“Eyes!”He growled this time. “When did you find out about this?” I look into his beautiful eyes and see sadness there and my heart hurt.

“When I went to the lawyer,” I whisper.

“Why didn’t you tell me then?” he asks as he steps back, taking his warmth with him.

“I didn’t want it to change us,” I whisper again, looking down at the tiled floor of his bathroom.

“Have I ever given you that idea?” he asks. I felt like a horrible person for not telling him from the start about the money. It was stupid to hide it.

“No,” I say, looking up at him. I can tell that he’s hurt.

“You’re right. I haven’t, and I have to say I'm fucking pissed that you would even think for one minute that money would change how I feel about you.”

“I know it was stupid. I just wanted to make sure.” His eyes narrow and I know that is the wrong thing to say.

“Make sure of what? That I wasn’t with you for your money? Jesus, what the fuck? I don’t understand what goes on in that head of yours sometimes.” That kind of hurts, but I know he’s right. “I’ve never asked you to pay for shit. I never want you to pay for shit.”

That’s true. Anytime I’ve tried to pay for something, I would get the look that promised I wouldn’t like what happened if I didn’t put my money away.

“You’re right. I know. I should have told you.”

“You should have. I understand why you didn’t. It doesn’t make me happy, but I understand.”

“Thanks,” I say, wrapping my arms around his waist and laying my head on his chest.

“Just don’t keep shit from me. I don’t like knowing that you have kept that secret for over a month.” Crap, I never thought about it like that.

“I'm sorry,” I whisper into his chest, feeling like a total dork.

“When you move in, we’ll talk about your money.”

“What?” My head jerked back so I could look into his eyes.

“You heard me, and know that shit will be soon. I don’t like you having to travel to your dad’s every few days to go get clothes and shit.”

“Asher,” I say, glaring at him and putting my hands on my hips for the full effect. “You are not going to boss me into moving in with you.”

“There will be no bossing, baby. You want to move in. Don’t you love feeding me breakfast in bed every morning?” he asks and I shiver. Every morning, he has me for breakfast before he gets out of bed, and yes, I do love feeding him. “Don’t you like lazing on the couch, watching movies at night?” I did love that, or just lying on him while he watches a game. “Don’t you love cooking in my kitchen?” Yes, I loved his kitchen. It was my favorite room in the house. I loved baking in there, or just sitting at the counter with my kindle reading. “Don’t you love me fucking you whenever you need to be fucked?” Um, yes! I bite my lip and look over his shoulder.

“Those are just a few of the reasons why I won’t have to boss you to move in with me.” He had a point. He wouldn’t need to boss me into it. It was just too soon. Maybe in a few months, but right now, I like knowing that I still have my dad’s house to run to if I needed it.

“Can we not talk about this right now? I need to get ready to go to your parents’ house.”

“Yeah, we can wait to talk about it, but we will be talking about it.”

“Great.” I roll my eyes. “Something to look forward to.” He kisses my nose and gives me his dimple smile then leaves me to watch him walk away. I shake my head. He’s such a jerk but I love him. Wait, what? I love him? Oh my God, I love him. Oh no, I love him. Crap! Oh my God, does he love me? I turn to look in the mirror. “So what, you love him. He doesn’t have to love you back,” I whisper to myself.

“What, baby?”

“Shit!” I jump and look through the mirror to see Asher watching me. “Um, nothing. I just, um, burnt myself.”

“Are you okay?” he asks, smirking, and I wonder if he heard me admit to myself that I love him.

“Yeah, I'm fine, great, just fine.” Great, now I'm blubbering like an idiot. He tilts his head and smiles. My heart starts thumping double time.

“Uh hum. I thought I heard you say something?” he says, taking a step closer to me.

“Nope, not me. I didn’t say anything. Maybe you heard the TV or something.” I cross my arms over my chest.

“The TVs are off.”

“Hmm, that’s strange. Maybe you have a ghost,” I say, tilting my head.

“This house is built on an old graveyard, so I wouldn’t be surprised if there are ghosts.”

“What?” I whisper, in shock. I hate ghosts. Not that I’ve met any, but I don’t like the idea of them. I watched the first Paranormal Activity movie and got so scared that I had to sleep with the lights on for a month. Let’s just say my college roommate was not happy about that. “We can’t stay here,” I yell. “We have to hire a ghost buster person to come get rid of it. Then, we have to bless the house, and if the ghost doesn’t leave, we need to move.” I was panting and Asher’s lips were twitching. “Oh my God! This is not funny. We could end up dead, don’t you know that? Haven’t you ever seen the exorcist?” I was yelling.

He threw his head back laughing. “Baby, there is no ghost. I was kidding. The house is not built on a graveyard.”

I smack him in the arm. “That’s not funny. Why would you say something like that?”

“You wanna admit what you said when you were in here talking to yourself?”

