Page 24 of Always Mine (The Barrington Billionaires 1)
Grant coughed and shook his head. “You’re in trouble now, Lance.”
Without missing a beat, Ian added, “Mom, don’t you have a charity ball coming up? I bet dancing with a few of your friends would help Lance distinguish between them.”
Kenzi chimed in her idea. “Mom, you love a good auction. You should put Lance up for bid as a dance partner at the ball.”
With an impish smile, Emily added, “If the money goes to charity, you have five single sons.”
Grant threw his napkin at her and smiled. “You hush.”
Emily threw it back. “You don’t like the idea? But Grant, it’s for charity.”
The easy banter between Emily and Grant sent a stab of jealousy through Asher that he tried and failed to suppress. He placed a hand over hers on the table in a public display of ownership. “Four single sons. One is taken.”
He hadn’t meant to say it, but once it was out there he wasn’t about to retract the statement. He kept his hand on Emily’s and tried not to be offended by her shocked expression.
A collective, amused silence fell over the table. If they were waiting for him to say more, they’d be waiting a long time. Asher didn’t crack under peer pressure, not even from his family.
Sophie was the first to speak again. “Four it is.” A shadow of sadness changed her expression for a moment. “Three really, since Andrew will be deployed again.”
Dale took his wife’s hand in his. “He’ll be here tomorrow. Let’s focus on the reasons we have to be happy.”
The smile returned to Sophie’s face. “You’re right.” She leaned over and gave her husband a kiss on the cheek. “I don’t know what I would do without you.”
“And you’ll never have to,” he answered.
The exchange wasn’t an unusual one, but this time it moved Asher. It’s always been there—their love—but Asher had seen it as a weakness, not a strength.
In a low voice, Emily said to him. “You’re hurting me.”
Asher instantly lightened his hold on Emily and met her eyes. He thought about how he’d treated her up to that point and felt an uncharacteristic wave of shame. Emily was a good person, a better person than he’d ever be, and she’d come to him out of desperation. The more he got to know her, the more he learned about himself, and that changed the way he saw her attachment to her museum. It was more than a dream for her; it was also all she had left of her family. Did she feel that she would be alone without it? I should have helped her. Instead I took advantage of her. My family stepped forward to do what I should have done. “I won’t ever again, Emily. I promise you that.”
The dinner plates were cleared away, and Sophie asked if anyone wanted dessert. Asher was impatient to get Emily alone again, but he looked around the table and back at Emily. She was happy with his family, and they were enjoying her. If she wanted to stay, they would stay. He didn’t tell her his decision aloud, but they exchanged a look, and he knew she understood.
Emily gave his hand a squeeze and tears filled her eyes. “If your cook made that strawberry tart again, I’m in.”
A general agreement spread around the table and Asher found himself in a situation he’d rarely found himself in. He was with his family, choosing to stay longer . . . and he was smiling.
Chapter Thirteen
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After dinner, Asher asked Emily if she wanted to go for a walk and Emily agreed, but she was nervous. She had no idea what to expect. He’d apologized, and she’d accepted his apology. His behavior during dinner had been proprietorial and part of Emily wanted to tell him she belonged to no one, but a larger part of her wanted to belong.
It was a difficult admission to make. Since her mother had passed, Emily had grown used to being alone, looking out for herself. It wasn’t something she’d let herself think about, instead she’d focused on the museum and making it a reality. The past month had been a roller coaster of emotions, but it had also shown Emily what her life lacked—family.
They walked hand in hand through the garden near the house until they came across a gazebo that overlooked a small pond. The sun was setting, but Asher flipped a switch and illuminated the area. “My family seems to really like you.”
“I really like them. They’re wonderful people. If I tried for the next hundred years I couldn’t thank them enough for how kind they have been to me.”
Asher led her into the gazebo, leaned against a railing, and pulled her into his arms. “I’ve never seen my mother so calm this time of year. Usually we’re all walking on eggshells, trying not to say the wrong thing.”
Emily relaxed into his embrace. “What happened, Asher? What was so terrible that your family gathers for but won’t talk about?”
Asher rested his chin on top of Emily’s head and sighed. “Kenzi was a fraternal twin. My parents had planned a trip to Aruba for their anniversary, then found out they were pregnant. Their trip was doctor approved, but my mother went into labor while there. They were premature. Kenzi survived, but the baby my parents named Kent didn’t.”
Emily leaned back so she could see Asher’s face. “How old were you?”
“I was young. Too young to be told the circumstances around what had happened, but old enough to understand that it had changed my family. My mother hasn’t been the same since. My father, either. Shortly after they lost the baby, my father’s political career was hit by a scandal. The news accused him of supporting a mistress with government funds. He claimed he never cheated on my mother, and she believed him. It’s one of the many subjects we don’t discuss.”
“I can’t imagine Dale cheating on Sophie. The way he loves your mother reminds me of how my grandfather loved my grandmother. I never saw them together, but he never remarried. Even by the time I came along, he was still talking about her being the love of his life. When he passed, my mother said it was hard to be sad because she knew he had someone waiting for him at heaven’s gate. It wasn’t the same for her, but I like to think they’re all together now.”
Asher hugged Emily closer. He was quiet for a moment then said, “My father gave me a tour of the exhibit after you left. It’s remarkable how closely it mirrors your museum.”
“That was the genius of your mother and the event planner she hired. I wouldn’t have been able to organize anything of this caliber on my own. Not yet.”
They stayed as they were, simply holding each other. Emily didn’t want to ruin the mood by bringing up the fate of her museum, but it was a wall between them that could no longer be ignored. Even though she tried to sound as if her whole world didn’t hinge on his answer, her voice wavered as she asked, “Have you made a decision about your facility in New Hampshire?”
He held her back from him and met her eyes. “I can’t see how I could move forward with it now.”
Relief flooded through Emily, but it was quickly followed by a need only he could fill. His hunger for her lit an equally consuming one in her. “You’re not angry with me for being here with your family?”
He framed her face with his hands and caressed her cheeks lightly with his thumbs. “Anger is not at all what I’m feeling right now.”
Emily tipped her head back and closed her eyes in anticipation of his kiss. Despite the coolness of the night air, her skin was warm and tingling, eager for his touch. He gave her a tender kiss instead of the hot assault she’d expected. When he broke off the kiss, her eyes flew open in confusion. She searched his face for a hint of what he was thinking. He wanted her, but he was holding himself back. “What’s wrong?”
He chuckled and kissed her forehead. “My parents’ garden is hardly the place for what I want to do with you.”
Emily looked around. When she was with him it was too easy to forget everything else. Her cheeks warmed with embarrassment. “Of course, I wasn’t suggesting—”
He hugged her to his chest. “Never be embarrassed with me, Emily. I love your honesty, your openness. I hope to hell what you feel around me is as good as what I feel around you.
Most of the time I want you so badly, I can’t think. If you don’t believe me, listen to the idiotic things that come out of my mouth whenever you’re around. I’ve never threatened to carry a woman off anywhere, but you bring out a side of me I didn’t know existed.”
Emily blushed again, but this time for an entirely different reason. Her mind flooded with images of their bodies intimately joining again and again. “I shouldn’t tell you this, but that was pretty sexy, even though I was too angry with you at the time to want to go anywhere with you.”
