Chapter Seventeen
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By the time the weekend rolled around, Ashleigh had successfully written another one hundred pages and ignored just about as many calls from Alex. They had nothing to say to one another, so she wasn’t sure why he bothered to call.
She’d been tempted to answer a couple of times, but she reminded herself how smug that woman sounded on the phone and thought better of it. One time, just so she wouldn’t be inclined to answer it, she tossed her phone in her underwear drawer.
Ignoring it had become second nature by now, but when it rang Friday afternoon, she glanced at it just because. Grabbing the phone, she hit the answer button.
“Hey.”
“Let’s go out tonight.” Sam’s sweet voice rang through.
“Where to?” Ashleigh definitely wasn’t opposed to the idea, but going to Club Destiny wasn’t going to be her first choice although she knew it would be Sam’s.
“Where else?”
Anywhere? Ashleigh wouldn’t voice it, but that was her first thought. She didn’t want to run into Alex. Worse, she didn’t want to run into Alex and another woman.
She might be a little less emotional, although the anger still burned like acid in her gut, but that didn’t mean she was willing to test her limits. Avoiding his calls had been hard enough. Thankfully he hadn’t bothered to stop by because she was positive she wouldn’t have been able to ignore him then and she wasn’t about to let him see what he’d reduced her to.
However, she’d known deep down that Alex wasn’t up for grabs when it came to his heart, and this had proven that point. She just wished it didn’t have to be quite so painful.
“What time?” Glancing at the clock on her computer, she wondered how much later they could push it. It was closing in on five o’clock.
“Let’s meet at eight. Drinks. Dancing.” Sam said. “We’ll have fun.”
“Is Sierra going?” Ashleigh wanted as many people as possible in the event she had to sneak out. She didn’t want to leave her friend alone, just in case.
“Yes.” She confirmed. “So are Logan, Luke and Cole.”
Great. One big happy love fest. Just what Ashleigh needed to top off a not so impressive week.
“Alright.” She found herself giving in. Staring at the walls was beginning to wear on her nerves and though she might run into Alex, at least she could get out of the house for a while.
“Perfect. See you there.” Sam disconnected the call and Ashleigh clung to it like a lifeline.
She really should have said no.
~~*~~
When Logan called to invite Alex to Club Destiny, he’d been hesitant, but if there was a possibility that Ashleigh would be there, he was going. Come hell or high water. Or Jessie.
For two days, Jessie had been driving him crazy. She was crying all the time, giving him one sob story after another about this or that and Alex was growing increasingly more irritated with her.
He tried to be friendly, but she was refusing to go home and Alex needed her to get back on her feet. His white knight days were coming to an end. At least when it came to rescuing his ex-wife.
She was part of the reason Alex had only tried calling Ashleigh, not going to her house insisting she talk to him.
Now it would look like he was trying to save face and there would be no way to explain Jessie’s presence at his house. Only a select few even knew about his long ago sham of a marriage, and Alex tried to keep it that way. Logan knew of course. He’d been around at the time. Dylan knew because Alex had shared that much of himself with his closest friend.
But neither of them knew why he had gotten married in the first place because Alex didn’t want to share Jessie’s hardships with everyone. Another way he tried to protect her. Again, at his own expense.
“Where are you going?” Jessie asked when Alex walked through the living room an hour later.
“Out.” She didn’t need to know more than that.
“Where to?” Her voice was closer as she followed behind him.
Turning on her, he stopped just outside of his kitchen. “Does it matter?”
A conditioned response, Jessie flinched and took a step back. Alex didn’t concede to her timid reaction this time, he merely turned away from her.
“Did I do something wrong?” Jessie asked.
Yes. You overstayed your welcome. “No.” Alex barked. “Shit. Jessie. Look.” He turned to face her again. “Don’t you think it’s time you went home? Hell, I’m paying for the damn house. I’d rather someone live in it.”
Fuck. He hadn’t meant to go that far. Jessie knew as well as he did who paid for the house. And the utilities. And her car. Shit. There wasn’t a damn thing the woman did pay for, except food maybe. As thin as she was, Alex even wondered about that.
“I’ll get my stuff.” She turned on her heel and headed across the living room.
“Wait, Jessie.” Following behind her, Alex thrust his hands in his pockets. He hated this shit.
“What?” She turned on him this time, furious. “I get it. I’m in the way. Cramping your style. I’ll go home.”
Alex wished she was serious about that, but he knew better.
