Settling Ashes: A New Adult/College Romance (The Ashes Series Book 2)

by Gardin, Diana

  Paige went around the desk and greeted the perky blond woman. I crossed my arms, watching her.

  “I wanted to talk to--” Paige began.

  The door behind the receptionist’s desk opened suddenly, and Professor Schilling exited his office.

  “Paige,” he said. He opened his arms, and Paige hugged him. The vein in my neck throbbed. “My goodness, it’s nice to see you! Are you all right?”

  He pulled back and searched her face, and then glanced over to where I stood glaring at him.

  “I see you’ve brought Clay,” he said evenly.

  His dark hair was slicked back from his face as usual, and he was just as well dressed as always. His red sweater stretched over a fit frame with a checked collard shirt beneath it. His khaki slacks were tighter than I thought a professor should wear, but I guessed the guy was only in his mid-thirties.

  I stepped forward when I thought his hands had been on Paige long enough. “Good morning, Dr. Schilling.”

  “Hello, Clay,” he said.

  “Dr. Schilling?” Paige said. “Can we come in and talk to you for a minute?”

  “Hold my calls,” the professor ordered his receptionist.

  I glanced at her. She nodded at his request.

  “Of course,” she answered, smiling.

  “Come in, come in,” Dr. Schilling said.

  We entered his office and I pulled one of the comfortable chairs across from his desk out for Paige, and then sat in the one adjacent to her. Dr. Schilling sat in his big brown desk chair, pressing the fingers of his hands together and leaning forward.

  “So,” he began. “What am I missing here? You left on such short notice, Paige. I wasn’t sure what happened, but I knew something was amiss.”

  “You,” he continued, sliding his gaze to me. “I know exactly what happened to you.”

  “He’s innocent,” Paige said quickly. “I left because of a misunderstanding, not because I thought he killed Hannah. I’m back now, and I want to come back to work. Only--” She glanced at me.

  “Only I think I might be in danger now, too. Someone is trying to kill me.”

  The professor’s eyebrows shot up, and his face went slack.

  “You…what?”

  Paige nodded, a sad smile tugging at her lips. “Yeah. But I still want to work. I don’t want this person dictating what I can and can’t do with my life.”

  “But,” Dr. Schilling spluttered. “You should be under police protection! Are you?”

  Paige shook her head. “I haven’t filed a formal complaint. Because I’m so connected to Clay, they’ll just think it’s him. I don’t want to place any more attention on him than I have to in this situation. But when his name is cleared—and it will be cleared—this will all be over because it will mean they’ve found the person who killed Hannah and is after me.”

  Professor Schilling sat back in his chair, frowning and staring at Paige. His fingers tapped nervously on his desk as he contemplated what she was asking of him.

  “Are you sure you want to work?” he asked.

  “Yes,” answered Paige firmly.

  He sighed. “So stubborn. And brave. All right. Of course you can come back to work if that’s what you want. At least I can keep any eye on you here.”

  I didn’t like the sound of that.

  “I’ll probably come with her sometimes, too,” I said forcefully. “To keep an eye on her myself.”

  The professor allowed his eyes land on me once more. “But aren’t you the problem?”

  “Excuse me?” I said angrily.

  “Well, someone is after Paige because of you, right? They don’t want to hurt her. They just want to keep her away from you?”

  “Um, tell that to that broken arm you see there,” I retorted, rolling my eyes. “They do want to hurt her. And whether I’m with her or not, they try to get to her. So I’m going to protect her.”

  “Oh, yes,” he spat sarcastically. “You’ve been doing a stellar job of that so far.”

  I stood, pressing my palms flat against the desk. “If you have a problem with me, that’s fine. I could care less. But Paige’s safety is the number one thing on my mind. Don’t question that. If she’s here, I will be, too. The. End.”

  He stared at me, his twitching jaw the only obvious sign of his anger. Finally, he nodded.

  “Okay,” he said softly. “You can start tomorrow, Paige.”

  “Great!” she exclaimed, standing quickly. I knew she wanted to get me out of there. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Professor.”

