I shake my head. “No.” Why prolong the torture? Besides, I don’t want him to know that I’m going to have to work out a deal with the garage to pay for the repairs.
“Okay.”
“Can you just put my luggage over there?” I ask, pointing to the walkway near the door to the garage.
“Sure, okay.”
I watch him unload my things, and I climb out of his truck.
He finishes his task and turns to me. “That’s everything.”
How do I say good-bye to the man I’ve fallen in love with? The man who’s made me feel things I’ve never felt before. I have no idea. “Okay. Well, thanks.”
He gazes at me a moment. “Take care, Ashley.”
I nod. “You too.”
He smiles softly, then turns and walks back to his truck.
Not wanting to look pathetic, I go into the office of the garage, but as soon as the glass door closes, I turn and look at Drake’s truck and watch him drive away. Tears fill my eyes, but I wipe them away and take a deep breath before turning to face the man behind the counter. “I’m Ashley Spencer. I’m here to pick up my car.”
“Yep. It’s all set.”
I nod, then gather my thoughts so I can convince him to let me take it without actually paying anything right now. “I was wondering if I could work out a payment plan?”
“What for?” A look of confusion fills his face.
Great. He’s going to make this difficult. “Well, I . . . I uh, I don’t exactly have the money to pay right now.”
His eyebrows pull together. “It’s already been paid for.”
Now I’m confused. “What?”
“Mr. Drake paid for it in full.”
Thoughts tumble through my head. Why did Drake pay for my car repair? Was it out of guilt? Was it to pay for my services? The last thought makes me feel cheap, and a blush crawls up my neck and onto my face, like the man behind the counter knows I’m no better than a prostitute.
“Yes, ma’am,” he says. “He called me right after I spoke to you on Monday and told me to put it all on his account.”
“Wait. He called you on Monday?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Oh.” That means he paid for it soon after he brought me back from the motel, but before he’d made me his housekeeper and before we’d made love the previous day. Yes, we’d been intimate before that, but he’d basically washed his hands of me when I’d gone into town with the tow truck driver. The only conclusion I can draw is that he paid for it just to be nice. My heart lurches a little, knowing I’m losing a good man—one who can be dimwitted in the love department, but otherwise he’s not so bad.
“So, you’re all set,” the man says. “I’ll just pull your car up to the front.”
“Thanks.” I smile, then walk out the door.
A moment later he parks my car next to the curb, climbs out, then hands me my keys. “Have a nice day.”
“You too,” I say, then when he goes inside, I open my trunk and load my luggage into the back. When I sit in the driver’s seat, I pause as the feeling washes over me that my life has shifted since I last climbed behind the wheel of this car. Last time I sat there I was excited to start my new life in Reno, I’d never heard of Colton Drake, I was off men indefinitely, and the future held all kinds of possibilities. Now, however, not only have I met Colton Drake, I’ve given him my very soul, and now I will never be the same.
I turn on the engine and pull away from the curb, my thoughts on Drake and how I will go on now that I know he won’t be in my life. I’m not sure how I will do it, I only know I’ll have to do it. I have no other choice.
I drive down the road, and as I approach the turn-off to Drake’s house, I slow, wondering what he’s doing right then. Is he sitting in his office, focused on his computer? Or is he packing up, ready to head back to Reno? I picture his face, his body, him, and long to be with him.
Closing my eyes, I gather myself, then take a deep breath and open my eyes. I press the gas pedal, knowing that whether I’m ready or not, I must go on with my life. I pass Drake’s driveway and keep going forward. Forward to whatever the future has in store for me, forward to the good times and the bad, forward to my new life.
What I Want
Drake and Ashley, Book Two
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
What I Want (Drake and Ashley, Book Two)
Copyright © 2014 by Christine Kersey
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
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One
ASHLEY
Thanks to the GPS app on my phone, once I reach Reno it doesn’t take long to find Emily’s place. I called her before she left for work to tell her I was on my way and she told me she would leave a key under the doormat. Now, as I walk up the steps to her second floor apartment, I smile, glad to have finally made it. Even though I miss Drake—more than I’d like to admit—I’m glad I’ve reached my destination.
The key is right where Emily said it would be and a moment later I walk into the small living room. Sighing, I sink onto the couch. This place is nothing like Drake’s cabin, but it’s home now. Emily’s previous roommate recently got married, which worked out great for me.
Excitement washes over me as my gaze wanders the small space. Newly graduated and ready to be a grown-up, I’m eager to discover what life has to offer me next. I push myself off of the couch and look in both bedrooms.
The apartment is furnished, but I’m still able to figure out which room is mine—the one with no personality. It takes me two trips to bring all of my things inside, but once I’m done, I text Emily to let her know I’ve arrived.
Emily: Yay! We need to celebrate tonight.
Ashley: Sounds great!
Emily: See you when I get home.
