Page 40 of Stunner (Whiskey Dolls 3)

“Who do you think finished off those slices that were missing? I’m good for now.”

She shrugged and dug in, swiping up one of the slices and taking a big bite. “Oh my God, this is heaven,” she said on a moan that instantly made me hard enough to crush granite. “What is it about this pizza that’s so good? I thought Momma Gianna’s over in Hope Valley was the best until I tried this.”

“It’s the sauce,” I stated proudly. “It’s a secret recipe that’s been passed down since before Junior moved here from the old country.”

She looked at me with wide, tempting eyes. “So you know how to make this?” she mumbled around a bite.

“Sorry.” I shook my head on a laugh. “To prevent the recipe from being leaked, only one person from each generation is allowed to know, usually the oldest. But since I planned on going to vet school and Hardin was the one who wanted to join the family business, she got the recipe from my mother, not me.”

“Hmm,” she hummed thoughtfully, taking another bite. “Maybe I’m cozying up to the wrong Shields kid.”

I leaned in, giving her a smile that had worked on women in the past. “But I get the family discount.”

She shrugged. “Meh.” The banter between us was a whole hell of a lot of fun, but it had to come to an end. Asher got serious and shifted the conversation back to the main topic. “Was the reason you ghosted me because of Jackson?”

I would have loved nothing more than to put the blame on that self-centered shithead, but he wouldn’t have messed with my head if I hadn’t let him. That was a fuckup I had to own myself.

“He said some shit that got to me, but that was my own damn fault for letting it.”

The skin between her brows puckered as she frowned. “What kind of stuff did he say?”

“He brought up the fact that—”fuck me, there really was no good way to word this—“that after spending so long with him you maybe wouldn’t be too thrilled with the fact I didn’t exactly live up to the same lifestyle.”

She dropped the piece of crust onto her plate, all that fun banter, the easiness, disappeared in a flash as she stared at me with what looked a hell of a lot like hurt in her eyes. “That’s really what you think of me? That I’m that shallow?”

Shit. I was fucking this up. Grabbing hold of her seat with both hands, I yanked the chair toward me, spreading my thighs so they bracketed hers, making it impossible to escape without tripping at least one of us in the process. “Baby, no,” I stressed, desperate to make her understand. “The hang-up isn’t with you, it’s with me. I thought I wasn’t good enough. Jackson was able to give you so much, and I won’t be able to do half of what he did—”

“I never asked him for any of that stuff,” she clipped, a tinge of red popping up on her cheeks as her ire grew.

“I know—I told you, it was stupid. I thought back to the house you lived in with him, then looked around this place. I couldn’t help but compare.”

“Ihatedthat house,” she spat, jerking her head back when I tried to reach out and touch her cheek. “It was cold and sterile and not me in the slightest. I tried to get him to sell it and move into something smaller, because the damn thing was ridiculous. Buthecared about appearances,not me.”

“Honey—”

She held her hand up to silence me. “You know the very first thought I had when I woke up in your bed that morning?” She didn’t give me a chance to answer. “I thought,nowthisis whata home is supposed to feel like. I counted all the perfect places where you could snuggle in with a good book on a rainy day. I thought about how it was the absolute perfect size, and how there wasn’t the slightest hint of pretension in the whole place.”

“Asher, I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, you should be,” she snapped, her eyes narrowing into pissed-off slits. “You idiot. You were his best man, for Christ’s sake. How many fights did you witness between us because I thought the wedding was growing out of control and just wanted something small and intimate?”

She had a point there. I’d witnessed way too many dust-ups between the supposedly happy couple. But I’d stupidly let Jackson’s words push those memories to the back of my mind.

“I didn’t care aboutanyof that. I cared about the fact that he had no drive and was happy to just coast through life on what his parents—who I honestly didn’t care for if you want to know the truth—gave him. It bothered me that he was spoiled and lazy and dependent on his mommy and daddy. I respected that you knew what you wanted to do since childhood and actually worked to make it happen, and I thought the reasons why were honorable.Thatwas attractive to me. But you know what’s not attractive?”

“Asher—”

Once again, she didn’t give me a chance to answer before jumping right in. “Making assumptions based on the very limited knowledge you had about me, then not having the balls to talk to me about it.”

“You’re right.”

“I—” she started, but snapped her mouth shut when she realized what I’d just said. “What?”

“I said you’re right.” I leaned forward, taking her hands in mine and holding them between us. “I made snap judgments and I was a grade A dick for ignoring your calls and texts while I was trying to get my head on straight. It was a shitty thing to do.There’s no excuse for what I did, but I swear, if you let me, I’ll make it up to you and I’llneverdo it again.”

She breathed in deeply, her eyes studying mine so intently I wanted to squirm beneath her stare, but I held strong.

“You don’t know me well,” she started, “so I’ll give you a little grace. But only a little,” she added quickly, holding her index finger a millimeter away from her thumb. “Once you get to know me, if you pull a stunt like that, I’m done.”

---