Page 135 of Ashley & the A-Listers

“Nothing bad,” she reassured him, and patted his chest with the unoccupied hand. “Just… what’s next?”

“Next?” he asked.

“Yeah. When Cam is done at the gym and none of us will see each other anymore and his filming schedule is crazy.”

“Oh,” Dylan said, and cocked his head to the side. He hadn’t really thought about that. He’d been too caught up in the honeymoon phase of their bonding. Basking in the ease with which they’d found themselves together again. “I mean, we’re still going to be staying here until after filming, probably,” he said. “And then at least one of the premieres will be downtown, or that’s what Cam has been hinting at.”

But… filming was just one step. The movie wouldn’t probably debut until the next year.

What about the in-between? Why hadn’t he thought of this before?

Distracted.

Ashley disconnected their hands, and Dylan’s stomach twisted nervously as she turned to face him. “So you’re saying you’ll be in town for a few more months, but what about after that?”

Her worry fizzled in the bond, and Dylan cupped her cheek. “Hey,” he said softly.

Her big brown eyes turned up to him and he wondered how she couldn’t possibly know that he was a puddle beneath her feet. “We’re bonded. I’m not going anywhere. I’m not gonna leave.”

“What about your job?” she asked. “Do you travel a lot for clients? Where do you even live?”

“I usually have an apartment, but since this long job included housing, I put some stuff in storage and let my lease expire. I’m a free agent, baby,” he said.

Ashley rolled her eyes, but her lips were starting to curl and that was as good a sign as any. The vise in his chest relaxed.

“I do travel for clients,” he added. “But I have a bit of control on who those clients are, and I can turn down any job I need to. My boss, Wes, is a cool guy with his own pack, so he knows what it’s like. And I have other talents,” he said, placing a hand against his own chest. “I’m a talented guy. If the bodyguard thing tries to take me too far away, I’ll just find something else.”

Ashley’s full lips parted and then closed, and she cocked her head to the side. She was surprised and… affectionate as she asked, “You’d do that? Quit your job for me?”

Dylan chuckled lowly and took her hand again. “Ashley,” he said, and placed her hand on his shoulder, over where her bite mark lay beneath his shirt. “I’d do a hell of a lot more than that to make you happy. You’re mymate,” he said.

Her gaze darkened at that word a split second before she leaned forward, and Dylan cupped the back of her head as they kissed.

Her lips were pillow-soft and welcomed him in with a sigh. They melted into each other and it was a long, drugging moment before they parted for air.

“Kenzie and Jordan would approve of that answer, I think,” she said, voice breathy.

“Oh, I get the friends’ stamp of approval?”

“I think they’ll come to love you.”

“Should we have dinner with them one night? Show them I’m not so bad?”

Ashley snickered. “I’d love that. You, not so much.”

“Oh, come on,” he drawled. “I can handle a little interrogation.”

Ashley winced. “I don’t know about that. Jordan and Kenzie can be ruthless.”

“I’ll sway them,” he promised. “It worked on you, after all.”

Her lips twitched before she murmured, “Well, that’s ‘cause I’m easy. They’re another story.”

“Easy, huh?” Dylan mused.

“Too easy,” she drawled. “All it took was one damned hike.”

“We were making up for lost time,” he said, and as Ashley curled into him, he knew he’d said the right thing.

---