I tuck my phone into my back pocket and look around my new room. At least it has the basics—a bed and a dresser. Glad I don’t have to buy anything just yet, I frown when I remember that Drake secretly paid for my car repair. I’d thought about that as I’d driven north to Reno and had decided that somehow I would pay him back. I know he lives somewhere in Reno and I decide I should try to find him so I can repay him.
Is that the only reason you want to find him?
I frown, silently admitting to myself that I want—no, need—to see him again. Plus, on the drive up I’d stewed over the final conversation I’d had with him. The one where he told me he wanted to keep things with me separate from his real life. The one where he said being with me was like having a respite from his day to day responsibilities. As happy as it makes me to know that I can bring out the lighter side of him, I don’t like that he doesn’t think I can be part of his real life.
Why does he think that? Does he think I’m too young? Too immature? Too unsophisticated? I think of Rachel, his maybe-girlfriend, and how she seems so opposite of me. But he also told me that he has interests she doesn’t share—like snowmobiling and having snowball fights. Things that I enjoyed doing with him.
Maybe if he gets to know me better he’ll see that I can be just as sophisticated as Rachel, just as mature. I have no desire to be as much of a witch as she is, but if he sees that I’m multi-faceted, maybe he’ll believe I can fit into his real life.
I smile at the thought and imagine seeing him again. But the thought of showing up on his doorstep uninvited fills me with mixed feelings. When Rachel
appeared at his cabin unexpectedly, he hadn’t exactly been overjoyed to see her, and the thought of me showing up at his house here in Reno and discovering him with some other girl fills me with dread.
Then I recall the intimate moments we spent together. What if I go to his house and he’s thrilled to see me? The mere possibility that he would be happy to see me spurs me on to discover where he lives.
Now that I have something to look forward to, I smile as I set one of my suitcases on the bed and begin unpacking. I spend the rest of the afternoon settling in, and when I hear the deadbolt turning, I have a brief flashback to the night at the motel when I was attacked by the drunken pervert.
Vividly recalling the feel of him on top of me, trying to kiss me, I shiver, then mentally shake myself as I remind myself that nothing ended up happening. Thanks to Drake. Relief washes over me as I remember how he’d gotten there just in time to pull my attacker off of me.
It’s true that the police arrived just moments after he did, but the fact that he’d come to check on me in the first place fills me with longing. Longing to have his strong arms around me, longing to have him tell me that he wants to see me again.
“Ash?” Emily calls from the living room.
I blink, focusing on the present, and walk out to meet her. “Hey, Em.” Smiling widely, I throw my arms around my friend. “It’s so good to see you.”
She hugs me back. “You too.” She releases me, then we sit on the couch. “So what’s been going on? What happened with your car?”
At the enthusiasm in her voice, I smile, glad to be back with my old high school friend. While I had chosen to attend UNLV, she’d moved up to Reno to go to college. And when I’d told her I was ready to graduate, somehow she’d talked me into moving up to the northern part of the state.
“When you convinced me to move up here,” I begin, “you failed to mention the treacherous roads.”
She grimaces. “I guess I’ve kind of gotten used to them.” She smiles with a look that I think is supposed to reassure me. “But they’re only bad during storms. And that was a particularly bad storm.”
Giving her a half-smile, I say, “I guess my timing was just right then, and obviously I’m not used to snowy roads. I slid right off and ended up in a snowbank.”
Shock fills her eyes as she places a hand on my arm. “What? You just said you had car trouble, not that you almost got yourself killed.”
Holding back a smile at her dramatic response, I decide to tell her about Drake. Even though she’ll probably scold me for the bad choices I made—going home with a stranger and then sleeping with him—he fills my thoughts too much to keep him a secret. “It wasn’t the slide-off that nearly killed me, but the man in the truck who almost ran me over afterwards.”
She gasps, which is the reaction I was going for. “Ashley! I’m so glad you’re okay.”
Now that the drama of that day is over, it’s easy to smile about it. “Me too.”
“What happened? How did you almost get hit?”
I tell her how I flagged down an oncoming truck and how the man almost hit me, but how I threw myself out of the way and nearly twisted my ankle.
“So you were out there all alone?”
“Yes. I was afraid no one would come along.”
“What happened next?”
“The man who almost hit me put me in his truck and brought me to his house.”
Emily’s eyes widen. “You went to this man’s house? Are you crazy?”
That is exactly what I thought she would say. She’s so predictable—not that she’s wrong to question my judgement on the matter. “I was freezing by then, and I couldn’t walk. It’s not like I had a lot of choices.”
Her voice softens. “Was he cute?”
I picture Drake—tall, muscular, so hot—and grin. “Very.”
Emily’s face lights up. “What happened when you got to his house?”
I tell her how he took care of me.
“Sounds like a good guy.”
Warmth towards Drake pulses through me, especially when I remember the fun we had playing in the snow and snowmobiling. Then I remember the night we watched a movie in his room, and a blush rises on my face.
