“Hello sexual tension,” Gretchen whispered at me.

Ignoring her, I cut one of the large raviolis into smaller bite size pieces, thoughts of his endearment tickling all of my nerve endings. It gave me chills every time he spoke to me like that. After a bite or two, Gretchen started again.

“You never answered my question about what you and Ashton do together.”

I sighed thinking about the trip a few days ago.

“Did you just sigh?”

I giggled. “I guess I did. Well, he took me to see the sunrise at the Grand Canyon.”

Gretchen’s fork slid from her fingers. “He did what?”

“He took me to see the sunrise at the Grand Canyon. We had lunch there before coming back for the baseball game.” Gretchen winced and I quickly added, “He got seats right behind the dugout. It was perfect.”

“Oh shit,” she whispered.

My gaze snapped back to hers. “What? What is it? Are you okay?”

“You’re already in love with him, aren’t you?”

I froze. Why would she think that? “I’m not. It’s just an infatuation. He’s helped me so much. Guys like him don’t fall in love.”

“Oh, sweetie, even I can see it’s more than an infatuation. Why are you so afraid to admit it?”

Tears welled in my eyes and I hoped to God Ashton wasn’t anywhere near to see it. “The last time I thought I was in love, look where I ended up.”

“Yes, but the man over there,” she nodded to her left, “is nothing like the dickhead you married. For crying out loud, he flew you to Arizona for sunrise. Dominic wouldn’t even take you out to dinner.”

I sniffled. “I don’t want to get hurt again.”

“Elena?” Ashton’s worried tone came from right beside me. He took one look at my face and pulled me from the chair and into his arms, sending a glare Gretchen’s way.

“What’s wrong?”

I tried to collect myself. “We were talking about what a fool I was when it came to Dominic.” At least it was a half-truth.

He brushed the tears from my eyes with his thumbs. “You’re not a fool. That fucker has no idea what he had. He will never get his hands on you again. You’re mine.”

Time froze. The restaurant could have burned down around me as I glanced up into Ashton’s eyes. Even through his glasses, I could see something there. Something more than sex, or helping out a poor abused woman. He opened his mouth to say more when suddenly our bubble was burst.

“Mr. Hawes,” the maître d’ said, now standing next to us.

“Yes, Pierre?”

“Sir, I’m sorry to interrupt, but we have a problem.”

Ashton glanced back and forth between the two of us. He sighed. “I’ll be right there, Pierre.” He waited for Pierre to walk away before saying, “Elena, I’m sorry I have to take care of this.”

“I understand.” While that was true, it didn’t mean I liked it. But he had a restaurant to run. I took my seat and reached for my drink, needing to do something with my shaking hands.

“We need to talk when I get home tonight.”

It wasn’t a request. “Okay.”

“I shouldn’t be too late. Wait up for me, please?”

“All right,” I squeaked out. An empty feeling settled at the pit of my stomach.

What could he want to talk to me about?

Gretchen smirked at me over the rim of her glass. “You’re an idiot.”

“Thanks a lot. Ashton just caught me crying in his restaurant and now he wants to talk.” I said using air quotes. “On top of all that, you’re calling me an idiot. This day just keeps getting better and better.”

“Well, you are an idiot if you can’t see what’s right in front of your face. That man is so into you it’s unreal. I’m pretty sure he was just about to tell you so when you were interrupted.”

My mouth popped open. “No he wasn’t.”

“Oh, babe, he was. At some point you’re going to have to realize you can be loved without being hurt, otherwise you’re going to push everyone away and end up alone.”

Alone.

I’d been alone for a long time. Living with someone who didn’t spend time with me, only talking to me when they had to was possibly more lonely than actually being on my own. My nerves were shot and if we continued the conversation, I was likely to puke all over the table.

“Can we just drop it for now?” I pleaded.

She nodded and set her glass down. The meal continued with us both avoiding anything to do with Ashton, although, I did find my gaze straying as we talked, trying to get a glimpse of the man who occupied my thoughts.

The waiter brought our dessert over without us ordering: chocolate mousse cake. Ashton knew it was my weakness and the fact that he’d known to send it over made more questions swirl through my head.

Sooner than I liked, lunch was over.

“I miss spending time with you,” Gretchen said as we walked out of the restaurant. “We need to do this again.”

“We do.” I tried to smile, but it felt forced. “And you’ll come for opening night?”

“I will definitely be there.”

“Great. I’ll leave your ticket at will call.”

She wrapped me in an embrace. “Give him a chance. And tell him thank you for lunch.”

“I will, and I’ll try.”

We said our good-byes and Gretchen headed to the parking lot, while I turned to the front. Lewis was waiting with the car, ready to take me to rehearsal.

“Elena,” he greeted as he opened the door. It had taken me a while but I’d finally managed to convince Lewis to stop using my last name. I hated the reminder of Dominic.

Lewis pulled out into traffic and in no time at all, he was dropping me off at the stage entrance.

Rehearsals went smoothly; all thoughts of Ashton pushed to the back of my mind. But that only lasted as long as my attention was elsewhere. As soon as rehearsal was over, I began worrying about what Ashton might have to say to me.

By the time I got back to the house I was so jittery that I decided that a long hot bath was in order. The warm water soothed my aching muscles, the steam clearing my head. I lay back and closed my eyes.

As the temperature cooled, I knew it was time to leave my little cocoon and face whatever Ashton had to tell me.

Dressing, I went downstairs. The house was still quiet and none of the lights were on. Wanting the conversation over with sooner rather than later, I walked down the hall to Ashton’s office. Still nothing. He’d said he wouldn’t be late. Something must have kept him at the restaurant.

The sound of the garage door opening made the desire to sprint down the hall overwhelming. With a deep calming breath, I forced myself to walk slowly into the kitchen, but when the door opened, it wasn’t Ashton who greeted me.

“Miller. What are you doing here?”

“Ashton got stuck at one of the restaurants so I thought I’d keep you company.” He produced two takeout bags from The Bluewater Grill.

I laughed. “Let me guess, Ashton sent you over here with dinner so you could watch over me until he gets home.”

“Busted.” He set the bags on the counter and began pulling out plates and forks from the cabinets. “But can you blame him after what happened the other night?”

I cringed at how much he knew about my screwed up situation and went to the wine cooler to cover my reaction. I pulled out a Chardonnay that Ashton liked with seafood, along with two glasses. “Dominic has no idea where Ashton lives . . . but, no, I can’t really blame him.”

Miller opened the takeout boxes and placed each meal on a plate, throwing the containers into the trash. “Hungry?” He gestured to the food.

“Yes,” I said, taking a seat at the kitchen table. Ashton had sent my favorite dish: crab sautéed in a white wine sauce. “Delicious. He always knows what to pick for me.”

Miller smirked, which I decided to ignore. “Yes, he does.”

Miller dived right into his food. I might have been hungry, but it was hard to think about food when all I wanted to know was what Ashton needed to tell me. Pushing my food around on my plate, I didn’t notice Miller trying to get my attention until he tapped me on the arm.