Page 18 of Outside The Wire

“Of course.”

She flushed red, taking another bite of her burger.

“The rug?”

She nodded, stuffing the burger in her mouth again.

My lips twitched in amusement. “Your measuring system was a little off, wasn’t it?”

“I plead the fifth,” she mumbled around her burger.

I barked out a laugh, snatching another one of her onion rings. She scowled at me as I tore off a bite, not even a bit sorry that I stole from her. Man, these were good.

“You know, it’s not nice to point out a woman’s flaws.”

“It’s not,” I agreed. “But I find it cute.”

“Cute?” Her eyebrows flew up and the look on her face said she was offended. “I am not cute.”

“You’re a little cute,” I said, holding my finger and thumb just a scant inch apart.

“Cute is for little girls and puppies.”

“And ladies named Holly Lane.”

Again, she flushed red. She was just too easy to tease. I leaned back in my seat, taking a long sip of my milkshake. I was enjoying myself way too much. I hadn’t relaxed like this with a woman in years. In fact, I couldn’t recall a time I had ever just talked with a woman without thinking about my dick. Not that I wasn’t imagining kissing her. It had definitely crossed my mind, but I wasn’t quite there yet. I wanted to give it time and play this right.

“Well, you know my last name, but I don’t know yours. I can’t just go around calling you Asher.”

“You could, but yes, it is weird if you don’t know my last name,” I conceded. “It’s Stone.”

I’d given up my last name after Jade. A clean sweep and everything. I took my mother’s maiden name and moved on with life. I reinvented myself in every way possible. The one thing I truly couldn’t leave behind was her.

“You know what I do, Asher. What do you do?”

Years ago, it would have been on the tip of my tongue to throw out how I was a badass. I was a door kicker—a Marine, born with adrenaline running through my veins. I didn’t know what it was to back down from a fight.

But that all changed after Jade.

All that fight, everything that made me who I was, vanished the moment she took her own life. I was lost for so long that I couldn’t function most days. I didn’t want to live without her. But Chase changed all that. When he started hallucinating that I was there, I had to show up for him. Suddenly, I was aware that I was needed in this world, that I didn’t exist solely for Jade. And as I sat by his bedside and watched him recover, something inside me healed and allowed me to move on. I learned to accept who I was and my part in this world, as shitty as it was. And eventually, I became content with life again.

“Asher?”

I smiled at her, shaking my head slightly. “Sorry, just got lost in thought. Uh…I’m a mechanic.”

Her eyes flared slightly and I chuckled. She slapped her hand against her forehead in embarrassment. “God, don’t pay attention to me. I’m not sane.”

“Is it the coveralls? Tell me. I need to know.”

She groaned, dropping her head to the table with a thunk. I continued to suck on my strawberry milkshake as I waited patiently for her to come up for air. She got flustered so easily, and I found it absolutely adorable.

She finally lifted her head, blowing out a deep breath. “Okay, so that happened.”

“What? Mortification because you think mechanics are sexy?”

“God, you’re so horrible.”

I gave her my most charming smile and leaned forward on the table. “Is it working? Are you falling into my trap?”

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