  We walked back out to the waiting area.

  “Bye, Krista,” Paige said to the receptionist.

  “Bye!” she called out brightly as we left.

  “See,” Paige said, wrapping her hand in mine as we walked out of the building. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

  I looked down at her, narrowing my eyes. “It was torture, and you know it.”

  She smiled. “Thank you, Clay. For letting me do what I need to do.”

  I stopped, pulling her into my arms. “I’m just going to reiterate the fact that I don’t like it. But I want you to be happy. The minute something goes wrong, you stop working there. Agreed?”

  “Agreed,” she said happily.

  “Okay,” I said. “I’m going to walk you to class. And if I’m going to graduate in May and start making a life for us, I’d better go to class, too.”

  She smiled. “We’re talking about the future?”

  I stared at her, surprised. “Why does that shock you?”

  “We just haven’t before. We have a lot going on.”

  I hadn’t told her that she was my future? God, why did I continue to screw up with this woman?

  “We’re going to fix that,” I told her firmly.

  I walked her to class, and then took myself to my own, thinking about how I was going to show my girlfriend that I wanted a life with her.

  Paige

  After spending the next morning in my only class, I made my way to the Psychology building, where I worked until late afternoon. I spent a cheerful day filing with one good arm and running errands around campus for Professor Schilling

  He seemed especially watchful and attentive today, most likely because of the information I shared with him about my potential murder.

  I also endured a steady stream of text messages from a worried-to-death Clay, who was unable to attend work with me because he actually had a life to continue to live. He was a senior, architecture wasn’t exactly an easy major, and he had classes to attend and studying to do.

  None of which, he insisted, was more important than my safety. But I’d be damned if he was going to fall behind in his studies because he was trying to protect me from someone we couldn’t even find.

  So we agreed that I’d work here today, and he’d work at home on what he needed to study, and he’d pick me up when my day was over.

  At five o’clock, I stopped in Dr. Schilling’s office to say goodbye, and told Krista to have a good weekend as she also gathered her things to go home. Clay opened the door to the office just as I was about to walk out of it, and he grabbed me up in a hug that squeezed my still-sore ribs and lifted me off my feet.

  “Baby,” he sighed into my hair. “I missed you so bad today.”

  I sighed just as happily into the woodsy-scented skin of his neck and chuckled.

  “It will get easier, being away from each other. Right?”

  “Never,” he disagreed, setting me back down gently on my feet. “It’ll never get easier. But when this person is caught, and behind bars or dead by my hand, things may be tolerable.”

  I nodded, and took his arm as we walked down the building steps and off toward the parking lot.

  “It’s Friday night,” he remarked, looking at me sideways. “We haven’t had a normal one of those in Rutherford in awhile. And things still aren’t normal, but what do you want to do tonight?”

  I groaned. “I’m sure Gill wants to go out. And I’m game…as
long as I get to spend some alone time with you first.”

  “I was hoping you’d say that,” he said, grinning broadly. “So I made dinner reservations. Nice ones. And then we can meet up with everyone at Matchstick’s. Okay?”

  “Okay,” I said happily. I could handle a night out at a crowded club as long as I was with Clay. “So I need to go home and change.”

  He nodded as he buckled me into the Land Rover. “We’ll go to your place and make sure Gillian’s there. Then I’ll leave you for a bit to go change. I’ll be back to get you in half an hour? Plan?”

  “Plan,” I answered, leaning over the console to take a nip of his ear.

  “Keep that up,” he rumbled, reaching over to grip my thigh in one strong hand. “And we won’t make it to dinner.”

  ~**~

  “Where is everyone?” I asked Clay, as the hostess guided us into the dining room of Madre’s. Madre’s was an upscale Cuban restaurant in town. Cuban cuisine was rare in our part of the South, so the prices here soared above any place I was used to eating. But Clay had insisted that this was where we were eating tonight, and I ended up succumbing to his wishes because it seemed so important to him.

