
He’d shifted me to the inside part of the sidewalk and kept me close as we walked.
He asked me about girls’ night so I gave him a recap, omitting the part about the prenup, to catch him up.
“Are you going to tell me what the plan is today?” I asked as I looked up at him.
I wasn’t sure what to think of him using the word friend in texts. Should I be annoyed that he was pointing it out regularly or relieved he seemed to have agreed to the role so easily?
“Coffee,” he said as he lifted his chin up at the café we were stopping near. I smiled as he opened the door but when I stepped by him he gently grabbed my arm. “This is not the plan, we just need the fuel.”
He let me go and ushered me in, pushing Sophie in behind me. We stood close together in line as I looked down at Sophie who was blinking slowly. Movement always made her sleep, whether it was the car or her stroller. Her nap schedule might be off later but that was fine.
“Next,” the barista called as we stepped up.
“You go first,” I said to Asher. He gave me a look and then stared at the counter. I rolled my eyes at his insistence and stepped up to order. “Just a medium coffee with room, please.”
“Sutton,” Asher admonished from beside me.
“What?” I asked, looking over at him.
“That is not what you order.”
“I can order something different, Grizzly.”
I was hoping he wouldn’t notice but since he’d been getting coffee for me all week, I didn’t think it was likely.
I’d tried to pay him back on Friday and he just glared at me for a moment before walking right out of the office without a word.
I was thinking I would need to find a way to leave him some cash if he kept this up too long.
“Change the order. Large caramel macchiato and a medium black coffee, no room.”
The barista didn’t even look at me for confirmation; she just rang him up and then called the next person forward.
“Does anyone ever say no to you?” I asked as he moved us to a corner further away from the busy line.
“Not usually,” he said, standing in front of me and pulling the stroller close on our left.
“So this is a good start to friending. What—”
“Mr. Lawson!” A man interrupted us and stepped beside me. As Asher looked over at him, it was like a wall came down over his face. His relaxed jaw had tensed again, and the light in his eyes had dimmed as he blinked blankly. “Great to see you.”
“Dale.” Asher nodded, not bothering to offer his hand. He kept one on Sophie’s stroller and the other tucked in his pants pocket. I didn’t pay much attention to what Dale was saying, instead I watched Asher.
I think I was getting a glimpse into the man that he would be in the boardroom, or when he was out in public with people he wasn’t comfortable with.
I could tell Dale was getting uncomfortable with the cold looks, how his only reply to a statement was a blink or a raised eyebrow.
There was a thin layer of sweat on his forehead and he was shifting nervously.
I tuned back in to what Dale was saying, since Asher’s jaw had twitched. “So if I could just get a meeting—”
“No,” Asher cut him off.
“Mr. Lawson.” He cleared his throat. “If you could just give me a chance to show—”
“The answer last month was no and the answer is still no, Dale. Our coffee is ready.” Asher put his hand on my lower back and moved all three of us over to the counter. I hadn’t even heard them call our order.
I turned to look at Dale over my shoulder. He was slumped, looking rejected, as he shuffled his way out of the shop. I wasn’t even sure if he’d ordered or if he’d just seen Asher and made his way in here.
Asher swatted my hand away when I tried to grab a lid and didn’t give me my cup until it was secure and had a sleeve.
“Who was that?”
“Dale,” Asher answered as he grabbed his own drink.
I rolled my eyes and smacked his shoulder. The closed-off version I’d just seen was gone the second it was back to being just the two of us. “Yeah, I gathered that. Did the guy insult you or something?”
He looked genuinely confused, his brow furrowed like he was trying to figure out why I’d said it. “No.”
“You weren’t very friendly,” I said as I took a sip of my drink. Once I’d said it, it was almost like a light had turned on.
“Ah.” He nodded. “You’ve only ever seen me with you or Sophie or Quinn or one of the guys. I’ve been called a cold, cutting, rude bastard by many people. Even the men call me grumpy on a good day.”
I watched as he spoke. It was so matter-of-fact. Reaching out, I put my free hand on his arm. “I can see the grumpy part, but the rest seems a little harsh.”
When I smiled, his lips twitched and his shoulders relaxed. I had a feeling he was used to being judged for his attitude, and while it was fascinating to see that side of him, I wasn’t judging him for it.
“He’s been trying to get investment money from Knight Enterprises for a year now, but his business plan is shit and he’s already had two other companies declare bankruptcy while he was the chief executive officer. He won’t leave us alone, practically harasses Shelly.”
“Ah, so he deserved your grizzly attitude.” I elbowed him in the ribs and got an eye roll out of him.
“Most do.” He nodded. “Sit or walk?”
“Walk, if you tell me where we’re going.” He tilted his head and followed behind me until we were on the street. “I can push if you—”
His glance at me cut off my offer. I held up my hands, letting him know I surrendered as we kept walking. Asher kept one hand on the stroller and held his coffee in the other. Sophie was napping now, which may be good timing depending on where we were going.
“Do I have to guess?” I asked.
“We’re going to the zoo.”
I blinked, completely surprised. We hadn’t made it there yet even though it was only a ten-minute walk from my apartment. “You want to spend a Sunday at the zoo? Have you been to one before?”
He scoffed in reply.
“There’ll be screaming kids and people everywhere and Soph isn’t even old enough to really know what she’s seeing but we will have to move on her timetable because if we leave something before she’s done staring at it, she will scream.”
His brow furrowed, his eyes glancing down at her. “Will she like it?”
“Probably.” I shrugged. “We’ve never been before, but she loves her animal book—it’s her favorite. She always spends the most time on the elephant and gorilla pages.”
“Then we’re going,” he said with a firm, final nod.
He’d already bought tickets online so we didn’t have to wait.
Instead we followed the line of strollers inside as both of us finished our drinks.
Thankfully we were here only a little after opening so we might miss the worst of it.
Sophie had woken up from her short nap, but she had a drooly smile on her face as we pulled to a stop outside the first exhibit.
I went to grab her out of the stroller, but Asher asked if he could carry her instead. I nodded, and he quickly had Sophie up and in his arms, her little coos making his eyes soften.
When I reached for the stroller, he shot me a look.
“You’ve got her, I think I can push the stroller.”
His brows furrowed a little as he looked from Sophie to the stroller.
“She’s precious cargo. You can’t tell me you’ll relax if you’re managing too much.” With that argument he let it go.