“Maybe I can help you.” He glossed over my remark as though I hadn't said it. “I went to college for stuff like this, y'know.”
“Your dad said you dropped out.”
“Hey, that doesn't mean I didn't learn anything. Why not give me a try? It's not like you have anything to lose.”
He pretended to care, but it was an act, honestly. He'd done the exact same thing before, for the past five years, while he tried in vain to get in my pants. Probably pulled the same “knight in shining armor” crap with other women too.
“I don't need anyone else's help. I've kept this place going by myself, just me and Lana, ever since grandma passed it to me.”
He curled an arm around my waist. “It's okay to say you need me, Sarah. In fact, I rather like it when you do.”
I was annoyed – but at whom, I couldn't figure out. Asher, for being his usual cocky self? Or me, for having those awful butterflies in my tummy whenever he looked at me that way?
“I want you back in my bedroom, you know,” he whispered in that way he knew I couldn't resist.
“Funny how the topic changed so quickly. I believe we were just talking about my failure at business marketing.”
He gave my butt a rough squeeze, and I yelped loud enough to make Lana look curiously at me from over a shelf.
“You're gonna be my wife, and you're still playing hard to get?”
“Yeah. I'll be your wife for, what – a week after the contract's been voided? Not so sure I want to get close with you if this whole thing'll end in a month anyway.”
That was the difference between us. To him, sex meant little because he could get it from anyone in town. To me? Well, I wasn't built that way.
“Anyway, I'm sure my father is telling the rest of the Carringtons about my plan at this very moment. You should probably break the news to your side.”
The thought of doing that scared me more than anything. I only hoped I could still tell a believable lie with a straight face.
Chapter 12 - Asher
“How could you do this to me, Asher? Do you realize what you've done?”
Mom sat at the kitchen table blotting her teary eyes with her sleeve. Crumpled tissues were scattered around her feet. From the way she was carrying on, you'd think I just told her that I totaled her favorite car.
“What I've done,” I replied, “is propose to the woman I've always loved. I fail to see a problem with that.”
Hopefully, I made it sound legit.
She wouldn't look at me. The vegetables she had cooking on the stove began to smoke, setting off the fire alarm.
Macy breezed into the kitchen right away to give the food a stir. Clearly, she had been hovering in the hallway, eavesdropping as she loved to do.
“Oh, don't be so dramatic, mom.” She flicked on the stove's fan. “You've been begging him to get married for years now. Thought he'd never do it.”
She winked at me. I knew what it meant; I'd be owing her a favor later for sticking up for me. Macy wasn't the sort who helped anyone out of the kindness of her heart.
“That's right,” I said, fumbling with the shrieking alarm until the batteries fell out. “You're getting exactly what you wanted. Isn't this the reason dad tricked me into signing that contract?”
She huffed. “I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. Whatever contract nonsense your dad came up with was his own doing.”
“Yeah, and I'm sure when he told you what he was up to, you didn't protest.”
She played with her nails, freshly manicured and painted bright pink. Just the other day, she'd had to get them fixed after breaking a few in that catfight with Sarah's mother.
“You're almost thirty, son. Seeing you gallivant around town with one fling after another breaks my heart.”
“Well then, you should be pleased to know I won't be doing that anymore.”
“If you think anyone will believe you really love this girl, you're quite mistaken.” She nudged Macy aside and began scraping burnt bits off the pan. “You say you've felt this way about her all this time. If that's so, how do you explain the constant stream of slutty women circulating around you, hmm?”
It was a good question, and one for which I hadn't come up with a real excuse for yet. There was only one thing I even could say.
“I've had feelings for her for ages now,” I said with a shrug. “But we were constantly seeing other people, and we're technically business rivals, besides. Fate always got in the way of us being together.”
She was quiet for a long while. It was a good cover story, and easy to tell it with a straight face – because I really had wanted Sarah for years.
But was it just lust, or something more? The latter one scared me. I decided firmly that I would put it out of my mind here and now.
“Cheer up, mom,” Macy added. “Sarah's a nice person. There's way worse chicks he could marry.”
Like Rosa. That was the last time I'd be letting my sister set me up on a blind date.
“I'm sure Sarah is perfectly sweet, but Asher, you can't marry her.”
She threw the spoon down on the counter, splattering droplets of liquid across its marble surface. Tears had returned to her eyes. What in the hell had gotten into her? What did she have against Sarah?
“I'm pretty sure I can marry whoever I want. The contract doesn't exclude her, now does it?”
She
