“Mango sorbet,” Piper said.
“That’s what Daddy always gets,” Mara said, and I was pretty sure Bexley turned a little green. “It’s his favorite.”
“Mine too,” Piper said with a big smile.
I laid my hand on Mara’s head. “You know what, baby, let’s go order. If not, we’ll never get to dinner.”
“Yay! Come on, Daddy.”
She grabbed my hand, and if it weren’t for that, I might have never walked away. I had so many questions. My palm itched to run to touch Piper’s face, her hair, to know that our blood was the same.
Not now, I told myself. I’d waited this long, so a little longer would be okay.
While Mara ordered a sugar cone with bubblegum ice cream, I couldn’t worry about her having too much sugar. I was too busy tapping out a text to Bexley.
aston: Text me as soon as you’re free and tell me what happened.
She didn’t reply.
Little Aston ordered a waffle cone with two scoops of chocolate peanut butter, and I decided an hour at the arcade was in order. Mostly so I could clear my head.
Bexley
Back then
Seth was a nice enough guy. Sweet when he wanted to be, and fun (sort of). He’d put himself through college because his parents insisted. With no resentment, he worked hard, chipping away at his college loans and making a living. We weren’t from the same side of the tracks, but a whole heck of a lot closer than Aston and me. We were a better fit.
Except when it came to Mike and Milly. From the first time I introduced them, Seth decided they couldn’t get along. “He’s too rich for my blood,” Seth would say about Mike.
As I’d sucked down drink number three at Milly’s engagement party, I admitted to myself that Seth had never wanted to come. He’d said yes, but then he caught a cold. Here I was solo, Aston staring me down from across the room, and I needed a human shield. Like a magic potion, his eyes drew me into his bed every time I saw them. I couldn’t go there tonight. Wouldn’t go there.
I liked Seth all right. He was nice enough, and he liked me for me.
“Aston Prescott.”
I’d been so deep in thought, convincing myself Seth was the one, I hadn’t noticed Aston making his way toward me. Now he stood before me, giving me his campaign-worthy greeting, and my panties were exploding.
“Hi, Aston,” I said, trying to sound calm. All of a sudden, I was burning hot in my little black dress. I tried to touch my cheek without him noticing, to see if it was warm to the touch, and wondered if it was pink.
“Looking good, Bex,” he said, putting his arm around my back and drawing me close for a soft kiss on the same cheek I’d just checked. If it wasn’t red before, it absolutely was now.
“Thanks.” I maneuvered out of his light grasp for my own sanity. Being in Aston’s arms brought back too many memories, most of them good, but too hurtful to think about.
“Having fun?” he asked, never taking his eyes off me, even while signaling something to the bartender. A fresh Scotch, I presumed.
“Oh, you know how much I love this club.”
Milly just had to have the party at the club where she met Mike. Never mind it was the same place that marked both the beginning and end of my love life.
I have Seth now rattled in my brain.
“I know, it’s bittersweet. We had a lot of good times here. But I’m running Federal now, and I think my dad may trust me soon to really take over.”
“So, you want me to wait? Wait for your dad to decide I’m good enough for you?”
Looking at him in his dark slacks, his white shirt open at the collar and its sleeves rolled up, I decided I could. Wait, that is.
“I know it’s a lot, but I want to be able to support us, you know? I need the business to do that.”
It was always the business. “You know, Aston, I’ve told you a million times—and not that it matters now—but that door is closed. Slammed shut. But I never cared about the business, or you supporting the two of us in the way you grew up. I cared about you. I’m sure anything you did would be successful, and if there were bumps, there’d be bumps. We’d survive.”
He gathered me close again, and I silently cursed Seth for not being here. To protect me. To protect himself from what I knew would happen with Aston. My heart and body were unable to resist him. A few more minutes in Aston’s arms, and I’d be his.
“I appreciate that,” he said, “more than you can know. But my dad ruined my mom’s life and their marriage over this business. It’s my cherry on top, and my mom wants—no needs—me to have it. I have to do this for her.”
“I get it, you’re still a pawn in their game. Your dad pulls and your mom pushes you. You’re going to have to grow up sometime, and I can’t say I’ll be here when you do.” They were my words, but I was only brave enough to share them courtesy of the alcohol.
Aston’s eyes squeezed closed. He looked hurt, as though I’d physically struck him, and I couldn’t deny how that wrecked me. And that empathy for him would be my downfall.
“I’m sure it looks that way, Bex, but I have to see this through. Let’s not let it ruin this night for Mike and Milly . . . or us.”
His lips brushed my cheek again, this time lingering, his warm breath cascading over my skin, his invisible grip holding tightly to my heart.
“Another?” he whispered into my ear.
I didn’t know if he meant a kiss or a drink. Either way, I nodded, wanting to whisper yes, both please, but I bit my tongue. We’d been down this road before, and it didn’t matter if we were older
