Love Thy Neighbor (36 page)

Ash texted Nik last night, calling a meeting
for tonight with everyone there, so for one more day, we have to
act like we don’t like each other. Well, we don’t
have
to,
but for the sake of keeping up appearances and surprising the hell
out of everyone, that’s what we did.

Nik sent Ash to Safira’s today to bring Tina
some lunch, and while he was there my stomach was going crazy. I
had to turn away from my husband and lean into the counter for
support.

Nerves are the worst.

When Tina walked into the store room to get
something for Ash to take back to Nik, he pressed up against my
back and whispered, “No one does curves like you do, baby. And I am
not
a compliment giving type of guy but, fuck me, you rock
that shit.”

And I almost passed out from the sexual
tension fogging the air.

Luckily, the store was deserted. Gripping
the counter, I hissed, “Get away from me, ass!”

He nipped my earlobe and drawled quietly,
“Softest curves ever, baby. It’s lunch time…” His hand slid from my
waist, across my thigh until his palm rested softly against my
mound. He whispered, “…and I’m hungry.”

My legs turned to jelly and I flushed
crimson.

My man is hot.

No, he’s a blazing inferno.

I whispered, “Do we have time for a quickie
after work?”

His breath warmed my neck as he chuckled,
“We’ll make time, pretty girl.”

Hearing the door to the store room open, I
bumped him back using my booty and said loudly, “God, you’re an
ass!”

Tina came toward us wearing a sad pout,
saying, “Guys, stop that. Can’t we all just get along?”

Fake glaring at him, I teased softly, “Yeah,
Ghost, do you think we’ll ever get along?”

Looking at me through hooded eyes that
searched my body, he said cryptically, “Only time will tell, girl.”
Then he turned and left. And I was finally able to breathe
again.

Tina went behind the counter to shuffle some
papers around and without looking at me, uttered, “Now, I know
you’re going to tell me I’m crazy or some crud like that, but I
really think Ghost likes you, Nat.” It took everything I had in me
to stop my hysterical laughter from escaping.

Biting my lip, I muttered, “I don’t know, T.
But he is hot as hell.”

Hours pass and Ash and I just had some super
happy fun time in The White Rabbit’s parking lot and he mussed me
up good. There’s not much room in the car but we managed.

Turns out I know yoga.

Or something like that, because I’ve never
been bendy before, but put me in a car with my husband and I’ll go
to extreme lengths to please him.

Now we’re on our way to Nik and Tina’s
house. Knowing everyone will be there is freaking me out. I don’t
want anyone to think we’ve been dishonest or deceiving…even though
we have.

The closer we get to the house, the more my
stomach aches and my hands shake. Suddenly petrified, I blurt out,
“I’m scared!”

Ash nods his head without turning to face
me. “Well…Stop it.”

My glare is so strong that at any moment I’m
expecting a laser beam to pop out of my eyes and burn him. I yell
in disbelief, “You can’t just
order
me to stop being scared,
shithead!”

He smirks. “There. Now you’re angry.”
Turning to face me, he bites the tip of his tongue cheekily a
moment before saying, “Not scared anymore. I win.” And I want to
smack him.

Groaning, I run my hands down my face and
pretend to sob. Asher chuckles and rubs my shoulder, then he pats
the very top of my head with a stiff palm and says robotically,
“There, there. There, there.”

I fling his hand off me and he bursts into
laughter. I know what he’s doing. He likes it when I get angry. He
says it makes me horny. We’ll see about that. Stupid Ash.

I thought I knew who Asher Collins was, but
in the past few days, I’ve learnt more about him and I have to say,
I love this Asher even more than the last. The old Asher was a mean
and somewhat scary man, stuck in an age of nightmares. My
Asher…he’s sweet, funny, goofy and hotter than hell. But most
importantly, he’s free. Free from his past and looking toward the
future. Our future. I’d like to take credit but I can’t. Maybe I
helped, but he did most of it on his own. And I’m proud of him.

My thoughts bubble out of my mouth. I tell
him, “I’m so proud of you, Ash. I couldn’t be prouder to show
everyone that you’re my husband.”

Watching him drive, his brow furrows. He
doesn’t respond, just takes my hand in his and links our fingers.
He doesn’t need to say a thing.

I get him.

I love him.

