I lay in bed, holding Rose. Tonight took its toll on all of us, and I should let Asher work his stuff out, but I can’t leave it alone. I crawl out of bed and knock on his door.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I say by way of greeting.

“Nothing,” he says, gruffly, and pulls on a T-shirt.

“Bullshit.” I’ve known him long enough. This isn’t his usual broodiness. There’s something else going on here. “She practically begged you to stay. How could you leave after what happened tonight?”

“It was sex,” he says. “Really good sex, but at the end of the day, that’s all it is.”

“She loves you,” I challenge.

“No, she’s in love with you. I’m just along for the ride,” he says and rakes a hand through his hair. “And think it’s time I get off.”

“I swear to God, Asher, if you hadn’t just been in an accident, I would kick the shit out of you,” I say and flop into the chair by his bed. “This is working—the three of us. Don’t screw it up.”

“You’re kidding yourself. I’ve told you a million times, we can’t keep the same woman. This thing we have can only last so long before it cracks under the pressure.” He turns and glares at me. He’s trying to hide it, but I can see the pain in his eyes. “She loves you, and that’s a good thing. Rose is good for you. You need to hold on to that. What you don’t need is me screwing things up.”

“She loves you just as much as she loves me. If you walk away, that will all be you.”

“So what is it exactly you’re proposing?” he asks, getting to his feet. “Have you really thought about it? Do you think that all three of us can just get married? Won’t that be a fine headlining in the papers? And what about a family? You think the press likes to speculate about us now? Wait until they start holding Facebook polls to place bets on which of us is the father. How do you think Rose will handle that?”

“She’s stronger than you think,” I argue.

“But here’s the thing,” he says, quietly. “She shouldn’t have to be.”

His words hang heavy in the air between us. I know he’s right. No matter how much we try to shield her from the fallout, Rose will be hurt by the gossip and press.

“I still think you’re making a mistake,” I say. “It should be up to her.”

I know there’s not much more to be said. I stand and shake my head, hoping that Asher comes to his senses.  “Just sleep on it, brother.”

The night has been exhausting. I crawl back into bed with Rose, and she burrows against my chest. Her warmth soothes my frayed nerves. But the worry about what Asher is going to do scratches at the edge of my thoughts and I never quite relax enough to sleep.

The next morning, Asher doesn’t come out of his room, claiming he’s too sore and needs the rest. The air in the apartment is heavy with all of the unsaid words and hurt emotions. I don’t know what changed after the accident, but I’m trying to figure a way to get back to where we were.

To her credit, Rose puts on a brave face and tries to go about her day as if everything is fine. But after lunch, she gives up and crawls back into bed. I want to go back and pound some sense into Asher, but right now I need to make sure Rose is okay.

“Do you want to go out for dinner?” I ask Rose, thinking maybe a change of scenery is in order.

“Do you think Asher will come?”

“I checked in on him a few hours ago. He took some painkillers and is back in bed.”

She bites her lip and turns back to her book. “I don’t feel like leaving. Can we order pizza and watch a movie in bed?”

There’s an edge of sadness to her voice, and it breaks my heart. I go over and gather her in my arms, kissing the top of her head.

“Whatever you want to do, sweetheart.” She sniffs, and I feel her hot tears soak my shirt. “It will be okay. We’ll fix this.”

She pulls back and looks up at me with red-rimmed eyes. “What happened?”

“I don’t know,” I say, feeling just as lost. “Did something happen back at the ball before the accident? Asher just said you were feeling sick and he was taking you home.”

“We had a moment.” Rose squeezes her eyes shut and buries her head in my chest. “And I told him I loved him.”

“Oh.” I figured it had to be something like that for him to pull the emergency brakes on our budding relationship.

“Oh?” Rose pulls back and narrows her eyes. “Oh? Did you know this was going to happen?”

“Asher’s emotionally constipated,” I say by way of explanation. I mean, fuck, how can I explain Asher’s fucked up world view?

“Dammit, Leo, what does that even mean? Give me a straight answer.” Rose is angry which is a million times better than the shell of a person she’s been the last twenty-four hours.

“His parents are a piece of work,” I say with a sigh. “He’s got some screwed up notions about love and family.”

She pushes away, frowning. “That’s just an excuse. We all have fucked up families. My mother couldn’t be bothered to raise me. She dragged me along on her tours, passing me from one unqualified nanny to the next. If I can still imagine us being together why can’t he?”

I would have never dreamt of breaking Asher’s confidence, but I feel like Rose has a right to know why he’s rejecting her.

“I don’t even know where to start. He doesn’t believe in love. At least not the way you or I might. His mother had one affair after another.”

“But this isn’t cheating,” Rose says, interrupting me. “I’d never cheat on either of you.”

“It wasn’t just that his mother cheated. There were a lot of other issues. The esteemed Mayor Knight used to beat the crap out of Asher on a regular basis.” I gather her up in my arms and kiss her temple. “His mother did nothing to stop it. Asher felt betrayed by the two people who were supposed to love him unconditionally. He doesn’t get close to people.”

“He’s close to you,” she says and leans her head against my shoulder.

“We share a long history. My house was only marginally better,” I say. “We helped each other escape, and we’ve relied on each other ever since.”

“Are you trying to tell me that he’ll never love me back?” Rose asks.

I can see the pain in her eyes, but I can’t lie to her. “I don’t know, sweetheart. But if anyone can make him love, you’d be the woman to do it.”

I roll her over on the bed and kiss her slow and deep, savoring the feel of her beneath me. She melts against me and wraps an arm around my neck. I have no idea how long we lay there, kissing with long lazy strokes of our tongues before she finally pulls away.

“Is this over between us? Is this goodbye?” I can hear the desperation in her voice.

“No, damn it.”  I kiss her again with more force, raw and unapologetic in its intensity. “We’ll fix this, I promise.”

The next morning, Asher is at the office before we even wake. Knowing the situation between us is still unresolved, I suggest she stay home and recover from the accident.

“You’re kidding, right? We’re all adults, and we promised that no matter what happens at the penthouse, it won’t interfere with work. You both have kept that promise and so will I.” She strolls into the elevator ahead of me and pushes the button for the ground floor with a little too much force. “Besides, I’m not going to hide in my room like I’ve done something wrong. If Asher has a problem with me, he needs to tell me to my face.”

I have to bite back the smile when she turns and glares at me as if daring me to contradict her. She has that fire back in her eyes, and I take a deep breath for the first time in days. We’ll get past this little bump. I’m sure of it.

I thumb through my email on my phone as we ride down to the office. With everything that’s happened over the last two days, it feels like I’ve been away from the office for a month, not just a weekend. A calendar reminder pops up, and I groan inwardly. The closing for one of our smaller acquisitions is just a week away. I’m going to have to leave town to handle all the last minute legal matters. The timing couldn’t be worse.

“I have to go to Austin soon,” I say. “It’s just an overnight trip. Are you okay with that? I know things are a bit awkward with Asher right now.”

“I don’t need you to babysit me,” she says, giving me a side-eye. “I can deal with Asher.”

“God, I love you.” I lean over and kiss her quickly as we pull up to the office. The fact that she’s wants to handle Asher’s shit and stand up for herself helps me relax. We’ll fix this. Relieved, I get out of the car and lean down to help her.

She humphs and swats my hand away, getting out on her own.

I bark out a laugh. “You’re so fucking cute when you’re mad.” If nothing else, she and Asher are in for one hell of a fight. I, for one, can’t wait for the make-up sex.