Page 8 of All That Glitters (Endurance #1)

Helen

My heart stopped. At least, that’s what it felt like with Ashton’s voice directly behind me and the touch of his hand at my elbow.

Even through the fabric of my suit jacket, his fingers were like a brand.

When our eyes met, his were devoid of anything resembling emotion.

Gone were the things I believed I’d seen when he’d come to see Hale.

I drew myself up. Posture perfect. Aloofness taking up residence in my body. “I’m fine.” I tossed the words over my shoulder. “Thank you. I can take care of myself.”

Neither man looked convinced.

Ashton didn’t let go of my arm. Instead, his fingers tightened. It was a slight pressure, but the insistence was unmistakable.

Brax didn’t make a move to intercede, but there was concern written all over his face. I didn’t know how to reassure him any more than I knew how to reassure myself that I’d be okay alone with Ashton.

“Still… Let’s get you some fresh air. Whiskey on an empty stomach can have adverse effects.”

“How do you know my stomach’s empty?”

“An educated guess. You’ve been to my mother’s parties before. You know she always has enough food for an entire European country in the kitchen, so no one ever eats before arriving.”

She never spared any expense when it came to her dinner parties. She treated everyone invited like they were the most important person, like they were royalty. Like they were part of her family.

“I can take care of myself,” I said again, trying and failing to pull free of his hold. His fingers only tightened. “And if I can’t, Brax can help me outside.”

I turned beseeching eyes on Brax as the words came out of my mouth and the poor man looked like a deer in headlights.

“He looks like he’d rather do anything else. Come on. I’ve got you.”

He tugged lightly and with irritation, I reluctantly fell in beside him.

He was nothing if not gorgeous in the black, tailored pants and gray-flecked sweater. Was it possible to be jealous of a man’s clothes, the way they fit his body? If so, I was jealous as hell. I’d never tell him that, though. I’d never so much as hint at it.

He led me through a set of doors that opened onto a flagstone terrace which ran the length of the house.

The stones had been brought from Italy when the first version of the house had been built. It had been added onto multiple times, but from one room to the next, it was hard to see what was original and what wasn’t.

Old family money. Glitterati wasn’t as well known as Andretti in the extended world of racing, but some of that old money made in Italy was brought to the US to build an empire that had yet to get live up to that promise.

And Ashton was the face and heir to it all.

The cold night air hit my face, and I felt like I could breathe again. Within seconds, my head was once more clear and focused.

“You can let go now.”

“I don’t want to take the chance that you’ll fall to your knees if I do.”

“You don’t have to worry about that.” I pulled, but he continued to hold onto me. I huffed in annoyance, shifted my stance, and slid my free hand into my pocket. “Fine. You win.”

“Most women would love it if I paid them this kind of personal attention.”

That smirk. That all-knowing glint in his eyes. He wasn’t wrong. We both knew it.

“I’m not most women.”

“You never have been.”

“So… You can go. Really. You wouldn’t want someone else to rescue a damsel in distress while you’re out here with me.”

“There are no damsels in distress here.”

Except me. I was a damsel. And there were several parts of me that were in distress.

This was one of those moments... I couldn’t let my guard down with Ashton and the longer we stood alone on the terrace while people laughed and talked inside the house, the more my resolve would falter.

I’d never been rude or short or curt or snarky with Ashton in more than a teasing manner, so my behavior was already suspect. Maybe only to me, though. Maybe Ashton didn’t care. Maybe he expected it. The shadows gave nothing away.

Part of my attitude had to do with Hale. I couldn’t help but wonder if I was being disloyal to him by spending any time alone with Ashton given their current rift.

The other part had nothing at all to do with Hale and all to do with me and what my traitorous heart and body wanted.

And why did it feel like the heat of Ashton’s touch got hotter the longer he held onto my elbow? My suit was made of slightly thicker material than most of my others. It was made to be worn in cooler temperatures and yet, I could be naked for all the protection it provided from Ashton.

“Do you remember the shell cottage at the very back of the property?”

That was a strange question to be asking…

“Of course.”

It was where the four of us hung out while growing up when Hale and I were staying at the house in Florida.

I was the only girl in our little group and no one ever thought anything of it.

We’d come in January for the race in Daytona and stay through March for the race in Sebring.

Our home, though, was in Atlanta where the headquarters for Troye, LTD was located.

