He looked like a scolded child as I stormed across his room and stopped at the edge of his bed."You have humiliated me for the last time, Asher Creed.""Layla, I'm...""Shut up," I scolded and held up my hand."You have to believe me. I would never...""If you cut me off one more time, I'm going to make you regret it." I glared at him. "Now like I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted not once but twice... is that you have humiliated me for the last time, Asher. You've hurt me worse than anyone could ever hurt me on more than one occasion. You've dragged me through the mud more times than. I'd like to admit." He looked so sad right now, but I continued on, "and when most people would turn their back and run for the hills. I didn't. And you want to know why?""Yes," he whispered."Because I fucking love you. I still love you after all these years and I can't stop no matter how hard I try. You've always been it for me, Asher. Even when people told me to stay away or tried to ke
Apparently, we missed Harper and Tate's departure this morning as they left for their honeymoon. Which meant we all had one more night at the cabin before we had to check out the next morning. A few people had already left because they lived far away and had to get back to work, but I was glad I wasn't going anywhere just yet.Then my mind went someplace dark and I looked over at Asher who sat next to me on the couch. His feet were up on the coffee table as the fireplace crackled beside us. I was laying long ways on the couch with my legs draped over his lap and a glass of wine in my hands.I let the dark thoughts enter my mind and I felt nauseous and anxious. I had one more uninterrupted night with Asher and then what? I lived in Seattle. He lived in San Clemente. Two states away from me! How did this work now? He couldn't give up skateboarding and I couldn't give up my job. I love it too much and I busted my ass to get that job, but as I looked at Asher, I had a feeling that if he
My heart pounded as we made our way back through the woods toward the cabin. Someone was still in these woods watching us; I could feel it. The feeling of knowing someone was watching was unsettling and I just wanted to get back to the cabin and lock ourselves back in his bedroom where unseen eyes couldn't watch us.The wedding party had dwindled down to just a handful of people and they were all sitting on the deck. The outdoor fireplace crackled from a fresh log and as we joined them, Asher grabbed my hand and held it tightly.I could feel Asher's anger rolling off of him and I had no idea what he was about to do."Who the fuck was just in the woods?" He growled as he glared at every single person on the deck. They froze in their spots and stopped speaking amongst themselves with pure shock on their faces.Hell, even I felt scrutinized by him and I wasn't the one he was yelling at. He still held my hand tightly as he pulled me closer to his side.It was as if none of them could spea
I wondered when he had gotten that done because those two letters had started to fade.He didn't move or say a word as I traveled down to his jeans. I unbuttoned them and tugged at the zipper before I hooked my thumbs into the top and slowly pushed them down. His gaze held mine as his mouth slightly opened. I wanted to scream with excitement at how calm Asher was as I undressed him. I was in complete control and I felt like a boss.Asher lifted his feet out of his jeans as I stood back and appreciated the man standing gloriously naked in front of me. My mouth watered at the sight of him and I wanted to reach out and touch him, but I didn't.Our gazes locked on each other as I slowly undressed right in front of him. I was careful to go slow and sultry to tease him. He ran his perfect teeth over his bottom lip as his eyes left mine and trailed over my body. I heard him let out a small growl and I knew he enjoyed the view of my naked body just as much as I enjoyed his.The room filled wi
"There must be some important stuff on that thing if you're staring at it all the time," I joked, trying to lighten the mood.He grinned and tossed his phone onto the bed next to him as he sat up and lunged forward to grab me. I nearly tripped as he pulled me between his legs when he sat back down. I giggled as I steadied myself against his shoulders."Well, I'd love to stare at you all the time, but let's be realistic here," he mumbled as his face pressed between my breasts. "You smell amazing."I giggled like an idiot again. If he even knew what his scent did to me, he would be ravaging me all over again right here and right now."Who were you talking to?" I blurted out as I closed my eyes. Why did I have to ask that? It was his own business and I shouldn't' be sticking my nose where it didn't belong."My manager," he replied right away with no hesitation.His manager. That meant he would be going right back to work when he got home tomorrow. What was I expecting to happen? That he
I was a coward.A self-righteous one at that. And for what? It didn't matter anymore because after tonight, Asher Creed was bound to never speak to me again.The headlights from the oncoming cars were burning my tired eyes and I just wanted to sleep, but sleep wouldn't come.Mark was driving, thankfully, so I rested my head against the cold window and stared into the darkness. I knew I shouldn't have left the way that I did, but I just couldn't face Asher again. My heart hurt and I knew it was over.After mine and Asher's talk, I went and grabbed a beer and hid from him. I saw him come downstairs, searching for something, or rather someone, and knew it was me. Once everyone was asleep, I came out of my hiding place, snuck into Asher's room to grab my things, and woke Mark from a dead sleep. Now we were headed back to the city. Back to our lives.And I was a giant coward for it."You okay?" Mark's voice broke me from my thoughts as I sat up and stretched."Fine. I just want to get home
Then I stood stalk still in my living room, my head spinning from the wine and my own adrenaline, and knew I needed to sleep. Come tomorrow morning, when I could think more clearly, was when I'd figure out what to do. Until then, I needed to pop an aspirin so I didn't have a hangover in the morning, and then go to bed..~~~~My alarm woke me from a dead sleep at exactly 6 am, the same time I got up for work every morning, but today felt different than the other mornings. Today, I knew I had a stalker that followed me home from the cabin and now knew where I lived.Unsettling feelings of anxiety tore through my stomach as I tried to get ready for work and when I was about to head out the front door, my phone rang. Mark's face flashed across the screen and I couldn't answer it fast enough."Mark!""Layla! What's wrong? Is everything alright?" He sounded panicked, just how I felt."The creeper from the woods. He followed us. He was here." I was nearly out of breath as I spoke as calmly a
I ate my lunch in my office, still shuffling through the hundreds of models we had and putting some profiles together to see if Tyler wanted any of them for the new campaign, but I secretly knew he wouldn't. I just needed to make it look like I was doing something.Then my office door flew open and Tyler came in with a giant grin on his face."Why does your smile make me nervous?" I asked, leaning back in my chair as I studied his actions."Because you're going to tell me that you found a model to use." He nodded toward my computer. "Show me the lucky guy.""Guy?" Shit, I didn't think he wanted strictly a male model, there goes half the models from the list that I just put together. "Don't be upset..." I winced as I turned my screen around to him.He looked at the faces again and then scowled at me. "You're lucky you have a boss that loves you.""What does that mean?" I whispered, staring up into his stone features, he wasn't giving me any indication on how he was feeling. Was he angr