“What?” Emily says, obviously noticing my expression. A look of shock registers on her face. “You slept with him, didn’t you?”
Two
ASHLEY
An embarrassed smile curves my mouth—one that says I know it was stupid of me, but I got caught up in the moment. I meet Emily’s gaze and nod.
“You didn’t,” Emily says. “Oh, Ash. You know where that leads.” She pauses dramatically. “Heartbreak.”
The embarrassed smile turns into a partial frown as I acknowledge the truth of her words. I don’t like hearing my friend point out what I already know—what I already feel. “I didn’t mean for it to happen. It just . . . happened.” I don’t humiliate myself further by telling her my silly fantasy—the one where Drake sweeps me off of my feet and tells me he’s in love with me and that we should be together forever.
She frowns. “But it just happened once, right?”
Chagrined to admit that I got caught up in Drake’s spell twice, my face heats again. “It might have been a couple of times.”
She scowls. “How old is this guy?”
“Just a few years older than us. Maybe twenty-six.” I can tell she thinks Drake took advantage of me, but I wanted it too. Yes, I let myself get caught up in my hope that there could be something more between us, but I’m an adult. I take responsibility for my choices. Besides, who’s to say there can’t be more between Drake and me?
Her face softens. “Did you make plans to see him again?”
Reality slides into my mind—the reality that he didn’t give me any way to contact him, making it pretty clear he had no interest in seeing me again—and my shoulders slump. “No.”
She’s quiet for a minute. “Okay. It’s time to move on then, right?”
I don’t want to move on. I want to find Drake and discover if he’s really done with me or if there could be a chance. “I guess.”
“You don’t seem too sure, Ash.”
“It’s just that, well, I really like him.” More than I want to admit to you.
She jumps up from the couch, then turns and stares at me. “See, this is why I’ve always told you to be careful.” She sighs, then crosses her arms. “Even in high school I told you to be careful.” She seems to hesitate. “Don’t get upset with me for saying this, but you know how you are. You tend to jump into things, and then later you regret it.”
I sigh. “I know. You’re right.” I picture Drake’s face and my heart fills with warmth. “But this is different.”
Doubt is written all over her face. “That’s what you always say.”
I look at my hands, which I’m twisting together in my lap. “I know.” It’s true that when I meet a new guy I’m crazy for, I say that it’s different this time, but this time it really is different. I felt a connection to Drake. Not only that, he’s not some college boy. He’s a man. A man who is sure of himself. A man with confidence. “He might have a girlfriend,” I say without thinking as I picture Rachel.
Emily plops onto the couch next to me. “What?”
I nod, kind of glad I let that slip. I can use a second opinion. “She stopped by his place while I was there.”
Emily’s eyebrows rise. “That definitely sounds like a girlfriend.”
“But he told me they’re not that serious.”
“Uh-huh.” Emily’s face shows her suspicion. “What did she say when she saw you there?”
I think about the trick Drake and I came up with to pretend I was his housekeeper, but I’m embarrassed to tell Emily that little detail. “She wasn’t thrilled to see me, and the two of them had a fight, and then she left.”
“Sounds like you had a very interesting few days.”
I half-smile. “You could say that.”
“What’s this guy’s name?�
��
“Colton Drake. But he goes by Drake.”
She nods. “Do you think you’ll see him again?”
I hope so! “The place where we were staying is just a weekend place. He lives in Reno the rest of the time.” I pause. “I was thinking I might get in touch with him.”
“He gave you his number?”
“Uh, no, actually.”
“Oh.”
“I know, Em. But, well, he paid for my car repair and I want to pay him back.”
Emily looks confused. “Why did he pay for your car repair?”
“I don’t know. He didn’t even tell me that he did it. I just found out when I picked up my car.”
“Huh.”
I hope she’s rethinking her initial assessment of Drake, which I can tell is less than favorable. “He is a nice guy, Em.”
“So you say.”
I’m tired of talking about Drake and trying to convince my best friend that the man I’ve fallen for is good enough for me. She’s not the one I need to convince. The truth is, I need to convince Drake that I would be good for him, even in “real life”. “Enough about my love life. What’s new with you?”
Emily launches into all the things going on in her life—her job, her new boyfriend Nick. “I want you to go out with this really cute friend of Nick’s.”
I throw my hands up as if to ward off an evil spell. “No. No blind dates.”
“Oh, come on, Ash. It’ll be fun. I promise.”
I roll my eyes and sigh. I know she’ll badger me until I agree, and I’m just not up to the fight. Better to get this over with right away so we can all move on with our lives. “Okay, fine.”
She bounces on the couch. “Yay!” Then she pulls out her phone and begins texting.
“What are you doing?”
She looks at me in surprise. “I’m letting Nick know you said yes so he can tell Jonathan to come to dinner with us tonight.”
Drake and Ashley: The Complete Story Page 14
