Ashleigh didn’t know what to say. Knowing that Alex wasn’t off gallivanting around, ignoring her on purpose gave her hope. Not that she wanted him to be upset, but at least she knew what she needed to do now.
“I need to go.” Ashleigh told her brother. “I’ve got something I need to do. And, hey, thanks.”
Dylan laughed, “Not sure what it was I did, but you’re welcome.”
With that, the line disconnected. Ashleigh didn’t hesitate; she dialed Alex’s number and waited for him to answer.
“Can you come over?” She blurted out before he had a chance to say anything more than hello.
“Is everything alright?”
Dylan was right, Alex didn’t sound like himself.
“We need to talk.” She said, trying to sound serious.
“Alright. I’ve got a meeting this morning, but I’ll stop by after lunch. Does that work?”
“Sure.” She threw in a little uncertainty, smiling into the phone. “See you then.”
Now she just needed to get ready.
~~*~~
Alex suffered through his only meeting of the morning, but had it not been Xavier he was meeting with, he would have cancelled and rushed over to Ashleigh’s.
Hope sparked in his chest when she had called; quickly doused when she told him they needed to talk. He wasn’t sure what she wanted to talk about, but he had an idea.
It’d been a week since he saw her and the last time was when they had checked Jessie into rehab. After that little ordeal, he figured Ashleigh didn’t want to have anything to do with him. And he almost couldn’t blame her.
He might not be married to Jessie, he might not have any binding ties to the woman, but he cared about her wellbeing. He didn’t figure Ashleigh wanted to deal with that kind of baggage, so he’d left her alone, hoping she’d call him.
He was walking out of XTX when he ran into Logan who was walking in.
“Hey.” Logan called out to him. “You too good to say hi these days?”
“Sorry.” He mumbled. He was too preoccupied at the moment.
“You’re girl called me this morning.” Logan grinned, and that got Alex’s attention.
“She did?”
“Yeah. She wanted Luke’s cell phone number.”
What the hell for? He didn’t voice the question, but he couldn’t stop wondering.
“I gave it to her. She sounded a little out of breath. I figured you were with her.”
“Funny.” Alex retorted. “I’m heading over there now.”
“Guess I’ll see you around.” Logan said, turning toward the entrance to the building, but suddenly turning back. “Hey, I wanted to ask you something.”
“What’s up?” Alex wanted nothing more than to run to his truck and haul ass to Ashleigh’s to see what she was up to, but he stood firmly in place, staring back at Logan.
“The club’s monthly get together is Tuesday. You coming?”
“Doubtful. Why?” He asked.
“Just wondering. Sam’s been pushing me to ask. Apparently she thinks it would be good for Ashleigh.” Logan laughed. “I’ve tried to tell her that not all women are as out of control as she is. She doesn’t believe me.”
Alex did laugh. Logan was right. Sam was out of control. Ashleigh wasn’t nearly as reserved as he’d expected her to be, but he wasn’t so sure she’d be willing to do some of the more carnal things that Sam was willing to do. Not that he minded in the least. Ashleigh was more than he could handle as she was.
“I’ll talk to you later.” Alex said and turned toward his truck.
A half hour later, Alex was rapping his knuckles on Ashleigh’s front door, his heart beating ninety miles a minute. Having not seen her in a week, he was more than ready to, but he was worried about what she wanted to talk about.
When she answered the door, she smiled at him, and the noose around his heart loosened a little. Damn the woman was beautiful.
“Come in.” She told him, turning away and leaving him to close the door behind him. As though it were a conditioned response, he immediately glanced down at her ass, admiring her as she walked away.
“What’s going on?” He asked when he walked into the living room.
“I was just thinking we could play a game.”
“And what game would that be?” He asked, noticing how the coffee table was pushed out of the way, and the chair was moved closer to the couch. He was tempted to pinch himself to see if he was dreaming because this was the last thing he expected, coming to her house.
“Truth or dare.” She grinned before taking a seat on the couch.