Page 10 of The Master

I gave her a sheepish smile. “I figured, since we were good again…”

“We are?”

The question would have bothered me if I hadn’t seen the gleam in Ashlee’s eyes. She wanted to know the answer, but she was half-teasing, which told me she thought she already knew.

“We are.” I purposefully made it into a statement and got the laugh I’d been looking for.

She turned her hand so that her fingers laced between mine. “I’m willing to give us another shot, but this can’t happen again. Not the arguing part. That, I’m sure, will happen again. And I’m not expecting us to share all our deepest darkest secrets right away.” She squeezed my hand. “But you can’t talk to me like that again.”

“I won’t.”

“I mean it.”

She was firm, but the fact that she hadn’t let go of my hand told me that she wanted this to work.

“I do too,” I said. “I’m well aware of the fact that I can be an asshole. I’m going to try to be less of one for you.”

After a second, she nodded. “All right, but I reserve the right to call you out on it if you slip.”

“Agreed.” I finished my drink, finally feeling like my world had stopped spinning out of control. The past week had been such shit that I didn’t want our time together to end just yet. “Does that mean you’ll come home with me?”

“Asking instead of telling.” The smile playing on her lips grew a tiny bit wider. “Growth.”

Damn, she was hot when she had that teasing tone.

“Is that a yes?”

She sighed. “I want it to be, but I don’t think it’s a good idea if we jump back into bed, not after what happened. This whole thing with us moved fast from the beginning. We need to take a step back. Go slower this time.”

It wasn’t the answer I wanted, but it was better than the answer I deserved.

“We both know I’m not the most patient man.” I couldn’t help but smile at the expression on her face at that statement. “But I’ll respect your decision.”

“Thank you.” She squeezed my hand one more time before releasing it. “I’ll see you tomorrow at work.”

“Let me know when you’re home,” I said. She raised an eyebrow. “I just want to know you got there safely. That’s not unreasonable, is it?”

“It’s not.” She stood up, and I resigned myself to watching her walk away.

Except she only went a few steps toward the door before she turned back.

“I’m not sleeping with you.”

“Okay?”

“I want to trust you about everything, but it’s going to take some time.” She shifted her weight, like something was still on her mind.

“What do you need?”

“I need you to show me that there aren’t any cameras in your place.”

My surprise must’ve shown on my face, because her expression fell in anticipation of my refusal, and I hurried to correct her assumption.

“I’ll do that. We can go through the entire apartment with a fine-tooth comb.”

I tossed a couple bills onto the table and looked up to see her holding out a hand. I took it as I stood and kept a tight grip on it on the way out to my car. I was glad I’d driven today. I didn’t want anything delaying us and giving her time to change her mind.

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