Knowing that her mind worked that way, he realized it must have been horrible for her when he was working undercover and she couldn’t talk to him. She had no idea what was going on. And he’d never done enough to assure her that she had nothing to worry about.
“No, neither of us knew anything about the other one. It was a total coincidence. She was just as shocked as I was.” After Jenna’s reaction Asher was rethinking telling her what he was doing tonight. But if he didn’t, she’d wonder why he’d brought her up and he was a shit liar. “Anyway, she’s involved in a case I’m working so we’re meeting for dinner.”
Silence hung between them for so long he checked to see if the call had dropped. When he saw the clock on his screen indicating the amount of time he’d been talking to her he knew that she was still on the line.
“You are meeting her for dinner?” she repeated slowly.
“Yes.”
“Like a date?”
“No... it’s not... we just need to go over some things and she suggested we do it at dinner.”
“What does she look like?”
“Why?” Asher asked with an edge of harshness in his voice that he hadn’t meant to have.
Asher and Jenna hadn’t been together for years and even though he fully admitted that he was a shit husband, she was the one that left. Not him. But he could tell that his reunion upset her.
She’d always been the only woman of significance in his life. He knew that she didn’t love him, but he was pretty sure she loved being the only person he’d ever loved.
“Oh my God, you like her, don’t you?”
He wasn’t sure how his ex knew that. There was no way she could possibly know that.
“It’s not like that.” It’s more than that.
Asher didn’t just like her. He was drawn to her. He felt a connection with her that he couldn’t explain.
Over the past week, she was the first thing he thought about when he woke up and the last thing he thought about before he fell asleep. Like didn’t really come close to encapsulating what he felt.
“Wow. What does Blake think about you going on a date with the woman from the shooting?”
“It’s not a date, and Blake doesn’t know anything about it. And I’d appreciate you not saying anything.”
“Wait, she doesn’t know you’re going out tonight or she doesn’t know that the woman you almost died protecting is in Hope Falls.”
“Either.”
“What? Why haven’t you told her?”
“You know why.”
“I know she’d be upset, but she’s going to be even more upset if you lie to her.”
“I’m not lying to her.”
“Yes, you are. You’re lying to her by omission.”
Asher was truly regretting telling Jenna any of this. He should have simply done what he always did and handled what he was going through on his own. This is what happened when he opened up about things.
“I’ve gotta go.”
“Okay, well, have fun on your date and good luck with Blake. Teenagers love it when their parents lie to them.”
He hung up the phone and wondered if keeping the development from Blake was really the smartest thing to do. Maybe his ex was right.
No. What would the point be in upsetting her.
It was one night. One dinner. Nothing was going to come of it. There was really no need to poke the bear. But if his daughter found out who Ava was, a bear would be the least of his worries.
