“I was blamed for that because I was supposed to be looking after my sisters.” He hadn’t been surprised that Ashley didn’t side with him during the argument. Did she still see him as the opposition? The enemy? “Ana Sofia was the one who actually broke it.”
“Twenty years ago,” she reminded him. “You can certainly hold a grudge.”
“You have no idea.” He gritted his teeth and took a step back. Sebastian wasn’t going to reveal just how much a grudge motivated him. Dominated his thoughts. “I’m sure this happened in your house, too. Who were you able to blame when you broke something? The family dog?”
“It never happened, but I don’t think my parents would have noticed. Quite a few breakables were thrown against the wall during an argument in my house,” she said matter-of-factly. “And I can’t count how much damage occurred during one of my father’s famous house parties.”
Was this why Ashley didn’t drink or party? Why she didn’t enjoy dancing and preferred her solitude? He wouldn’t blame her. Ashley’s home life was more of a war zone than a wonderland. “How did you escape? Did you spend a lot of time at a friend’s house?”
“Not really. Once their parents found out that I was a mistress’s love child I wasn’t invited over. Something about being a bad influence.” She grimaced as if she had tasted something unpleasant. “Love child. It sounds like I was born out of love, but I wasn’t. I hate that label.”
And she hated the label of mistress. He didn’t know that it would hurt her so much. He didn’t know she had been an outcast because of the stigma. He had made a power play without considering Ashley’s past. But how could he fix it now?
Ashley raked her hand over her hair and rolled back her shoulders. Sebastian had seen that movement before. He knew this was a sign that she was finished with the conversation.
“I’ve been meaning to ask,” she said as she walked away. “Did your father paint this watercolor?”
His gaze flew to the framed picture that hung on the wall. He’d forgotten about the picture of the sunset. “Yes.”
“It’s very good,” she said as she walked to the bedside table and gave the picture a closer look. “It reminds me a lot of the sunsets I see on Inez Key. It kind of makes me homesick.”
The longing in her quiet tone scored at him. He wasn’t going to fall for this guilt trip. He had to be strict with Ashley or she would soon discover that he was willing to give her almost anything she wanted.
“Is this another attempt to go back to the island?” he asked as he followed her.
She jerked her head in surprise and turned to face him. “No. I’m a mistress for a month and I have to be at your beck and call for a little over two weeks. I can wait.”
The pang of guilt intensified. He should honor his word and allow her to become the caretaker for Inez Key. But he didn’t want her on the island. She didn’t belong there. Ashley Jones belonged in his bed and at his side.
“What if we renegotiated?” he asked.
Ashley frowned and she studied his expression, as if trying to determine whether he was reneging. “What are you talking about?”
“The time frame remains the same but we drop the mistress part,” he suggested as he reached for her. “Forget the rules I set in place.”
She pressed her hand against his bare chest. Her fingers curled in the damp mat of his dark hair. “What’s the catch?”
“No catch,” he said as he moved closer.
“Is this renegotiation because you don’t want your mistress in your family home,” she asked, “or because you can’t tolerate the idea that your mistress might be having your baby?”
“You know, I should have walked away when you broke your promise,” he said. “You were supposed to be available to me at all times, but you went off with Salazar for a few days.”
Ashley gave an exasperated sigh. “You make that sound much more scandalous that it was. And may I remind you that you broke both of my rules?”
“Do you want to drop the mistress label or not?” he asked roughly as he gathered her tightly until her body was flush with his.