21. Ashley

21

ASHLEY

“Be a good boy, Mr. Purrfect!” The steel bowl clinked as I set his food on the tiled floor, then kissed my handsome boy on the top of the head before grabbing a banana on my way out of the house.

Today was a big day. Our online drop was going live in one hour. The social media prelaunch rollout had been a huge success. I’d worked closely with the marketing department, and I was proud of what the entire team had been able to achieve.

These past few months had been a lot of work and very challenging, but in the best way. All but one aspect. Declan Fucking Wolfe. Even from thousands of miles away, he’d still been a pain in my ass. His multiple emails daily to ‘touch base’ never failed to rub me the wrong way.

Honestly, it amazed me that anyone could work with him. Over the past six months, I’d corresponded with his assistant, Hannah, several times, and she was delightful. I truly believed that she deserved sainthood for putting up with him.

Thankfully, after today, I would never have to interact with him again. My resignation letter was typed out. Besides the hard copy I had in my purse that I was going to give to Stella, I also had a version in my drafts that I planned on sending to Mr. Suha at the end of business today.

As soon as I sat in the driver’s seat, my phone vibrated with a text reminding me to pick up Luna. The baby shower had taken a lot out of Skylar, and she’d started having Braxton Hicks contractions over the weekend. After a midnight trip to the hospital, she’d been put on modified bed rest, so I offered to take my niece to school, but I was afraid I’d forget, so I’d set myself an alarm.

The drive down the dirt road to the front of the property took less than thirty seconds. When I pulled up in front of Hank’s house, Luna ran down the steps wearing her backpack, which was about half her size, with her high ponytail swinging from side to side. Skylar waved from the doorway, her belly sticking out a good foot in front of her. Just like she had been with Luna, she was all belly.

As my niece climbed in the passenger seat, I shouted out to my very pregnant sister, “You’re supposed to be on bed rest!”

“Modified bed rest. And I had to pee!” Skylar rebuffed. “Have a good day at school. I love you, Squirt!”

“Love you, Mama!” Luna waved before shutting the door behind her.

On the drive, Luna talked a mile a minute about everything she was going to do with her baby brother and how much of a helper she was going to be. She was still talking as she got out of the car and headed up the path to the school; she just transferred her story to Macy Reece, who was working the drop-off. I was happy to see how stoked my niece was about being a big sister. I hoped that excitement didn’t wear off once the reality of living with a baby and not being an only child set in. I was glad I’d be around to help my sister and niece navigate the new addition.

We’d planned the launch of the clothing line so that it was out before the holiday season, and I was happy the timing coincided with my sister’s due date. My plan was to work part-time teaching my art classes again until after the new year, so I was available to help my sister with my nephew and niece through the first few months. Thanks to the salary I’d earned working for Wolfe Clothing, I had a modest savings now. I was still up to my eyeballs in debt, but I was chipping away at it. And the debt would still be there in three months after the holidays and when my sister was back on her feet.

As I came to the clearing in front of the estate past the cypress trees that lined the drive, I noticed there was a small plane parked in the hangar. I was finally going to meet Mr. Stick Up the Ass face-to-face. I might have been nervous if I planned on keeping my job, but since I wasn’t, I was more curious than anything else.

I grabbed my purse and pulled out my resignation letter just to proof it one more time. I also had a hard copy of my grant proposal, which Stella had agreed to read and give some pointers on. She’d been on several boards that distributed grants and scholarships, and she’d offered to look at my proposal and give me notes, which I was very grateful for.

I’d gently broached the subject of me moving on after the launch, and she said she’d seen the writing on the wall, so my resignation was not going to come as a surprise to her. She told me she was happy that I was seeing the project through to completion but that I had an artist’s heart and eye, and I needed to pursue my passions.

As I walked up the steps, I was surprised to feel the flutter of butterfly wings in my stomach. I wondered if the winged creatures had shown up because of the launch or if they were here because of Declan. I told myself I didn’t care what he thought about me, but maybe that wasn’t the case.

The moment I stepped over the threshold, I could sense the tension in the air. Again, I didn’t know if the atmosphere was due to Declan or the launch. If I had to guess, I would say it was him. From my email interactions, it wouldn’t surprise me that he could make an environment uptight without even being in a room.

I shut the door behind me just as Fred came around the corner and greeted me, “Hello, Miss Thompson.”

I smiled brightly as I handed him a plate piled high with Rice Krispie treats, which were his favorites. “Hey, Freddie.”

“Thank you.” He took the tray from me and smiled, but I could tell that he was on edge.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yes.” He stretched out his hand. “Would you like me to take those?”

“No, that’s okay.” I’d picked up some Juliet roses for Stella because she’d mentioned that they were her favorite and this was a special occasion. “Is Stella?—”

“She’s in the sunroom.”

“Thanks.” I nodded and made my way down the hall.

Before I reached the door, I took a breath, bracing for what I might be walking into. There was a very good chance Declan Wolfe would be waiting for me with his grandmother. If he’d rattled Fred, then I was sure he’d probably rattle me.

