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I wasn’t with Mark Armstrong anymore. I shouldn’t have let him do it in the first place. I should have left months before I finally gave up on him. But I hadn’t. I’d had to learn my worth all over again. After a few short months with Ash, I knew that I didn’t deserve anything that Mark was going to throw my way.
I wouldn’t shrink back. I wouldn’t be made smaller. Not this time.
“Actually … I didn’t.”
Mark blinked at me. “Didn’t what?”
“Miss you. I didn’t miss you at all.”
Mark stumbled over his scoff of disbelief. “Of course not. You’re playing second fiddle to Ash Talmadge now, aren’t you?”
“If you mean that he loves me, then, yeah … he loves me.”
Mark snorted. “Sure he does. Keep telling yourself that.”
“I don’t have to tell myself that when he tells it to me all the time.”
Then, Ash appeared smoothly at my side. He wrapped an arm possessively around my waist and pressed a kiss to my neck. “You were brilliant.”
I looked up at him with the brightest smile. He hadn’t even acknowledged Mark when he came over to claim me openly in front of him. It was perfect.
“Thanks.”
“I missed you,” he told me. Then, he stole my bright red lips for his own.
Mark made a noise of protest, and Ash broke away to find him standing there.
“Oh hi, Mark,” Ash said with a grin that said he knew precisely what he was doing. “Surprised to find you here.”
“Why is that?” Mark ground out.
“Because I thought it was clear that you were unwelcome.”
Mark’s eyes rounded. “You’re just a desperate piece of trash, still recovering from your bullshit with that Greer girl.”
Ash met my gaze and shrugged. “That’s a lot of words for him to tell me he’s jealous.”
I snickered, which only pissed Mark off more. He took a menacing step forward. I would have backed far away from that, but not with Ash at my side, holding me firm in my convictions.
“You fucking asshole.”
Ash held his hand up, stopping Mark in his tracks. “What did you say to me the last time we met? Oh, right. She’s my girlfriend, not yours. You’re not wanted here.” Ash reached forward and straightened Mark’s bow tie with a flourish. “So, leave.”
“Amelia,” Mark said, redirecting his anger.
“I really don’t want to hear it, Mark. I dealt with enough while we were together. We broke up. I left. No one believed me about you, but now, maybe they will.” I gestured to the crowd of people surreptitiously watching our altercation. “Maybe I wasn’t crazy after all.”
I didn’t wait for him to say more. I took Ash’s hand and walked away from my ex. My hands were shaking with anger at the fact that he’d shown up and the terror of standing up to him. I’d always wondered if I had done that when we were alone, would he have hit me? So instead, I’d stayed small and quiet and submissive. I didn’t have to be those things ever again.
“He wanted a fight,” Ash said.
“He did. I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction.”
“Plus, I don’t want to ruin my new tux.” Ash ran his hands down the front of the suit. “Would have been criminal to get his blood all over it.”
I laughed sharp and abrupt at the words. “Since when did you become a comedian?”
“I don’t start fights, Amelia, but I damn sure would have ended it.”
I’d seen him do it before, and I was glad that it hadn’t gotten to that point. I didn’t need him to defend me. I’d done that on my own. But oh, it had been sweet to see Ash do it as well.
“He’s not worth my peace.”
“It’s good to hear you say that.” He offered me his hand, and when I placed it in his, he kissed it. “I don’t want anyone to make you feel less than ever again.”
“You never have.”
“Ah, I think I have,” he said softly. “In the past, I made you feel that way.”
“Not like Mark.”
“Maybe not, but not good either. And I don’t want you to ever have to go through that again.”
“I love you,” I said, kissing him.
“I love you too.” He took my hand and pulled me toward the dance floor. “Now, dance with me.”
This wasn’t a debutante ball. The music was slow, but no one was waltzing around the floor. I put my arms around Ash’s neck, and his slid around my waist. We swayed to the music in perfect sync, as if we’d been doing this our whole lives. I rested my cheek against his suit and closed my eyes, relishing the moment. Today had been trying, and I wanted this to stretch out forever.
But I couldn’t be that lucky.
After the slow song ended, the music turned upbeat again, and we moseyed off the dance floor. Ash went to get me a drink, and I headed back toward my family. Kathy nudged my dad. He made an exasperated face at her and then intercepted my steps before I could reach everyone else.
