Page 76 of April

“This is more fun,” Stephania said with a smirk.

“What kind of pizza do you want? I’m buying. It’s the least that I can do since you’re not getting a date out of this.”

When Stephania told her what kind of pizza she wanted, Asher walked to the counter and placed their order for food along with their drinks. Then, she walked back to their booth with their order number and placed it at the end of the table for their waiter to see. She didn’t know what else to do on this date that wasn’t a date anymore. Stephania was great, though. Asher could see them maybe being friends after this. Still, as gorgeous as this woman was, there wasn’t a spark.

When their would-be date ended with Stephania kissing her on the cheek and getting into a town car, Asher stood on the sidewalk, trying to think about what to do for the rest of the night. It was only eight. She could meet up with Linden, but she’d wanted that boring night in and had only changed her plans when Stephania had become available. She could do with a nice glass of wine, a boring movie, and some sleep, so she started in the direction of her apartment. When her phone pinged in herpurse, she went to check it, expecting it to be Stephania since they’d exchanged numbers.

Linden Washington: You’re moving to Dallas?

CHAPTER 20

“Morning,” Asher said.

“Hi,” Linden replied, looking up from her desk. “I assume you want to come in?”

“Do you have a meeting?”

“No,” she replied.

Asher closed the door behind her and said, “I didn’t tell you because I hadn’t yet processed the information myself, and then I had a date. I didn’t know Carolyn would tell everyone before I got a chance to talk to you.”

“She didn’t telleveryone. She thoughtIknew,” Linden said and closed her computer. “I usually know what’s going on with you. We were grabbing coffee in the break room, and she asked what I thought you would do. I had no clue what she was talking about.”

“I’m sorry,” Asher told her before she sat down in one of Linden’s chairs that matched the ones in her own office.

“You’re moving?”

“I think so,” Asher replied.

“So, you’ve decided.” Linden nodded, leaning back and crossing her arms over her chest.

“I don’t know. It’s a huge opportunity, and Carolyn only gave me until the end of today to tell her. It’s not exactly a ton of time, but she needs the person in charge to be there and to hirethe rest of the staff, so I need to give her an answer today, or I miss out on the chance to run my own office.”

“I didn’t know that youwantedto run an office. And it wouldn’t be your own, Ash. It would be Carolyn’s. You’d still answer to her.”

“I know. It’s not what I thought I’d be doing, but it’s a step up and a new city. The Dallas wedding scene is crazier than it is here, so I’m thinking I might enjoy the new challenge.”

“You’re just… leaving?” Linden asked, knowing she sounded sad when she should’ve sounded happy for Asher.

“Not immediately. She needs the answer now, but I’d still have to plan the move and everything. You could come with me. We could make a weekend out of finding me a new place to live by the office or something.”

“You want me to help you pick out a place to live in another city?”

“You don’t have to,” Asher said, looking disappointed. “I thought it could be fun. Besides, it’s not like I wouldn’t be back. I’m sure I’ll be in this office at least once a quarter, and the flight’s not exactly long. I can come back for long weekends, maybe.”

“Long weekends? Ash, you’re a wedding planner…” she replied, shaking her head. “You’ll be at weddings.”

“Not all the time. I’ll be running the office more, so I’ll handle fewer accounts directly. I’ll actually have some weekends free for once.”

Linden sat forward again and asked, “And this is what you want? What youreallywant?”

While Asher stared at her for a long moment, Linden couldn’t tell what she was thinking, and she wasn’t a fan of it.

“I think so,” Asher told her finally. “I need a change.”

“That’s a whole lot of changes all at once,” she noted. “You just came out, and suddenly, you want to move away?”

“It’s not suddenly that I want to move, Linden. It’s that this is the opportunity I’ve been presented with, and I think I should take it.”

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