I sighed. I hated lying to him but I was doing it for the right reasons. “Yeah. I miss you. Can’t wait for you to get back tomorrow.” That was the truth. Eight o’clock Sunday night couldn’t come soon enough in my opinion. I closed my eyes and imagined his handsome face as he walked through the front door.

“Shall I bring us in some takeout?” he asked excitedly.

I laughed wickedly. “You’re so excited about food!”

“I’m not excited about the food, Anna; I’m excited to see you.”

My insides fluttered. “Ashton, seriously, sometimes you are just too damn sweet.”

“It’s true. Right then, I’ll call you tomorrow when we get to the airport,” he said, sounding like he genuinely didn’t want to hang up.

“Okay, sleep well.”

“I’ll try. Goodnight, Baby Girl,” he sighed. I disconnected the call and went into my bedroom, grabbing my vanity bag, deciding to paint my toe and finger nails, just so I would have something to do.

I managed to keep myself awake all night, but I was really suffering by the morning. My eyes were stinging, my body was aching, and I’d already had about eight cups of coffee. Ashton texted me in the morning, hoping that I’d slept okay and telling me he missed me. I text him back, lying that I had slept fine.

Dean looked at me a little concerned when he got up. “You sleep okay, Annabelle? You look like crap,” he commented at breakfast.

I laughed weakly. “Thanks, that’s what every girl likes to hear. You should know I slept fine last night, I didn’t wake you up, did I?” I retorted sarcastically.

He shook his head but continued to look at me strangely. Clearly he knew something was up.

That day I did everything and anything in a bid not to sit down. I went to the gym and then I cleaned the whole apartment, scrubbing out the stove and even washing the windows, just for something to do. Ashton called briefly at four pm, but we barely spoke for five minutes because they called his plane.

The time seemed to take forever to pass. Finally, at 8:17pm exactly, I heard the key twist in the lock and I got so excited that I thought I would die.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

~ Ashton ~

As soon as I was off the plane and out into the warm Arizona air, I hailed a cab and headed straight for Anna’s favourite Chinese restaurant. Thankfully, we came here a lot, so I didn’t even need to place an order, just request our usual with the guy behind the counter.

While I was waiting for my order, I sent a text to Peter and Dean, telling them I was back and that I’d be along in about ten minutes and that business was to be as usual once I arrived. I struggled not to tell Dean to get the hell out of my apartment so I could spend some alone time with Anna. I sat there watching the minute hand on the clock tick around. I was so excited to see Anna again that I could barely breathe properly. Finally, after forever and a day, the food was done and stacked into two bags.

By the time I got back to our apartment building, Peter was standing in the lobby where he was supposed to be. A grin stretched across his face when he saw me. “Hey, have a good time?”

I nodded. Of course I’d had a fantastic time, how could I not, but at the same time I’d missed Anna so much it was as if I’d left a piece of me behind. I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her and worrying about her. A thousand scenarios had rushed through my brain every hour of every day – every single one of them bad. I hadn’t been able to relax the whole time.

“It was fantastic, nice to be back though,” I answered. “I got Chinese food. Why don’t you go up and eat with the other two then come back down again once you’re done?” I suggested, holding out the far guards’ bag of food to him.

His eyes lit up. “Yeah? Great, thanks!”

“Call Dean. Tell him that the food’s here and to get the hell out of my place,” I instructed, only half joking as we stepped into the elevator. I didn’t want to have to share Anna with Dean.

Peter laughed, immediately pulling out his cell phone and dialling. “Dude, Ashton’s here. He bought Chinese food, and he said to get the hell out of his apartment so that he can seduce his woman,” Peter joked, laughing wickedly.

I smiled down at the floor. He had no idea how close on the money he was there with that statement.

As we stepped out of the elevator on our floor, I tried extremely hard not to speed walk with a huge grin on my face. My heart was slamming in my chest with apprehension. My hands were shaking with excitement as I balanced all of the bags in one hand and slid the key in the lock with the other. As I pushed open the door, Dean was walking towards me, smiling.

“Hey, Ashton, you have a good time?”

“Incredible,” I confirmed. “Any problems?”

He shifted on his feet, flicking his eyes over my shoulder for a split second before shaking his head. “Nope, nothing,” he replied.

I detected his unease, but at the same time, movement behind him caught my attention and my eyes landed on her. My world seemed to stop spinning as she leant against the wall, sinking her teeth into her bottom lip and fiddling with her hands. Air rushed out of my lungs. She was so damn beautiful. It seemed like every time I looked away from her and then saw her again, I fell more in love with her. They did say that absence made the heart grow fonder, but I’d never quite understood that phrase until now.

“Good. Food is next door. We’ll catch up later.” I put my bags down by the door and motioned for him to leave, but I was unable to take my eyes from the most beautiful thing in the world.