Wherever You Go

by Amanda Torrey

  “Don’t try to act innocent with us.”

  “Okay,” she agreed. “Would you mind moving so I can get into my car, please?”

  The woman with the cheetah print blouse piped up, “That’s not your car! That’s Ash’s!”

  “I stand corrected.” Paisley rolled her eyes. “And he’s expecting it back, so if you’d so kindly…”

  “Bringing him coffee, huh? Isn’t that a cute attempt to seduce him, ladies?”

  The other women nodded in exaggerated agreement.

  “Asher never lets anyone drive his Ferrari.”

  “He let me,” Paisley responded, getting more and more annoyed as the moments ticked by and her coffee cooled off. “And I’m not exactly sure how this relates to any of you.”

  “You need to stay away from our Ash.”

  “You’re no good for him.”

  “You don’t even belong here.”

  She looked from face to face, amazed that there was a Mean Girls of Healing Springs squad.

  “Look, I appreciate the Welcome Committee sending you out to greet me,” Paisley snarked, “but really, I have to go before my coffee passes its peak of perfection.”

  “You can’t have him,” one of the women snapped, hatred dripping from her words.

  “I don’t want him.”

  She should have played along, let them worry that she was, indeed, something to worry about. They were so damned offensive in their approach. And they needed to learn to mind their own damned business. But she had reacted to their assumptions in the worst possible way. By becoming defensive.

  Two of the women wore matching sneers, but the third one seemed to soften a bit, looking suddenly uncertain about their approach.

  “Maybe we are coming on a bit strong…”

  “You think?” Paisley snapped, her patience for this day expiring.

  “It’s just… Asher is always doing things for other people. And we’re tired of watching him get used. We’ve known him forever, and we’re very protective of him.”

  Brunette chick piped up. “And if you hurt him, you’ll have us to deal with!”

  Oooh. Shaking.

  Paisley resisted the urge to laugh out loud at their preposterousness, but barely. If they didn’t move out of the way, she’d have to show them how a city girl dealt with bullies.

  “Look, ladies. You’re worried about nothing. But if you think these little antics are going to drive me away, you’re going to be disappointed. I’m here for the long haul.” She paused and watched their faces fluctuate between irritation, hatred, and shame. “But don’t waste your time and energy worrying about your precious Ash. I have no interest in him whatsoever.”

  They parted as she forged toward the door, ignoring the glares as she settled the coffee tray onto the passenger seat, carefully tucking her purse around it so there would be no spills. She revved up the engine, smiled broadly at the Mean Girls, waved, and peeled off down the street toward Asher’s house.

  Chapter Five

  “I told you what would happen if you used again! Get the fuck out of my house.” Asher blocked Ricky from pushing past him to get to the stairs that would lead to Izzy’s room. “You aren’t going anywhere near her in this condition.”

  As soon as Asher had arrived home, he noticed his Xbox was missing from the living room. He didn’t care about the damned game system—he never had time to play, anyway—but the convenient theft could only mean one thing.

  His suspicion had been confirmed as soon as he spotted his brother on the couch.

  “I wanna see my baby girl.” Ricky’s slurred words came out as a growl, but his eyes drooped closed as his body swayed. He opened his eyes, and with a lazy grin, began to scratch at his face. “Why you bein’ such a daddy figure? I’m the daddy here. You ain’t even got a girl.”

  Ricky let out a series of short, punctuated laughs. Asher stared at him, wondering how much longer he could scratch that one spot on his face before he wore a hole in his flesh.

  “You’re in no shape to be a father to anyone. Get out.”

  “Okay, okay, brother of mine.” He stumbled toward the door. “I didn’t do anything, though.”

  And Asher was the Pope…

  “Stay away from my garage, too!” Asher followed Ricky to the door, muttering, “I should have let you go to jail.”

  He didn’t expect to see Paisley standing there, hand poised to knock.

