“Yes. I’ll have three fingers of scotch on the rocks,” Ash said. “And the girls would like...?”
“A rum and Coke,” Eris said. “And Kallie here will take a margarita.”
“I will?” Kallie asked.
“Make it a mango one if you’ve got it,” Eris said.
Ash chuckled and the sound froze Kallie in her place.
“So, who is your lovely friend, Kallie?” Ash asked.
“You remember me mentioning my maid of honor from time to time?” Kallie asked. “This is Eris.”
“Ah, so this is the woman who found the asshole in the closet,” he said. “I’m Ash.”
“I know,” Eris said flatly.
Great. This was going to be fun.
“Can I ask you a question, Ash?”
“No, Eris,” Kallie said.
“Go right ahead,” Ash said.
“Do you often pretend to be broke to get girls to like you?”
Kallie sighed as she leaned into the couch.
“I like to buck the trend,” Ash said.
“Buck the trend, then buck the girl?”
“Usually in that order, yes,” he said. “Most guys pretend to be rich to snag women, but in my experience those women aren’t worth snagging. It’s the women that don’t care for money that are worth the time and effort.”
“To buck,” Eris said.
“Seriously?” Kallie asked.
But Ash’s sentiment settled a raging question in her mind. He hadn’t tried to intentionally deceive her. He really was on that island trying to live as low-key of a life as he could. Kallie cracked a smile, but she knew Eris wouldn’t be as easily distracted.
“So, does honesty and integrity mean nothing to you?” Eris asked.
“They mean a great deal to me,” Ash said. “But when I’m constantly bombarded by women who want nothing more than my wallet, cloak-and-dagger is the only way I can find women worth spending my time with.”
“So you buck around with women a lot, huh?”
Kallie could tell by the look on Ash’s face that he was regretting bringing Eris up with them. Every time he said something, Eris twisted his words and backed him into a corner. Of course a man like Ash had been with multiple women. That was his prerogative. It wasn’t fair of her best friend to use that against him. He fielded Eris’s questions in stride, but the more she bombarded him, the more his smile and confident demeanor faltered.
Kallie needed to step in soon before Eris ruined something.
She wasn’t sure what Eris could ruin, but if there was something, she wanted to preserve it.
Chapter 6
Ash
“I’m not a virgin, if that’s what you’re asking,” Ash said.
“How many times have you been really, truly serious about a woman? Because I can’t help but think my friend here got played by you,” Eris said.
“I didn't play Kallie. She’s better than that.”
“Did she start off as a play, though?”
“You mean like I started off as a rebound?” Ash asked.
“Oh, so we’re getting into specifics? Good. Let’s see. You lied about your job as a bartender. You lied about that yacht not being yours. You got my friend stuck out in a storm that almost killed her, then you nonchalantly dumped the fact that you’re a rich fucking bastard on her shoulders like it was nothing.”
“I told her I was rich because I cared about what she thought. I didn’t want to hide that aspect of my life from her any longer. I care about Kallie. I care about your friend. I did on the island, I did in that storm, and I do now. Who cares how we started out? Sure, maybe I was making a play for a woman. But I was a rebound to her, and things morphed.”
“So you’re saying this is Kallie’s fault.”
“What? No,” Ash said. “Stop twisting my words.”
“Then say what you mean.”
“Fine. I will. Kallie touched a part of me I couldn't let go. And I was too much of an idiot to see that me admitting I had money meant her equating me to her ex. And I get that. But I don’t enjoy what you’re insinuating me to be, which is a liar and nothing better than her ex. Because it isn’t true. I do value honesty and integrity. Above all else. I also value Kallie above all else.”