Page 61 of Irresistibly Risky

“Asher—”

I scoop my good arm around her waist and pick her up, dropping her ass on the counter. Then I get right up in her face again. “Do not Asher me. Tell me the truth right now before I have Lenox look the motherfucker up and we destroy his life.”

She can tell that nothing I’m saying is in jest. I’m one hundred percent serious right now.

Her hand goes to my chest, over my blood-thirsty heart. “We left the restaurant,” she starts, her voice calm. “He offered to drive me home since I Ubered there. I agreed. I had two glasses of wine with dinner, and maybe that’s why, but he seemed nice, and it was just a ride home.”

I clench my jaw and look away. I never should have gone on that date. Never.

Her hand cups my face, and she drags my gaze back to hers. “He asked if he could come up. I told him no. He asked if he could come up for just a little while without anything happening, and again, I said no. He didn’t like that, I don’t think. By that point, I was a little standoffish. Your eyes on me the whole night threw me off, and I was angry and upset. Then he moved on me, going in for a kiss, and I didn’t want him to. He really didn’t like that. I went for a hug instead, and he was still going in for the kiss, and somehow his fist hit my cheek, along with the pinkie ring he had on.”

“Pinkie ring?” My eyebrows hit my hairline. “Who is he, the godfather? Who wears pinkie rings anymore?”

“Maybe not on his pinkie. I don’t know. It was a big ring. Maybe a championship ring from when his team won the Stanley Cup the year he was injured. I didn’t pay much attention to it, but it scratched my face when it made contact.”

“He’s a hockey player? Christ, woman. That’s the devil you taunted me with me?” I drag a hand roughly across my face, trying to calm my breathing when it feels like knives are shredding my lungs. I open my eyes and give it to her straight. “I’m sorry, but him going in to kiss you and you going in for a hug does not translate to what you have on your cheek or the tears in your eyes.”

“He didn’t mean to, Asher. I could see it all over his face. He freaked out and apologized profusely. He’d had a few glasses of wine too, and that’s another reason I shouldn’t have gotten in the car with him.” Her face tilts down. “I didn’t expect it. It hurt, and I reacted. I shoved him away and fled the car. It’s done. I’ll never see him again.”

“Jesus.” My hand is all over my face and through my hair. With a vicious shake of my head, I snatch one of the white hand towels from the towel bar and turn on the faucet as cold as it’ll go, running the cotton through it and then ringing it out as best as I can, since my other hand is far from at full strength. I press the cold, wet cloth to her face.

“You don’t need to do this. I can take care of the cut myself. I’m the doctor here.”

I run my fingers along her forehead and down the slope of her other cheek. “Stop being brave when you don’t have to be. I want to do this. I want to take care of you and make sure you know that not all men are like that. Some men will take care of you with no ulterior motive.”

A noise clears the back of her throat, but she won’t meet my eyes. “What are you doing here anyway? Shouldn’t you be out with the blonde still?”

“No. Definitely not.” I force her gaze. “It was a setup date. Not one I wanted to be on. My PR team felt I needed something to distract the public from my shoulder, and they felt some influencer with a decent-sized following would be the ticket. I was done with that date long before I knew you were there.”

“Hmmm.”

“No hmmm, sweetheart. It wasn’t going anywhere beyond that restaurant. Trust me.” I step in between the V of her legs, pressing my chest to hers as I continue to hold the cloth to her face. “She couldn’t hold a candle to you. It was you who I couldn’t take my eyes off. You who I wanted there as my date. Not her. I never wanted her. In fact, I couldn’t wait to get rid of her.”

“Asher—”

“I know,” I interject. “I know what you’re going to say and I’m not pushing anything.” Tonight, I add. “But promise me you won’t go out with him again.”

“I promise.”

“Good girl. Okay. Now, let’s see this.”

I pull the cloth away and swallow down curses. I might still kill the man and have Lenox cover it up. He’d be good at that. Him or Zax for that matter.

I lean in and press my lips to the spot right above it. “Does it hurt?”

“Not much.”

I frown. “Come with me.”

“Where?”

“To bed. Obviously.”

“I’m not sharing my bed with you.”

“You will for a bit,” I tell her, my voice firm. “But I won’t stay, and I swear, I won’t try anything. I just want to hold you for a while, and I think you could use that too.”

She starts to shake, and I hate this. Her trust was already so fractured. It was paper thin, and then this happened. I need to know more. I need the details. But now isn’t the time. And frankly, maybe it doesn’t matter.

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