Chapter Four
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One week later, settled and having spent more than a few hours a day writing, Ashleigh opted to take a break, which had come by way of an invitation from Samantha McCoy, Logan’s new wife.
Instead of coming up with a multitude of excuses, which was her MO, Ashleigh easily accepted, hoping that the outing would help to get her mind off of the two things she’d been overwhelmed with throughout the week – being stalled on the book she was writing and thinking erotic thoughts about Alex McDermott.
It was a no win situation. If she could stop thinking about Alex, the first would likely work itself out. However, if she kept thinking about Alex, the first would likely work itself out.
Since her brain hurt from trying to do either, Ashleigh had sworn off thoughts of Alex for the night. Which was why she was standing in the living room of Logan and Sam’s immaculate home, trying to feel like she belonged.
After an hour of engaging in conversations with a slew of people, Ashleigh was still feeling a little awkward.
Between Logan and Sam trying to introduce her to everyone, including Sierra Sellers, an interior designer from Nashville, Ashleigh’s mind was racing, trying to put names with faces. She’d even had a brief conversation with Luke, Logan’s sexy as hell twin brother, but he didn’t seem to be in much of a good mood, so she’d given him some space.
At times, it was awkward trying to talk to adults about children’s books, especially those who weren’t parents themselves. As much as they wanted to feign interest, Ashleigh knew better.
When living a life of isolation, it was easy to find ways to entertain yourself and Ashleigh had come up with a few tricks of her own. Watching people was one of those things that both amused her and provided good material for future work.
The McCoy house was offering her a plethora of information that could be spun into some really intriguing books. Suffice it to say, these people were unquestionably entertaining. Of course, there was the most fascinating of them all, and though she had sworn him off for the night, avoiding him required some creativity on her part. The man was relentless.
Up to this point, she’d succeeded in avoiding conversation with him, but his interest was apparent, and a little flattering if she were completely honest. Although it was a day late and a dollar short as far as she was concerned. Had he remembered what happened so long ago, Ashleigh was pretty sure he wouldn’t be looking at her like he was undressing her with his eyes. Instead, she hoped he’d be blushing bright red with embarrassment.
Doubtful, but she had a vivid imagination.
A commotion sounded from the front hall causing Ashleigh to turn, just in time to see Sierra nearly running out the door, Logan’s twin and a sexy blond man following after her. No one seemed concerned with the drama, and Ashleigh wasn’t about to get in the middle of it.
When Sam’s voice drifted from the foyer, Ashleigh made out the words: Luke, frustrating, and gone and done it again.
“Hey.” The familiar voice interrupted her eavesdropping. Swallowing hard, Ashleigh summoned up the nerve to turn around.
“Hi.” One syllable. That’s all she had to come up with. So how was it possible for it to come out choppy and a little unsure?
It was odd the effect Alex had on her. Here she was in a room filled with extremely good looking men, all successful, confident, but Alex was the only one who could make her heart pound. From his sexy, unkempt hair, to those dark, dark, emerald green eyes, to that powerful body, Alex stole her breath.
Even in comparison to Luke and Logan McCoy, identical twins who were by far the biggest men Ashleigh had ever come into contact with, Alex was just as intimidating.
Maybe even more so.
Admittedly, Ashleigh wasn’t a shrinking violet. Easily above average in height, she was thin, but not terribly so. She hadn’t been blessed with the luscious curves that Sam or Sierra possessed, but she could fill out a bikini quite nicely, thank you very much. Her arms were long, her legs even longer and to top it all off, she had big feet. They were nice feet, but big nonetheless.
“Walk with me.”
Alex broke through her thoughts, and Ashleigh managed to fight off the embarrassment. She had spent the better part of her teenage years being shy and easily embarrassed – something she worked exceptionally hard to overcome. In turn, she had become incredibly outspoken, often too much so. So when Alex took her hand, linking his powerful fingers with hers, she took that moment to prove it. “What are you doing?”
Wow. Way to ruin a moment.
“I’m holding your hand. It’s this little gesture that affords me the opportunity to touch you when otherwise you would run for the hills.”
Well, ok then.
