Page 30 of Hale's Pawn
A knock on the door stops me from asking her more questions. “Everything okay in there?” Jagger asks.
“Yeah, Ainslee just had a bad dream.”
“Is she okay?” Jagger asks.
“Yeah, I think so.” I answer.
“Okay, let me know if you need me,” Jagger says.
“Cool. Ainslee, sit on the bed. I’ll be right back.” I walk into our ensuite bathroom and grab a face towel. I fill up the sink with hot water. I shut it off and I go back into the room to pick her up. I lift her up and once we get into the bathroom, I place her on the counter. I put her feet in the water. I don’t say anything to her, but I’m glad her feet aren’t bruised with as much as she was doing that. I listen to her heartbeat from her Fitbit. It’s beating at the normal rate. I don’t ask her anything about the nightmare. I want her to tell me. “You want to go back to sleep?” I ask her.
I look up at Ainslee. She has her arms wrapped around her upper body. She shakes her head. “No, but if you want to, you can. I’ll just stay up.”
“Ains…”
“Sorry.”
“It’s okay, we’re learning. You want to get out of here?” I say to her.
“Yeah.”
I bringAinslee to my favorite 24-hour diner. Ainslee is dressed down in one of my hoodies and a pair of leggings with sneakers. She has her feet up on the booth upholstery, her knees to her body. Her curly hair is up in a messy bun. She’s gorgeous. I take her in as she sips her tea. I don’t think I’ve ever really paid attention to her freckles or her cute, big ears. I knew she had some, but I never really just wanted to store them in my head. Her full lips are luscious. That’s probably why she can pout at anybody and they give in. Her gray eyes are big, almond shaped. I’ve never really thought about her ethnicity or anything like that, but at this moment, I wonder how it was for her growing up multiracial. Having so many cultures intertwined with each other and having to keep up with it while trying to find your own identity.
Ainslee sighs and looks at me. She opens her mouth and she starts to relay what the nightmare was about and what actually happened with her mother. I try not to react. How could a mother do that to her? How could she try to ruin the skin of such a gorgeous creature? What is wrong with that bitch? After Ainslee finishes telling me, I shut my eyes. I place my elbows on the table and cover my face. “Did she also do that to your back, Bug? Tell me.”
“Oran, don’t ask me to tell you things I’m not ready to say. Please don’t.”
“I understand,” I say to her even though I’m ready to march to Natasha Bishops’ house and do something. I don’t know what.
We get quiet for a beat and the song At Last by Etta James comes on. Ainslee shuts her eyes and sways to the song with a smile on her face. “This was my grandmother’s favorite song. My dad’s mom. Adriana Bishops. She died when I was 8, but I remember everything about her. We danced to this song as often as we could. She used to sing it to me saying that it was hers and her husband’s, Montgomery ‘Mont’ Bishops, who was named after our first founder. I never met him because he died when my father was 16. That’s when my dad took over and became the head.”
“Wow,” I say “I didn’t even know that.”
“Yeah, it’s things we don’t really pay attention to, if we’re being honest.”
I smile. “True.”
We sit there for a bit longer talking about random things when I see the sun about to rise. “Ains, come with me,” I say to her. “I want to show you something.” I take her with me back to the house and we ditch the shoes and phones inside. I take her for a stroll on the beach. We don’t talk, but we admire the scenery as the sun rises. I slip my hand into hers and she intertwines our fingers together.
After watching the sun rise, Ainslee stops. She lets go of my hand and starts taking her leggings off. “If you beat me to the water, I’ll cook you dinner three nights a week,” she teases. She gets her leggings off and I watch her.
“Make it four nights,” I say. “Throw in some muffins. Assortment works too. I want one before I go to work and on Fridays, bring me lunch at my office.”
Ainslee smirks. “I’ll only go to your office if you say we’re going to have dirty sex in the copy machine room.”
I shake my head as I chuckle. “Ains…”
“What about the coffee break room then?” she teases. “Hmm, no, let's do it in the parking lot… wait… no, no, the boardroom, so that every time you have a meeting in there, you’ll always think of how good you fucked me.” She wiggles her brows. Ainslee smiles as she removes my hoodie, revealing a tight tank and her panties. She runs towards the water and I watch her for a minute. The smile that she gave me right before she turned away from me is so serene and she’s happy. I make her happy. I did that. I quickly strip, knowing that I’m letting her win.
I make it to her as she’s getting into the water. I wrap my arm around her waist, lifting her up. Ainslee yelps but she laughs as I walk us further into the cold-ass water. Our bodies get shocked but we stay in. I let her go and she turns to face me. I lean in and she wraps her legs and arms around me. “You’d deny me a kiss in this cold-ass water?” she teases as she rubs her lips over mine.
I groan as I wrap my arms around her waist. “I just might,” I say.
“Thank you,” she whispers.
“I’m your husband, woman. It’s my duty to be here.” Ainslee kisses me hard and I kiss her back. I pull away for a moment. “After you get some shut eye, we’re going to see your doctor. Understand?”
“Understood.”
