Look After Us

Copyright © Elena Matthews 2015

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except where permitted by law.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Cover design by ©Sarah Hansen, Okay Creations.

Edited by Nicola Rhead

Interior by Champagne Formats

Table of Contents

title page

copyright

series warning

dedication

quote

chapter 1

chapter 2

chapter 3

chapter 4

chapter 5

chapter 6

chapter 7

chapter 8

chapter 9

epilogue

author's notes

acknowledgments

about the author

other books

Series warning

Please do not go any further if you haven’t read Look After You.

Look After Us cannot be read as a standalone.

Look After Us is the novella story for Ava and Ashton. If you haven’t read Look After You (Look After You #1), please purchase a copy before continuing. Look After Me (Look After You #2) can be read as a standalone but it's recommended to read the series in order.

The series reading order:

Look After You

Look After Me

Look After Us

“ARE YOU OKAY, BABY?”

I look over to Ashton and give him an apprehensive smile as I clip my seat belt into place. We’ve just boarded the plane and to say I hate flying would be the understatement of the year. No. The understatement of the century.

We’re heading to Texas—to Ashton’s hometown. His brother, Tyler, is getting married in two days’ time and Ashton is his best man. Just the thought of Ashton in his tux is enough to make me melt into my seat. I’ll probably want to rip the tux from his body the moment he puts it on.

Lily wasn’t able to come with us since she’s currently on a week’s vacation in Disneyland with Sebastian and his fiancée, Addison. It’s a little weird not having her with us, but it’s a perfect opportunity to spend some quality time with Ashton this weekend and be able to let my hair down … when I get off this goddamn plane that is.

“I guess,” I say with a shuddering breath. I resume my stare forward, watching nervously as the flight attendant confidently strides along the aisle, shutting the overhead bins and instructing other passengers to fasten their seat belts. Taking soothing breaths, I find myself inwardly chanting, ‘I hate flying. I hate flying. I hate flying’. I feel the subtle tips of Ashton’s fingers on my cheek, forcing my eyes on his—his beautiful green eyes—eyes I could get lost in forever.

“Nothing’s going to happen, all right? You’re perfectly safe.” I shiver as his words whisper sexily over my lips. Honestly, you would have thought he said something filthy with the way my body reacts to him. Just being in close proximity is enough to forget about my phobia of flying. With his fingers still lingering against my cheek he smiles fondly, his eyes sparkling with a mixture of love and desire.

“Do you remember our first kiss?”

Like I could ever forget. It was the moment I realized how much trouble I was in. We were on our way to Miami for my sister’s funeral and, like now, I was nervous about flying. “Do you trust me?” he asked. I remember nodding through clenched eyes, trying to work through the nausea in my stomach as the plane began to pick up speed, when he said, “I’m going to try something. Just don’t slap me.” I remember giving him some lame reply, a joke about slipping me a Valium, when he seductively whispered, “No, something much better.” Then he lightly brushed his lips to mine and instantly I had forgotten my fear of flying. It was incredible. He had kissed me in a way I’d never been kissed before. It was the kiss that fairy tales were made of. It was a kiss that changed my life forever. It was incredibly wrong to let him kiss me like that since I was still with Sebastian at the time, forbidden territory … taboo … but it was also incredibly right.

Smiling mischievously through my memory, I say, “Um, our first kiss? I don’t seem to recall that.”

“Oh really?” He matches my smile, his thumb stroking delicately over my cheek. His eyes turn darker with lust as he inches towards me and my entire body clenches with sexual desire. “Maybe I’ll have to jog your memory.” He leans in until our lips are a breath away.

“Hmm …” I murmur as his mouth gently presses against mine. I can’t keep the groan from escaping the back of my throat as his tongue lightly sweeps across mine, causing me to shiver at the very touch, and the anxiety that was beginning to consume my veins begins to fade away. After a few more sweeps, he slowly pulls away, a smile curved at his lips.

“Does that ring any bells?”

Still breathless from the perfection of his lips, it takes me a moment to find my tongue. “Yeah … a little. I think maybe you should kiss me again though. My memory is still a little foggy.”

He lingers his lips back over mine, staring at me with a pure look of adoration, a gaze that makes my heart flutter within my chest. “Sure thing, baby.” A shiver runs down my back. God. The way he calls me baby … in his husky Texan accent, makes me want to crawl onto his lap and lose myself within him, not caring if we’re surrounded by other passengers. Just the simple words are enough to make me combust. Hell, he could read out the entire alphabet and it would still turn me on. Through my sudden bout of euphoria, I bring my hands up to his face and run my fingers through the tendrils of his soft hair before slamming my lips on his. He grunts in surprise at my sudden forcefulness as my mouth sucks gently against his, claiming it. Heat escalates around us as we get lost in our kiss. I forget about our surroundings, and for a while it’s just Ashton and me against the world. Everything about the kiss—from the trail of goose bumps that leave a shiver in their wake across my skin, to the butterflies fluttering in my stomach—feels like the very first time, and I lock onto the feeling and clutch it tight within my fingers, devouring Ashton with every breath I take.

It’s only when we break apart that I realize we’re thousands of feet in the air and I was so lost in our kiss that I didn’t even register the take-off. He notices the way I take a calming breath and just like last time, he whispers, “You’re welcome.”

I giggle as I brush my lips to his, unable to resist the intoxicating taste. “I remember now.”

“Hell yeah you do.”

Once the seat belt sign turns off, his mouth lingers over my ear, the very sensation causing me to tremble with goose bumps. “You trust me, right?”