My attention is completely captured by Asher’s granny, who is wearing a neon pink sparkly dress, knee-high white boots, and a long black cardigan, also with sequins on the front. It’s somehow the most inappropriate, loud outfit yet the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen, all at the same time.
“My goodness, you two look like a pair of somber Tombers this morning,” she says, as perky and chipper as if it were three in the afternoon, and she’d just had six espresso shots. Which maybe she has. Who knows. I wouldn’t put it past her.
“Sit, Granny, please,” Asher grunts. He motions to the spot on the couch, and I take my usual place on the loveseat.
Julie Louise Paris seems to fill up the entire room, and not because the sparkles on her outfit are catching the light from the windows and blinding me but because her personality is just that huge. She looks me over then scans her grandson.
“Ahhh,” she says. “I see that someone seems to have found a new residence.”
Asher’s mouth drops. “Have you been spying on me?”
Julie Louise Paris shrugs. “Absolutely. You didn’t think I’d leave everything up to chance, did you? Ha! I suppose you’ve also figured out that I was paying to provide you with a fake girlfriend.”
“I don’t know why you did that,” Asher says evenly, his voice hard. He seems to take the news of his granny freaking watching him and me in stride. “Did you not trust that I could take care of it myself?”
“I wanted what was best for you, so I tried to provide it. As I always have. It’s complicated, as per usual. Nothing about you or your mom was ever simple, but I guess maybe I’m kind of to blame for that.”
“No. You’re not. I’ve made my own decisions, and so has my mom. You’ve stuck with us through all of it. I love the heck out of you, Granny, so I’m not mad about it because I know that somehow, you must have had my best interests at heart. I’m just sad you had to threaten Emily with losing her job and also swear her to silence.”
Julie Louise Paris wrinkles her nose and also raises a brow, which is beyond talented if you ask me. I’m not sure how she does it. “I didn’t know you’d actually be interested in her for real. I thought you’d keep a professional level of detachment. She was so different from anyone else that I thought she’d be good for you as a moral compass and also as someone you wouldn’t get your wires crossed over.”
“Which basically means I was boring and normal, so you thought he wouldn’t be interested in a shrew like me.”
“Something like that,” Julie Louise Paris says cheerfully and openly. Lord, she’s more chipper than a wood chipper. See how creative I am first thing in the morning?
“Well, it happened,” Asher retorts. “And it caused some serious problems when I found out you’d turned Emily into a double agent.”
“Technically, you did that. I got to her first,” Julie Louise Paris cackles.
Asher leans back against the couch, totally exasperated. I feel like the conversation is going on around me but not including me at all, and I feel like an outsider looking in. It’s not exactly a great feeling when my future with Asher is practically hanging in the balance.
“I think if you like her, you should go for it. Who cares how it started? She would have eventually told you about me, I’m sure. Or I would have confessed when I sensed it was serious. I tried to come between you two, to intervene and make sure I was keeping everyone honest and also to be sure the little shrew wasn’t a fortune hunter, but you still called me here this morning even after you found the cheque, so I thought you finally figured it out.”
“Hey!” I protest the gold-digging shrew comment.
Asher rolls his eyes and also manages not to look away from his granny. “What’s that? What do I have figured out?”
“You finally met someone who made you think, made you want to work things out, and made you want to stay the night even if you were angry and ornery. You didn’t want to walk out because you’re already attached. I could tell at dinner, just from how you looked at her, which is exactly what I wanted for you, except none of it can be faked or bought. You found something that is totally, completely real even though Emily knows all about you. She knows you have a name and that you’re rich and powerful, but that’s not at all why she’s with you. She was with you because she had to be, for the money at first, but I can tell that when she looks at you, she doesn’t give two flying figs about that. About any of that. She looks at your muscles and nice hair, and she gets lost in your eyes. It’s incredibly sappy, and it melts my heart. I gave her the cheque, and I wanted to make sure you saw it because I wanted you to find out. I wanted her to tell you or for you to find out some other way and then have to fight for each other because it’s how you know something is real.”