  Ricky swayed in front of Paisley, his smile growing bigger as his eyes drooped lower.

  “Maybe you do got a girl,” Ricky looked Paisley up and down, nearly falling back in his exaggerated attempt to look sober. “I get it. You want me to leave so you can have some time with this,” Ricky’s burp interrupted his slurred statement, “babe.”

  Ricky leaned toward Paisley and whispered, loud enough for Asher to hear, “Can I watch?”

  Asher shoved Ricky aside, grabbed Paisley’s arm to pull her in the house, and pushed Ricky out, not giving a hoot that Ricky stumbled down the stairs. Asher closed and locked the door.

  “I’m so sorry you had to witness that.”

  He had to give her credit—she looked nonplussed by the ordeal.

  “Witness what?” She smiled, feigning ignorance and melting his decaying heart.

  “Everything go okay with the ride today?” He wished he were a drinking man. He certainly felt like he deserved some form of relaxation after the shitstorm of a day he had had.

  “Your car is in perfect condition. The guys at the tow lot took selfies with the car, but they treated her like their own precious baby. They were extremely impressed. Even parked her in her own special spot away from the other not-as-cool cars. Their words, not mine.”

  His shoulders relaxed a bit. He had almost forgotten about the Ferrari ordeal after his brother’s relapse.

  “And she drove like a dream.” Paisley held the keychain out to him. “Thank you so much for the loan.”

  He reached out to grab the key. He allowed his fingers to linger on hers for a moment before she released her grip.

  “Looks like your day was worse than mine,” Paisley said, studying Asher. “You up for a cup of coffee?”

  He allowed himself to smile through the stress and anxiety. Their last coffee date had ended in her cottage. How would another one end?

  “As long as you don’t mind having it here.”

  She was damn good at hiding her feelings, but he caught the glint of disappointment in her eyes before she shuttered the reaction.

  “Are you allowed to have friends over?” She smiled and tucked her adorable chin over her slender shoulder.

  Was “coffee” the new code for “finish what we started?”

  Just the idea of going in for another round had him stirring in his jeans. Change the subject. Change the subject.

  “My niece. She lives here. Temporarily, but yeah.”

  Paisley’s mouth formed a little “O.”

  “How old is your niece?”

  Asher closed his eyes and nodded.

  “Thirteen.”

  “Ooh, lucky you.”

  Paisley’s tone implied he was anything but lucky.

  “Yeah. It was a bit of a shocker. That’s why I was coming from court the day we met. Temporary custody until her father cleans up.”

  Awareness lit her face. She had really assumed he was a hardened criminal, hadn’t she?

  His body stiffened as he stood face-to-face with the truth. She had heard he wasn’t a lawyer and had made the leap that he had done something awful to warrant a court appearance.

  “How’d you find my house, anyway?”

  “I’m very resourceful. And this is a very small town.”

  “Huh.”

  A button on her blouse strained against the volume of her breasts. He could see a bit of pink lace taunting him. For the life of him, he couldn’t stay mad when confronted with pink lace and the best rack he had ever seen.

  “I drove by your garage, but didn’t see my car. Sin
ce you weren’t there, I figured you brought it to your house. I planned to call my sister as we discussed, but I couldn’t bring myself to go home yet.”

  The thinking part of his brain struggled to hear what she was saying. He should ask her what was so bad about her day. That would have been the polite thing to do.

  But if he spoke a word, it would have been an invitation into his bed, and though she oozed sex appeal, he wasn’t sure if that’s what she was really looking for.

  She was being nice at the moment, but he got the feeling that she looked down on him.

  He couldn’t blame her. She was some big attorney. He was a mechanic. She was a professional. He was almost always covered in grease. She wore pristine white blouses.

  Yeah, she was feeling grateful while he was feeling horny.

  He’d probably get pepper-sprayed if he made a move on her.

  A thumping sound pulled his gaze away from hers and had her springing into action.

