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After an unknown amount of time and innumerable number of tears, I raise my head to find I’m in Asher’s lounge, in his lap, straddling him, and a wet patch on his tee from my tears.
All my earlier emotions and fears rise again but I shove them away. I need to keep myself in check. I had my moment of weakness. Now it’s time to get answers, even if they are ones I don’t want to hear.
I try to climb from Asher’s lap, but he holds fast. “Stay.” I drop my head. A finger beneath my chin lifts it. “Ask me again, Kenz.”
Swallowing back the knot of emotion in my throat, I ask him again. “Did you know my dad was already dead?” The words come out clear and strong, not a quiver in sight, but inside, my body is trembling. I try to pull away and drop my head again. Asher’s not having any of it. One hand slides up my back, tangling in my hair while the other takes hold of my chin ensuring my eyes stay locked on Asher’s.
“Listen real good, Kenz, ‘cause I’m only saying this once. I did not know your dad was already dead.” Each word is enunciated perfectly, forcefully and if I was in any doubt before, I’m not now. “Now, let me ask you a question. Do you honestly think that if I’d known I would have stood by and let this town tear you apart?”
“No,” I utter, terrified of what my admittance means.
“No, that’s right, Kenz. Because I would have burned this town to the fucking ground for you. Burned it all down.”
This right here, what Asher is doing, is why I had to leave. He is my undoing, tearing me open, but as his lips find mine, I forget it all and just feel.
ChapterEighteen
Ikiss her, cementing my words. I’m getting pissed at having to reaffirm my feelings for this stubborn woman. And I’m even more annoyed that she’s doubting me in the first place.
I make sure that my actions and words are abundantly clear on where I stand and what she means to me.
My grip on her hair tightens as she rolls her hips, and I break the kiss before it goes any further. Don’t get me wrong, I’d fuck her again in a second, but that’s not what she needs right now.
Kenzie’s breaths are shallow, panting as I pull back, and her eyes are closed. I nip at her chin, and she moans.
“Fuck me! You’re really testing my restraint right now. But we need to talk.”
The instant those words leave my lips, the atmosphere changes. There’s no quicker way to kill the ‘let’s fuck’ vibe than with those four words; four words no one wants to hear. She tries to climb from my lap, but that’s not happening.
“No fucking running, Kenz. This is not that kind of talk,” I say, tightening my grip on her hair again and making her back arch. The move has her breasts thrust forward, and I’m so damn tempted to suck one through the thin material of her top, but I don’t. Not even as she lets out another fucking moan that has my dick jumping beneath her.
“If you want to talk then I think you’re going to need to let me go,” she says a little breathlessly.
Despite my reluctance, I know she’s right and do just that. She climbs from my lap, dropping down into the seat next to me. She immediately lifts back up and pulls my phone from beneath her.
Handing it to me, I’m reminded of what I just discovered before she arrived. I take it, resting it on my lap, but before I show her, I need her to tell me why she thinks that her dad was already dead.
“Thanks. Now, start from the beginning. Why would you think your dad was already dead when Nolan and I got there?” As I ask the question my mind is transported back to that night remembering that Nolan found his dad and was on his way back to me. I never actually checked Archie’s vitals and assumed that Nolan would have.
Kennedy’s hands rest in her lap, fingers twisting against one another as she begins to explain.
“My meeting this morning was with Doctor Edwards. He requested to see me via his granddaughter, Lily.”
I frown at that as I never knew that Walt had any kids let alone a granddaughter, but I keep it to myself and let Kenz talk.
“He told me that my dad didn’t die of smoke inhalation like we all thought. He was murdered, and Doc Edwards was forced to put the fire as the cause of death. He was threatened like my…”
“Like your dad,” I finish for her.
Her eyes snap to mine. “How do you know that?” she queries, suspicion once again lacing her words.
“Jesus Christ, Kenz, stop looking at me like that.” She has the decency to at least look a little ashamed of her constant doubting of my motives.
“I’m sorry, Ash, but can you blame me?” There’s a bite to her words, and in all fairness, I’d be the same if it was me. “So, how did you know my dad was being threatened?” This time the question is still accusatory but more in the way of why didn’t I tell her before now instead of her thinking I’m involved.
“A couple of weeks before your dad and Nolan died, I was at yours with Nolan and saw your dad holding a piece of paper with letters cut out of newspapers or magazines. I didn’t see all of the letter because he put it away before I got the chance, but I got the idea. When I asked him about it, he just told me it was some disgruntled resident complaining about the new development.”
“Figures,” she says with a roll of her eyes.