“Did you know that it was already there when my grandfather bought the property? He lived in it while this house was being built. It was pretty rustic, then. No running water, no electricity. He had to have it completely gutted and remade. There used to be a shed not far from it where he’d bring a car, work on it until all hours of the night. ”

“I… I didn’t know all that.” And I was confused. “What does this have to do with anything?”

“Can’t a guy make conversation with an old friend?”

I didn’t buy it for a second.

“Sure.”

“I moved out there a few months ago. I found this house… Claustrophobic and stressful.”

“I guess I can understand that.”

He leaned closer and his voice dropped to a near whisper. His breath feathered against my ear. “I found some of his journals in a small closet. He would bring women to the cottage for trysts before he met my grandmother.”

“Oh.” I wanted to ignore his last statement, but was unable to. I also wanted to ignore the liquid heat traveling through my body that had nothing to do with him holding my arm.

“Must have made for some….interesting reading.”

Every part of me felt unsteady and unsure. I wanted to lean toward him, but I also wanted to melt into the wall at my back.

“Mm. You could say that. It was a side of him I never expected. Women threw themselves at him at tracks when he’d race. Seems he had a bit of a reputation.”

The apple didn’t fall far from the tree… I didn’t say it, but it was there, hanging between us. Ashton liked the playboy role and I liked to ignore it and pretend it didn’t affect me.

The Glitterati family fascinated me.

Francesca was the nicest, most welcoming woman I’d ever known. She wanted everyone to feel comfortable.

Leonardo gave off the opposite vibe. He was steely eyed, never giving anything away. Ashton took after him in that. Leonardo was no nonsense and he was all about winning. He didn’t care about the cost. He wanted the best and he demanded the best.

But anytime spent with them as a family… Leonardo would throw it all away for his wife. He melted around Francesca.

Brax was their nephew and in all the years I’d known the Glitterati family, I had never met nor seen Brax’s parents in person and Brax had rarely talked about them. Growing up, he lived with Ashton, Francesca, and Leonardo.

“I’m sure many drivers had that before the same as they do now.”

There were several unsavory names and derogatory terms used for the women that trolled races looking for hook-ups. I hated it. I wasn’t part of it, but I hated it just the same.

“There’s a dinner party inside. We should really get back to it.”

“We should,” he agreed. Then, less than a heartbeat later, “You should come out there. Visit me.”

And there it was.

“Ashton… What are you doing?”

He slid his hand slowly up and down my my arm and shuffled his body into my personal space.

So. Close.

So damn close I had to lean back into the wall, hard until I felt the roughness of the stucco. Cold seeped through the back of my suit jacket. Heat flowed from him through the front.

Hot and cold.

Ashton Glitterati to a T.

But this Ashton was different. This Ashton was someone I wasn’t familiar with and deep down I knew I shouldn’t trifle with him. He was controlled, but not. He was calm, but…not.

This unknown Ashton was even more of a danger to me and my resolute, but traitorous heart.

He pressed a hand to the wall beside my head. He didn’t say anything, he simply stared down at me. I tried to hold his stare, I really did, but I couldn’t. If I did, he’d eventually realize what he was doing to me, the hold he had on me that had nothing to do with physical touch.

“Ashton…” I breathed.

“I like my name on your lips. I’ve always liked it. In fact, I like everything about your lips.”

His words caught me sideways and absently, or self-consciously, or stupidly, I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth and the smile that crossed his mouth could only be defined as feral.

My heart beat wildly and I let go of my lip, but then, even more stupidly, my tongue darted out to lick where I’d bitten down a little too hard.

“Naughty girl, Helen. I wasn’t sure you had it in you.”

“Had what in me?”

I immediately regretted the word choice.

“Now isn’t that a question… Hm. I look forward to finding out the answer.”

I was afraid to breathe, to move, to speak. There was something so hypnotic about being with Ashton like this, outside in the dark, a house full of our friends and family inside. I was also confused. I had no idea what was going on and was completely out of my element with him this way.

“Are you all right?” he asked softly.

That was an interesting inquiry and one that seemed out of place.

“I… Yes.”

He pushed off the wall and put distance between us, not only physically, but when I chanced a look, lights from the house showed me what I had wanted to know. His eyes were cold, distant and I shivered.

“Good. As you said, we should get back to the party.”