Never mind that Violet and Scarlett had gone from being strangers to family at their first meeting.
“Ashton,” she finally said, deciding it was time to stop waiting for some sign that she and LeDay had a connection. The man had enjoyed a brief encounter with a beautiful woman. End of story. That the affair had produced a daughter wasn’t going to touch his life. “We should be getting back to camp.” She gave LeDay a bright smile. “Thank you for having dinner with us. I enjoyed meeting you.”
“Nice meeting you, as well,” he replied.
“Ready?” Ashton gave her a searching look.
“Absolutely.”
There were no halfhearted offers to stay in touch. Just a simple wave goodbye and a sinking feeling in Harper’s stomach that she should have stayed home.
Overwhelmed by futility, Harper trudged back to the car. Her boots felt as if they weighed ten pounds each. She’d been uncharacteristically naive to expect that she and LeDay would have some sort of immediate connection.
“That didn’t go as you’d hoped,” Ashton said, stating the obvious. “I suspected he wasn’t going to welcome you with open arms.”
That he was right didn’t make Harper feel any better about how meeting her father had gone. She was angry with herself for wondering if the reason Ross Fontaine hadn’t been a loving father was because they weren’t biologically related.
“A man like that isn’t interested in family,” Ashton continued, and Harper wasn’t sure if he was trying to make her feel better or just pointing out the obvious. “He has his photography and the safaris. They’re his passion. He doesn’t seem to need anyone.”
Weighed down by disappointment, Harper’s temper got the better of her. “Like someone else I know?”
“Criticize me all you want, but I’m here for you.”
As she threw herself into the Range Rover and waited for him to get behind the wheel, she wondered what he did feel about her. The way he’d made love to her left her emotions jumbled and her confidence rocky. Could a man kiss with such gut-wrenching passion and feel nothing more than uncomplicated lust? Ashton wasn’t exactly the easiest person to read and she couldn’t expect him to start spouting poetry.
Who was Ashton Croft? Selfish adventurer? Celebrity hound? Romantic lover?
Seeing that Ashton continued to stand where she’d left him, Harper got out of the vehicle and crossed to stand before him. Hands bracketing his hips, he was staring at the distant horizon, a scowl of absolute frustration drawing his brows together. If he’d noticed she’d reappeared, he gave no sign.
“How do I make you feel?” she asked softly, scarcely able to believe she had the nerve to have her heart stomped all over for a second time that day.
“Dependable.” He made the word sound like a curse.
It wasn’t at all what she expected him to say, and the giddy relief that struck her made little sense. “You don’t like being dependable?”
“I don’t like living up to anyone’s expectations but my own.”
“I wish you could teach me your trick of living that way.”
He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her hard. She met the bold thrust of his tongue with matching hunger and let herself be swept up in the rising passion of their embrace. This was easy. Surrendering to his mastery. Letting his insistent kisses and eager hands sweep away all her worries.
Breathing unevenly, Ashton placed his forehead against hers. They stayed that way for several minutes as the sun sank below the horizon and the night sounds swelled. At long last he stirred.
“We’d better get going. It’s an hour back to camp.”
She nodded and let him draw her back to the truck. As the ancient shocks struggled to absorb the road’s dips and bumps, Harper reflected over the past few hours.
“You know it doesn’t matter that LeDay disappointed me,” she said, determination in her voice. “In fact, I’m glad. I can stop second-guessing who I am. I can go back to my life and my career and never look back again. It’s better for everyone this way.”
Ashton’s features could have been carved from stone. “You’re not going to tell your grandfather the truth about who your father really is.”
“Why should I?”
“Because maybe if you know you’ll never be Fontaine’s CEO you might look around and see there’s something you’d rather be doing.”
“Being CEO is what I want.”
“Then why did you hop on a plane at the last second and fly all this way to meet your father? You could have saved time and money by staying home and making the same decision.”