Page 124 of Chasing Sparks

Ash shakes his head with a muttered curse. “I’m down here. What’s up, Lucille?”

Her footsteps echo on the stairs as she descends, and I scramble off the bar, desperate to make it to the bathroom before she sees me.

No such luck.

Lucille’s face registers surprise when she spots me. “Hi, Ori. I didn’t realize you were down here.”

On the plus side, there’s no anger in her tone. On the negative side, she looks more pregnant than ever—a cutting reminder of who she is and what she carries inside her.

“I wanted to see the, uh, speakeasy. The renovations. And I have a mirror for Ash.” I stumble over my words, much like a student caught without their homework.

“It’s beautiful down here, isn’t it?” Lucille runs a hand over the paneled wall, her gaze lingering on Ash before flicking back to me.

“What do you want, Lucille?” Ash barks, pouring himself another glass of whiskey.

Lucille tilts her head, her hand settling instinctively on her belly. “I just got back from the doctor, and the roads are getting bad, so I figured we should head home. Leave the car here and take the four-wheel drive.”

Oh my God. Ash missed her doctor’s appointment to hang out with me?

I feel sick.

“You should go,” I mumble, glancing down at my blouse, still half open from Ash’s earlier exploration. Heat rushes to my cheeks. “I’m just going to use the bathroom.”

Ash follows me, his steps close behind as I push the door open. His face is awash with remorse as he punches the newly hung sheetrock with a muttered curse.

“You need to go,” I say quietly, refusing to meet his gaze as I button my blouse and twist my hair into a bun. “She’s right—the storm’s supposed to be nasty tonight.”

“I can sleep on the couch here. You can stay with me.”

“Definitely not.”

“Ori—” He grabs my arm, pulling me close, his whiskey-tinged breath warm against my ear. “Give me five minutes to walk her out. I promise I’ll spend the rest of the night making love to you. That’s all I want.”

And therein lies the problem.

I press my hands against his chest, creating the distance I desperately need. “It doesn’t matter what you want. Or what I want. It’s not reality. Not anymore. The reality is the woman you once adored is living at your house and carrying your baby. Noother way to spin that story. I don’t have a place in it, and I have to be okay with that.”

I press a kiss to his lips, soft and lingering, before pulling back. God knows I want to fall into him and never surface.

But reality stands on the other side of that door, waiting for the man I longed to call mine, but who has always belonged to her.

“I need to go.”

I pull open the door, sighing when Ash forces it shut again.

“Ash, you have to stop.”

“I’ve only adored one woman in my life.”

“I know.”

“It isn’t Lucille.”

God help my heart.

I force back the tears and lift my head to meet his gaze. His eyes are soft, vulnerable—the same look he reserves for moments when it’s just the two of us. It’s the glimpse of the man he was before time and life broke him apart.

A man I thought I could help piece back together.

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