"Aren't you going to shower?"
"Nope."
"But you're covered in… me."
"Exactly." He swats my ass on the way to the closet.
I grab a pair of panties, slip them on, and head to the kitchen. A few minutes later, he walks in, and my throat goes dry. I did the best I could with my appearance, which was basic at best. He, on the other hand, looks thoroughly rested and hot as hell.
I slide his insulated mug to him, openly gawking like a lustful hussy.
"You wanna walk into that furniture store today on your own?"
I squint, tilting my head in confusion.
"You keep looking at me like that, you won't be walking anywhere."
I jerk, my eyes dropping to his groin, which has an obvious bulge.
"I'm rethinking my obsession to have this bedroom set ordered."
"Fuck me." He scrapes his hand over his jaw. "I'm changing my office hours starting tomorrow."
"Perk of being a partial owner." I wink, sipping my coffee. "And we agree that this house needs to be christened."
My phone rings from the counter, pulling my attention to it. Stephanie's name pops on the screen.
"Answer it, I'm gonna leave so I can get shit done."
I swipe to connect the call. "Good Morning!"
"I sure hope it was a good morning because I'm about to ream your ass! I'm sitting up here in Charlotte, thinking you need time to adjust. Living on your piddly messages and wondering if you are truly okay. Then I learn you are moving in and playing house with Miller Kendrick—who, by the way, you already knew?" She's shouting so loud I wince at the ding in my ears.
Miller chuckles hearing her rant.
"Ummm, things are kind of happening fast."
"Fast! These fucking Kendrick boys defy the speed of time."
He tops off his coffee, coming to me and hooking a hand behind my neck. "I'll text you when I'm on my way. Seriously, Princess, make yourself comfortable." He kisses me quickly, flicks a wave, and heads out the back door.
"Hey, Miller?"
He twists his neck to glance at me over his shoulder.
"I'm really glad my dad didn't shoot you."
His smile takes over his face, and his eyes glitter with amusement. "Yeah, Princess."
I lean over to follow the view until he gets into his truck.
"Hello! I'm still here."
"Sooo…" I draw out. "I may have some things to share."
"You bet your ass you do. Lucky for me, I had Scottie clear my schedule this morning. Spill it!"
"Well, where should I start?"
"At the beginning. I want the whole shebang."
I take my coffee and go into the living room, settling in Miller's favorite chair. Like a good friend, I follow her instructions and begin at the beginning.
•—•—•—•—•
I stare blankly out the back window, struggling to concentrate on what Mom is saying. The roaring in my ears and twisting in my gut grows strong with every word she says. After a beat of silence, I realize she's no longer talking.
"Ashlyn, are you there?"
"Yes, Mom, I'm trying to reign in my temper before I blow the roof off this house."
"He took me off guard, honey. But I think I held him off your trail."
The 'he' in question being Brock Donner. My old boss, and former lover, who phoned my parents' house today.
"You did nothing wrong. He's fishing. I should have thought to change my emergency contact information with HR before walking out. That's my mistake."
"The thing is he was charming, seemed genuinely concerned about your well-being and health. Asked all about the family, figuring you relocated to Atlanta. He even offered to be a reference for your new employer."
"Like I said, he was fishing for information."
"Your dad may think he's a slickster, but today he was nothing like the high-powered attorney we met the few times in Chicago."
"Dad is right; slickster is a friendly way of putting it. Mom, he gets paid a hell of a lot of money to turn on the charm. He's lucky Dad didn't answer the phone."
"Yes, I guess. That could have gone badly.”
“You think he believes I'm in Atlanta?" Considering Ian knows I'm in Charleston, this seems highly unlikely.
"I didn't dispel his assumption, only confirming you were doing quite well, we'd spent time together, and you were settling into a new life outside of the big city. I knew better than to get personal and redirected the conversation back to him."
"Sure he loved that."
"Yes, well, I think he was onto me. I learned that one of your former paralegals is having a baby shower next month, and she's pleading for you to be there. Some attorney is getting married, and she's distraught about your disappearance because she wants you in the wedding, and there's an intern from Columbia who's built his academic career on working under you. I thought you said you didn't have any close relationships in your firm."
"Jesus," I groan, snatching a beer out of the fridge. "Mom, he's playing you. The pregnant paralegal is having an illegitimate child with a Senior Associate that cheated on his wife. The girl is young and stupid with no sense of morality. The Senior Associate denied the paternity until it was proven, and now she's blackmailing him so his wife doesn't bring him down and damage the reputation of the firm. As for the attorney getting married, it's out of convenience and she had no intention of even inviting me to the wedding. The intern, that's another bullshit story because they'd never allow me to have a male intern under me." I pop off the cap and swallow half the bottle in one gulp. "They don't want me, Mom! They want the revenue and billable hours I can bring to their bottom lines. Now you see why I wanted away from that circus?"
"Yes, I can understand." There's an edge to her tone that I know well. I may be thirty-four but she's still able to send a tremor through me with a look and 'the voice'. "When things calm down for you, we are long overdue for a conversation of exactly
