“Yeah. Thanks for sticking me with this mess, by the way,” she said.
“Trust me, I’ll make it up to you.”
“Is that a promise?”
“No,” he said as he opened the door. “It’s a guarantee. I’ll pick you up here after you’re done working.”
“I’ll need to go home and change. Clean up,” Kallie said.
“Trust me. Not with where I’m taking you,” he said with a grin.
“My car’s here, Ash. Why don’t I drive over to your place and then we can go from there?”
“Are you always this combative?”
“Are you always this desperate for control?” she asked.
“Do you want control?” Ash asked. “Because I think our last two encounters have shown me you might not.”
Kallie giggled and watched as Ash left her office with a wink. She felt like she was in a daze. She walked over to the door and saw him to the elevator, and he turned around and winked at her before the doors closed him off. Her heart slammed against her chest as she shut her office door. This thing she had with Ash was more intense than anything she’d ever felt in her entire life. Never once had she reached this type of ferocity and fiery desperation with a man. Not even James.
Which meant if something ever happened to them, it would hurt so much more than James.
Kallie bent over and began picking up her things. There wasn’t a lot on the floor. Her laptop. Some pens. Her calendar. An empty coffee travel mug. It took her less than five minutes to get it all back on top of the desk. She sat in her chair and leaned back, allowing her eyes to close for a brief moment.
And that phrase began to tumble around in her head.
I love him.
She didn’t know how or when it happened, but it was the truth. Her heart sang for Ash. When she saw that headline and those pictures, the first thought that flooded her mind was whether or not Ash was all right. Not whether or not her reputation would be okay, and not how her business would suffer. Not even how much she wanted to strangle James for that night.
The only thought was how this had affected Ash.
And that worried her.
He had her. Hook, line, and sinker. Whether it was the way he pursued her or the way he fucked her or the way he made her feel special in all the right ways, she wasn’t sure. Maybe it was a combination of all those things and maybe it was none of them. But she was in deeper than she ever had been with James. Deeper than she’d ever allowed herself to be with James.
Maybe she had never really loved James. Maybe she settled for James because that was all she’d known. Through her college years. Through her graduation. Through her young adult years. She loved James at one point, but that love was nothing compared to what she felt for Ash. What she knew was real with Ash. But had Kallie done James a disservice? Had she settled for him when she accepted his proposal?
She didn’t think she had.
But now that Ash was in her life, she wasn’t so sure.
Either way, it didn’t matter. She had work to get done, so she could be ready by the time Ash came to pick her up. She sat at her desk, opened up some files, and knocked out some work so she could have a lazy morning with Ash. She rescheduled one of her phone conversations and freed herself up until lunchtime, then she closed her laptop and sighed.
The clock was about to strike five thirty.
Which meant she would be leaving for Ash’s penthouse soon.
Chapter 21
Ash
Ash was counting the hours until Kallie finished up with her work. He hated not having access to her. Not being beside her all the time. He respected the fact that she’d built her own business and was very passionate about it, but if things went well, then she didn’t have to keep it up. He’d support her if she wanted to, but maybe he’d get her a space closer to his apartment. Or hell, she could run her business out of his apartment. Or she could give it up. He didn’t care. He had more than enough money for the both of them, and then they could be together all the time. She wouldn’t have to work or stress herself out. They could have lazy mornings every day and clothing could be a thing of the past.
She could spend every waking moment with him, and Ash didn’t think he’d get bored for one second.