Chapter Seven
Nina
The sound of a grandfather clock chiming the hour later that night had the girls and me settling into a game of Scrabble as the guys played their beloved poker. They’d taught us how to play the night before, but it was apparent our constant questions were getting in the way of their fun. We thought we’d give them some free time and entertain ourselves for a while.
Lila laid down the word ‘zebra.’ “And that gives me 16 points,” she said.
I laughed as I used her ‘z’ to make a new word, worth even more points. “’Zephyr.’ And that’s 23 points for me. Ha!”
Julia looked at her tiles, pulling her lips to one side as she tried to beat us. “Okay, let me see here. I’m going to use the ‘y’ in zephyr to make the word ‘why.’ And that will give me twelve points.”
I had to give her kudos. “Not bad for only using three letters, Julia.”
“I thought so too.” She patted herself on the back. “So, how’re things progressing between you and Ashton?”
With a sigh, I wondered the same thing myself. “I don’t know. He did say something that led me to believe that he would like things to go in a more romantic direction. But then I just went completely blank on him.”
Lila plopped down some tiles under the ‘p’ in zephyr. “‘Phrase.’ And that’ll give me 11 points.” Her eyes turned to mine. “You went blank on him? What does that mean?”
“It means that he told me he liked the way it felt, us holding each other.” I decided I needed to clarify that. “I was helping him up the stairs. He had his arm around my shoulders, and I had mine around his waist, to support him.”
Julia frowned at me. “And you went blank on him?”
“Yeah.” I shook my head as I looked at the floor. “I just didn’t know what to say.”
Lila laughed. “That’s easy, Nina. You say, ‘I like this too.’ And then you guys kiss, and it’s all smooth sailing from there.” She threw her arms up in the air. “Why do you two make this so hard? It’s as easy as pie, really.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” I told her. “It’s not easy. You see, he told me about his fiancée. He told me how she’d been the only woman he’d ever loved. And I think he still loves her.”
Julia, who was always much more spiritual than either of us, chimed in, “I’m sure he does still love her. But she’s incapable of being there for him now. You are very capable, and you need to show him that.”
I put two tiles down, using the existing ‘w’ to make the word, ‘wow.’ “Nine points for ‘wow.’” Then I looked at Julia with a stoic expression. “Julia, what if I told you that I don’t like competing for a man?”
Nodding, she said, “I would say that’s fine. But who is it that you think you’re competing with?”
“His dead fiancée, Natalia Reddy.”
Julia and Lila both gasped, then Julia asked, “Did he tell you her name?”
“Of course. How else would I know it?” I couldn’t understand why they were looking at me with such surprised expressions.
Lila was the first to let me in on things. “Nina, he’s never told anyone her name. Not even Duke and Artimus, and they’re his best friends.”
Julia nodded. “He’s trusting you more than he even trusts them. That’s huge, Nina.”
Considering what they said, I did think it was pretty huge that he would talk to me about the woman he’d loved and lost. “Do you guys think he told me more about her so that I would know just how much he isn’t over her yet?”
“What makes you think that he’s not over her?” Julia asked.
With a shrug, I said, “I just have this feeling deep inside of me that he’s not. And I also think that he’s afraid of losing someone like that again. So much so that he would rather be alone than take the risk of getting hurt the way he did.”
Lila and Julia exchanged sad looks. Then they both looked at me. Julia was the one to ask, “Are you thinking about giving up on him, Nina?”
Shaking my head, I said, “How could I? Just a few hours ago, he told me he liked the way it felt to hold me. That’s progress, people.”
They laughed and nodded in agreement. “Progress it is,” Lila said.
Julia chimed in, “Especially when you think about how long you guys have known each other.”
Lila jabbed me in the ribs with her elbow. “It’ll probably take another year before you two actually kiss. But way to hang in there, girl.”
It was all fun and games until she said that. Even Julia could see that Lila had gone too far.
My finger began wagging at Lila as if it had a mind of its own. “Now you listen to me, Lila Cofield,” I chided. “That man has suffered things that we can’t even imagine. And I won’t sit idly by and let anyone, not even a very good friend of mine, say anything negative about him.”
Lila’s blue eyes were as big as saucers as she shook her head. “I didn’t mean anything by it. I swear, Nina. I shouldn’t have said that. I’m so sorry. You’re right. He has lived through a lot. I can’t imagine if that had happened to me. If I’d lost Duke before we even really got started, well, that might’ve just killed me.”
“You’re damn right, it would’ve,” I let her know. “Okay, apology accepted. Just watch what you say about him from now on.”
