Page 17 of The Last Time

Layla turns sour. “You know her already? Figures you wouldn’t miss a chance to meet a new woman in town,” she snaps back at Josh.

His eyes grow smaller as he looks at her, his forehead creasing. “Yes, Layla. I worked on her house today with Asher.”

I sense some serious animosity between the two.

Layla turns her attention to the rest of the guys. “Anyway, I don’t want her sitting alone at the bar another night. Care to keep her company?”

Wow. Way to make me sound like a total loser, Layla. I know she didn’t mean it, but yikes. I feel like a charity case right now.

“Take a seat, Charlotte,” a man with dark blonde hair and piercing blue eyes gestures to the chair next to him.

I hesitantly take the seat, not sure exactly how to tell them I’m too mortified to join.

“I’m Paul,” the man next to me says, “and that’s Kyle and David.”

“Hi, nice to meet you guys,” I say to the rest of the guys.

“That’s Asher,” Paul adds as if he forgot.

Asher looks less than amused. “We know each other.”

“We’re a little short-staffed tonight, so I’m gonna be your server,” Layla says with a smile. “Charlotte, what can I get you to drink?”

Layla goes down the line, taking our orders.

When she runs off to get our drinks, the guys turn their attention to me. It’s a bit unnerving, but nothing is more unnerving than when my eyes meet Asher’s.

His eyes rake over me, making my body burn with his perusal. I feel my nipples harden at his attention. I try not to act bothered by it, but I can tell the second he notices what his attention does to me by the small tip of his lips.

His hot and cold behavior is giving me whiplash.

“How was the shower?” Josh smiles at me. “Was it everything you were hoping for?”

I can’t help but laugh. He has this lightness about him that makes him easy to be around. “It was absolutely the best shower I’ve ever had. Even though I was looking at how badly that bathroom needs a full update.”

“Nothing your boy Ash here can’t do for you. You could help her with her shower troubles, right man?” Josh winks.

I eye Asher. “Speaking of showers, am I clean enough for you now? I don’t smell too bad for you to hang around?” I joke.

He studies me, scratching his chin, then leans in. “I don’t know. Is there a bear around for you to get distracted by, or should I take my shirt off?”

“Woah, I feel like I’ve missed something,” Josh cuts in as he looks between us.

Asher lifts his eyebrow, daring me to admit what happened only hours earlier.

Thankfully, Layla interrupts as she passes out our drinks. The entire time she moves around the table, Asher’s eyes bore into mine. I can’t get a read on him, and it’s starting to piss me off.

Layla takes our food order and is gone again. I wish she could sit with us, but at least I get to be around her. It’s nice having her company, even if only for a moment.

“Charlotte,” Paul says as he puts his arm around my chair. The gesture makes me a bit uncomfortable, but I try to shake it off. “Where are you from?”

As I begin to answer Paul’s questions, I notice Asher has become stiff as he watches us. His hand is gripping his beer glass so hard that I worry it’ll shatter.

And that’s how he remains for the rest of the evening, tight-lipped and short.

I don’t know what the change was, but something made him shut down.

It stayed on my mind for the remainder of the evening, as I drove home and even as I lay awake in bed.

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