Page 81 of Ruthless Heir

We both laugh.

This morning when I arrived at work I sent three messages. One to my father, and the other two to Layla and Hunter. Each of them got different variations of my news about Harper.

Like my father, Hunter called me straight after he received the message. He wanted to talk because I won’t see him until tomorrow at the Astoria.

I knew I would see Layla as soon as she came in. And I expect my father will stop by too when he gets here.

Layla leans forward and bites the inside of her lip. “Alexis called me after you dropped her home. She said you both had a good date.”

I dip my head. “We did.”

“Yet you decided to go with my zany fake dating idea?” She gives me a narrowed stare.

“I guess so.”

I haven’t told her about the crazier parts that happened at the Dark Odyssey and Harper’s loan. It’s not necessary to tell her. The two things are completely separate matters but I’ll admit that my crazy mind—and maybe my dick—put them together because it gave me a reason to go with the fake dating idea.

Layla gazes at me like she can see through my shit but her face remains stoic. “So what’s your plan?”

“As of right now I don’t have a plan as such. The logical thing to do is use the time to get to know Alexis a bit more.”

“Youcoulddo that.”

“You haven’t told her anything about my situation with the company have you?” I’m aware that they’re friends so she may have given her more details than the other women to keep her clued in.

Layla shakes her head. “No. The only thing I told the potentials, including Alexis, is that you’ll get back to them whenever you choose to if you’re interested. That’s it. They don’t know the time scale, details about you needing to get married to get the CFO position, or anything else.”

“Good. That keeps things open.” I’m glad she kept the information as basic as I requested. The only thing I wanted the potentials to know is that I was dating with a view to getting married in the next few months.

“It does keep things open. So if you wanted to use the three months to get to know Alexis, oranyoneelse you technically could.”

I don’t miss the emphasis she places on the wordanyone. As we stare at each other for a few moments, I can see her trying to assess me and figure out the workings of my mind.

“Asher?”

“Yes, Layla.” I can imagine a mountain of questions brewing in her head like a pot of tea.

“I’ve known you for a while now and I’ve never seen you take anindirectroute to get something you want. Definitely not when the stakes are raised.”

Trust Layla to call me out. The only other person who will do that is Hunter. And if I lie he’ll know.

“What are you really asking me?”

“I think you know but let me spell it out. Clearly you want Harper, so what’s stopping you?”

Realizing I can’t lie or side step her question, I think for a moment on what to say. “Some women are off limits.”

“There’s off limits and then there is pure foolishness. This feels like the latter to me.”

“It’s complicated, Layla.”

“Because of Josh?”

“Yeah.”

“Has Josh ever warned you away from his sister?”

“He has.”

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