Chapter 18

ASHER

Last night can only be described as a rollercoaster ride I never wanted to get off. No workout could ever compare to the natural endorphins pulsating through my body. I ended up drifting into the deepest and most peaceful sleep I’ve had in years.

Since I’m closest to the side of the room with the window, the sun greets me first. I open my eyes and look over at Jade. She’s on her back, still sleeping peacefully, her long blonde strands splayed out in a halo around her gorgeous face. It seems cliché to say she looks angelic, but that’s all I can think of looking down at her resting.

I watch as she fidgets and breathes softly in her sleep. I wish this was the way I woke up every morning, with her by my side. This young woman with the fiery attitude came into my life and turned it upside down in the best way. She helps get me through the long days at work and helps take my mind off the everyday pressure I’m under on a regular basis. While I initially thought her reason for approaching me in the alley was nonsense, I’m now grateful she thought I could be such a creep. Otherwise, there’s no guarantee our paths would have crossed.

Our relationship is fulfilling even without the sex, but with the new addition our chemistry is off the charts. I can’t stop myself from leaning over and kissing her forehead.

Her eyes flutter for a moment before opening. Her gaze locks on me and a smile spreads across her face.

“Morning,” she says.

I push a loose strand of hair from her face and kiss her again, this time on the lips. “I didn’t mean to wake you,” I say. “You were just too beautiful to pass up.”

She shakes her head and stretches, raising her arms above her head. “It’s fine. I’m sure it’s time for me to get up and get a move on anyway. I’m not sure what time Magdalene and Jacob are returning home and I have some chores to do and a few errands to run first.”

“No,” I say, dropping my head back on the pillow. “You can’t leave. I’ll pay you twice what she’s paying you so you can be my nanny.”

Her body shakes with laughter and I watch her now bare breasts bounce freely.

“You are a character, you know that? I know you have work you are dying to get back to. Some contract that needs signing or some meeting that needs to be held.”

I shake my head and wrap a few strands of her hair around my finger. “You’re all I have on my schedule today, tomorrow and every day in the near future.”

She turns to face me and places a hand on my cheek before kissing me. “You say all the right things at all the right times.”

“I just tell the truth,” I say. “I don’t want to spend a second away from you unless I absolutely have to.”

She drops her hand and kicks off the rest of the sheets. “Well, unfortunately, you have to spend some time away from me today. You know you have to share me with Jacob, but I promise I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.”

“All right,” I say, sitting up in the bed, resting my back against my leather headboard. “But let’s at least take a bath together before you go.”

She sits up and kisses me on the shoulder. “A nice hot bath sounds perfect.”

I slide out of bed naked and head to the bathroom. “You wait right there while I get everything together.”

She nods and winds her hair, tying it into a knot on the top of her head. Walking into the newly remodeled bathroom, I start pushing buttons on the panel I had installed for the Jacuzzi tub.

Hot water shoots from the jets and starts to quickly fill the deep soaker tub. I add a scoop of my favorite muscle-relaxing bath salt to the water before grabbing two large bath towels for us to use afterwards.

Poking my head out the bathroom door, I call to her, “I’m ready for you.”

Jade slides out the bed and saunters over to me, effortlessly sexy. She enters the bathroom and points at the panel on the wall. “I saw that thing flashing last night and wondered what it’s for.”

I walk over to the panel and push a few buttons to demonstrate all the bells and whistles. “I love having things automated and ready to go at the push of a button. I have my house in the Hills wired in a similar fashion. It takes the guess work out of everything, plus I like the sleek look it gives a room.”

She nods and reaches down to test the water. “It feels perfect,” she says.

“Go ahead and get in,” I say, holding her hand as she steps into the tub and slowly sits down. She bites her bottom lip as she cranes her neck to watch me climb in behind her.

“See something you like?” I ask.

She turns and quickly closes the distance between us before pressing her lips against mine. “I sure do,” she says. “But first, let’s get clean.”

She grabs the soap and loofah sponge, working up a soapy lather. “Turn around so I can wash your back first.”

I turn around and let her gently wash my body. Part of me wants to keep the scent of her on my skin, but the other part longs to feel her soft touch all over my body. I don’t know what came over me asking her to bathe together. Actually, I do. It was an act of desperation. I would have done and said anything to keep her from leaving. Who am I?

Jade takes her time with the loofah, covering every inch of me in suds before gathering several handfuls of water and splashing it on me to help rinse away the soap.

“All right, Ms. Sinclair, it’s your turn,” I say.

She turns around and I take my time washing her body clean.

“Are you always like this?” she asks.

“Like what?”

She shrugs her shoulders and sighs. “I don’t know exactly. Are you always so… attentive?”

I think for a moment, briefly skimming through my last few relationships. “I try to give women what I think they want, but no, I don’t think women would describe me as attentive. Are you usually this perfect?”

She shakes her head and gives me what sounds like a laugh and a snort combined. “I’m far from perfect,” she says.

“You’re perfect for me, and that’s all I really care about,” I say, wrapping my arms around her as I pull her into my body. Her head rests on my chest as we soak in the tub.

“This feels too good to be true,” she sighs. “I feel like I’m living in a fairy tale and something has to go wrong to bring me back down to reality. I hate to be a downer, but it’s like I’m waiting for it all to come crashing down around me when I least expect it.”

“No,” I say, running my hands down her body. “I don’t want you thinking like that. Why can’t this be your fairy tale? This is whatever you want it to be. Believe me.”

The last sentence is a plea, because I know there are things she doesn’t know about me. Things that could change the way she feels about me in an instant. I can’t find the way to tell her what I don’t want her to know, and in some ways, I’m hoping I never have to. I want to be the man she thinks I am, so if I can delay what her intuition is warning her about just to enjoy a few more moments in her fairy tale, I’m happy to.

“I do believe you,” she says. “I really do.”

A pang of guilt waves through me, but washes away as fast as the suds when she leans into my touch. We sit in the tub talking and laughing for over an hour. With the press of a button, I reheat the water several times to extend our comfort. I make it my business to keep Jade with me in this moment for as long as I possibly can. When she doesn’t object, I’m certain she doesn’t want the moment to end just like me. It’s by far the most intimate moment of my adult life, yet there’s nothing uncomfortable about it. Everything with Jade is effortless.