Page 34 of April (New Orleans #4)

“Y ou want me to quit?” Linden asked, taken aback.

“Not specifically quit, but you’d have to in order to do this with me. Of course, you could work with me part-time for a while, I guess, and then quit, but I thought we’d go all in and just do this together.”

“Ash, we’ve never really talked about this.”

“I know. But I want this with you. I want us to share it, whatever happens.”

“We just got together,” Linden said. “If we both leave Carolyn and do this, and it doesn’t work, we could kiss that house we just talked about goodbye.”

“You said if anyone could do it, I could, like, a second ago,” Asher replied.

“And you can. I just don’t know that we both should.”

“Do you really not want to, or are you worried about the money thing? I have enough savings to do this for a while, and I’ll get us clients. You have clients. Monica and Bridgette would come with me, and Kyle and Mel would come with you. That’s a start, but I’ve also got a mile-long list of referrals who would follow, and they wouldn’t technically be Carolyn’s clients, so we wouldn’t have to worry about that.”

“I don’t want to,” Linden said softly. “Not yet , at least.”

“Oh,” Asher replied and quickly shifted off of Linden’s body until she was sitting next to her on the sofa, both of them still naked.

“It’s not because I don’t want to work with you. I do. We know we work well together already.”

“No, it’s fine. It’s just not what I thought you’d say, so I’m more shocked than anything.”

Linden turned to face her and knelt at her side, tucking her bare feet under her butt.

“Asher, it’s a lot. We just became a couple, and we’d be under pressure right away with this new business. I believe it can work, but babe, I don’t want to put more stress on this. I only found out an hour ago that you weren’t moving away. That’s one stressful thing we were able to avoid, but running a business together and being in a new relationship would be a lot.”

“You don’t think we can do it? You said you wanted everything with me. I thought…”

“Oh, I do,” Linden replied. “I want everything with you, Asher Hahn. I want that house, and I want to marry you one day because there’s no one else out there for me. It took us ten years to figure this out, but we’re finally here now. I want vacations with you and nights where I cook and we do the dishes together. I want the times where I tell you that you’re eating food that tastes awful, and you do it on purpose and tell me that I should be healthier.” She laughed. “And I want to work with you again one day, babe. I just don’t think that it should be tomorrow. Maybe in a year or two.”

“Wow,” Asher said, but she wasn’t looking at Linden.

“I’m sorry if you thought–”

“No, it’s not that,” Asher added. “I can’t believe she…”

“Ash?”

“Do you remember that fortune teller, psychic woman in the Square?”

“Uh… Yeah. She told me to embrace it. Now, I know what she meant.”

“Huh?” Asher looked at her then.

“She told me to embrace it, my feelings for you, and she was right.” Linden smiled at her.

“She told you that?”

“Yes. Why?”

“Because she told me that you’d say no to something. Well, she told me someone would say no, but she meant you, didn’t she? She said that you’d say no and that it would all be okay.”

“Shit. Really? When did you–”

“I ran into her today,” Asher said. “On my way home after I got your Po-Boy from Henry’s. She saw me and said that. I thought she was crazy, but I think she was talking about this.”

“Maybe she is crazy. Who knows? Crazy people can still be right sometimes, though.”

“But how could she know about this?”

“Babe, she guessed,” she replied, shrugging a shoulder. “You know how they all work.”

Linden wasn’t so sure about that statement anymore, though. Given what she’d learned from Bryce and what she’d experienced herself, she was starting to think that maybe this woman actually had some kind of gift or powers.

“Yeah, I guess,” Asher said.

“Hey, will you lie down for me?” Linden requested.

“We’re not having sex again right now, Linden. We–”

“Just lie down.” Linden laughed lightly.

Asher hesitated but did so, and Linden climbed on top of her and smiled softly, hovering above her.

“I’m saying no right now because I think it’s the smart thing to do. I believe in your business. I know you’ll kick ass.”

“We’d be competitors. You know that, right?”

