Page 8 of For Your Consideration

“Keep walking, Sutton,” he said, his voice low in my ear. I looked up at him and was surprised to see he looked pissed off. The frown wasn’t new, I’d seen it on him before, but the clenched jaw and narrowed eyes were. I had no idea why but instead of asking him about it I just did as he said and kept walking.

Neither of us spoke as he followed me to my car. I grabbed the keys from my bag and unlocked it, pulling the driver’s door open. The thing was old, red with some rust along the wheel wells, and it made a weird noise. But it ran and was safe enough for Sophie. The backseat always looked strange without the car seat but I never left it in there since I needed Iris to have it in case of an emergency. Asher’s big tattooed hand wrapped around the doorframe.

“Thanks for walking me out,” I managed. My voice sounded weird.

Too high? Too nasally?

I needed to relax.

The silence stretched on long enough for me to blurt something out in my discomfort.

“Is it just a coincidence that you were always coming to the diner and then Quinn came in and offered me a job?”

“Quinn needed an assistant,” he replied in a monotone voice without missing a beat. I tilted my head, trying to get a read on this guy, but I just couldn’t.

“Have you been back there since that night?” He just blinked at me for a few moments, clearly not interested in answering my question. “Well…” I looked at his hand still holding my doorframe. “I should get going.”

Iris was waiting at home and I think she had plans tonight to play bridge with her friends. She had a more exciting social life than I did. Which made me laugh when we talked about it but it only made Iris scold me.

“Enjoy your evening.” Asher pinned me with a look that seemed like an accusation.

“Do we have a problem here, Asher?” I crossed my arms over my chest. “You seem pissed at me, which is something I don’t usually experience from someone I don’t even know.” His jaw tightened for a moment before he opened his mouth to respond, but we were interrupted by a honk of a car horn. I jumped at the sound.

“Ash! Are you coming?” Quinn called. I looked over to see her standing next to an SUV. Everyone else was already in the car.

I let out a sigh and decided to climb into my own car. There was no need to hang around while Asher stood there like he couldn’t decide if he wanted to grunt at me again or not.

“See you around, Sutton,” he said in a low voice.

Better than a grunt, I guess.

I ignored the fact that my name in his accent sent shivers down my spine. He shut my door and stepped back as I started it and put it into drive. As I pulled out of the parking lot, I glanced in my rearview mirror.

Asher was still standing where I’d left him, watching my car. I was a little relieved when I turned the corner and he disappeared from my sight.

4

Asher

“Just tell me,” I said again through gritted teeth. Quinn laughed as she waved at the security guard at the door and walked into the club ahead of me.

“Sorry, Ash. Not my business to tell,” she replied as we made it to the VIP area where the music was quieter so I could actually hear her.

“Give it up, man. She didn’t tell you anything on the way here. I doubt she’ll change her mind now.” Noah slapped my shoulder as he walked past me.

I’d been trying to get Quinn to tell me why Sutton couldn’t come out tonight. She waggled her eyebrows at me in the car and when I asked if she knew the reason, she said yes but that she wouldn’t tell me, and it was pissing me off. And she knew it too.

If I solved the puzzle of Sutton’s clear exhaustion, maybe that would push her from my mind. And that was what I wanted. Needed, really. Because why the fuck was my body reacting?

Sure, her soft hair looked long enough to wrap around my hand, and her coconut scent went straight to my head. And yes, her hips looked just thick enough to grab a hold of. She was probably the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen

But my body’s reaction was because she was a puzzle.

I’d thought about asking Jaxson to run a background check but every time I went to tell him to do it, I stopped myself. It felt like an invasion of privacy and this mystery was mine to solve, not Jaxson’s.

“Took you guys long enough.” Oli shot us a look as we walked up to the couch.

“Ash is harassing Q,” Noah said as we all took our seats. Oli already had our drinks waiting for us, thank God, because I fucking needed it.