Page 82 of Embrace
“For both of us,” I said.
Corey looked at Asher just to confirm that it was okay to go with my order. I knew it was fine. I’d learned a lot about Asher-Jake during our time together. One thing was that he wouldn’t drink alcohol if I wasn’t having any, unless something was vexing him. That was how I’d instinctively known he recognized the woman on the night of the masquerade party—he had ordered scotch on the rocks.
“Bourbon wings, huh?” he asked.
“Rich doctors don’t eat bourbon wings?” I asked.
He sniffed, regarding me carefully. “What’s wrong with you? Why the big change all of a sudden?”
I inhaled deeply then let it go. “Because there’s nothing I can do about Elizabeth or Julia.”
“You don’t have to worry about Julia,” he said in a rush. “She’s been handled.”
“What did you do to her?” I asked.
He told me that he didn’t want Julia anywhere near Mary Ross, so he’d escorted her back to her office and told her to get to work. She seemed surprised she wasn’t fired, so without a second word, she sat at her desk, turned on her computer, and started working.
“I had to thwart her expectations,” he said.
Smiling a little, I asked, “Thwart them?”
He sniffed. “Exactly. If I had kept fighting with Julia, then she would’ve fought too.”
“Ah,” I said, nodding. “After I pushed her, she latched on to me like a gnat.”
“You pushed her?”
My shoulders hunched. “She tried to block me, so I had to get physical.” I shook my head, banishing the memory of our little altercation. “She’s crazy.”
“Good for you, babe. I bet she thought she could push you around.”
I smirked. “Did you think she could push me around?”
Asher’s lips found mine, and we kissed tenderly. “You’re a delicate flower who’s tough as nails.”
I chuckled against his mouth. “You thought she would push me around.”
Asher laughed.
“I’m badass, you know?”
“Who’s badass?” a woman with a sultry English accent asked.
I whipped my head around to see Zara.
“Hey, KitKat,” she said, initiating a hug.
“Love you, Reece’s Pieces,” I said as we embraced.
* * *
Everythingafter that happened so appropriately and so fast. Zara was with Sarah, who probably hadn’t seen Asher since the night of the fire, and just as she had then, she eye-mugged him from the moment she saw him. Then Asher went to get Kirk, and he joined us as at a bigger table. We talked about everything from politics, which started with Zara asking Asher about his brother, who ran for Senate against his wife’s mother, to some of the new articles inNeuro Journal Today. It surprised me that Zara still read it. I took it as a good sign.
Then Asher’s twin sister called, heard all the noise, and asked if she could join us. By the time she showed up, a typical New Orleans street band had set up. From the first song they played, Asher had taken my hand, cleared some room, and held me against him, and we danced, kissed, and gazed into each other’s eyes.
Then Bryn Christmas, tall, beautiful, blond, and a dead ringer for Asher, walked into the restaurant with another beautiful woman and a man, who was as just as good-looking as Asher. Cell phone cameras flashed. People got excited. Everyone knew Jasper Walker Christmas and his wife, Holly Henderson Christmas. Zara and Holly seemed to get along, as they talked endlessly about current events. As Asher had once said, Bryn and I had more in common. Asher was a favorite topic of ours. He listened with a sheepish grin as his sister and I compared notes. I said I loved the way he folded my clothes when I tossed them here and there.
“Oh, he’s a neat freak,” Bryn said. “Has he cooked for you yet?”
