Page 93 of For Your Consideration

“So did you land on a name?”

“Everyone but Noah voted on Silverpine Reserve.”

“Classy, a little mysterious,” I mused. “I like it. Quinn was showing me pictures the other day. It looks fancier than anywhere I’ve ever been, that’s for sure.”

“I’ll bring you there when it opens.”

I yawned, my eyes watering with how aggressive it was.

“Are you going to tell me why you’re so tired?” Asher asked, glancing between Soph and me.

“I had to baby-proof Iris’s place and mine.” I rested my head on the armrest of the couch.

Plus, I’d woken up a few times from a nightmare where Ben got Sophie in court and I had to watch him walk away with her while Sophie screamed for me. That I didn’t bother telling him about. Maya was keeping me updated with emails and regular calls but so far there wasn’t much to report, just lawyers going back and forth with paperwork, I guess. I was trying to push forward, letting the worry disappear to the corners of my mind. But that was hard.

When I looked over at Ash, he was blinking, a curious look on his face. “You didn’t expect me to tell you,” I realized with a laugh.

“Not without more pushing.”

“My tiredness is making me more agreeable.”

“You should have called me for help.”

I closed my eyes and smiled softly. I had briefly considered mentioning it to him, which was a testament to how used to him I was getting. But then he might have hired someone to do it for me and this man had already done more for me than I could comprehend sometimes.

“Hmph,” he grunted, only making me smile more. “Do you have the energy to get up the stairs?”

My eyes opened. Asher was scraping his hand over his jaw, almost nervously. I noticed that the scruff there was always the same length and I had a feeling that was because Soph loved to rub it. “Upstairs here?” I frowned, not sure what was making him nervous.

He nodded, eyes on me. I yawned again, covering my mouth.

“Sure.” I’d been upstairs during his tour of the house but maybe the lamps I’d bought on his phone had arrived. I was still surprised he’d given me the code to his phone. “Then after that I should probably leave so I don’t fall asleep on your couch.”

He came to stand in front of me, offering me his hand. He pulled me up off the couch before bending down to swipe Sophie off the ground one-handed, his muscles flexing as he did. It was hot the way he could so easily lift my daughter, and I knew she was always safe in his arms.

I yawned again as we made our way through the gate he had installed at the bottom of his stairs and up. His room was at the back of the house with big windows overlooking the yard. But instead of going toward the double doors that led to his room, he went to the door on the left. As far as I knew, it was an empty guest room. But as he pushed open the door, I stood there in shock. He let my hand drop as I walked into the room.

There were white beadboard panels on the lower half of all the walls. Above it was beautiful wallpaper depicting tall grass and flowers, including pink daisies. There was a soft-sided bin with toys and a wood bookshelf stocked full of books. A crib stood in the middle of the room with a soft green sheet, along with a matching set of drawers that had a changing pad on top and a beautifully cozy-looking rocking chair in the corner.

I stood there blinking while Asher looked around the room and cleared his throat. “There’s a camera mounted on the wall above the crib since you won’t be able to hear her as well from anywhere else in the house. Jaxson investigated it for me; it’s the best there is and even monitors her breathing. The whole room was baby-proofed and the bookshelves were mounted to the wall so there’s no risk there.” He wiped a hand on his pants as he looked around, almost searching for something else to tell me.

“Ash.” My voice broke as I looked around, shaking my head with tears coming to my eyes.

“Fuck,” he muttered before looking at Sophie. “You didn’t hear that,” he told her before he grabbed a soft little bunny off the rocking chair and deposited it and Sophie into the crib. She squawked a little but was quickly distracted by the stuffed animal. Asher strode up to me and gently gripped my shoulders. “I shouldn’t have done this without your help. I should have given you free rein. Quinn helped me but she’s never had a kid so I also had my designer source some stuff but I should have asked. Fuck, I can have someone come in and take it all down—”

I cut him off by pressing my lips to his. I didn’t think about it; I just did it. He let go of my shoulders and I looped my arms around him.

It was soft at first, teasing, almost like he wasn’t sure, but when I opened my mouth, he took control. His tongue mingled with mine, the sensation tingling down to my toes.

I pulled back before I could drop all my defenses and all my reasons and let him take complete control. His head dropped to my neck and he inhaled like he was taking in my scent before he straightened.

He looked down at me, his breath coming in quickly, his eyes hazy with lust, blinking like he was dazed. I liked that I had thrown him off, that he seemed shocked by me making the first move.

That made two of us.

“I just needed you to stop talking.” My voice came out huskier than I would have liked. “I wasn’t crying because I was angry. I was crying because this was so thoughtful. You made a room for her?”

“Of course.” He sounded like I was ridiculous for even asking. “You’ve been spending a lot of time here, and it means if you don’t want to go home you can stay.”