Ashton Scott

“Please don’t come here. I’m asking you to give me the rest of this week, that’s all. And then I’ll come to you.”

The rest of this week?

There’s no way I can go a week without her.

“A compromise,” I suggest. “You give me this, and I’ll give you the rest of the week.” I pause briefly, trying like hell to contain my emotions. “I need to see you today.”

My head and heart are a raging sea of thoughts and feelings like I’ve never experienced. I need to see her more than I’ve ever needed to see anyone.

“Okay,” she finally agrees, her voice wavering, betraying her uncertainty over this. “Come and see me, but I’m not promising anything.”

I’m not looking for promises today. I’m looking for the opportunity to remind her of how she feels when she’s with me. I’m counting on that feeling to outweigh any doubts she’s having.

* * *

She has her back to the door when I arrive, and my eyes are drawn to those sexy-as-hell legs of hers that are on full display thanks to the navy blue dress she’s wearing. It barely covers her thighs, and I immediately wonder how many assholes have laid eyes on her today. How many have run their eyes down her legs and imagined their hands sliding up them? The possessiveness that slams into me is overwhelming as I watch her for these few moments. I’ve never experienced these kinds of feelings before, and they confuse the hell out of me because I don’t know how best to deal with them.

I’m out of my depth here. The one thing I do know with absolute certainty, though, is that Lorelei is mine and I need to do whatever it takes to remind her of that.

“Lorelei,” I say as I enter her office.

She spins around, caught off guard, and meets my gaze. “Ashton.” Her voice holds uncertainty. “You made good time. I wasn’t expecting you so soon.”

I didn’t make good time; I forced it. But thoughts of how I sped here fall away as I take in the way Lorelei is looking at me like she can’t keep her eyes off me, and note the way her voice is breathy and soft like usual. She’s still mine.

“How are you?” I ask as I close the distance between us. She looks tired. She also looks apprehensive about me being here.

After taking a moment to compose her answer, she says, “It’s been a busy week. I feel pulled in multiple directions and ready for a weekend off to recharge.”

I know she’s been busy; I’ve had James, one of my security guys, keep an eye on her to make sure she’s safe, and he’s reported back that she’s filled every day with meetings and other work stuff.

“What do you have planned for today?”

Her forehead creases into a frown. “Are you asking me that because you want to know or because you want me to cancel my plans?”

“Both.”

A fleeting look of exasperation crosses her face. “I told you I need the rest of this week, so please don’t do this. I’m already confused about everything. You coming here trying to force me to a decision only confuses me more.”

“I know we have things still to discuss, but what is there to be confused about?”

She stares at me like I’m speaking in tongues and then with a shake of her head, she says, “You’re clueless as to why I’ve put some distance between us, aren’t you?”

“No, but I’m unsure of this confusion you’re experiencing.”

Placing her hand on her hip, she throws out, “Okay then, tell me why I need a week away from you.”

She’s moved from breathy and soft to challenging, and I sense another argument brewing between us. In an attempt to stop that, I place my hand on her arm and say, “Let’s pause and start again. How about we go to Francesca’s café so we can sit and talk this out?”

Her face sets with determination. “Ashton, no. I’m not getting into this today. You need to go and let me think.”

My own determination flares, as does my frustration. “Lorelei, you’ve had four nights to think. Now is the time to talk. And as far as why you needed time away from me, I understand you needed space for thinking. It’s natural for issues like this to come up in new relationships. Extended time apart, though, won’t help us work through our problems.”

“Now might be the time for you to want to talk, but it’s not what I need. This is what you seem incapable of grasping?

?that I process things differently to you, and that I have different ways of working stuff out. I understood that what you needed was to see me today, so I said yes to you coming over. Now, I’d really appreciate it if you could give me what I’m asking for.”

The realisation that this isn’t going to go the way I’d expected slams into me. And I’m at a loss for how to fix it. The rest of the week without her isn’t something I want to contemplate, let alone give her, but I can see that if I don’t agree to that our problems will multiply.