When we pull up to Nik and Tina’s, we
somehow get the parking spot right out front. Making a funny, I
whoop then say, “Oh my God! You just won at life, baby!”

Brow still furrowed, he utters, “Never
really been a winner before.”

That makes me sad.

Unsure if anyone is watching us, I keep my
eyes forward and say confidently, “All that’s changing, babe.
You’ll see.” Sliding my hand over to his thigh, I whisper on a
squeeze, “I love you. You’re a winner to me. You always will be. So
suck it up. Let’s get in there and show everyone how happy we
are.”

His hand covers mine and he squeezes it,
saying confidently, “Let’s do it, babe.”

We exit the car barely looking at each
other. I approach the front door and enter without knocking, I yell
out, “Hey, hey!”

Ceecee spots me down the hall. Wearing a
brilliant crooked smile, she wheels herself over to me really damn
fast. I chuckle at her enthusiasm and lower myself to my knees to
hug the crap out of her. Brushing her auburn hair out of her face,
I say, “My God, sweetie. Every time I see you, you’re more and more
beautiful.” And I’m being honest too. She’s so pretty. Max is going
to have a hard time when she’s older. He’ll have to beat ‘em off
with a stick. Scowling at her playfully, I utter, “Stop stealing
all the beauty! We old people need it too!”

Covering her mouth with her palm, she
giggles. “You’re so silly, Nat.”

Standing back up, I moan tiredly, “I know. I
know.”

I follow her into the open lounge
slash
dining room
slash
kitchen and see everyone
sitting out on the porch. I tell Ceecee, “You mind telling everyone
we’re here, honey?”

With another sweet smile, she speeds off
towards the backyard. I feel Asher press in behind me and mutter,
“Ready?”

Without looking back at him, I nod and walk
toward the sliding door. I take a deep breath to steady myself and
slide the door open. Everyone looks over at us. I walk out and say,
“Hey guys.”

A smiling Max stands first and wraps me up
in a flirtatious and very touchy hug. Knowing Ash is probably
scowling behind me, I chuckle in embarrassment. When Max’s hand
reaches my ass and squeezes, my laughter can no longer be
contained. It bursts out of me and I wrap my arms around Max’s neck
tightly, knowing this hug will be the last of its kind. Pulling
back from Max a little, I peck a kiss to his mouth and tell him,
“You know I love you, right?”

Max gifts me a stunning smile. His amber
eyes sparkle and he says, “Uh, hell yeah I do. I love you too,
boo.”

Letting go of him, I move around the table,
hugging and kissing everyone in greeting, even though I just saw
Tina not an hour ago, but I love them all so much right now that I
need contact with them all. When I reach Nik, his eyes narrow at me
suspiciously. Suddenly panicked, I lean down and kiss him full on
the mouth. I pull back from him and say a little too loudly, “I
love you too, Nik.”

Nik smiles so hard it looks like his dimple
might slit his cheek open.

What the fuck are you doing?

I have no idea, brain. Just roll with
it.

Realizing I missed out on Trick, I walk over
to him and his eyes widen. I grab his cheeks, pull him forward and
smack a kiss on his mouth too. I announce a little dramatically, “I
love you all. A lot.”

I turn to Ash and we have a silent
conversation.

His eyes narrow.
What the fuck are you
doing?

My eyes widen and I play with my wedding
ring.
Oh god, I’m so bad at this shit.

He slightly nods to his side.
Get over
here, girl.

Sitting in the vacant seat by Nik, I shake
my head discreetly.
You are on your own, buddy.

Ash dips his chin and places both hands on
his hips. I know he’s
this
close from going all caveman on
me, but he somehow pulls it together. He looks around the table and
says, “I bet you’re wondering why I’ve gathered you all here
today.”

Lola looks up at Ash and chuckles, “That was
a kickass line, Ghost.”

Mimi laughs and looks to Lola, “I know! It
was all mega cool villain-like.”

Tina giggles and whispers, “Sorry, Ghost,
but it totally was.”

They all look around that table smiling like
a bunch of fools and I’m so nervous that I blurt out, “Please, go
on, Dr. Evil.”

The whole table erupts into laughter. I look
up and even Ash is losing his fight to be sincere. We all laugh til
we cry and I’m so glad tonight is going this way. I prefer laughter
than tears any night of the week. When it’s clear we aren’t going
to get over our giggles, Ash announces loudly, “I got married two
days ago.”