“I will,” she said with her eyes downcast. “I am sorry. You know I would never say anything to hurt him intentionally—he’s my friend too.”
Julia got up and came to put her hands on my shoulders as she stood behind me. “Seems like you already have Ashton’s back, Nina. I think that’s a good sign that things will work out for you two.”
I patted her hand that rested on my shoulder. “I wish I had the kind of confidence that you do, Julia. You’re so sure about things.”
Lila smiled at me, then got up. “I think we should go break up the poker game. Then Julia and I will take our men to bed, and you and Ashton can have some time alone. To talk. Or whatever you want to do.” With a wink, she headed out.
I got up and followed Julia as we left the room. The men could be heard laughing and teasing each other before we got to the room that Artimus had dubbed the poker room. Artimus called out, “Aces high, boys. Read ’em and weep.”
I heard Ashton groan, “Aw, man. You win again.”
Duke said with a chuckle, “And the rich only get richer.”
Julia led the way, pushing open the door. “Good. Your game is over, I hear.”
“Over?” Artimus asked with confusion. “Not hardly.”
“I beg to differ,” Julia said as she went to her husband. “I need your help, hubby.”
Artimus looked at me then Lila. “Can’t your friends help you, baby?”
“Not for what I need you for.” She ran her hands over his shoulders seductively before leaning in to whisper some choice words for him alone. But from the glow that began to radiate from Artimus’ face, we all assumed the words she said were rather dirty.
Duke was quick to get up and grab his wife, gazing deeply into Lila’s eyes. “You have anything you need me to do, honey?”
“Now that you mention it, yes,” Lila said.
The couples left Ashton and me alone. I smiled as I took a seat. “I can play you. If you want,” I told him.
With a deep sexy chuckle, he said, “Only if we use our clothes to bet instead of chips.” He must have been recalling the outcome of the strip poker game the night before.
There my finger went again, wagging away at the naughty man. “Ashton, you are one naughty boy, aren’t you?”
“Not normally,” he said with a sexy grin. “But I’m starting to get there.”
There was a twinkle in his eyes that I hadn’t seen before. And that twinkle sent sparks shooting all through me. It also sent something else through me—a feeling that I needed to let him know that he could trust me implicitly.
With that in mind, I decided that I wanted to make our relationship a lot deeper with this weekend excursion. And not just sexually, either. I would let that sit in the background for now. What was more important was letting Ashton know that I wanted him for him, and nothing else.
“You know what?” I asked him.
“What?”
Winking at him, I went on, “I’m kind of glad I got to see you with your face messed up.”
Even with swollen eyes, his brows rose up high. “What?”
Nodding, I added, “No, really. I’m glad I got to see you this way. It’s helped me learn a lot more about how I really feel.”
“Feel about what?” he asked, still seeming very confused.
“You.” I looked into his eyes, which were a lot smaller than normal due to the swelling. I still saw him in those eyes. I still found him as attractive as I always had. “Even with that one black eye, your swollen, red nose, and that other eye that’s puffy, I still think you’re the most handsome man I’ve ever met.”
I couldn’t believe it when I saw his cheeks flush and his head lower as he grinned like a maniac. “Shut up, Nina. Stop messing with me. I’ve looked in a mirror—I know I’m hideous.”
“No, I mean it, Ashton,” I went on. “I suppose it’s because you’re handsome—or beautiful, really—inside and out. And no matter the damage, the man you truly are shines through.”
His eyes came up to meet mine, and he wasn’t smiling anymore. “I think you’re beautiful inside and out too.”
“Glad to see we’re on the same page then,” I said, to lighten things up. I didn’t want things to lead to kissing just yet. I wanted to really lay everything out for him.
I wouldn’t have gone this route with anyone I had ever met prior to Ashton Lange. But we needed a firm foundation, or else any relationship we tried for would merely crumble. He needed a little extra time and attention. I could see that.
For a while, he just stared into my eyes before saying, “You’re a very good person, Nina. I hope you know that about yourself.”
With a shrug, I said, “I’m no better than the next person, Ashton.”
He shook his head. “Oh, but you are. I want you to know that. You are much better than most people.”
If I didn’t know what I did about the man, I would’ve been jumping up and down. Shouting at him and demanding to know why he hadn’t made his move yet, if I was such a great person.
Since I did know about his past and his loss, I wasn’t about to do a thing like that. What I was about to do was let him see all of me, and I hoped he would let me in deeper too.
I’d never been one to delve too deeply into a person, but as they say, there’s a first time for everything.