Page 54

CHAPTER

FORTY-NINE

ASHER

T he second that Asher stepped through the lobby doors of the hospital, a gust of freezing wind pummeled him, sending him back a step.

Karlin didn’t even flinch.

“I won’t miss the worst wind in the United States,” he said, taking hold of her hand and gesturing toward where he’d parked his rental car. Another rush of air slid across the open expanse of the hospital parking lot, drowning out any hope of hearing Karlin’s reply.

He opened the passenger door for her, holding it tightly so it wouldn’t slam shut while she was getting in, and finally, he managed to make it into his own seat.

Turning the key in the ignition, he turned up the heat as high as it would go, deciding at that moment that he would never complain about San Antonio weather again.

Karlin picked up a small stack of old-school mixed CDs that he’d stuck into the center console. Now that the airline had actually returned his luggage, he had something decent to listen to at last.

“You brought all of these with you? Really? No YouTube or Spotify down south?” she teased.

“Nevermind the CDs,” he said, laughing as he yanked ‘Asher’s Top Ten’ from her grasp. “I want to talk about the other thing. The real thing.”

“What real thing?” she asked innocently, not quite meeting his eyes. “God? Faith?”

“No,” he said quickly, shaking his head. “I mean, yes, but–”

“Then what?”

The woman was maddening.

He leaned over until his face was inches away from hers, but this time, he wasn’t going to give her the escape route of a kiss. Instead, he took hold of her hands and waited for his eyes to meet hers.

“I want to talk about this ,” he said, his voice coming out in a hushed breath. “Us.”

He could tell by the blush rising in her cheeks that she enjoyed his touch, but that didn’t fully erase the worry he could see in her bright blue eyes.

“Yeah, I’ve been thinking about that,” she stammered. “You–you’ve helped me to see so much that I’ve been missing, and I’m so thankful to have met you. It was–it’s been a good time together.”

His stomach felt like it had just been filled with rocks. He’d heard words like this before, more than once.

“Hold on. That sounds like what girls say when they dump me. Are you dumping me?”

“I mean, you live all the way in San Antonio,” she said, fidgeting beneath the weight of his gaze.

“You have a great family, and a whole life there, and I don’t know what’s going to come next for me.

I know I’m going to be stuck here for the foreseeable future.

There’s the trial for Senera, the trial for Dana…

I have to try to keep helping John, somehow, which means I need money, which means I need some kind of well-paying job–”

“All I’m hearing are reasons that you still need me , Karlin,” he said, cutting her off. “All of the ways that I can help you and be there for you. Did you really think I was going to help you tear everything in your life apart and then just leave you to deal with the aftermath alone?”

She said nothing for several long seconds.

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

The look in her eyes was enough to shatter his heart.

But before he could wrap his arms around her and assure her he was absolutely not going anywhere, she spoke again.

“I guess I just can’t believe that you really want this to be something real. Something lasting. That you want me, when no one else in my life, aside from my brother, ever really has. And then when I think about the distance…I don’t know. It’s a lot.”

He didn’t argue with her.

He leaned closer toward her until he could wrap her in his arms, ignoring the bite of pain as one of his plastic CD cases jabbed him in the ribcage.

“Of course it’s a lot. So what? I want you.

I want you, always. And if it costs me something?

That’s even better. A treasure worth having never comes cheap. ”

KARLIN

Karlin considered Asher’s words as the butterflies in her stomach threatened to lift her away.

Everything he said felt too wonderful to be real, but there was no mistaking his sincerity. Ever since she’d met him, he’d made it clear he cared about her and would do anything for her, even risking his own life to protect her more than once.

She no longer doubted that maybe he really did want her.

But there was one more thing she had to say first. One more thing she had to be sure of, if she was going to find the courage to move forward.

“Asher?”

“Yes, sweetheart?” he said, pulling back just enough for her to be able to look at him face to face.

“It’s my turn to sound dumb. There’s something I really need to say before I...before I can really believe this is happening for me. Just a few words.”

He grinned, his eyes growing mischievous in an instant as he brought his lips dangerously close to her own.

“Say it,” he demanded. “Out loud.”

Her heart seemed to stop beating.

Clearly he knew what she was trying to confess, and it still didn’t stop him from poking fun at her. Not that she could have reasonably expected that he was going to stop driving her insane any time soon.

“Vampire,” she said with all of the drama she could muster.

He laughed, still refusing to break eye contact. Clearly, jokes aside, she was not getting out of this.

“You know, you could just say it for me,” she said.

“You’re the one with a fear to face,” he argued. “Besides, you just associated me with Edward Cullen, so we’re clearly destined to be together for all eternity. It’s a little late to get all shy.”

“Hold on. You associated you with Edward Cullen!”

He pressed a finger to her lips.

“You argue too much.”

“You annoy me too much,” she retorted.

“But?”

He paused, waiting.

She drew a shaky breath. There was no way out of the trap she’d set for herself. He was way, way too stubborn.

“But I love you, okay? Goodness! I love you. Even if it’s way too soon, and you couldn’t possibly love me back yet, and I’m totally ruining everything?—”

He moved his finger out of the way for a split second before capturing her mouth in a long, perfect kiss.

By the time he finally pulled back, the fear had melted away, right along with her ability to think straight.

“Not only do I love you,” he announced, “but I love you so much that I am liable to do really stupid things if we don’t get out of this car and into the cold shower that is Amarillo in November.”

She withdrew her fingers from where they’d apparently become entwined around the back of his neck. “I’m sorry, you’re right. I wouldn’t want to lead you to, you know, do something that might be against your faith. Our faith, I guess. I’m new to this God thing, but–”

Asher grinned. “I was thinking stupid things like ‘drive over to a jewelry store and ask you to marry me on the spot,’ but your mind went somewhere else.”

Karlin felt her jaw dropping open. “Hold on–”

“Sweetheart, it’s okay,” he said. “I don’t blame you. Not with my kissing skills, my body, and my charm. Just like Bella Swan, you are indeed a mere mortal.”

She swatted him on the back of the head, and within seconds, they were bickering all over again.