And the conversation all comes to a
screeching halt.

No one says a word for a good minute. I’m
pretty sure I hear crickets chirping in the background too.

Ash explains, “The girl I was telling you
all about, the one I was dating, I realized I love her too and
didn’t want to be without her, so I proposed and we got married the
same day.”

I look around the table to find almost
everyone’s gaping at Ash. Only Mimi and Nik look at me and gape.
Tina exclaims, “Ghost, honey! That’s great! Who is she?”

Ash shifts from foot to foot, and I smile at
his sudden nervousness. He clears his throat and confesses, “Well,
she’s here…right now.”

Lola looks a little glum when she says
quietly, “Okay. Bring her in so we can meet the lucky lady.”

Trick booms, “Holy shit!” He looks around
the table in shock and shouts again, “Holy shit!”

Ash looks over to me, his expression
pleading. I breathe deep and stand up, moving to my husband. When I
reach his side, I say quietly, “Hey guys.”

Tina, Lola, Trick and Max all look at me
wearing blank expressions. They don’t get it.

Mimi and Nik smile big. They get it.

Unsure of where to go from here, I take hold
of Ash’s hand, linking our fingers. I look up to my husband with a
tender smile which he returns, and standing on my tiptoes, I gently
kiss his mouth. He wraps his arms around me and I run my hands up
his back.

Through our kiss, I hear Tina and Lola gasp
in obvious shock.

Max says slowly, “No. Freakin’. Way.”

Trick yells out once again, “Holy shit!”

When we pull back from each other, I look
into Asher’s eyes and peck his mouth once, twice, three times and
whisper, “I love you.”

He pulls me close, kisses my forehead and
whispers against it, “Best thing that ever happened to me.”

I look over at the table to look at my
friends.

Lola looks as if I just told her that ice
cream actually has crack in it. Tina weeps softly wearing a watery
smile. Max smirks at me. I wink at him. He winks back at me. Mimi
kisses her fingertips and places them on her heart and I want to
cry from the overwhelming support I feel. Trick, who’s obviously
having trouble getting over this, says quietly, “Holy shit.”

Nik stands and walks over to us. He kisses
my cheek before taking Ash in a full-blown man hug. A long one.
They both seem to be a little emotional. Nik whispers something to
Ash and Ash nods before he slaps Nik’s back a few times and they
part. Nik moves to stand between us and says, “It’s my honor to
present the new Mr. and Mrs. Asher Collins.”

Everyone stands up, whooping and cheering.
And that’s about the time I burst into tears.

I’m suddenly being group hugged and Tina
wails, “I’m so happy for you, you crazy lady!”

I wail right back, “I’m so happy I could
shit rainbows!”

Lola cheers. “I’m so fucking happy right
now!”

Mimi kisses my head and rocks me slightly.
She says in a sing-song voice, “I knew all along!”

Laughing and carrying on with my friends, I
look towards my husband who is being interrogated by his friends.
He winks at me. I mouth, “Love you.”

Warmth settles in my belly and I breathe
deeply.

All is right in my world.

***

We get home from a long night of celebration
and I drag my ass through the door of Ash’s apartment. He’d called
someone to clean my place and wasn’t sure if it was done yet, so he
told me to shower and relax at his place while he went to check on
my apartment.

I smile tiredly.

What a great husband.

I shower quickly and get my jammies on.
Nothing sexy tonight, just my Minnie Mouse pajama pants and a tight
black tank because I’m seriously pooped. When I lie down on the
bed, I close my eyes and lie to myself that I’m only resting
them.

Something wet and warm licks my nose.
Another something licks my cheek. My brow furrows in annoyance. If
Ash is licking my face, I’m going to be pissed. I don’t roll that
way.

Opening my eyes, I gasp in astonishment and
sit up. Then I shriek in excitement, causing the two little puppies
to jump up and down on me in equally as much excitement. Looking
around, I spot Ash leaning in the door frame smiling. He says, “Now
these guys are not your babies. They’re our dogs. Dogs. Got that?
We’re going to have babies, so don’t baby them. And if I see you
dress them in fucking tutus and dresses and shit, they’re gone.
You’re not gonna put ‘em through that kind of torture, okay?”