Page 42 of Beyond Rosy Irish Twilight

“I’ll do my best, but I make no guarantees.”

I giggled at that, then yawned and rolled back into the warm spot on the bed. Had we really been snuggling or was that just a metaphor?

“You were really snuggling with him,” Asher grumbled. The bed dipped beside me and I rolled closer to the warmth.

It was like he was reading my mind or something.

“You’re just talking in your sleep.”

Hmm, I thought I was awake.

“You are, silly.”

I giggled in my head. He just called me silly.

I heard him sigh heavily, then he jiggled me around until I was positioned on his chest. He was really warm and comforting, which I probably shouldn’t be taking pleasure in since this marriage was a farce. Not to mention, this was the first time he was actually being nice to me. If you didn’t count the times he tried to calm me down after I freaked out. I knew tomorrow would be different. I would wake up to him gone, and I would go about my life, the same as he would go about his. It would be a lonely marriage, one where my best friend was my bodyguard.

“That won’t happen,” he murmured, running his fingers through my hair.

I sighed in contentment. My mom always used to play with my hair, especially when I wasn’t feeling good. There was so much I missed about her, and being away from her for this long was really taking a toll on me. As bad as my life had been under my father’s roof, I still had her and Margaret. Now, I had no one.

“You won’t always be alone.”

* * *

I woke sometime in the middle of the night with the moonlight filtering into our bungalow. Asher had me pulled into his body and was holding me tight, like I belonged to him. For just a moment, I let myself think this was all real, that my husband loved me and we were happy on our honeymoon. But the truth was, I barely knew the man beside me. He was playing a part, which was being my husband to appease my father. He didn’t truly care for me, and probably never would.

Granted, he was being nicer to me than I expected, but how long would that last? Right now, we were on this beautiful island with nothing to disturb us, but when we left, reality would smack us in the face. I knew it all too well. After all, my mother lived much of the same life. I was her only joy, and I was pretty sure that even at a young age I knew that.

Asher had asked me what I wanted to do, but when he realized how much work it would be to keep me safe, he would quickly renege on that offer. It was pretty pointless to even consider it an option. And what would I do? What was I qualified for? I could go back to school, but that would take years, and eventually, it would be too dangerous or I wouldn’t be fulfilling my duties as a wife. I’d heard it all before from others.

I shifted so I could look at his face in the moonlight. He still looked just as handsome in his sleep, if not more. The hard lines of his jaw were a little more relaxed and he didn’t look like he was trying to push a lump of coal out of his ass now that he was asleep. But part of me really liked that hard side to him, if only because he was protective of me.

For now.

I slipped out of bed and walked out onto the beach. The air was still warm despite the sun being down. I couldn’t see any guards wandering around, but it was night, so maybe they were just hiding in the shadows. I plopped down just a few feet from the water and listened to the waves rolling up the shore. If I closed my eyes, I could almost pretend that this was my new life, that I would live here forever in peace, never having to think about my father or his illegal activities again.

Part of me wanted to warn Asher that getting into business with my father was a bad idea, but the deed was done. What good would it do to say anything now? Besides, Asher didn’t strike me as stupid. He had to know what he was getting into the moment my father offered me up.

“Can’t sleep?”

I nearly jumped out of my skin at the rough voice behind me. I spun around and glared at Asher, even though he hadn’t really done anything wrong. His lips quirked up at me as he walked closer.

“Mind if I sit with you?”

Now that my heart had calmed slightly, I shrugged. “If you want.”

“Why did you get up?”

“I was in bed all day. There’s only so long a person can lay there.”

“I think I’ve gotten more sleep on this island than I have in the past two years.”

“That’s what happens when you do bad things,” I said before I could think better of it.

I flinched, preparing for the inevitable backhand or seething words, but instead, he chuckled.

“I’m not all bad.”

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