Page 123 of Asher's Assignment
She rolled her lips in, pressing them together for a moment before she eeked some words past the lump that refused to go away. “That’s a good start,” she whispered. Taking a shaky breath, she continued. “And you know what? I don’t blame you for anything that happened. Neither does Leah nor Connie nor anyone else. I’m grateful you’re not like your friends or my sister. They might have seen the attack coming and either ended up dead, or inadvertently left Leah all alone in that hole Lennox put you in.”
The pain in his eyes briefly abated until he looked her over. His hand skimmed the soft fabric of her shirt near her abdomen. “Yeah, but?—”
“No buts, Asher. I put myself in front of you. You didn’t do this to me. And do you know why I put myself in front of you?” She only paused for the briefest of moments. “Because I love you too.”
His hand fisted in her shirt.
“I don’t want to—can’t—live without you.” She raised a hand to touch his face. Soft beard hair tickled her fingertips. “So, please don’t blame yourself for anything that happened. Lennox is the only one at fault for any of this.”
For several long moments, he stayed silent and just stared at her neck and the hair draped over her shoulder. When he finally looked at her, her breath caught at the emotion shining in his eyes. He looked like she’d given him the greatest present ever.
“You love me?”
She huffed a laugh. “Yes, you silly man. Why else would I launch myself?—”
He cut her words off with a fierce kiss.
Esther let out a soft grunt of surprise, then blocked every thought out of her head and just savored the feel of his mouth on hers. It had been far, far too long.
Asher’s thumbs skimmed her cheekbones as he framed her face in his hands. All too soon for her liking, he pulled back.
“So, what do we do about this?” He rested his forehead on hers. His warm breath puffed on her face. “We’ve never really talked about it. Things were too new before Lennox turned our lives upside down.”
“I told you where I stand. I don’t want to do life without you. The rest is little details.”
Asher barked a short laugh. “Little details, sure. Like where we’ll live, and if this will be a long-distance thing for now.”
“I don’t want to do that.” She bit her lip and glanced away, the reality of their living situation hitting home. “Maybe the details aren’t so small.” She waved a hand. “But they still don’t matter. We’ll figure it out.”
His mouth ticked upward with a happy smile. “Yeah, we will. Because I don’t intend to ever let you go.”
Esther answered his smile with one of her own and fluttered her fingers over the planes of his face and into his thick, dark hair. She’d so missed being in his arms. “I’m glad. You know, Edie joked about setting us up. I blew her off, telling her we weren’t suited. I’ve never been so happy to be wrong.”
He chuckled. “I told her the same thing. Let’s not tell her how wise she is. No need inflating her ego.”
With a joyful laugh, Esther rested her forehead against his. “Deal.”
Fifty-One
The buzz of the phone in his pocket drew Asher’s attention away from Esther, who sat with her sister and mother, looking through the box of baby things Faye had brought over. While he was over the moon happy with Esther, he was not ready for a baby or any of the things that went with it, so he’d left them to their own devices while he got some work done.
Lifting his hip, he took his phone from his pocket. Stroud’s name appeared. Asher’s heart sped up, and he swiped to answer. “Hello?”
“Horn, I need you to come down to the station. The tip line’s been inundated with reports of Lennox’s vehicle. I need another set of eyes—good ones—to help me go through this stuff.”
Asher closed his laptop and stood. “I’m on my way. Do you want me to bring Edie and Audra?”
“No. I need your computer expertise more than anything. They’ll be bored.”
Asher bit back a snort. He doubted it. The two women would find something to stick their noses into. But he didn’t want to drive another wedge into his relationship with the detective, so he didn’t argue. He’d just pried the last one loose. “All right, I’ll see you soon.”
“Thanks.” Stroud hung up.
“Who was that?” Edie asked. “I heard my name.”
“Stroud. The tip line got some hits on Lennox’s car. He wants my help analyzing footage. I asked if I should bring you guys, but he said just me for now.”
Her brows dipped, but she nodded. “Keep us posted.”