  She opened his front door and watched as Ricky, who had apparently been sitting against the door, fell in, passed out.

  “I take it he’s your brother?”

  He closed his eyes and swallowed his sigh.

  “Will you believe me if I say I don’t know him?”

  Such was his life. Constant embarrassment. He had learned to live with it. To accept it. But now, in front of the one woman he wouldn’t mind impressing, the burden was crushing.

  “Is he okay?” Paisley leaned down to examine Ricky.

  Asher pulled her back.

  “No, but this isn’t the first time he’s passed out. I’ll get him onto the couch.”

  “Let me help.”

  “No. I think you should go.”

  She hesitated, and he looked away so he couldn’t see the pity on her face or the shock at his harsher-than-planned-but-probably-necessary tone.

  “I can stay. Help you out…”

  Asher crossed his arms over his chest, wishing she hadn’t been so resourceful, that she hadn’t brought her gorgeous self to the front door of his horror show of a life.

  “What’s this about, Paisley? I asked you on a date, and you made it clear what you thought of that idea. What are you doing here?”

  She bristled and reddened slightly around her neckline. “I came for my car.”

  “I’ve never had a customer come to my door after business hours. Forgive me if I can’t see your true motivations through the mixed messages.”

  Asher normally considered himself to be a quiet, introverted, sort of shy guy. Paisley brought out a more brazen side of him. And between his raging desire he couldn’t combat, his disappointment at her rejection, and the hell he had been dealing with all day regarding his brother, he couldn’t stay quiet.

  “I thought maybe you could use a friend.”

  “I don’t need a friend. Now if you don’t mind, I have stuff to take care of.”

  Her voice was all professional with no hint of her earlier softness when she said, “Thanks again for taking care of my car.”

  “That’s what I do.”

  He hoisted his brother over his shoulder and delivered him to the couch, checking his breathing just in case.

  When he turned back to where Paisley had been standing, she was gone.

  Chapter Six

  “I did something really stupid.”

  Paisley buried her head in her hands, not sure why she chose that particular moment to spill her guts to her baby sister.

  Maybe because Simplicity had grown in maturity since meeting the guy she considered her “soul mate.” Maybe because she had kept the peppermint tea flowing all evening since Paisley returned from Boston. Maybe because Paisley had disrupted her life as a successful attorney in Boston and moved to the small town of Healing Springs, New Hampshire with no notice and, admittedly, not much forethought.

  That wasn’t the stupid she had confessed, though.

  The stupid that currently had her head spinning, her stomach twisting, and her fantasies looping non-stop had far more dimensions than a life relocation.

  “Ooooh, you did something stupid!” Simplicity clapped her hands together and bounced in her seat, shaking the table and making the teacups jiggle against the floral-patterned saucers.

  “You don’t have to sound so gleeful.” Paisley rubbed her temples and then pinched the bridge of her nose.

  “I can’t help myself. Usually I’m the only one in the family who does the stupid things.”

  Paisley arched her brow. “Harmony?”

  Simplicity stopped bouncing and sobered. “That’s different. We don’t know what she’s doing or why she’s doing it.”

  “Considering she’s made her living as a stripper, I’d say she wins the stupid prize.”

  “Exotic dancer,” Simplicity corrected. “And there’s nothing wrong with expressing yourself through the artistic movements of your own naked body.”

  Paisley sighed. She knew they shared the same parentage, but she had no idea how she and her sisters could be so different.

  Paisley had hoped the mention of their absentee sister would change the direction of the conversation she now wished she hadn’t started, but Simplicity was like a bulldog when it came to sniffing out a bone and digging it out of the good dirt on her sister.

  “So, back to you,” Simplicity’s cheerful-again voice rang. “Was it something stupid or someone stupid?”

  Paisley maintained her courtroom face, but she had to admit that keeping her jaw from plummeting to the table was a difficult task. Sometimes Simplicity made Paisley believe that she truly did have some third eye or something.