“That can be pretty hot, though,” Linden replied. “Let’s say there’s a wealthy couple on the prowl for a planner, and we both pitch them… Think of the hot sex we’ll have when they choose one of us over the other.”

Asher smiled up at her and said, “We have pretty hot sex without competing for clients.”

“Then, we won’t compete for clients.”

“You can’t say that. You can’t help when someone wants you as their planner or if Carolyn assigns you someone.”

“Ash, I love you. I can promise you this: anything that could possibly get in the way of us, whatever that thing is, it loses. I guess I need to know if you starting your own company and me staying where I am for now is one of those things.”

“What? No,” Asher replied, finally wrapping her arms around Linden’s neck. “I thought you’d want to join me, but if you want to stay where you are, I want that for you, Linden. And if you told me that you wanted to take the Dallas job, after all, we would make it work, too.”

“I don’t,” she said. “I want to be able to take on a little more at work, but with you leaving, my guess is that I’ll get more anyway, and I’d like to test my own limitations. I feel like, in one way or another, I’ve always been second best.” Linden watched as Asher’s expression changed, so she added, “No, that’s not anything you need to own, worry about, or ever apologize for, Ash. You’ve challenged me every single minute since I joined the company, and you’ve always been there with tips and advice. I’ve relied on you since the beginning, and I kind of like the idea of having to be on my own a little, I think.”

“You want to do this on your own for a while.” Asher nodded, understanding now.

“Not too long,” Linden said. “And whatever I learn, I think I’ll be able to apply if you still want me to join you later. I want to be the best I can for you if and when that happens.”

Asher’s hands were on the back of her neck, moving into her hair now.

“You can’t tell Carolyn we’re together, then.”

“What? Why not?”

“She’ll always be worried that you’re going to leave with me. She trusts you now. She might not then.”

“She knows how close you and I are already. She’ll worry anyway. I just need to sit down and talk to her.”

“You think that’ll work?”

“I know she can’t afford to lose both of us right now and find someone to run the other office. I’ve got a long runway.”

Asher smiled up at her and said, “Okay.”

“When are you going to tell her?” Linden asked.

“I need a little time to get everything together. I’ll meet with Monica and make some calls. Then, we’ll see.”

“Well, I can keep your secret,” she said as she moved to settle herself between Asher’s legs.

“Oh, you can?” Asher smiled up at her.

Linden nodded emphatically and said, “I’m a very good secret keeper. I never told you that I was the one who kept stealing your yogurts from the fridge at work.”

“What?!” Asher laughed.

“You always bought the good stuff, and I always forgot a snack,” she said.

“Well, I’d say you’ve more than made it up to me by now, I guess.”

“Oh, you guess?” she asked, rolling her hips down into Asher.

Asher laughed and said, “We’re having sex again now, aren’t we?”

“Yes, we are,” Linden replied. “And, babe?”

“Yeah?”

Linden lowered her lips to hover just above Asher’s and said, “I am so proud of you. I can’t believe how lucky I am that I get to have this with you.”

“I love you,” Asher replied.

◆◆◆

“Whose bar is this?” Bryce asked.

“My friend’s friend,” Linden replied.

“And we’re here instead of our regular ones because…”

“This place is not open yet, so it’s less crowded, plus free booze if we help paint or tear down something,” Linden explained.

“Hey,” Asher said, walking over to them and hugging Linden from the side. “Is she trying to convince you to do manual labor, like the rest of us?”

“Yes,” Bryce said. “But, apparently, there’s free booze involved.”

“Where’s Soph?” Asher asked.

“Late work meeting, but she’s on her way now,” Bryce replied. “We can’t stay long, though. I’m going back home tomorrow, and then it’s back to LA in a few days, so we want tonight to be just us. I can help paint something for about an hour.”

“Hi,” Rory said, walking over to them. “This is Candace. This is her bar.” She motioned to the woman who was following close behind her.

“Hi, everyone. Thanks for helping. I need to get this place up and running soon.”

“Didn’t you win the lottery?” Linden asked.

