Wherever You Go
Page 20
She couldn’t speak. Seriously—couldn’t think of a single response that was adequate. He had won. This round. Every round. Her heart. Forever.
“If you don’t like the ring, we can pick something else.”
“The ring is beautiful, Asher. Perfect, actually.”
Her eyes filled with moisture. He leaned forward to kiss her, but she turned her head.
“I can’t.”
Paisley hoped he could hear the words through the squeaky tone that had wrapped itself around them.
“Do you love me?” He growled the words.
She nodded, biting her lip. “I do love you. Oh, god, do I love you. I never thought this was something I’d be capable of, to be completely honest.”
“Then don’t try to pull away from me.”
“I can’t do this.” She inhaled deeply. He watched her chest rise and fall. “This whole thing,” she gestured over her chest and abdomen, “is life changing. A total game changer. And I can’t drag you into this sort of thing. You’re young. Virile. You deserve a full woman, Asher.”
Tears slipped out of her eyes and trailed over her face. He reached out and grasped both sides of her head, stopping the trail of tears with his big, rough thumbs.
“You’ve got me all wrong, Pais.”
Her chin snapped up and the tears dried.
“Oh, how you hate to be told you’re wrong.” He smiled and kissed her gently and chastely on the lips.
“I can’t lie—I’ve greatly enjoyed your breasts. They were perfect. Except for the fact that they were trying to kill you.”
She laughed and blushed.
“Paisley, your breasts aren’t what I love about you. You want to know what drives me wild? Your eyes. Your smile. The superior way you walk through a crowded room as if you own it. Your cute little earlobes. Your sexy-as-hell hips and thighs. Did I mention your ass? And that tickly spot behind your upper arms. Pais—there’s so much I adore about you without the distraction of your breasts and the threat they bring. Without the threat, I’ll have more time and opportunity to appreciate your other assets. The parts of you that I love far more than something as simple and shallow as breasts.”
She stared at him, wondering how he could be so different from any other man she had ever known. Was there a Planet Hot Man where gorgeous, compassionate, sensitive men were hatched, trained, and sent to women who didn’t know how much they needed a second half?
However he had been created, she liked what she saw. What she heard.
A conniving look passed over his face, and she wished she could jump into his head to experience his thoughts.
He stood up and paced around her bed.
“You have a lot of healing and recovering to do, so I’m not going to pressure you. I don’t want an answer from you now. I want you to focus on your recovery. If you want to fantasize about what dress you’ll wear to our wedding, that’s fine.”
She smiled and bit the inside of her cheek. She rather enjoyed this cocky, overconfident side of him.
Her smile must have urged him on, because she watched his chest puff out further as he casually strolled back and forth in front of the bed.
“Asher, there are things we need to discuss—”
He held up a hand to interrupt her.
“Yeah, yeah, I know. You’re going back to Boston. That’s fine. I’m portable. Matter of fact, I already put a deposit down on a nice garage in a decent part of town just outside of the city. Are you familiar with Newton? If you don’t want me and Izzy to move into your apartment, we’ll find someplace together. As a family. Izzy won’t be there forever, but I know she wouldn’t mind leaving the small town world for a while.”
“This is impossible.”
“Nope. Not your concern. Let me handle my stuff, and you worry about what kind of flowers you want at our wedding.”
She shook her head and grinned a mischievous grin.
“When did you get so bossy?”
“When I realized I had to fight fire with fire.”
“Oh, so now I’m a dangerous substance that can kill you?”
He grinned and winked. “Well, kind of. But you can also warm me more than anything else in the world.”
He knelt before her again. She tried to reach out, but he noticed her wince and stopped her from lifting her arm.
He shielded the concern in his eyes, which was good because there was nothing she despised more than pity.
“Oh, no pressure, but I’ve got things all set up for you at my house. Simplicity agreed to come stay with you, and I’ve followed the nurse’s recommendations to a T.”
“No pressure, huh?”
Her throat clogged with every emotion she had wanted to express. And unlike the Paisley who could win any argument in a courtroom, she found herself speechless and overwhelmed.
He had done so much for her. For his brother. For his niece. For his community.
How could she ask him to take on a baby when their relationship was in its infancy?
“Asher,” she cleared her throat and willed her Courtroom Self to stiffen her resolve. “No pressure, but how do you feel about being a daddy?”
He laughed out loud.
She remained serious.
His forehead wrinkled.
She burst into laughter, then hugged a pillow to her chest to ease the pain.
He rubbed her knees while she told him all about her volunteer time in the NICU, her relationship with Pippin, and Pippin’s mother’s request.
She watched in awe as this perfect man’s face lit up. He looked as excited as she felt.
Her heart grew. Bigger. Bigger. Bigger.
“She has a few more weeks in the NICU, and she’ll have her challenges. I’ll have time to heal, and we’ll have time to prepare. But if you don’t want to commit…”
“Hell yeah, I want to commit!”
She pursed her lips in an effort to get him to kiss her. He obliged without hesitation.
“Oh, and I hope you can get that deposit back, because I’m moving permanently to Healing Springs.”
His chest swelled.
“Figure I can hang a shingle and be the best small town lawyer that town has ever seen.” She paused and cocked an eyebrow. “But first, I will finish the ice cream season in style. And maybe I’ll work on my first novel before propping that shingle.”
Asher leaned in cautiously, yet with the strength and protection she had come to love about him. He hovered in front of her face, his lips millimeters from hers. Electricity zapped between them, and if he didn’t kiss her soon, she’d hurt herself pulling him to her.
He must have known she was about to do something stupid, because his lips met hers in a feather-light touch that spoke volumes about how much he cared about her.
“I don’t want you to regret this.” He punctuated each word with a tiny kiss along different parts of her lips.
She pulled back the tiniest bit—just enough for him to stop distracting her. “The only thing I’d ever regret is if I didn’t take this chance. I think I’ve known all along that I’d end up madly and passionately in love with you. Not that I would have planned it,” she joked. “But you are the best detour I’ve ever taken.”
“So you’ll continue to detour with me, even if we have no clue where we’re going?”
“Absolutely,” she laughed. “I don’t even need a fancy sports car.”
His face scrunched up as if she had punched him in the gut.
“Oh, sorry. Too soon?”
He grinned and kissed her more deeply—but still gently—and murmured a promise to love her forever and ever.
“And we’ll live happily-ever-after?” she asked, smirking at her attempt to sarcastically defuse the mushiness.
“You’ll be writing about me in every one of those romance novels, my love.”
As all of their moments together flashed through her morphine-dulled brain and she watched him apply cream to her feet and she imagined him holding little Pippin in hi
s massive arms, she knew that she would absolutely model every hero after him for as long as she lived.
More From Amanda Torrey
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Books by Amanda Torrey
Teen Fury Trilogy (Young Adult Paranormal)
Unleashed (Book One)
Embraced (Book Two)
Atoned (Book Three)
Teen Fury Trilogy: The Complete Collection (Boxed Set)
Healing Springs Series (Adult Contemporary Romance)
*Books in this series can be read in any order*
Not Over You
Stay
A Heart to Call Home
Two Is A Lonely Number
Loving a Wildflower
So Complicated
Wherever You Go
Also by Amanda Torrey
The Immortal Contract (Adult Paranormal Romance)