But I didn’t want to mess things up with his family. So far at least, they seemed to like me, the ones I’d met, anyway. I had yet to even meet the woman his father had married late in life, who I guessed was still technically his stepmother? I didn’t know the legal description of their relationship, all I knew was the reality which was non-existent. As far as I knew, they never spoke.
He rarely spoke to his mother, either, though we did have a stiff, formal visit with her over Thanksgiving. I knew Ash’s paternal grandmother was the British royalty, but his mother was the one who acted like it, receiving guests in her formal drawing room, sitting so stiff-backed and going on and on about her prize roses and hounds I’d had to stifle a yawn more than once.
But I’d do anything for Ash, and having been raised on a steady diet of family and then more family, I did think it mattered to have a relationship with them. Thankfully, with some of his family members it came easy. Gigi, his sister, was a darling, so light and pretty and sweet and happy at first I’d wondered if it could be real. But so far it seemed that way. She really was as lovely as the first impression she made. I didn’t know his younger brother Heath yet, but I liked how much he’d helped Ash out when he’d needed a friend. I was grateful he’d been there, a person to turn to in his pain. And as for Ash’s grandmother? She set a new standard for me, showing me exactly the sort of person I hoped I’d be able to become when I grew older.
We headed back into the party, right on time for Ash to hop on stage and sing a few numbers from his new hit album of standards. Leave it to Ash Black to entirely reinvent himself as a classic crooner and still have the world falling at his feet. I didn’t think that was the end of the rock star. If I were a betting woman, I’d say it was more than even odds he’d come up with something hard-hitting and rocking out in the next year or so. But I was so happy for him that he’d explored this side of himself, too. That he’d felt free and comfortable enough to do it. I hoped I had something to do with that.
He strutted on stage and gave me a wink. And by my side, a massive bear of a man appeared, as if keeping watch over me while Ash was busy. Ash gave him a nod of thanks.
Heath. I wondered if Ash had asked him to hang out with me while he sang?
“Hi there,” I said, feeling slightly intimidated. Ash was a large man, but his brother made him look almost slim. Heath put the barrel in barrel-chested.
He nodded at me. Big Man No Talk. OK. But he didn’t give off a scary vibe, just Mountain Man. Who happened to be at a black tie affair.
“Enjoying the party?” I asked, half making conversation, half seeing if I could get him to crack a smile. I didn’t exactly get a smile, but I did get a quick side-glance as if to check whether I knew what an idiotic question I’d asked. “I know you’re not,” I whispered in confirmation.
“Not my thing,” he agreed in a deep voice.
I smiled, thinking of Gram’s decree. Married within the year. Some woman was going to have fun with him. He was all the cake you could eat and more.
But not for me. My cake was up on stage about to launch into a little number he’d first debuted at the annual holiday part last year.
“I’ve got you under my skin.” Ash gave me a smile as he sang and it made my heart somersault. Wow, did he have a way with words. And with his hands and lips and body. Heat stole through me, remembering our stolen moment outside the ballroom.
I couldn’t believe I had him, really had him as my own. When he’d asked me to marry him, I’d been literally bowled over. And when I say literally, I meant it. I’d lost my balance.
Thankfully, we were just in my parents’ dining room. It had happened back in September. We were in New York so I could help some of the library branches with back-to-school initiatives. Ash’s generosity knew no bounds. He’d created the fund he’d originally agreed upon, to restore and keep the SoHo branch running for 20 years, and then kept right on going, establishing a whole foundation to supplement children’s programming in library branches throughout the city. I felt like a kid in a candy store, I had so many ideas and now had the means to help bring them to life. And even better than that was getting to go into other branches and talk to the long-suffering librarians about their wish lists—then wave a magic wand and expand their collection, or double their staffing, or fix their lighting, or whatever had been plaguing them for years on end. It was the best job in the world.
That and songwriting, of course. Now that Ash and I were together, that happened spontaneously, naturally, all the time. Sometimes naked. We made music together the way we talked, the way we made love. It was a natural expression of how we felt, and we didn’t have to think about it, it just happened when we were together. I didn’t know what exactly would come of it, but I did know I was excited to have the opportunity to find out.
And my parents, well, they were over the moon happy. I was so glad Ash proposed to me at my parents’ house, so they could be part of it. He’d asked my dad for his permission and then waited until after a Sunday family dinner. Then he’d dropped down on one knee and I could barely tell you what he said after that because it was as if all the blood rushed up into my head and the ocean was roaring in my ears and I was crying and then I wobbled right out of my seat and fell into his arms and we sort of tumbled-kissed-hugged together in the dining room.
“Does that mean yes?” Ash asked, laughing and hugging me.
“Yes,” I confirmed, wiping tears from my eyes.
“She always makes me wait.” He shook his head, referencing the fake proposal when I’d been so star struck and terrified on the stage in front of a live audience of thousands. I much preferred the real proposal in my parents’ dining room.
“You need anything?” Heath’s rough, deep voice boomed at me in the middle of Ash’s next song. Yes, he’d definitely been asked to keep an eye on me while Ash did his set. So sweet.
“No, thanks. I’m doing great.” And I meant it as I stood and swayed to the music, smiling up at my rock star fiancée. I had all I’d ever wanted. I didn’t need a thing.
THE END
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First Declan and Kara kicked off the Beg for It series with Unleashed. Then we met Ash and Ana in Undone. Are you ready now for Heath’s story in Untamed? He’s a big, strapping man with insatiable appetites. You may need to read it with some ice water nearby.
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UNTAMED
There’s a massive, ripped mountain man named Heathcliff. He’s brooding, bearded, and sexy as hell. Then there’s city girl Violet, a TV producer hungry for a hit show. You’d best not get in the way of her Louboutin heels or make her chip her nails. They both have secrets they’re trying to hide. They’re having even more trouble keeping their hands off of each other. When Violet’s reality show starts filming in Heath’s tiny Vermont town, what could possibly go wrong?
Heath
All I want is life out of the spotlight. I’m up here in my cabin in the woods and I like it that way. No one knows who I am and no one cares. Then she shows up, strutting along in heels with her long, sexy legs, tossing around her silky, golden hair and smelling like vanilla and honey. It should be easy to ignore her. She’s exactly the high-maintenance, gold-digging type I’ve steered clear of my whole life.
The only problem is the blisteringly hot sex. Melt down the cabin, end winter and start spring sex. Other