When I walked into the sunroom, I found Stella sitting on her own with a thousand-yard stare on her face.

“Hi,” I said quietly, not wanting to startle her.

“Oh, hello, darling.”

Her face was etched with worry and concern.

“Is something wrong with the site? I checked it before I left, and everything looked okay.”

“No, everything is fine. My grandson is back, and we…he…there’s been a development.”

“A development?”

“Yes. With the company.”

“The company?” I parroted as her eyes darted to the flowers I was holding. “Oh, these are for you.”

“They’re lovely, dear. Thank you.”

I set them down on the table as I lowered down into the chair beside her. “Is the company okay?”

“My husband put a stipulation in his will that the company will be passed down to whichever male heir is married at the end of the year, which means that Derek, not Declan, will inherit it.”

“Derek? The one who’s in rehab?”

“Yes.”

“But I thought…you said he has no interest in running the business.”

“He doesn’t. Not only that, he’s a gambling, womanizing idiot with a drug problem. He’ll destroy everything. And that’s not all; he also will inherit the majority of the assets.”

“There has to be something you can do, legally I mean. Or something Declan can do.” He struck me as a very capable, intelligent man. There was no way he would let this happen.

“I don’t think that there is.” A single tear slid down her cheek. She lifted her hand and wiped it away.

My heart broke for her. I knew how much this business meant to her. Over the six months we’d worked together, it had come to mean something to me; she had come to mean something to me. I’d never known my grandparents, and I’d sort of adopted her as my own.

“Why would your husband do that?” It made no sense to me.

“Dexter believed in legacy. He wanted the business to be handed down for generations. Declan was engaged, and I believe my late husband thought he would be married, and it wouldn’t be an issue.”

Wow. So this was like the royal family or that show Succession. I came from a military family. My parents both died when I was nine, and then my sister got custody of me. This world was completely foreign to me. It made zero sense to just hand over an entire business, a business that employed thousands of people around the globe, to a man who was going to flush it down the toilet or snort it up his nose.

It infuriated me, actually.

“So what happens if they are both married?”

“Then it goes to the eldest heir. I thought that Declan might reconsider his engagement to Serena, but that does not seem to be an option.”

“Serena, the woman he caught…”

“In bed with another man, yes.”

My heart broke for her, but I understood why Declan wouldn’t want to marry that woman after he walked in on that. I actually respected him more for that. I might not be fond of Declan Wolfe, but between Derek and Declan, he was definitely the right man for the job.

“Gran, everything is set up in the media room.”

A deep, familiar voice sounded behind me. A warmth spread through me as my mind was trying to think back to a time when I’d spoken to Mr. Stick Up His Ass on the phone, but I couldn’t remember one. I must have, though, because I definitely knew that voice.

The tiny hairs on the back of my neck and on my arms stood up as I rose from the chair and turned around. When I did, it took my brain a second to catch up to what my eyes were seeing. My body, however, reacted instantly to the sight. Tingles spread through me from head to toe. My pulse raced. My palms dampened.

It was Xavier, aka Mr. Big, standing in the doorway. The same man I’d seen at the bar. His same dreamy, whisky-colored eyes. Eyes that had locked with mine as he sat beside me. His same full lips. Lips that had touched mine, the ones on my face and the ones between my legs. His same stubble-covered, strong jaw. Stubble that had tickled my inner thighs. His same large hands. Hands that had held mine captive above my head as he drove into my body. His same broad, muscular shoulders and sculpted arms. Shoulders and arms that had held me all night when I’d slept in them.

He was even wearing the same thing he’d worn that day. A white button-up men’s shirt with the sleeves rolled up on his chiseled forearms and black slacks that looked tailored to his athletic, tall frame.

It had been six months since I’d seen him, and in that time, he’d gotten even sexier. For a while, I’d worried that I’d built him up in my head, made him into something that no man could ever actually live up to, but I was wrong. He was better than I remembered. Even sexier.

“Ashley, this is my grandson Declan.” I could hear Stella’s voice, but she sounded far away. Or like I was underwater. The predominant sound was the pounding of my heart and the whooshing of my labored breaths. “I can’t believe it’s taken so long for you two to meet face to face.”

I have no idea how long we stood staring at one another before Stella spoke again.

“Declan, dear? Are you going to say hello to Ashley?”

“Sorry.” He blinked and shook his head. “I need to go make a phone call. Everything is set up and ready for the countdown to the launch.”

With that, he abruptly turned and walked away.

“I’m so sorry about that, dear. You have to forgive him; he’s had a very upsetting morning.”

All I could do was nod. I couldn’t find my voice to speak.

The last few minutes felt like I’d been dreaming. Like I’d made the entire thing up in my head. Like I’d imagined it.

How could the man who I’d shared the hottest, sexiest, best night of my life with be the man who I spent months disliking and coming up with creative ways to insult over email? How could he be the man who drove me crazy and made me want to pull my hair out my hair in frustration, but also be the man who had pulled my hair and made me scream with pleasure? How was it possible that I’d pined for Big for six months and been in contact with him every single day?