“I wasn’t talking to myself,” I snapped at him. “I was talking to Beast.” I'm a genius. I forgot about Beast. He’s the perfect cover up.

His eyes narrowed. “So, what were you saying to Beast then?”

“Nothing. Just that I love him and he’s a good dog, even if he doesn’t love me.”

“Trust me, he loves you. Even though he thinks you’re whacked.” Does that mean Asher loves me? Wait, what the hell?

“I'm not whacked.” I growl at him.

“Do you love me, baby?”

“W…wh… what?” I stutter out, shaking my head. Then, he is crowding me against the counter.

“Don’t piss me off, baby.” He growls. I bite my lip to keep myself quiet. His eyes drop to my mouth and narrow. “Tell me that you love me.” I start shaking my head and he holds my face between his hands. “Tell me you love me so I can say it back.”

“What?” I whisper in shock, searching his face to make sure he’s telling the truth.

“Tell me, baby.” I swallow the lump in my throat. “Say it, baby.” He lays his forehead against mine.

Squeezing my eyes closed, I whisper, “I love you.” My heart feels like it might beat out of my chest. I hear his sharp intake of breath then his hands fist into the hair at the sides of my head.

“Open your eyes.” I swallow then open my eyes. “I love you too, baby. Jesus, I’ve loved you since I saw your beautiful face standing at the bar in your dad’s club. I knew then that you were it for me.”

“You were a jerk,” I remind him, smiling.

“Yeah.” He smirks. “I was pissed that I was gonna have to beat up Mike.”

“What?” I say through my laugh.

“I was going to have you one way or another,” he says, biting my bottom lip. “If that meant beating up Mike, I was willing to do whatever was necessary to stake my claim.”

“You’re serious?” I giggle and shake my head in disbelief.

“You’re worth it,” he whispers. I feel my nose start to sting and a tear slide down my cheek. His thumb catches it. He kisses me softly and lays his forehead back against mine. “Now I wish I had time to show you how much I love you. But if I did that, we would be late and I don’t want to piss Ma off on Christmas Eve.”

I got tingly and my nipples got hard. I want him to show me how much he loves me. He kisses me again, this time a little deeper, but not enough. When he pulls his mouth away, I want more. “We can be a few minutes late. I’ll take the blame,” I say breathlessly as I scrape my nails over his abs, watching his eyes grow dark at my touch. I lean forward and touch my mouth to his chest, running my tongue up to his collar bone. One of his hands fists in my hair and the other pulls me closer to him so I’m on the edge of the counter. The hard length of him is pressed to my center. He takes my mouth in a hard, deep kiss, then his mouth leaves mine, traveling down my neck. I wrap my legs around his waist, pulling him closer. He puts my arms around his shoulders then picks me up, carrying me out of the bathroom. I fly through the air then my body hits the bed so hard, I bounce twice. I hear my hot rollers hitting the hardwood floors. Then my shorts and panties are off. His hands travel up my thighs, my legs falling open. “I love this pussy, baby. So pink, wet, and mine.” He growls the words against my clit, making my pulse race. He licks me from top to bottom. “Jesus, so fucking sweet,” he says, licking me again. This time, his tongue circles my clit, not making contact. I whimper.

“Hush, baby.” He licks me again, pulling my clit into his mouth. My hips shoot off the bed and my hands hold his head while my heels press into the mattress. He growls then throws both my legs over his shoulders and lifting my ass. His mouth is eating me like he’s starving. My hips circle, pressing him deeper. I am close, so close.

“Asher.” I moan. “Please.” My back bows off the bed and my eyes shut tight. My hands fist the sheets at my sides. I am searching for it. I am close. I feel it start then his mouth is gone. I whimper and he slams into me.

“Yes,” I scream.

Asher looks down at me. “Give me your mouth, baby.” My head is righted and his mouth is on mine. I can taste the salty sweetness of myself in the kiss. I wrap my legs around his hips, running my hands up his back, feeling the muscles contract as he’s pounding into me. “I'm going to come,” I say, shoving my face into his neck and biting down. My limbs go tight around him. “Not yet. Together,” he says, lifting my hips higher. “Asher,” I cry. “Fuck!” he shouts, pounding harder. My head flies back. “So fucking beautiful.” His words make me hotter. I bite my lip, trying to keep from coming without him. His hands leave my hips and travel down to my breast, pinching my nipples. I'm so close and trying hard to hold off my orgasm that I can taste blood from where I'm biting my lip.

“Now.” His words are like a trigger. I go off, feeling myself break into a million pieces. Two more stokes and he follows behind me, his mouth finding mine as he swallows my scream. I can feel myself convulsing around him. I tighten my limbs, holding him closer. “Please don’t leave me.” I breathe, not ready to be separated from him. “Never, baby,” he says, and I know that the emotion behind his words means more than just right now. He spends time kissing my jaw, neck and lips. After a few minutes, he slides out and I feel the loss of him right away.