  “Ahh, so it was a someone. Anyone I know?” Simplicity reached for a muffin from the center of the table, took one bite, and placed it on her napkin.

  Paisley wished she could eat. Nerves had kept her from properly nourishing her body, and she had already lost five pounds in the week since she had moved to town.

  “Doubtful.”

  “Someone from Boston?”

  Paisley felt all color and signs of life draining from her face. Why hadn’t she stuck to Boston for her man-hunting?

  “No? Wow. If you were going to do something that you considered stupid, I totally would have thought you’d have kept it in the city.”

  Paisley crooked her lip and scowled at her sister, wishing she had kept her mouth shut about the whole thing.

  “A Healing Springs man? Who?”

  “No one you know, I’m sure.”

  “Try me. I’ve been meeting a lot of people in this town through my volunteer work.”

  Paisley shook her head.

  “Oh, come on! I won’t tell.”

  Paisley remained silent.

  “He’s not the kind of guy you would have run into.”

  “That sounds snobby even for you, Paisley.”

  Paisley studied the inside of her wrist, where a small bruise reminded her of his mouth sucking on various parts of her body, leaving love marks where she least expected to find them.

  “Okay, I respect your wish for privacy, and I trust that you’ll tell me when you’re ready to share.” Simplicity stood, never able to remain still for long.

  Paisley watched as her free-spirited sister flitted around the kitchen for a moment before pulling out the chair closest to Paisley. Simplicity sat and leaned forward, her gaze intense and her curiosity obvious.

  “Just tell me this… Did your spirits connect?”

  Paisley leaned back in her chair and sighed, lost to the memory of the late afternoon sunshine on his bare arms as he held her against the wall. Of the sweet, sensual musk of their combined scents as their bodies rubbed together in a sweet promise that was never fulfilled. Of the heady combination of silkiness and hardness as she ran her hands over his skin. Of the way he whispered her name in her ear in a tone so reverent, she could easily forget that she had never bothered to learn his last name.

  “Something connected, but I wouldn’t call it our spirits.” She couldn’t tell her sist
er that her one real attempt at a one-night stand had ended without an ejaculation.

  “Ooh, ooh, oooooh!” Simplicity bounced again, her voice rising to a soprano pitch. “When will you see him again?”

  “Hopefully never.”

  That had been the point of the whole dreadful/insanely delicious affair. An anonymous, casual encounter to help her feel better about the mess her life had become. She still couldn’t get over their second and third encounters.

  She wished she could hold on to the early memory of the moments before the misery.

  “Did he turn out to be mean?” Simplicity frowned. “Ethan seemed really mean sometimes when we first met, but he turned out to be a wounded bear who needed to feel comfortable enough to open his heart to me. And now he’s just a gruff teddy bear. Not gruff with me, though, except when we’re roleplaying…”

  “He wasn’t mean. And please don’t tell me about your sex life.”

  Simplicity giggled.

  “So maybe you should try another date.”

  “No.”

  “Did he reject you?”

  “No!” Paisley gasped at the suggestion. “Why the hell would you think that?”

  Simplicity held her hands up in surrender. “Just trying to figure out why someone who makes you—the impenetrable wall of justice—blush like a young maiden from a fairy tale wouldn’t deserve a call back.”

  “It wasn’t an audition.”

  “Too bad. Sounds like he would have had the part.”

  Paisley rolled her eyes and began to clean up the table.

  “I’m done with this conversation. Please don’t mention any of it to Reed. I shouldn’t have even said anything to you.”

  “I’m glad you did. And I won’t tell Freedom.” Simplicity wrapped her thin arms around Paisley’s back as Paisley stood at the kitchen sink. “It’s nice to be in your world, even if you only let my little toe in.”

  “Technically it would have to be your big toe, since it sticks out further.”

  “I love your geekiness.” Simplicity squeezed her sister’s waist.

  “I’m not a geek.”

  “Whatever you say!”