The feel of his fingers beneath hers was making her dizzy, so she let him lead her through the back door, onto the patio overlooking a stunning pool. The water glowed with alternating colors while a sound system played something jazzy from overhead. The weather couldn’t have been better for so early in the year, the air cool, yet not cold. All combined, it was nice.
With Alex holding her hand, Ashleigh feared he would realize her palms were starting to sweat because his hand was hot enough to melt her insides and not because she was nervous. Ok, maybe a little nervous.
When they stopped at the edge of the pool, Alex sat on the stone ledge surrounding the hot tub, easily pulling Ashleigh down beside him.
“How’s the book coming?”
Instinct had her tensing, immediately wondering which book he was referring to. There was no possible way he knew she was Ashton Leigh...
Going on that assumption, she answered, “I’m up to my eyeballs in fairy dust.”
Alex’s chuckle reverberated through her, rebounding off each and every molecule and making her insides dance with pleasure. Even his laugh turned her on.
“Fairy dust, huh? Does this one end with the princess taming the prince?”
“Well, of course not.” Ashleigh said, trying to sound stern. “Don’t you know there’s no way to tame a prince? Unless of course you turn him into a frog, which I haven’t done. So, no, my prince is actually a horse, who, as it turns out, is best friends with a barn owl.”
Alex’s shocked stare made Ashleigh laugh. “What? Do you have a fear of farm animals?”
“Not that I know of.” Alex recovered easily. “That stuff really excites you?”
Ashleigh wasn’t going to tell him that she managed to publish the children’s books because her agent was a hard ass, and since the books were popular, she was hard pressed not to keep going. But the others she wrote… well, those were what she spent most of her time on.
“I enjoy what I do.” She said honestly. “I work for myself … mostly. And I get to meet so many incredible people along the way.”
Alex seemed to contemplate her statement for a moment. “So, what do you do in your spare time? Or do you have any?”
Grateful for the change of subject, Ashleigh glanced out over the pool, watching the glowing water ripple gently in the crisp evening breeze. Sitting here with Alex was nice. She couldn’t say relaxing because she was too overheated to relax, but his presence did afford her a sliver of comfort.
“I have spare time. On occasion.” Whenever she took a break which wasn’t all that often, she thought. “I like to run on those days when I can get away for a bit. Or, I check off one of the items on my I haven’t done this yet list.”
Alex cleared his throat, causing Ashleigh to look at him. The heat in those emerald eyes was palpable.
“What types of things?” Alex’s voice sounded strained, and the way his eyes darted down to her lips had Ashleigh’s stomach tightening.
“Horseback riding is one of them. I’ve never done it, so I figure it’s something I should at least try. Skiing. Possibly riding a four wheeler. Those types of things.” She wouldn’t mention the other items on her list that were for her eyes only, like skinny dipping, or having sex in a public place. Or having sex period.
Ashleigh fought the urge to fidget. She often wondered whether her secret list would have more interesting things on it if she had, in fact, ever had sex. Hell, she came up with some astronomical scenes, some she hardly believed would ever happen. At times, she could almost picture herself in those scenes. Not that she would share that with Alex.
Nor would she tell him that she was Ashton Leigh. No reason to give him the wrong impression. Those were fantasies she came up with, and not necessarily her own. But if he knew, would he think they were?
That was the same question she asked herself about anyone who knew her. If she was outed, would her friends and family be disappointed in her? Would they be concerned about her warped mind? Not that she thought it was warped, nor did her readers apparently.
“You’ve never been skiing?”
Grateful he was keeping the conversation on simpler topics, Ashleigh responded, “Nope.”
Her list was long. So many exciting things she wanted to do. Along with the exhilaration of trying something for the first time, Ashleigh sometimes needed to get out of her own head for a little while. Having new things to conquer gave her that brief reprieve. Since she didn’t have enough time to do them all at once, she would just write them down for the future. “What about you? Are you a skier?”
“Not much, no. I’ve been a couple of times, but can’t say I’m good at it.”
“See, that’s the part that doesn’t matter. As long as you’ve tried it once, you can say you’ve done it. Then you know whether you liked it or not, regardless of how good you are.”
Ashleigh took a chance and looked at Alex. He looked lost in thought, and, not for the first time, she wanted to get inside his brain and rummage around. She was pretty sure she’d find some fascinating things there.