"Wait, what? You're leaving?" He leaped from the bed, and she saw he was still as naked as when she'd left him. Her cheeks pinked at his naked body approaching her, and Asher put his arms around Greer and nuzzled her neck. "I don't want you to go."
She chuckled. "I don't want to go, either, but I've really and truly got a ton of work to do."
Asher didn't release her. He slid his hands down her back and cupped her ass. "What kind of work?"
"Well, I have a lot of meetings-"
His face lit up. "I have this thing called a phone and a laptop. You're free to borrow them . . . and stay in my bed."
Greer rolled her eyes . . . but the idea wasn't a bad one. There were a lot of meetings and fiddly things to be done, but she had her notes in her email and her email was on her phone, and her laptop was in her bag. She could work remotely and just catch up on things tomorrow. Theoretically. There wasn't a way for anyone to catch up at this rate, but the lure of staying in New York-and in his bed-was awfully tempting. "I'm not sure . . ."
"Stay," he insisted, his hands moving over her skin. "I'll take you into my office and show you around the digs. We can go have lunch together. And then we can come back here and I can have you for dessert."
"That is the worst line," she teased.
"Ah, but is it effective?"
It seemed it was, because she decided to stay.
***
The rest of the day was busy, but wonderful. He made her breakfast as she ironed her sad, wrinkled blouse and slacks and put them back on. At least she lived in the same city, and not too far from his apartment. They could run over and grab her a change of clothing before heading into his office. After breakfast, they cabbed out to her apartment, changed clothing, and then headed downtown. Greer typed emails and texted responses frantically with every spare moment, but she didn't regret her decision to stay, no matter how much Bunni and Tiffi were freaking out because Greer wasn't there to answer questions about fittings and test-makeup in person.
At Asher's office-OutSource Everything-things were quiet but busy. He led her into a conference room next to his office and brought her a laptop so she could work while he attended a meeting. After the meeting was done, they regrouped to head to lunch, and Greer found herself giggling into her soup and sandwich as Asher told her a frustrating anecdote from the meeting itself. It seemed that Asher had been running things for so long that he didn't know how to pass control off to his new CEO-something she pointed out to him. The man kept going back to Asher because Asher had never given him full control and constantly stepped in to handle situations. He didn't like hearing it, but he didn't disagree with her, either.
After lunch, he brought her back to his office, and Greer's thorny heart softened a little when he reached for her hand, holding it as they got into the elevator together. "You want a tour of the place?" he asked.
There was such boyish enthusiasm in his face, how could she possibly deny him? "Of course."
So they toured the building, from the cafeteria on the first floor to the human resources department, to the call center that was buzzing with incoming calls. The place was busy but organized, and it was clear to Greer as they walked through department after department that Asher knew every inch of the company. He'd put in endless hours to make the place a success, and it was finally paying off for him.
He could be broke and you still wouldn't care, a niggling voice whispered in her ear. You're just as lovesick over him as you were before.
She wasn't, was she? But when he reached for her hand and smiled at her as he led her through to the next area, she suspected that she was only kidding herself.
And heck, if she was kidding herself about that, why not go the full-court press? She stifled a yawn behind her hand.
"Tired?" Asher noticed it instantly.
She nodded. "Thinking maybe I should stay overnight again, if you don't mind. I can fly back tomorrow with you."
The pleased look on his face made her tingle with happiness.
This was how things should have been before. Of course, there was no reason why she couldn't enjoy things as they were now.
Did it mean she had to stick her head in the sand a little and ignore any misgivings? Maybe. Did she care?
At the moment? No.
***
One Week Later
Asher: You ready for some practice tonight?
Greer: Are we still pretending it's practice?
Asher: I'm pretty sure I could "bone" up on my skills.
Greer: Stop, seriously.
Asher: Should I send you a picture to convince you of my all-consuming lust, sweetheart?
Greer hid her phone as Kiki entered the dining room, just in case Asher was going to carry through with his threat and send her naughty photos. "Morning, Kiki."
