Page 30 of Dirty Desires
Chapter Thirteen
Nina
The nerve of that man!
Ashton Lange marched away from me as if he was pissed.
At me!
I hadn’t done one damn thing wrong to that man, and there he was hiding from me as if I was some banshee bitch that was harassing his ass or something. If he thought I was going to take what he’d said lying down, he had another think coming.
I was the one who ended up getting on that elevator instead of him, and I went up to vent my anger and frustration to my friends.
Julia saw the heat in my eyes as I came into her office. “I cannot believe this, Julia.” I flopped down on one of the sofas in her office. “Ashton has been hiding in his office to stay away from me. From me!”
My entire body was shaking. Julia went to the mini fridge and pulled out a bottle of wine. “This looks like a job for some wine.” She poured me a glass, then one for herself just as Lila knocked on the door. Julia went to the door to open it. “She’s fit to be tied, Lila. Ashton has really done it this time.”
Lila jerked her head toward the wine glasses. “Pour me one while you’re at it. I know this will put my panties in a wad too.” She made her way to me, taking a seat right next to me as she took my hand in hers. “Tell us all about it, Nina.”
“H … he … he,” I took a deep breath in an attempt to pull myself together. “He told me he’s been staying in his office to stay away from me.” And then the tears exploded. “What did I do wrong?”
Lila patted my hand. “Nothing. Not one damn thing, Nina.”
Julia placed one of the glasses in my hand. “Here, drink this. It’ll calm you down so you can vent more therapeutically.”
I had half the glass in my gut before Lila peeled it away from me. “Too fast. You don’t need to get hammered, just chilled out a bit.”
Nodding, I knew she was right. If I did get drunk, I wouldn’t be able to control myself. I would end up banging on Ashton’s door, demanding to be let in so I could belt him one right in the kisser.
Julia took a seat on the sofa across from us. “I wonder why he would want to avoid you. You two had a good time last weekend, didn’t you? Was there something that happened between you two that you’ve left out of our conversations? Be honest.”
I thought about it. Had I not paid attention to something that had upset Ashton? “I can’t think of anything that could’ve led to him acting this way.” I hadn’t told them one thing—it hadn’t seemed right to tell anyone about what had almost happened. “When he and I were making breakfast, right before you guys came into the kitchen, he and I almost kissed.”
Lila shook her head as she looked confused. “Why didn’t you tell us this before?”
With a shrug, I answered, “I don’t know. It seemed like a small thing. And it didn’t happen. He never kissed me. So, why bother telling anyone about it?”
Julia sighed. “I don’t know. I guess you were right not to mention it to us. But that still doesn’t help us make sense of things. If he was about to kiss you then, then what the hell could be going on in that man’s head right now?”
“That weekend was supposed to draw you guys closer together, not pull you further apart,” Lila said then took a drink of the wine. “That man is so confusing.”
Julia quirked her lips to one side, looking deep in thought. “You know, if the problem in the first place was this business with his fiancée, then do you think this could have something to do with her again?”
I nodded, then jumped up, stomping my feet as I hopped up and down in a fit. “Of course she has something to do with this! Be he was being so good with talking to me about her. So why is this happening now?”
There was no way that I could take any more of this. It was making me crazy.
Lila grabbed me, placing my ass back on the sofa. “Take a sip, Nina.” She held the wine glass to my lips.
I took a sip, but it didn’t do me any good. “I can’t do this anymore.”
Both of them looked at me with stunned expressions. Lila’s mouth gaped open. “You’re done with Ashton Lange? After two years, you are really done?”
Nodding, I took another sip. “I can’t compete with a dead woman. I never stood a chance. I’m finally getting that through my thick skull. He was never free; I can see that now. She’s got a hold on him from the grave. She’ll never let go.”
Julia was quick to say, “It’s not like that, Nina. She’s not the one who’s holding onto anyone. It’s him. He’s holding onto her because of the guilt he feels about her death. And he misses her too. Everything between them is unresolved. She left this Earth when they both loved each other so much. They had a whole life planned together. All that went away in a flash.”
“And I get that.” My hands fisted in my lap. “But I can’t keep on trying when he’s being mean to me. Ashton has never been mean to me. I don’t know how to take it. It just makes me want to get away from him,” I took a deep breath, trying to get my thoughts in some semblance of order. “I feel like I don’t even know him anymore. How can he act like this after we just had a wonderful, fun weekend of finally getting to really know one another? I just don’t understand.”
