The Arrangement(4)
“Oh, he’s busy planning-” Erika began.
Ariadne quickly cut her off. “He couldn’t come.” She sent Erika a significant glance. She didn’t want Asher of all people to know that she’d been dumped. Again. Her record with relationships was less than stellar. Somehow, she’d thought this time would be different. And indeed it had been. This one had crashed and burned in such a spectacular fashion she was likely to never forget it.
Asher arched an eyebrow, but he didn’t say anything for which she was relieved.
They sat in silence, avoiding eye contact for several awkward moments. Ted and Erika, kissing and giggling, had retired to their bedroom, leaving the two of them to find their own entertainment. Finally Asher sighed and settled back into the sofa cushions. “We’re going to have to get used to being alone. It’s bound to happen again. You can’t go running out of the room every time you think you might be alone with me.”#p#分页标题#e#
Tensing on her end of the sofa though an entire couch cushion separated them, she glared at him. “Is that supposed to be some sort of veiled reference?”
He smiled. “Not this time. Truce, remember?”
She nodded, but thought it best that she call it a night. She could read until she got sleepy. It would be better than sitting in painful silence with Asher.
“So what was it Erika was saying about your boyfriend? He’s the guy you were with at New Year’s right?”
“I don’t want to talk about Daniel.”
“Another one bites the dust, huh?” He sounded sympathetic but he couldn’t hide his satisfied smirk.
“Why do you take such joy in my misery?”
He leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees. “That’s not true.”
“You’re smiling.”
He slid his hand over his mouth and she could hear the rasp of his five o’clock shadow. “I don’t want you miserable, but I could have told you that wasn’t going to last.”
Her brows rose. “Oh, really? Why not?”
“He was a stuck up bore. You were never going to do anything spontaneous or have any fun with him.”
“Oh, yeah? That’s how much you know. He surprised me greatly by dumping me for my cousin.”
“I’m sorry. He was a fool. How long ago was this?”
“March.” Though she had never been close to her cousin Janice, to find out that she had been screwing her boyfriend behind her back had been a shock. “And to make matters worse, I’ve heard through the family grapevine that they’re going to announce their engagement at the family reunion next month.” It was a family event she wouldn’t be able to avoid no matter how much she might want to. And she didn’t know why she was telling him all this. He was the last person who would sympathize with her over an unfaithful lover. Hell, he’d probably cheated on his girlfriends and committed worse. She must have had too much wine after dinner or she’d baked her brain on the beach today to be confiding in him.
Asher winced. “That sucks. Are you going to go?”
“I’ll never hear the end of it if I don’t go. I need to get used to the idea of them as a couple. It’s better that it happen sooner rather than later.”
“Fuck, if it were me, it’d be never.”
“I can’t avoid my family forever. And who are you kidding? You’d walk in there with another girl on your arm and pretend like none of it had ever happened.”
He laughed. “You’re probably right.”
She wished she had the nerve to do something like that. But not only did she not know any single men who’d be willing to go to a family reunion , she didn’t know anything about picking up men. She’d simply have to suffer through this year’s reunion . And maybe next year’s depending on when Daniel and Janice decided to get married. She suppressed a sigh. She wouldn’t worry about that now. By then, she might be dating again.
Asher’s spring green eyes were sympathetic. “But you’re not like me. It’s not so easy for you, is it?”
Standing, she shrugged. “I’ll survive. I’m going to bed. See you in the morning.”
Chapter Two
“I think I may have a solution to your problem.”
Ariadne looked up from her book, her eyes dragging up Asher’s strong calves and thighs, over his ripped stomach and muscled arms. He wore dark purple swim trunks with a black stripe down the side. As her gaze met his, Asher’s lips quirked upward in a smirk.#p#分页标题#e#
Sparing him a glare, she returned her attention to her book. “I don’t have a problem.”