Page 53 of Scandal
Chapter Twelve
ASHER
Between the two of us, there isn’t much to pack—just a single suitcase for Mercury, a backpack, and one overstuffed duffel for me.
My mother will be thrilled to see that I left my guitar behind. If Mercury notices it sitting by the sofa, she doesn’t say anything. I give it one last glance before we head out the door.
That part of my life is over.
Mac loads our things into his car, and the two of us follow.
“I thought I wouldn’t miss that little cottage, but it feels sort of…”
“Sad?”
“Yeah.”
It might be the last time we ever feel completely alone, and I can’t decide if that’s a good thing or not.
My brain tells me it’s probably for the best. If I want to keep my promise to Hendrix, I need to keep my wits about me. Being alone too long with Mercury doesn’t just mess with my head. It makes me fucking reckless.
I can tell myself all day that kissing her is a logical move. We will most likely need to do it eventually—a quick kiss on the lipsat least to satisfy the crowd. It would be cruel to let that kiss—her first—be someone else’s in front of everyone.
Not when I could make it special.
Not when I could make it mean something.
And fuck, I want it to mean something.
“We’ll be back,” I tell her. “Someone has to make sure the old place doesn’t collapse.”
A smile tugs at her lips. “Whoever’s been in charge of that in the past has done a shit job.”
I laugh. “Exactly. Poor cottage would be a mess without us.”
Us.
In three months, there won’t be an “us” anymore. There will just be me. I drive down the long, winding road as Blackmore looms ahead.
Just me and this house…and everything that comes with it.
When we pull up behind Mac a few moments later, my mother and father greet us along with the entire household staff.
Mercury looks at me with a nervous expression, then glances at everyone lined up, from my parents’ personal attendants to kitchen staff and groundskeepers. “I thought this only happened in historical dramas.”
I smirk. “My mum is being overly dramatic, I’d wager. She wants the staff to get used to seeing my face again. Don’t worry. It won’t be like this every time we arrive.”
“Thank God. It’s intimidating. Who has that many people in their house at once? Do you ever get privacy?”
I remember thinking that just moments earlier. “It’s not easy,” I admit. “That’s why loyal staff are important. They know everything.”
“Do you think they’ll figure out?—”
I shake my head. “It’s one of the reasons I was so insistent that we share a room.”
She tilts her head. “Sharing a room and intimately sharing a bed are two very different things, Asher.”
Well the fuck aware…“Then we’ll just have to be convincing.”