Instead of her normally bright and effusive greeting, Kiki just smiled and sat down across from Greer in her regular seat. She was dressed in a plain gray T-shirt and jeans today. No bikini, and no sight of her trademark blue anywhere. Strange.
"You're not sick, are you?" Greer asked. They didn't have time for anyone to be sick. The wedding was in a week and each day grew busier than the last.
Kiki shook her head and pursed her lips, then peered at the door to make sure no one else was coming in. When she was satisfied, she looked over at Greer. "I just . . ." She bit her lip and leaned in. "I'm having some misgivings," she whispered.
Uh-oh. Greer's heart sank. Kiki was the most sensible and easygoing of the triplets. If she had cold feet, who knew what the other two were thinking? Lots of brides tended to panic before the wedding, so that wasn't so unusual. Greer handled that all the time.
But this was a different kind of wedding, and Kiki only had a one-in-three chance of actually becoming the bride. She was right to have misgivings, because one girl would end up married to Greer's father, and the other two would just be dragged through the mud. Knowing Stijn as she did, she doubted he'd give up his other two girlfriends just because one was now a wife. It wasn't an ideal situation for any of the girls but she'd assumed that they'd thought things through.
Guess not. "What do you mean, misgivings?"
Kiki's expression was troubled. She picked up a pen and a pad of paper and began to doodle on it slowly. "Um." Doodle doodle. "It's not that there's a problem, really. The dresses are nice. I'm really happy with how things are turning out. It's classy, just like you said it would be." Her smile was polite. "I just . . . I'm worried."
"Do you not want to marry Stijn?"
She thought for a moment and then shrugged. "It's not that he's a bad guy. I really like Stijn. And I like living here." She gestured at the room, indicating the Dutchman castle. "It's just that . . . I never really imagined it to be permanent, if that makes sense. And now there's a chance for it to be permanent and, well." Her lower lip trembled. "If I win, that means my sisters lose."
Greer nodded sympathetically. "It's hard, I know. The entire situation is . . . unique."
"It's awful," Kiki said bluntly. "He's pitting me and Bunni and Tiffi against each other and not telling us which one he's going to marry. We've been tiptoeing on eggshells for the last month, worried about saying the wrong thing and killing our chances at the altar. It's hell. Poor Bunni's so stressed out she's been doing yoga three times a day. And Tiffi keeps buying stuff to distract herself. She's turning into a hoarder."
"And you?" Greer asked, curious.
Kiki licked her lips and looked away. "I just . . . Tell me. Are you sleeping with Asher?"
The conversation change was startling. Greer blinked and then adjusted her glasses. "Of course not," she lied. "We're just working together on the wedding."
"I won't say anything," Kiki said. "I just . . . I know something's up. I've seen the way he looks at you. I guess that's one reason I'm freaking out. I wish Stijn looked at me like that. Or one of my sisters like that. Then I'd feel better about the whole thing."
"How . . . how does Asher look at me?"
Kiki's expression grew wistful. "Like you're the best thing in the world and he'd do anything to have you."
Oh. Greer's stomach fluttered, and she felt her nipples tighten imperceptibly at the thought of Asher's possessive glances. Others had noticed? She wasn't sure how she felt about that . . . but it wasn't making her unhappy.
And what did that say about her? Flustered, Greer pulled out her seating chart and tipped it towards Kiki. "There's nothing going on, I promise. And as for your feelings, lots of brides get nervous before their wedding. You have a more unconventional wedding, so your nerves are going to be a little stronger than most."
"You think so?" Oh, poor Kiki. She sounded so sad. But what could Greer do? Tell her not to marry Stijn? Not only would she be working against her father-the father she'd always desperately wanted to impress-but she'd be torpedoing her own wedding that she'd spent so much time organizing. And brides did have cold feet, and often changed their minds a dozen times before still showing up at the altar, all smiles. Most of the time, the panic was for nothing.