Page 51 of For Your Consideration

I let out a sigh, relocking the door before I went into the kitchen to open the bag. Inside there were three different kinds of ice cream—strawberry, vanilla, and chocolate—as well as both red and white wine.

A small smile broke out on my face because though Asher might not be here, and that was a little sad because I could have used a hug, he’d still managed to get me what I wanted.

Grabbing my phone off the counter, I tapped his contact. The phone only rang once before he picked up.

“Asher.” Why the hell were there tears in my eyes?

“If I didn’t get the right kind of ice cream, I can get more.”

“You did not have to do this.” My voice cracked.

“You wanted wine and ice cream.”

“Thank you,” I sighed and leaned against the counter. “I’m not going to lie, I was a little sad you weren’t at the door.” A nervous laugh escaped me. Why did I say that? It was the exhaustion. “But thank you, this is great.”

All I heard was a grunt before there was another knock. My steps were quick and this time when I pulled the door open, Asher was standing there. He moved his phone away from his ear.

I didn’t wait for him to say anything. Instead I just wrapped my arms around him. I settled against his thick chest as his big arms wrapped around me, his chin coming down to rest on my head. I would have burrowed into him if I could. Standing like this made me feel safe, made me wonder if I’d ever felt as secure as I did wrapped in his arms.

Guess this was what Sophie was obsessed with. And I had to say, I understood.

“Let’s get inside, sweetheart,” he mumbled from above me after what I’m sure was only a few minutes but didn’t feel nearly long enough. I reluctantly nodded, then pulled back.

His eyes bounced over me, almost like he was taking stock, cataloguing every out of place hair and the tear stains on my cheeks.

I cleared my throat and then moved back to the kitchen. I heard him slide the lock into place before following behind me. “Did you have a hankering for ice cream?”

“Something like that,” he muttered, joining me in the kitchen. “Did I get the right kind?”

“Chocolate anything is my favorite, but I like a little bit of vanilla mixed in,” I said as I pulled out some bowls.

He was quiet for a moment, which wasn’t unusual, but something about it had me glancing back at him. He wasn’t looking at me but at the sink where the tap was supposed to be.

“That happened earlier. I was turning it on to wash some dishes but the damn thing just popped right off. I need to call the landlord but that didn’t happen today. I’ll try him tomorrow.”

He scowled and then looked back at me. “How did you get water?”

“Bathroom.” I shrugged. I was working hard not to let my head get away from me. I didn’t care if he was judging me—I was doing the best I could. “What do you want?” I held up a bowl, distracting him from the sink.

“Your combo sounds good.”

I got to work serving us both before pushing him a bowl and just popping up on the counter to eat rather than moving to the table. Asher leaned his hip against the counter beside me. He was in a T-shirt, which I hadn’t noticed before. It was unfairly showing off his corded, veiny forearms and offering a better view of his tattoos than I’d gotten before. Then I realized he was in athletic shorts, revealing his muscular thighs. He’d never looked so casual.

“Did I pull you away from something?”

“Just the gym. I was finished,” he replied before we fell into a comfortable silence, the ice cream soothing some of the discomfort from my day.

“Sorry for hugging you before.” I continued eating my ice cream, paying very close attention to it. “I was just overwhelmed.”

“Sutton.”

I glanced up at his firm tone.

“Why are you apologizing for that?”

“You said you don’t like being touched.”

He’d mentioned it at the zoo when someone had bumped into him.