Page 10 of Always Mine (The Barrington Billionaires 1)
“What do you feel?” she asked.
Asher held back his first answer and attempted to concentrate on the painting. The painting was layered with many different lines and textures that at first made no sense to him. Slowly, though, an image began to take shape in his mind. Part of the painting was raised in a way that reminded him of sand. It brought back a memory of a lake his parents used to own a home on. The smooth circles of paint reminded him of the rocks he’d skip across the water. There were other details he couldn’t describe precisely, but they felt familiar to him. The more he ran his hand across the painting, the more vividly he could recall being on that beach until he could have sworn Emily’s mother had painted his memory. Even though he doubted he was correct, he asked, “Is it a sandy beach by a lake?”
Emily’s hand tightened on his. “There’s a pond behind our property that has a beach. We spent a lot of time there when I was young. My mother loved to hunt for the perfect rocks to throw in. She swore different shapes made different sounds. I could never hear the difference. I preferred flat, smooth rocks I could skip across the water. That memory comes alive for me when I touch that painting, and it’s an emotional experience for me.”
Asher opened his eyes and tore his hand from the painting. He wasn’t ready to admit it had done the same for him. “Interesting.”
Emily ran her hand over her mother’s work again. “My mother was gifted. She was able to capture the essence of what she’d never experienced visually and do it in a way that connected with everyone who touched her work. People need to feel what she was capable of. Not just visually impaired people. Everyone. She taught me that life is full of challenges, but it’s what we do with those challenges that can be truly beautiful.”
Asher cleared his throat. He hadn’t understood true beauty until that moment. As he looked down at Emily he saw purity and goodness, inside and out. It was a realization that made it difficult for him to reconcile how he felt about her museum with the reality of its fate.
At best the whole building could be relocated. Even though that option was expensive and complicated, seeing it had proven it was an option worth considering.
“Would you like to see my contributions?” Emily asked with a hopeful smile.
There was an innocence in her smile that gave him pause. She and I couldn’t be more different. It takes so little to make her smile, and I’m nearly impossible to please. A woman like that should be with someone less jaded than I am.
What am I doing here?
He nodded and followed her into an adjacent room that was filled with sculptures of animals and people. Some were recognizable copies of famous sculptures; some were not. Emily walked over to a bust of a woman. “This is my grandmother. It’s not my best work because it was one of my earlier ones. My grandmother died giving birth to my mother, but I used old photos to make this. My mother cried for a whole week after I gave this to her. She said they were happy tears. I knew then that I had found what I wanted to do. There are now 3D printers that can create similar sculptures from photos and those will be part of my museum one day, but people can do something computers can’t—we can see another person’s true essence. I like to think my mother cried because I allowed her to see her mother’s soul.”
Asher was a man rarely at a loss for words, but when he saw how Emily’s eyes had misted over with emotion, he pulled her to his chest and hugged her quietly. Fuck.
A moment passed, then two. Asher expected Emily to pull away from him, but she didn’t. His heart was beating wildly in his chest, and he wondered if she could hear it. He looked down at her and gave in to the impulse he’d fought all day. He kissed her lightly on the mouth.
It was a kiss unlike any he’d experienced. There was passion in it, but when her lips moved eagerly against his, he felt more. He tasted her sadness, her vulnerability, but also her determination and fire. He brought his hands up to cup her face and kissed her gently. She arched against him, opening her mouth to him, and he knew then she would be more to him than a weekend fling.
He broke off the kiss and rested his chin on top of her head. The only sound in the room was their ragged breathing.
He didn’t believe in love.
He wasn’t looking for forever.
But Emily Harris would be his, of that he was certain.
Chapter Six
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Emily was still a little shell-shocked when Asher walked her down the dark path behind the museum to her home, which had originally been her grandfather’s guesthouse. It was a sliver of the size of the main house, but the workmanship was just as masterful. If it was a cold night, Emily didn’t notice. Her cheeks were still flushed from the kiss she’d shared with Asher.
She fumbled with the lock on the front door of her home. Asher took the key from her and unlocked it. Emily refused to meet his eyes. I shouldn’t have kissed him. I definitely shouldn’t have enjoyed it.
There was no use lying to herself about how good his kiss had felt. It had been amazing, the kind a woman waits her entire life for. Why does a kiss like that have to come from a man like him? There is nowhere good this can go. Okay, yes, part of me wonders what sex would be like with a man who can make my body hum for his touch just by looking at me. But how can I want a man I don’t even like? A man who wants to take my museum from me? My history. I should hate him.
What he wants from me is clear.
It would just be sex.
Uncomplicated, animalistic fucking.
Oh God, why does that sound so good?
Emily thought back to the last boyfriend she’d had who had been incredibly sweet, but had also been shyer than she was when it came to sex. She’d enjoyed the sex. Well, she hadn’t disliked it, but it had always left her feeling uncertain about wanting to repeat it. Sadly, he’d appeared to feel the same way.
It wouldn’t be like that with Asher Barrington.
He’s wrong for me, but I want him so badly I ache for him. Is this what happens when a woman goes a year without sex?
“Are you coming in?” Asher asked in an amused tone. He flipped on the hall light as if he’d been there a hundred times and placed the key on a small table beneath the switch.
Keeping her gaze steady, Emily held the door open behind her. “Thank you for walking me to my door, although there was no need. I hope seeing how close the museum is to completion sways you to at least consider not moving forward with your facility.”
Asher walked over, placed his hand over hers, and closed the door behind her, effectively cornering her. “I don’t want to talk about the museum anymore today.”
Still refusing to look up, Emily said huskily, “You should go.”
Asher stayed where he was, looming over her with his head bent so his face was just above hers. “Maybe. Look me in the eye and tell me to.”
Emily forced her eyes to meet his, and her breath caught in her throat at the passion she saw burning there. “I hate everything you represent.”
He traced the side of her neck with the back of his fingers. “But you don’t hate me.”
Emily’s body came alive beneath his touch. She shivered and pressed herself back against the door. “No,” she whispered and cursed herself for the admission.
“Good,” he said and lowered his mouth to graze the side of her face with kisses. “I want you. Tonight. Take me to your bed.” He pushed her hair over her shoulder and began to kiss the curve of her neck. “Say yes, Emily.”
Emily kept her hands clenched at her sides, but she couldn’t stop herself from closing her eyes as desire rocked through her. Renovating the museum had been a lonely project, but she hadn’t realized how lonely until just then. Her life had once been full of affection and physical displays of love. It had been a long time since she’d been held, and Asher’s touch moved her on many levels. Her body was quivering with hunger for him; her soul craved the intimacy he offered. He had barely done more than kiss her neck and she was wet and ready to rip her clothing off right there
in the hall. Be strong. “You should go.”
He stopped and raised his head. “You know it would be good between us.”
“Just because something feels good doesn’t make it right.”
He ran his hands up and down her arms. “It doesn’t make it wrong, either.”
Emily tried to take a step back but his hands closed on her arms. “You think you have all the answers, but you don’t. Look at me. I’m not whoever you’re confusing me with. I’m not going to sleep with you just because you look at me with those stunning eyes of yours.”
