“I'm no saint, but I have been honest with every woman that has hit my sheets. They know the score before anything goes down.” As much as it makes my stomach knot to think about him with all those women, I have no right to judge him.
“You’re right. I'm sorry,” I whisper. I heard him let out a breath and I swear I feel his whole body relax from across the cab of his jeep.
“So, tell me about your mom.”
“We’re not talking about my mom.”
"Why not?"
“Because my mom stresses me out. Talking about her gets me upset even when she's thousands of miles away.”
“Well, my mom is awesome. She works for me and my brothers doing office work at our construction company. She bakes us cookies at least a couple times a week and makes sure we eat lunch.”
I start giggling, thinking about him and his brothers, who are all built like redwood trees, having their mom bake them cookies and remind them to eat lunch.
"She sounds sweet,” I say, laughing because it really is nice. I hope one day I can be that kind of mom to my kids. “What does your dad do?” I ask stupidly.
“Dad’s the sheriff. He’s been a cop forever. Mom never worked till we graduated high school.”
“You’re really lucky. My mom was never really around,” I say, leaning my head back against the seat and closing my eyes. I can actually feel the sadness in my own words. He reaches over and squeezes my knee. I can’t deal with anyone feeling sorry for me, especially not him, so I change the subject.
“So your brothers work construction with you? And you work for my dad?” I ask, confused.
"We all work together. I started the business after I got out of the Marine Corps. Then, when each of them graduated from college, they bought into the company. I don’t work for your dad. My cousin owns a business that supplies security and bodyguards to businesses like your dads. Those that aren’t the norm. Every once in a while, he’ll call me in and ask me to check on one of his men.
"It’s great that you get to work with your brothers,” I say, thinking it’s good that he doesn’t work at the strip club. I don’t know how I would feel about dating a guy in that line of work. Not that we’re dating, I remind myself. “Your family seems really nice. Well, your grandma and brothers, do anyways.”
"We're all close. It’s not always easy working together but at the end of the day, we know that we’re family. Do you have any brothers or sisters?"
“No. My mom had bigger dreams than having a family,” I say as we pull up in front of my house.
The house is completely dark. The only light around is coming from the headlights of Asher’s jeep. “What the hell” I mumble, starting to feel nervous about going inside. Not because Asher is with me and we’re alone. This is more of a scared feeling, like when I have a bad dream and the fright stays stuck to you for a while after you wake up.
"Why didn't Mike leave a light on for you?" Asher asks, looking over at me.
“Uh… I don't know. I'm always home way before he leaves. Maybe he just forgot,” I say, starting to get out of the jeep. I stop when he opens the glove box and pulls out a gun. “What are you doing?” I ask in shock.
“Safety.” That’s all he says before he opens his door. I follow, opening mine. Before I even make it to the front of his jeep, he’s next to me, grabbing my hand. The warmth from his touch is soothing and I swear I can feel him rubbing his thumb back and forth against my skin. We start to walk up the porch when he stops me."Is there another way to get in the house?" he asks, turning towards me.
“My apartment is in the basement and has its own entrance," I tell him, looking around.
“Stay close,” he says softly. I hold on to the back of his shirt, walking so close that I don’t think you could slip a piece of paper between us. I can hardly see in the darkness. The only source of light is coming from the moon, cutting through the clouds. Walking around the side of the house, my heart starts pounding. It feels like it’s going to jump out of my chest. My breathing starts to pick up when I think about what happened the last time I went home after dark.
The night that I was attacked, I had been walking to my apartment from the subway. I passed the alley next to my building and a guy grabbed me from behind, covered my mouth then dragged me down into the shadows next to a dumpster. That’s where he proceeded to beat me. I fought as much as I could and was feeling dizzy by the time he stood over me, grabbing my head. I knew he was going to bash my head into the concrete so I closed my eyes and started to pray. Then, he was gone and I could vaguely see Beast attacking him.
Asher must notice me shaking because he stops and pulls me into his big, warm body. His arms go around me and I feel his lips touch my hair. He smells like spicy, warm man and it makes me want to crawl into his skin. He pulls my face out of his chest and brings his face towards mine.
“It’s okay, baby,” he whispers, putting his forehead to mine. “I won’t let anything happen to you. I want you to breathe deeply for me, okay." I am so caught up in how close he is that I can’t think about anything but leaning in and touching my mouth to his. I shake my head, trying to clear it, and take a deep breath. I wonder if he can read my mind because even in the darkness, I can see the white of his smile.
“You ready?” he asks. I feel his breath against my lips so I pull my face away and nod, not trusting myself to speak. My apartment door is down a short set of stairs. Asher's in front of me and he opens the door. “Stay here until I come and get you,” he says, entering my dark apartment.