To top it off, he was being a perfect gentleman.
Too perfect in fact.
So much so that they hadn’t shared another kiss since the night he’d invited her over for dinner. Ashleigh had no idea what was going on with him, but something was. He was cordial, friendly, but nothing more.
On top of that, something or someone was taking him away frequently. She didn’t think he was going far when he left, but he was obviously going somewhere. One afternoon when he had taken her fishing, something she had on her list, she’d thought about asking him, but instead chickened out.
That had been an interesting day, but not one she cared to relive. Apparently fishing was not her forte. Too much down time in her opinion. But hey, to each his own and all that.
Delving back into her work, Ashleigh was trying to work out a scene that she was having trouble with. A sex scene. Imagine that.
Lunch with Sam and Sierra earlier in the week had provided her a little insight, but not nearly as much as she hoped for. She’d gone with the intention of getting some hopefully discreet details of what it was like living the ménage lifestyle. Since she didn’t have any idea about the subject matter, she was hoping for details from the experts so she’d gone out on a limb and asked for their help.
So how she ended up sharing way more information with the two of them than they had shared with her, she had no idea. Although she got a brief glimpse into what it was like to be the focal point of two men, Ashleigh had found they were way more interested in understanding how she was still a virgin.
And no, maybe a twenty eight year old virgin wasn’t the norm these days, but it wasn’t unheard of. By the look on Sam’s face, Ashleigh would’ve thought she was the oldest living person yet to have ever had sex. It was comical actually. Kind of.
Much to their dismay and her own, Ashleigh couldn’t answer the question as to why she’d never had sex. There had been a couple of men in her life who had sparked her interest, but they’d never made it that far. Could’ve been cold feet on her part, or it might’ve been the hope that had been burning bright and obnoxious in her chest for ten long years.
Either way, Ashleigh would admit to having harbored some crazy, mixed up feelings for Alex through the years. Anger, admiration, hurt, love. Pick one.
If she thought about it – which she did... a lot – she could almost put a name to those feelings. Infatuation. The man encompassed everything she hoped to find in a lover – he was gorgeous, intelligent, and dominating. Yes, the last one unquestionably had caught her interest when she was old enough to know what it actually meant. Or what it could mean.
Ashleigh remembered the day she met him. It was at her grandfather’s house and she’d just gotten home from school. She’d been a high school senior, she remembered that much. And in her teenage mind, he’d been much older than her, although she didn’t know by how much. At the time, it hadn’t mattered one single bit. She had fallen head over heels in love the moment she laid eyes on him.
It didn’t take long for Alex to become a regular fixture at the Thomas household and in her teenage dreams. He quickly began working as the head of security for XTX on a contractual basis. Then he’d established a friendship with Dylan, which had Alex coming around when her brother was home. He and Logan were friends – college roommates if she remembered correctly – which meant Alex was invited anytime Logan was present.
Needless to say, she saw as much of Alex as she did her grandfather there for a while. At first, she’d been smitten.
It wasn’t until he started treating her like she had a contagious disease and if he came anywhere near her, he’d be stricken with it. That didn’t stop him from sneaking glances of her from time to time. She was aware of each and every one, but over time, she grew irritated with his aloofness and she moved on.
Looking back on it now, Ashleigh had been far too immature for him, especially considering the age difference. At twenty eight, twelve years didn’t mean a thing. But at eighteen or even twenty, it meant everything. They had absolutely nothing in common. Other than a little physical attraction.
Then there was the small detail of his marriage. By the time she met him, he’d been divorced for years, but knowing he had been married, Ashleigh had accepted the fact that he wasn’t likely going to be a one woman man, though she had no idea why they had split up. She still didn’t know.
Not knowing the story, she didn’t care to be enlightened back then, although now she was more than a little curious. Just the fact that he had been married put him in an entirely different category than any boy or man she’d ever met. Suffice it to say, she kept her distance. And so did he.