“Yes. Now, I have enough to buy the place, remodel it a bit, and stock the alcohol, but I need to open it fast if I want to keep it open. I didn’t win millions, and this has been my dream for the past few years.”

“Can I ask you how old you are to have had the dream of owning a bar?” Bryce asked.

“I’m twenty-four. My uncle owned a bar before he sold it, so I grew up in the business. I went to bartending school, and I was planning on getting an associate degree in business or something, but then, I won the lottery, and this place was for sale. I snatched it up.”

“Well, I’m good with a hammer. I’m actually redoing my aunt’s place now,” Bryce shared. “So, point me wherever until my girlfriend gets here.”

“Cool. Thanks,” Candace replied before she walked off with Bryce.

“I’ve got more friends coming, too,” Linden told Rory. “I’m not sure how much help they’ll be, but there are four of them, and if you give them a beer, they can at least hold a paintbrush and aim it at a wall.”

“Thanks,” Rory said. “I wasn’t sure we’d get anyone to help. Candace doesn’t really have any family these days, and mine doesn’t live here. She has friends, obviously, but none of them could make it tonight because most of them are bartenders themselves, so they work nights. You two look good together, by the way.”

“Yeah, I think so,” Linden said, smiling over at Asher.

“So, it’s new, right?”

“A couple of weeks,” Asher replied.

“Or, ten years, depending on how you look at it.” Linden winked at her.

“Are you and Candace…” Asher pointed from Rory to Candace.

“Oh, no. Candace is straight. She has a boyfriend of, like, four years, I think. He’ll be by later to help.”

“But you’re not straight?” Linden asked.

“Oh, I…” Rory blushed and didn’t finish that sentence.

“Hey, why don’t we get started?” Asher suggested, looking at Linden with those eyes that told her to shut up because she was making the young woman uncomfortable.

“Yes, I’m here. Put me to work,” Linden replied.

“Don’t work too hard here. I want to put you to work later,” Asher whispered into her ear.

“You do?” she asked.

“Yes. There’s a certain plastic bin I thought we could pull back out.”

“Ash, if that was an option, why did we agree to come here to help?”

Asher laughed, kissed Linden quickly, and walked off to find Bryce and Candace. Just then, the front door to the bar opened, and Linden expected it to be Sophie or one of her other friends, but it wasn’t either of them. Instead, it was a woman who looked oddly familiar, but Linden couldn’t put her finger on where she’d seen her. She looked to be either in her late twenties or early thirties and had brown eyes and brown hair that seemed to match. She was attractive and a butch, if Linden had to guess.

“Um…” the woman began.

“It’s not open,” Linden replied. “If you’re here for a drink.”

“Oh. Got it.”

“But we’ll be opening in a few days!” Candace yelled from the other corner of the bar. “Come back on Friday.”

“Yeah, okay.”

Just like that, the woman was gone, but Rory now stood there looking like a deer in headlights with a blush creeping up her neck and covering her cheeks, too.

“You okay there?” Linden asked.

“Yes, I’m fine,” she said, obviously lying. “So, let’s get to work. This place opens on Friday.”

“We’re here,” Bridgette announced, bursting through the door.

“Hi,” Monica spoke, following her in. “Kyle and Mel are outside, too. We saw them parking as we were walking in.”

“And Sophie is right behind you, so maybe don’t let the door slam in her face,” Sophie added, pushing the door back open.

“Shit. Sorry, Soph,” Bridgette said. “Didn’t see you.”

“Babe!” Bryce yelled and waved Sophie over.

“We’re here to help, but I’m getting my girlfriend out of here in one hour. It’s her last night in town, Linden,” Sophie told her. “I want her all to myself tonight.”

“Understood,” she replied, laughing as Sophie walked over toward Bryce.

“You have a lot of friends,” Rory noted.

“Some new. Some old. You can borrow them anytime if you want. Now, let’s get started. I have to get home soon. Asher has plans for us, apparently, and I can’t wait to get to all of them.”

She wasn’t just talking about tonight, either.