“Tomorrow.” He told her. “I’ll take you home in the morning, Jessie. Stay here tonight. I’ll be out late, so just stay here.” It wasn’t what he wanted to tell her, but he couldn’t bring himself to throw her out of his house, even if he wanted to.
A subtle nod was her response. She’d won again. She always won, but Alex was pretty sure she knew that.
An hour later, Alex pulled into the underground parking garage at Club Destiny. He needed a drink, and a couple of hours of mindless entertainment to help him get past the week he’d had. Having Jessie at his house for damn near five days was way more than he could handle. Not seeing or talking to Ashleigh for that amount of time had been even more frustrating.
Walking in the back doors, Alex nodded his head in greeting to a couple of people he recognized and then went in search of Logan and the others. He stopped suddenly when he saw them sitting at a table in the corner, all seven of them. Luke, Cole, and Sierra were sitting across from Logan and Sam, talking. Tag had just stood from the table, smiling that devilish grin that seemed to attract the ladies, but it was what he was doing that had Alex ready to knock that smile right off his face.
He was holding Ashleigh’s hand, leading her to the dance floor.
With his hands balled into fists, Alex turned away, making a beeline for the bar. He needed a drink.
“Hey, Alex.” Kane greeted him when he approached.
“What’s up, man?” Alex tried for normal, but his words came out with a hint of the irritation building in his gut.
“Not much. I see the whole gangs here tonight. What’s up? Someone else getting hitched?”
Alex laughed, not a hint of amusement in the gruff sound. “I’ll take a shot of whiskey. Make it a double and I won’t bother you for a little while.”
“Sure thing.” Kane disappeared for a moment before returning with a glass tumbler filled with liquid gold.
“Thanks.” Alex took the glass and turned back to the floor, his eyes immediately zoning in on where Tag and Ashleigh were dancing much too close for Alex’s peace of mind.
He wondered how Sam was taking it. For the last couple of months, Tag had signed on to be the third in Logan and Sam’s relationship and from the bits of gossip Alex had received, the three of them were having more fun than ever. Apparently being a third lacked the jealousy associated with being in a relationship, or so it would seem.
Alex wouldn’t know because he didn’t share his women. Ever. His friends were all into the threesome thing, and that was all good and fine where he was concerned. To each his own and all that. But Alex couldn’t do it.
He didn’t share well. Which was another reason he and Jessie hadn’t lasted more than a few months. There had been a brief time during the marriage that Alex wondered if he should actually try to make a go of it. They might’ve gotten married so Jessie could get out of her abusive father’s house, but it had been a monumental step for Alex.
That brief thought had died a painful death when Alex learned Jessie was sleeping with a couple of Alex’s buddies. Since she had been seventeen at the time, Alex had vowed not to touch her, regardless of whether they were married or not. His friends didn’t seem to have a problem with it.
And now, leaning against the bar, watching Tag hold Ashleigh close, he knew he’d never be able to share her. Having another man’s hands, lips, or any other body part on his woman didn’t do it for him. Logan got off on it, big time, but Alex didn’t want her anywhere near another man.
The red haze was damn near blinding him, but he had to remind himself that Ashleigh wasn’t his. It didn’t matter that they had sex. It didn’t matter that he knew she had been a damn virgin that very first time, even if she hadn’t told him as much.
The thought still made his dick hard. He was the only man she’d ever been with and up until a few nights ago, he’d planned to keep it that way. But Jessie had to go and interfere, answering his damn phone, and now he didn’t even have a chance to explain because Ashleigh wasn’t having any of it.
Not that he blamed her. He’d been on that side of the fence a time or two, and he hadn’t listened to any explanations either. If you stepped out on the one you were with, you deserved to be left. But he hadn’t. He never would either.
A cold blast of fury raced up Alex’s spine when Tag leaned down and kissed Ashleigh on the lips, a laugh breaking loose from the man’s chest as the two of them walked back to the table.
“What’re you hanging out over here for?” Cole’s deep voice broke into Alex’s thoughts.
Alex turned to look at him, but didn’t say a word. He wasn’t sure he could speak at the moment. When Cole turned and looked back to see what Alex was looking at, he knew.
“It’s nothing, man.” Cole told him. “Nothing at all.” Stepping in front of Alex, Cole crossed his arms over his chest.
“What?” Alex tried to play dumb, but Cole wasn’t having any of it.
“He’s trying to get her to smile. Something’s obviously wrong, and she needed a little cheering up.”
