Page 72 of Pieces of Ash

“What you must think of me,” she whispers, placing her hands on her bright red cheeks and staring down at the floor in misery.

“I think you’re beautiful,” I say softly. “I think you’re kind. I think you’re a little sad.”

She raises her head, and I realize she has tears in her eyes, which I hate. I am desperate to reach for her, to hold her just for a minute, but I know it would comfort me more than her.

“But I don’t think you’re dirty,” I say, somehow knowing that she needs to hear this more than anything else. “I don’t thinkyou’re bad, and I don’t think you’re fast. Ashley, I…Ilikeyou, just the way you are.”

Over the course of the past week, my jury has been out on Ashley, but as I say these words, I realize they’re true. I still think she has secrets, and I don’t trust her completely, but I have yet to see a way that she can hurt me. She hasn’t brought anything to my doorstep except sweetness. Whatever else may happen between us, she doesn’t deserve my disdain anymore. She deserves to feel welcome in this house. She deserves a chance.

“Are you just saying that?”

I shake my head. “I wouldn’t lie to you. I don’t lie. Ever.”

“How doIknow that?”

“You don’t,” I say. “But I hope you’ll take my word for it.”

“Are you going to take advantage of me?”

“I’d like to,” I say, risking a grin because she’s so damn young and sweet. I reach up and whisk a tendril of blonde hair behind her ear. “But I won’t.”

“I don’t know how to trust you,” she says, her eyes so serious as they search mine.

“Hmm. How about this?” I hope I won’t regret the next words that come out of my mouth. “If you’re worried about me taking advantage of you, then I promise I won’t make another move on you. I won’t kiss you again. I won’t even reach for your hand. Nothing. I promise. Not unless you want me to. Not unless youaskme to.”

Her entire body relaxes, a smile tilting up her lips, tentatively at first, and then she’s smiling at me, the tears in her blue eyes receding, and damn if I’m not smiling right back at her, because Ashley Ellis is not a woman easily resisted.

“Okay?” I ask her, holding out my hand as though making a deal we should shake on.

She nods, taking my hand in hers. “Okay.”

Chapter 14

Ashley

It’s almost midnight by the time Gus and Jock hug me good night.

“Can’t remember when I’ve been so spoiled. Thanks, little Ash,” says Jock in his half-British, half-American accent, which I’ve grown to love. He turns to Gus, his eyes full of tenderness. “I’ll go get the car started, Gigi.”

Noelle insisted on clearing the table and washing the dessert dishes, and she has pressed her brother into service, so we are alone on the front porch when Gus embraces me. “Youare quite a lady, Ash. I’m so proud of you, I could burst.”

His words make me flush with pleasure. “The wines were perfect. Thank you for bringing them.”

“That dinner was sheer perfection. Thankyoufor inviting us.”

The sounds of Julian and Noelle washing dishes come through the screen door. Over Gus’s shoulder, I catch a glimpse of Julian replacing a vase I used. His gaze meets mine, a small smile warming his eyes, and I swear I can feel a shot of heat all the way to my toes.

Gus lurches back, placing a hand over his heart. “Oh, Lord! You’re smitten, peaches.”

“Stop,” I chide him, but the truth is, I don’t knowwhatI am.

Ever since he kissed me, all I can think about is kissing Julian again. Sitting across the table from him at dinner, I felt myself withdrawing from the conversation around me, from Jock and Gus’s banter and Noelle’s encouragement for Gus to tell more stories about models and actresses behaving badly. I stared into Julian Ducharmes’s eyes, and I was lost in them.

“Jock likes him,” says Gus. “My P.C. said that even if Julian seems prickly, he’ll look after you while we figure things out. Apparently, our boy has a protective streak as long as his, ahem, well, you know.”

I roll my eyes at Gus.

I love it that Julian is protective. I’ve seen it in the way he speaks to his sister, the love he has for her, the way he looks after her.