“Ana, too.” I threaded my fingers through her hand, not wanting to leave her.
Lola looked at her, but shook her head, no. Leaning up into my ear, she stage-whispered so I could hear through the din of the party. “No, Ash. She’s out of the equation in a week. We don’t want to pull her in any more than we have to.”
I did not like the math in her equation. Nor did I like me and Lola on one side, Ana on the other. But none of that could get solved right there and then.
“Ten minutes, tops,” Lola assured me.
I looked at her, knowing she wouldn’t rest until she had me saying my hello. “Two minutes,” I negotiated.
“Five minutes, absolute max,” she agreed.
I looked down at Ana regretfully. “I’m sorry. I got to take care of this. I’ll be right back.”
She nodded. The resignation in her eyes didn’t make me happy.
“Come on.” Lola tugged at me.
“Wait here for me?” I hadn’t dropped Ana’s hand yet. She’d be fine here with Johnny, and I’d be back before she knew it. But she wasn’t meeting my eye anymore.
“Don’t leave without me,” I said.
I had to let go. Lola was pulling me away through the crowd. “Ash, he’s going to leave without talking to you!”
“Two minutes!” I yelled over my shoulder to Ana. “I’ll be right back.” Even as I walked away, I knew I was making the wrong call.
CHAPTER 13
Ana
I wasn’t a superstitious person. I’d been raised by a superstitions mother, reading signs in every cloud formation, seeing cause for concern in the movement of black cats and tea leaves. It had left me pretty level-headed, partially by necessity. Someone needed to calm my mother down, and I was usually the one around to do it.
But more importantly, I just didn’t believe in it. Take dreams, for instance. Dreams were either so transparent they were silly—you dreamed of showing up for a job interview naked because you were nervous you’d screw up your job interview the next day. Or dreams were stuff and nonsense, with aliens and candy bars and the president on the phone for you.
But as I stood there at the party watching Ash get led away from me through the crowd, I felt like something bad was about to happen. My mother would have described it as the shiver running down your spine when someone walked across your grave. That never made any sense to me. I didn’t even have a grave yet. Yet, despite my non-believer status, all my years of dismissing foreboding omens and portents of looming disaster, I felt it. Something was about to happen and it wouldn’t be good.
Right on cue, Connor appeared at my side. More like rubbed against it.
“There she is,” he leered, double-fisting a pair of drinks. “How’s my girl?”
“Oh, now I’m your girl?” I had to ask. “I thought I was Yoko Ono?”
“Hey, now.” He gave me what I’m sure was meant to be a friendly tap with his elbow. It got me in the ribs and sloshed part of a drink down his shirt. But he kept on with what he had to say. “Let’s let bygones be bygones. You’re Ash’s girl. He’s my mate. We all need to get along here.”
I sighed. I knew Ash wanted me to wait for him, but this might be above and beyond what I could take.
“Listen, I know I can come off as kind of an ass sometimes,” Connor confessed.
“You think?” Kind of an ass didn’t begin to describe it.
“I can be a real dick,” he agreed. He had a bit of an Irish lilt to his voice, and he gave me a rueful smile. OK, that worked a little bit. It wasn’t in my nature to stay mad at people. Especially since this guy had to have a good side. He was Ash’s best friend, after all.
“You can be a real dick,” I agreed.
“Peace offering?” He extended one of his drinks to me.
“I think I’m headed out.” I shook my head.
“Come on. One drink. It’s New Year’s Eve!”
I took it from him. He was trying to be nice. And Ash had said he’d be back in two minutes. That had to be about one minute from now.
“That’s my girl! Here’s to a whole new year!” Connor clinked his glass with mine.
“What is this?” I glanced at the drink. It seemed to be some kind of punch. It didn’t taste bad, exactly, but I didn’t recognize the flavors.
Connor winked at me. “Something special! Now tell me all about yourself, Ana. I hear you live in New York City. How do you like that?”
It turned out Connor could be quite charming and friendly when he wanted to be. He plied me with questions about myself, seeming fascinated by my answers, toasting me on what I’d said more than a few times.
“I’ll drink to that!” seemed to be his favorite phrase, clinking my glass.
I was halfway through before I really started feeling it. I guessed I shouldn’t have started drinking so early. I’d had my first glass of champagne hours ago, at that first party before the show. Then some girl had given me a shot when I’d come into this party.
How much had I had to drink, anyway? I rubbed my forehead. It was hard to remember. Everything felt pretty fuzzy. I didn’t remember how I’d gotten to this party in the first place. Who was I talking to again?
“Need a friend,” I thought Connor was saying. That’s right, Connor, the guy in the band. He seemed to realize how hard the alcohol was hitting me.
“You want to lie down?” he asked. I managed to nod but even that took a lot
of effort. He wrapped his arm around my waist and I leaned on him for support. I hoped the bed was nearby. I didn’t think I’d make it very far. He was talking to me, saying something, but I couldn’t make out a word he said before everything went black.
THE END
Thank you so much for reading Undone, Volume 2! I hope you enjoyed the wild ride! I’m thrilled to share the story of Ash and Ana with you. I’ve got a lot planned for the coming months. Sign up for my newsletter so you won’t miss a single juicy freebie, sale or new release!
Keep reading for a sneak peek at the final volume in the series, available here
UNDONE, VOLUME 3
(the Beg for It series)
It’s on, the storm of the century, trapping Ana and Ash up in a mountain cabin. The snowplows don’t need to worry about their road. They melt the snow all on their own. But after the storm ends, can this “fake” romance survive reality, the harshest test of all?
Ash
The world already hates me for being a player. Now I’m a kidnapper, too.
I drove off with Ana while she was drunk as a skunk after a New Year’s party in Vegas. She didn’t exactly say she wanted to go away with me. In fact, when we last spoke she seemed pretty interested in quitting me. Then she passed out.
But that’s exactly why I need to get her away from it all, the celebrities and parties and cameras always flashing at us from all angles. I need to get her up into the mountains where I have a private cabin. Very private.
It’s just my dumb luck that we got snowed in. For days.
You remember show and tell in school? I’m not so good at the tell. But the show? That’s all me.
Now I have Ana all to myself, shielded from prying eyes, in our own private world. I can show her pleasure she’s never known before. She can let go of all of her inhibitions. No one will ever know.
I have days on end to show Ana exactly what she means to me, how I feel about her, and I won’t stop until she believes me. Or she’s melted into a puddle of orgasms. Or both. I’m starting to like the sound of both.