“Didn’t you bone her best friend?” I asked.
“That’s not important. The point is, you need to get out. So come out.”
Ash looked at the two empty bottles of wine lying sideways on the table. What was he going to do if he didn’t go out? Get drunk on all his expensive wine? At least if he went to the club, he could drown his sorrows in a wonderful scotch and have a nice woman keep him company for the evening. And that sounded like a fucking wonderful deal compared to the one he’d just been saddled with.
Maybe she’d have big tits and thick thighs to wrap around his head later.
“Fine,” he said. “I’ll come up.”
Ash took a warm shower, allowing the alcohol to seep farther into his veins. He put on his best suit, all black for the occasion. He shined his shoes and gelled his hair back a bit, then flashed himself a smile in the mirror.
He looked like an idiot.
Jeremy guided him up to the VIP glass house in the corner and he had a full view of the club below him. He hated shit like this, but tonight? He was glad to be away from all of them. He sank down onto the couch, his legs spread wide and stretched out. He listened to the music as it thumped away, but soon the sound of a voice being cleared caught his attention.
“Mr. Worthington?”
He panned his eyes over and came into contact with a very striking woman. She was in a tight-ass skirt and thigh-high boots. Her tits were spilling out of the top of her shirt and her thick black hair was pulled into a high bun. She was holding a tray with a wonderful glass of scotch on it, and the smile on her face was gleaming. He grinned at her and took the drink before patting the couch next to him, and she looked almost hesitant.
“It’s okay,” he said. “I don’t bite.”
“I can’t stay long,” the woman said. “Jeremy wants reports on how you’re doing from time to time.”
“Then you leave Jeremy to me,” he said with a grin. “How about you start with your name?”
“Ashley,” she said with a giggle. “Ashley Wright.”
“I believe I know someone with a similar name,” he said. “I guess that’s what happens when two beautiful people are popped out around the same time.”
“Would you like me to call you something other than ‘Ashly’?” she asked.
“How about you call me ‘handsome,’” he said.
“All right ... handsome.”
The two of them talked for a while, but it did nothing but make him feel like a pile of shit. She was pretty. Kind. But he knew she couldn't hold a candle to Kallie. None of the women in this club could. But Ash was on a mission. A mission that hit him the second he saw someone taking a picture of him with his arm wrapped around another woman.
He could do some personal public relations work in his own favor.
“Miss Ashley.”
“Yes, handsome?”
“Would you be so kind as to get me another drink? I think I might go have a dance or two,” he said.
“I’ll come find you. I promise.”
“Good girl.”
He caressed her cheek with his thumb before he got up and left his empty glass behind. He buttoned his suit coat around his waist, then made his way for the dance floor. The press was everywhere. Everyone was probably calling their buddies. “Ash Worthington is out and about!” “Ash Worthington post–gold digger heartbreak remedy!” He could see all the headlines in his mind’s eye, and he was determined to turn them around.
“Ash Worthington doesn’t get played by gold diggers” was more up his alley.
He found himself a passel of pretty women and they were more than willing to let him in. He hated the feeling. He hated the idea of another woman other than Kallie rubbing up against him. But he was on a recon mission, and he needed to fake it until he made it. He needed to treat these beautiful women like playthings and nothing more. The world needed to see that Ash wasn’t broken after something like this. That Kallie hadn’t gotten the one-up on him like the world thought.
And he was going to play it the fuck up.
He wrapped his arms around the women as Ashley brought him a drink. And once he took his drink, he pulled her into the group. They all danced and whooped and had a grand old time, and he made sure the press saw every second of it. Pictures were snapped of him grinding on other women. Other pictures were taken of women tugging at his tie and pulling him closer. Even more pictures were taken of him feeding Ashley his scotch while she shoved her beautiful tits into his body.