Chapter 20
Ash
Frank shook the curtains from the other side of the house with her snoring while I crossed to the front door. I tripped getting into my clothes, I slipped taking a shower, and I couldn’t stop dreaming of Mason all night.
The fucking nerve he had to accuse me of not being good enough for his fucking lifestyle. So what if he had money and I didn’t? That shit wasn’t that big of a deal. He just made it a big deal because he’d never fucking stepped out of his protected little bubble long enough to experience anything other than Eva’s long legs wrapped around his waist.
Well, that didn’t sound so bad. But still. Bitch.
I didn’t know if I’d ever find someone who would ever appreciate me for who I was. I mean, I didn’t have many redeeming qualities, and I didn’t have a shit ton of money. My fucking friend was crashing on my couch because she had nowhere else to go, but I’d spend every last penny I had to make sure she was all right. I wanted people around me to be happy and healthy and laughing, and that held some kind of worth.
Right?
I didn’t deserve pieces of shit like Jason who took advantage of me, and I didn’t deserve mooching friends who came in and dipped out when I didn’t have money to support them anymore. At least Frank helped out when she could while she was taking up my couch.
I just wanted someone who loved me for me. Someone who loved my sense of humor, loved my jewelry, and loved what I could bring to their world instead of detesting everything that was different about me when compared to their world.
I just wanted someone to appreciate me.
I got into work and had to help Luna with the flood of customers that decided to come in today. A few children kept digging their hands into the buttons while their mothers debated on whether or not to purchase the erasable colored pencils or the regular ones.
A couple of flamboyant men came in wanting a pale pink yarn instead of a bright pink yarn. When I showed them the five choices of pink we had stocked, they, of course, needed a shade in between petal pink and rose pink.
Then, a group of elderly women came in wanting more cotton-silk blended yarn than we had in stock and got huffy whenever I told them I could back order them some. By the time they walked out after ordering two hundred dollars’ worth of yarn we didn’t have, I had to sit down and take deep breaths. My world was spinning, and my eyes were fluttering shut with exhaustion. That was when I felt Luna’s hand come down onto my back.
“Didn’t sleep well?” she asked.
“No,” I whispered.
“Should’ve called in sick,” she said.
“You would’ve killed the yarn snobs had I not come in.”
“Eh, I’ve lived my life,” she said, shrugging. “Why don’t you take the weekend off?”
“I can’t afford to take the weekend off,” I groaned.
“You’ve got vacation.”
“Not paid vacation, Luna.”
“I could make it paid vacation,” she offered.
“I’m not leaving you here alone all weekend with the store on one of the busiest times of the year we have.”
“If I tell you I’ll consider the website, will you take the time off?” she asked.
I looked up at her with wide eyes, and the smirk that crossed her face caused me to giggle.
“You are insane,” I said.
“You’ve worked with me for three years, and in that time, you haven’t called out once. The only time you’ve missed work is when you came in with a fever and said you could isolate yourself to the back. Go home. Take some time. Get some rest.”
“I can’t afford it,” I sighed.
“I’m paying you for your vacation time, and I told you I’d consider the website. Take the deal and go home, Ash.”
“But this is—”
“Girl, my niece just moved into town. It’s why I haven’t been here much these past couple weeks. She’ll come help. Been thinking about hiring her anyway. Go home now.”
“But—”
“I’ll fire you!” Luna shouted.
“Fine!” I exclaimed.
To be honest, I was grateful for the break, and it made me feel better that someone would be here while I was gone. Luna was getting up in her years, and I saw her glasses were a bit thicker than usual.
I figured I could take the money Luna would be paying me and decompress a bit. Splurge on some decent bath salts, maybe take myself to that deli place uptown that I had the money once to eat at. They had the best salad ever, and it was even more wonderful when I slathered it in their homemade dressings. Mason pulling the stunt he did and cutting me from his ‘world’ pissed me off more than it should, and I could already feel my body relaxing at the thought of a nice, hot bath.
I grabbed my purse from underneath the counter and started for the exit door, and when I dumped out onto the street, I made my way to my beat up sedan. It made me so angry that simply being in that car made me think of him, and there was a moment where, if I closed my eyes, I could even smell him.
But when I got to my car, I saw a limo pull up and block me in.
“Are you fucking kidding me? You privileged mother—”
The door opened, and I knew exactly who it was. Mason stepped out of the back of the limo. My heart was thundering in my chest, and my hand was clenching down onto my purse. Our eyes finally connected, and a slight smile crossed his lips.
“You son of a bitch,” I whispered.
“Would you like to go for a ride?” he asked lowly. “I’d really like to talk.”
“That phrase didn’t go over so well last time,” I choked out.
Tears were rimming my eyes, and I saw an essence of hurt roll over his face. I knew right then and there that I would get into that limo with him, if only to spend a little more time with him before ‘the reality of our relationship’ set in.
I got in and felt Mason lightly press his hand into my lower back. I cursed my knees for growing as weak as they did. I slid in and drew a deep breath through my nose. When the limo pulled out onto the main road, I had to close my eyes and block images from rattling my common sense. Pictures of his dick between my lips and my ankles locked around his head shot shivers up my spine. The hair on my arms began to stand on end, and I knew I was in a lot of trouble.
“I’m sorry, Ash,” he began.
“You should be,” I whispered.
“The things I said to you were not right. They’re truthful, but they hold no bearing on what we should do with our lives.”
I turned my watery gaze toward him, and the hurt ricocheted across his face again. I felt his hands wrap around mine, and a tear slowly barreled down my cheek as his eyes danced across my face.
“There’s so much I want to tell you. So much I want to just blurt out in order to excuse what happened the last time I saw you. But the truth is, I was just a dick.”
All I could really do was nod because my entire body was rooted in shock. Mason was touching me. After days of not hearing from him, I was in the backseat of his limo, and he was touching me.
And it felt so damn good.
“Come with me for the weekend,” he said.
“Wait. What?”
“Come away with me. Give me the weekend to prove that I’m serious about you, and about this. Ash, throw caution to the wind with me, and let me show you exactly what it means when I dedicate myself to someone. Let me show you how happy I know we could be.”
I felt my eyes grow wild, but I took stock of my body. I was leaning into him, and I could feel his breath pulsating on my lips. The truth was, I felt beautiful around him. Beautiful and safe, and when he wasn’t comparing our life circumstances and our bank accounts, I felt important to him.
Like I mattered to him.
Like my happiness mattered to him.
And hell, Luna just gave me the weekend off.
“You buying, hot stuff?” I smirked.
“Always,” he said.
“I guess I could go on a little adventure.”
“Wonderful,” he said, smiling.
He told the driver to go ahead, but I realized he was heading out of town and not stopping by my place.
“I gotta go get my stuff.”
“No, you don’t,” he said. “I mean it when I told you I thought we had something. When you’re with me, you’ll be taken care of. Just trust me, one last time.”
He slipped his arm around me, and it felt so natural to be in the crook of his body. I nestled into him and watched the city blow by out the window, wondering where in the hell I was being taken. And then I realized it didn’t matter. As long as Mason was near me, I’d be all right with just about anything.
Just about.