  “We’re closed tonight,” the hostess informed me with a wink.

  “You’re closed?” I asked, my mouth dropping open. “But then why…?”

  Clay pulled out my chair and I sat, looking up at him in wonder. “We’re the only ones here tonight?”

  He tilted up the corner of his mouth in his quirky smile. “I covet privacy with you these days.”

  “I’ve never been the reason for closing down a restaurant before,” I said, biting my bottom lip. I was unable to keep the beaming smile off my face.

  “Paige,” Clay said seriously as a waiter filled our water glasses. “I plan to spend my life doing things for you that have never been done before. I will never grow tired of surprising you or trying to make you happy. Putting a smile on your face is my mission in life, and making sure you have everything you need to function and be a whole person is everything I need to make me happy.”

  I stared at him. “Is this because I brought up the fact we haven’t talked about the future?”

  He leaned forward, taking my hands across the table and clasping them in his big, warm ones.

  “Yes and no. It hit me when we talked today that I hadn’t been discussing the future with you. We’ve only been together a few months. I know that’s not much time. But the situations we’ve endured together, making it through to the other side with our relationship intact…well, that tells me a whole hell of a lot about what we can be together, Paige. I want you. With everything that’s been going on basically since we met, I haven’t had a chance to show you. I can’t wait until Hannah’s murder is solved and the person who’s been terrorizing you is dealt with, so we can start this amazing life we are meant to live together.”

  I held his gaze, mesmerized by his sweet words and the sincere, fiercely protective expression on his face.

  “I want you, too,” I said simply. “More than I’ve ever wanted anything, Clay, I want a life with you. I hope that when all of this is said and done, we’re able to make that happen.”

  “There’s no hoping,” he said. “We will come out on the other side of this stronger than ever, Paige. I promise.”

  Looking into those eyes of his that were so full of love and longing, I believed him.

  Sixteen

  Clay

  I kept my eyes on Paige all through dinner, because I wanted her to know that what I was saying was completely sincere, and that I was serious about a future with her. Renting out a restaurant for her was just the beginning.

  But as we rode from the restaurant to Matchstick’s, I kept glancing at her out of the corner of my eye, and I simply couldn’t keep my gaze locked on her face any longer.

  Her outfit had blown me away when she walked into the living room at her apartment, and I’d been a good boy ever since, in order to convey the seriousness of my emotions for her.

  Now my eyes traveled from her slim, bare legs up the corseted red dress she was wearing to her bare shoulders that were on display under her coat. I ogled her openly, and then I realized where we were going.

  I had to physically force my foot up to keep it from slamming on the brakes.

  “Paige,” I said, half panicking in my seat.

  “Yeah?” She had been staring out the window in a reverie, but now she looked over at me and caught hold of my intense gaze. “What’s wrong?”

  Her voice was alarmed, and I stroked her thigh to calm her. “Nothing. Or everything. I don’t think I can take you to Matchstick’s.”

  “Clay,” she groaned. “You have to. Gillian will kill me. Tima, too.”

  “Paige,” I said pointedly. “Look at what you’re wearing, baby.”

  She did, glancing down at herself in confusion, and then her face took on a knowing smile. “You don’t want other guys looking at me like this. That’s sweet.”

  The hell it was. It was purely animalistic, caveman in nature. It wasn’t sweet, and I knew it. It was possessive and psychotic, but that was how Paige made me feel.

  I cringed. “Can we go home and change?”

  “Nope. We don’t have time. Plus, we’re so close to Matchstick’s already. Just stay close to me, baby. I only have eyes for you.”

  I took a deep breath. “If anyone tries to touch you…”

  “They won’t,” she interjected. “There’s not a guy on this campus right now who isn’t terrified of you.”

  She smiled, and I took her hand in mine and brought it to my lips.

  “Love you.”

  “Love you, too.”

  When we walked into the bar, our crew was waiting for us on barstools. Gillian and Tima leapt off of theirs and crowded around Paige. Tima was giving her serious props for her dress.

