Page 6 of Dirty Desires
Her dark brown eyes lit up. “Good. So, you’re free?”
“Maybe.” I wasn’t about to let her think I would do anything she wanted. Mostly because I had no idea if I would like it or not. “What do you have going on?”
“A little fun for my friends and me.” She winked at me. “How about you come out to our home in the Hamptons for the weekend? We can get the limo to drive us there and it’ll be so much fun. Please say yes, Nina.”
I wasn’t about to commit just yet. “Who iswe?” I arched one brow as I saw her smile get even bigger.
“We, us, the normal group we hang in. Artimus, of course. Duke and Lila too. You know, our little pack.” She put her hand on her hip. “So, are you in? We’re leaving work early, and I’ve already got you covered.”
“You do?” I was astonished that she would do something like that without consulting me first. “While I’m glad to have the night off as well as the weekend, I’m going to have to say no. I don’t want to be the fifth wheel in your double date.”
Her dark eyebrows wiggled as she smiled at me with a grin I’d never seen on her before. “Oh, we’re not a foursome. You won’t be the fifth wheel.”
I looked at her with even more suspicion. “I don’t get it.”
“I can see that.” She giggled and clapped. “This is so much fun. I had no idea how fun it would be.”
“Julia!” I got out of my chair to walk over to her. “You’re not making any sense. Can you get to the point already?”
“Ashton is coming too.” She threw her hands up in the air as if she’d done a magic trick. “There it is, Nina. Ashton is coming with us.”
“Why?” I asked her, and then added as a thought came to me, “Does he know you invited me too?”
She nodded. “Yes, he does. You see, Artimus invited him without telling me anything about it. I had no idea he even wanted to have people over this weekend. He sprang this on me just a little while ago.”
I had this terrible idea that she was trying to play matchmaker and that Ashton had no idea what she was up to. “No way, Julia. I will not put myself in that kind of a position. How embarrassing would it be if Ashton didn’t know I was coming and didn’t even want me there?”
“Pretty damn embarrassing, I bet,” Julia nodded in agreement. “Thank goodness you don’t have to worry about that.”
“And why wouldn’t I need to worry about that?” I looked at her hand as she rested it on my shoulder and then used her other hand to pull my face so that I was looking her right in the eyes. “Ashton told Artimus that he would only go if I invited you too.”
It took a few seconds for that to register in my brain.
“Huh?” came my dumb reply.
“He wants you there, Nina.” Julia gave my shoulder a squeeze. “If you don’t go, he won’t go. Those were his exact words to my husband. So, are you in or are you out? I need to let Artimus know what to tell his friend.”
Ashton wants me to spend the weekend with him?
“Why didn’t he ask me this himself?” I asked her.
She rolled her eyes. “Duh. Because he’s Ashton Lange. A man who doesn’t date. Or hasn’t dated for a long time, anyway. If he had platonic intentions, he probably would’ve talked to you himself, don’t you think?” She lifted her eyebrow at me, as if in challenge, before continuing on in a rush, “Don’t answer that though. Don’t overthink things—and don’t ask so many questions. Just give me the answer I know you want to give me. Say yes so we can get this party going.”
“So we’d all head out to your home in a limo together?” I asked.
She nodded. “And on Sunday evening it will bring you guys back home. Friday and Saturday night you’ll stay with us, doing all kinds of fun things. It’ll be a blast.” She ran her arm around my shoulders, pulling me close. “And you and Ashton will finally get a chance to see where things can go.”
“He really said he wouldn’t go unless I went?” I had to ask, just to be sure.
“He did.” She ran her finger over my shoulder as she pulled her hand away from me. “So, what do I tell Artimus, Nina?”
“Tell him that I would love to join you guys for the weekend and I appreciate the invitation.”
She furrowed her brow. “Is there a ‘but’ coming?”
Shaking my head, I laughed. “No. There’s not a but coming. I would love to come and appreciate the invitation, silly. Now tell me what kind of clothes I should bring. I want to look my best all weekend long if Ashton is going to be there.”
My chance had come, and I wasn’t going to let it go to waste.
