For now, Carson decided to put the missing person to rest, get ready to meet the woman of his fantasies, and desperately try to convince himself he was making a stupid mistake.
He hoped that gorging on her would get her off his mind.
Yeah, right. As if she’s going to just fuck me at the coffee shop.
Saturday
SIENNA WOKE up sweaty and restless, itching for the dreams to be reality.
Typically, she lounged around on Saturday mornings. Her little carriage house was the best place to do this with a gourmet kitchen that opened into a comfy sitting room, perfect for baking and watching TV at the same time.
There was also a beautiful stone patio off the sliding glass doors in the back of the kitchen. Often on Saturday or Sunday, she would venture out there with something from her to-be-read pile of books.
On this Saturday, Sienna couldn’t settle down with a book or baking. After a few hours of extremely restless sleep, she dragged herself out of bed and into the bathroom. Even her luxurious stall shower with beveled glass, multiple shower heads, and steam wasn’t enticing her. Frantic with nervous energy, she decided to walk across the yard to Asher’s house.
During the week, it wasn’t unusual for Sienna to go over to Asher’s and have coffee while reading the paper, but on weekends, she usually stayed put at her place. She had a routine, and generally stuck to it. Today was an exception. Sienna needed to talk her current situation out with someone.
While Asher wasn’t the person the other girls went to with their emotional problems, he was all she had, so she turned to him often. Sienna trekked through the path lined with cacti up to the side door of Asher’s main house on the front end of the property.
It was Asher, after all, so Sienna didn’t even think to change out of her pajama pants and tank that she briskly put back on after her shower. With her hair in an insanely messy bun on the top of her head, no makeup, and a cardigan sweater wrapped around her, Sienna unlocked the side door with the keypad and walked right in…to see a very naked Natalie sitting on the kitchen counter, barely wrapped in a blanket, swinging her legs while sipping coffee.
“Oh boy! I’m sorry, Nat. I didn’t realize Asher had company.” She pushed the air in and out of her lungs, and jumped as she heard Asher coming down the hall. Shit.
“Nat, I’m here, baby. I had to chat with Mike on the phone for a sec, but now I’m all yours.” He rubbed his face, scratching his goatee, clearly having no clue that Sienna was there yet.
Seeing Sienna, Asher changed gears midsentence, turning all his attention on her when he noticed he had a visitor other than Natalie. “Sie, honey, you all right?”
“Yep,” Sienna said, thinking fast on her feet. “No worries, Ash. Just wanting to chat about our trip. I was so excited thinking about it this morning. But it can wait.” She waved her hand with nonchalance and turned to head back to the side door, desperately trying to escape.
Asher strode over to her quickly, grabbed her shoulder, and turned her to face him. “Me, too, doll. Can’t wait. Nat came back for a drink last night, and well, she’s still here as you can see. We’re going to make breakfast. Want to stay?”
There was no way she was going to talk about her coffee date with Natalie there. Not because she didn’t like Natalie; she just didn’t share too much of her feelings with anyone.
“No, sweetheart. You two have breakfast. We will have our whole trip together. I’m going to go home and change, so I can run some errands.” Attempting not to be fazed by the completely bare woman with her butt cheeks pressed to the granite countertop, she stood on her tippy-toes, gave him a quick peck on the cheek, and immediately went out the door she entered, pulling it shut tight behind her.
Sienna also didn’t want to make Asher feel awkward. She’d wanted him to make up with Natalie for some time, so this was good. She just hoped that was what he was doing with her, and that he didn’t mess it up.
Natalie had a son, an adorable little nine-year-old boy named Quinn, who Sienna knew she took a lot of pride in raising. Natalie’s mom pitched in with childcare since the child’s dad was long gone from the scene, and it wasn’t easy being a young single mom.
This wasn’t a situation for Asher to dick around with, and she planned to tell him that on their trip now that she could see they already made amends. She’d held her tongue long enough, especially after the episode a few weeks back.
But first, she had to survive her own personal crisis. Coffee with Carson.
Her phone beeped as she walked back into her carriage house.
Wow. I’m popular all of a sudden.
She looked at the screen and found a text from Big Mike.