  “Girl, you look hot,” she said admiringly, looking Paige over. “Gill is really rubbing off on you.”

  I saw the blush creep into Paige’s cheeks, and I looked over at Drew and Rob. Their eyes were also on her dress.

  “Hey,” I said sharply to them. “Eyes off my girl.”

  Rob slid his gaze over to mine and laughed. “Come on, man. You know all we’re doing is looking. There ain’t gonna be a man in this place that can keep his eyes off of that.”

  “I know,” I grumbled. “That’s what I’m afraid of. I might have to really earn my murder charge tonight.”

  Beau and I had formed a truce since he’d saved Paige’s life, but that didn’t mean I was ecstatic to see him when he walked through the door.

  “Beau!” Gillian screamed, and ran over to hug him.

  Drew looked miffed. “What’s he doing here?”

  I rolled my eyes. “He’s friends with Gill and Paige from high school remember? I’m sure Gill invited him. She seems to think he’s a part of all this.”

  “He is,” Gillian said, coming up and towing Beau by the arm. “Get a beer, Beau.”

  He nodded at us, grinning about our long faces at the sight of him, and headed over to the bar. He stopped in his tracks when he caught sight of Paige, and the animal in me growled and went to stand next to her.

  “Paige,” he choked out. “What are you wearing?”

  She looked down again. “It’s a dress, Beau. You’ve seen them before, right?”

  “Not like that,” he replied, his voice faint. “And not on you.”

  “Weren’t you going to the bar?” I asked him pointedly.

  He glanced at me, and then went to get his beer. He leaned against the bar, though, openly eyeing Paige.

  I walked over to him. “What the hell? Can you try to keep your eyes off of her tonight?”

  He shook his head, letting his gaze drop off of Paige and glanced at me. “I can try, dude. But you’re the one who brought her here looking like that. What did you think was going to happen?”

  I sighed, hanging my head and taking a deep breath. “This.”

&
nbsp; He laughed, slapping me hard on the back. “Don’t worry. I got your back. They touch, they die.”

  I nodded, perking up a little. “Damn right.”

  I walked over and put my arm around a giggling Paige, who now had a pink-tinted drink in her hand. I raised my eyebrows. She shrugged.

  “Y’all want to go dance?” she asked the group. We all headed up the wooden staircase in the corner to the second floor of the bar, which served as a nightclub.

  The pulsating music hit me before we reached the top, and I guided Paige into the dark room with my hands grasped firmly around her waist. I loved grabbing her waist, the way my hands could encircle her so completely. Her slender frame fit perfectly with every part of my large one.

  She finished her drink, leaving it on the bar. The bartender nodded at me and cocked a brow, and I shook my head. I refused to consume even one drink when I was driving Paige around.

  She pulled me to the dance floor, where the crowd moved to a fast dance track. As soon as we arrived in an open space, the beat changed, and the first strains of “Marry Me” by Jason Deruilo came over the speakers. I think a collective sigh rose from the females in the room, but my eyes were locked on Paige’s.

  She wrapped her arms around my neck, and I locked mine around her waist, pulling her closer. I let the artist sing the exact words I wanted to say to her, and she knew I was feeling sentimental. She smiled at me as we danced, and I couldn’t take my eyes off of her.

  “I love you,” I mouthed to her, knowing she wouldn’t be able to hear me over the noise.

  She reached up onto her tiptoes and kissed me. I gripped her tighter and moved my lips against hers almost desperately. She tasted like peppermint and the fruitiness of her drink, and the combination was delicious. She pulled back before I had gotten enough of her, and I shook my head and smiled, pulling her back up for more.

  Paige stumbled over what I assumed had to be someone else’s foot in the crowded room, and I lifted her, placing her feet onto mine. She smiled gratefully and we moved that way, with her dancing on my feet.

  I glanced over her shoulder and caught sight of Drew at the bar, looking pissed. I tried to catch his eye and couldn’t. I looked down at Paige, about to ask her to walk with me over to check in with him, but I felt a tap on my shoulder before I could lean in to ask her.