Alex knew something was wrong. She wasn’t answering her damn phone, that’s what was wrong. He needed a chance to tell her what was going on.
“Why don’t you join us?” Cole asked, then turned to Kane. “I’ll take a beer and get Alex another one of these.”
Alex looked down and realized he’d downed his drink entirely. Too bad the whiskey wasn’t numbing him the way it should.
“Come on.” Cole said, handing Alex the drink before turning back the way he’d come.
Alex followed behind him, his stomach tightening in knots at the thought of what he’d just witnessed.
When they approached the table, everyone glanced up. Everyone except Ashleigh.
“Hey.” Sam greeted, smiling as she leaned into Logan. “Where’ve you been?” She asked, glancing from Alex to Ashleigh and back again.
“At home.” He told her, unable to take his eyes off of Ashleigh. Even pissed, she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Her long, glossy hair hung down to the middle of her back, board straight and begging him to run his fingers through it. Or better yet, to wrap it around his fist and pull her to him.
Alex shook off the thought. Thinking about the last time they’d been together, in his office, still made his dick throb in eager anticipation. Admittedly, Alex hadn’t expected Ashleigh to give in to him, and when she did, she’d blown his mind. Since then he’d thought of very little else besides all of the things he wanted to do to her.
Not that it mattered at this point; she wouldn’t even look at him. Side glances darted between everyone at the table. The tension was obvious, and Alex could damn near taste it.
He just didn’t know what to do about it.
~~*~~
This was the very reason Ashleigh hadn’t wanted to go out tonight. She knew with as many people as were getting together, Alex would show up. The only person missing at the moment was Dylan, and she suddenly wondered where her brother was.
“Has anyone heard from Dylan today?” She asked, glancing at Cole and then Logan. She wasn’t about to ask Alex, although if anyone knew, it would be him.
“I saw him at the office earlier this morning, but I didn’t have a chance to talk to him.” Sam offered.
“He’s supposed to be here.” Alex contributed, but Ashleigh didn’t look at him. She could feel his heated stare on the back of her neck, but she wouldn’t turn to look at him because she was pretty sure she was too weak to resist him, no matter how pissed off she was.
“How’s it going, Alex?” Logan asked, apparently oblivious to the tension at the table, or speaking up because of it, Ashleigh didn’t know.
“It’s going.”
Ashleigh grabbed her glass, downing what was left and then stood from the table. She needed another drink. And a moment to breathe. “I’ll be back.” She said to no one in particular and then walked away, not making eye contact.
When she approached the bar, she sat her empty glass down and smiled at Kane. “Belvedere and Sprite, please.”
“You gonna ignore me tonight?” The dark, seductive voice slid down her spine and made her hands tingle. Why did he have to follow her?
“No.” She told him, then making the mistake of looking at him. Those brilliant green eyes saw more than she wanted him to ever see. “I was planning to ignore you forever.” With that, she turned back toward Kane, who was sitting her drink on the bar.
Grabbing a five dollar bill from her pocket, she dropped it in the tip jar and thanked him before she turned away.
She’d intended to go back to the table, at least there she could pretend not to notice Alex, and she could certainly ignore him better, but when he put his warm hand on her arm, she almost dropped her drink. Glancing down at the spot where he touched her, she trailed her eyes back up his exquisite body until she locked eyes with him once again.
“We need to talk.”
“We don’t have anything to say to one another, Alex.” She told him, doing her best not to pull away. She needed to show him that she didn’t care. If only it were that easy.
“I need to explain –” He began, but she quickly cut him off.
“There’s nothing to explain. I get it. You’re bedroom has a revolving door. Since I’m not interested in sharing, unlike my friends,” Ashleigh tilted her head in the direction of the table Sam and Sierra were occupying, “I don’t have anything more to say to you.”
When she tried to walk away, he gripped her arm more firmly. “I don’t know what you thought, but honey, you’re wrong.” His tone was laced with a hint of anger which only fired her up.
“Thought?” She said turning to face him fully. “I didn’t have to think anything, Alex. Your girlfriend was courteous enough to tell me how busy you were. In detail.”
Ok, so maybe that was a little lie, but the woman had told her Alex was in the shower. She’d also hinted that he was busy and that if he had time, he’d call her back.
“That woman is not my girlfriend. She’s my ex-wife.” He bit out, still holding her arm.
“Even better.” Ashleigh’s stomach plummeted to the floor in one fell swoop. That was the last thing she expected.