Loving Ashe Read online

  Riley felt her face burning. She snapped a hand towel at Tessa. “Shut up. I did not meet anyone. Can’t a girl glow for some reason other than meeting a guy?”

  “Unless she’s pregnant, then no,” Tessa laughed. “Usually a person has to be in love or pregnant to get that glow, or even both. And, girl, you’ve got it. Your chakras are, like, lined up or something.”

  Riley rolled her eyes. “For your information, you are wrong about me going on a date with a guy. Because it’s not one, it’s actually three.”

  Tessa’s eyes grew wide. “Three? You mean you’re having a foursome?”

  “Yup, and I’ve got quite an exciting night planned,” Riley continued smugly as she proceeded to blend an espresso. “Dinner first, followed by a movie with some popcorn, and then off to bed with all three of them. A ménage à quatre, if you will. So yes, of course I’m glowing. Who wouldn’t be?”

  “Is there room for one more?” asked a pleasant baritone voice. “A ménage à cinq, perhaps?”

  Riley and Tessa’s heads whipped towards the source of the voice, which had intruded into their conversation, both women’s faces turning a bright shade of red. Tessa stared at the man standing behind the counter, partially blocked by the large espresso machine. Her mouth opened and closed, as if trying to produce the name that she had spoken so easily before.

  “Ashe,” whispered Riley, “what are you doing here?”

  “Getting a refill for my caffè Medici,” Ashe replied in a hushed voice, grinning. He was wearing a blue beanie that gave him a boyish appearance, his day-old stubble making it look like he’d just rolled out of bed but looking like the bed he rolled out of was a GQ magazine. A tight T-shirt stretched across his torso above jeans that seemed so tight that Riley wondered if sitting down was actually possible for him. She wondered if Ashe knew the effect he had on women — and men, too, no doubt — and what he thought about it. Well, doh — he’s an actor, dummy. Of course he knows the effect he has. He probably enjoys it and just plays it cool, like it doesn’t matter.

  Hearing herself speaking in Tessa’s voice inside her head alarmed Riley momentarily, and she hoped she hadn’t said anything out loud. She’d been thinking of Ashe every day since she’d met him, and had even signed up for email alerts at the mention of his name. Because he was actively promoting his movie, her inbox was cluttered with notifications to the point of being ridiculous.

  “What do I need to do to get a refill around here, a song-and-dance routine?” he asked when neither woman made a move to serve him, but his gaze stayed on Riley.

  “A song and dance would be great!” Tessa blurted out but Riley snapped the towel at her. Tessa only rolled her eyes and mouthed, party pooper. How Ashe had managed to find out where Riley worked stumped her — short of him stalking her, which was impossible.

  But how had she managed not to notice him in the shop in all that time? That was even more impossible. How could she have missed him? If he had ordered a caffè Medici, that meant Riley had made it for him though he hadn’t been the one to pick it up from the counter. Then she remembered that she had also been filling that crazy office order of various lattes.

  “Give me a few minutes, and I’ll bring it to you,” she said, though she almost croaked the words out. “Where are you sitting?”

  “Over there,” Ashe replied, pointing to a table on the patio where a beautiful blonde woman was busy typing on an iPad. Riley recognized her as the woman who had ordered a caffè Medici and a pumpkin latte earlier. She wondered where Collette was.

  “What are you and your friend having?” Riley asked.

  Ashe pulled out his wallet from his back pocket and placed a twenty-dollar bill on the counter. “A pumpkin latte and a caffè Medici, please.”

  From the corner of her eye Riley saw Tessa pointing to herself, her mouth pantomiming I’ll bring it to him. Pleasepleaseplease!

  “I’ll have your order brought to you and no, this one’s on the house — for paying for dinner that night,” Riley said, pushing the twenty back towards him. At first Ashe opened his mouth, about to object but she flashed him a determined look. Then he shrugged and slipped the twenty into the tip jar before turning away to join his companion.

  It was difficult to concentrate on making up the new orders, but at least Tessa took it upon herself to take care of the pumpkin latte. Then Riley let her take the drinks to Ashe’s table, and prayed that the poor girl wouldn’t pass out cold from all the excitement. Maybe it had to do with being from California, Riley thought, or maybe it had to do with Tessa just being Tessa, a bona fide fan-girl.

  When Tessa returned five minutes later, she was tittering with excitement and, from the way she was holding her smart phone like it was the only thing that mattered to her, Riley presumed that Ashe had taken a photograph with her.

  “He took a selfie with me! Look!” Tessa squealed in a whisper. “He said that he normally doesn’t do selfies, but that he’d make an exception — because of you.”

  She showed Riley a picture of herself and Ashe smiling for the camera. His smile actually reached his eyes this time, Riley thought as she congratulated Tessa and reminded her to stop fiddling with her phone lest she’d accidentally delete the picture.

  “Oh, my God, if he wasn’t so into you, I’d be climbing Ashe like a tree right about now!” Tessa whispered as Riley stared at her horrified, though it was only because she had no idea what Tessa had just said.

  What tree?

  *

  By five p.m., Riley was done and ready to leave the cafe. Around six, people just out of work would stream in, though it would be a lot mellower then. Customers would usually find a table or a couch where they could park themselves, open up their smart phones, tablets and laptops and, sipping their coffee, connect with the world while disconnecting from their surroundings. Riley was always grateful for those people who came in and actually spoke to one another — smiling, laughing, touching — for it reminded her that beyond all that technology, human touch was still as important as the air we breathe.

  Two girls deep in conversation, their cups of coffees between them along with a lone cupcake on a saucer now occupied the table where Ashe and the woman had sat earlier. Ashe was nowhere to be seen and, given that she’d last seen him two hours earlier, Riley assumed that he’d left a long time ago.

  Allen Morehouse, Library Cafe’s majority owner, arrived to take over for the evening. Riley ran through the sales figures for the day with him, and went through the inventory in the back room before slipping off her apron and collecting her purse. A stack of books that needed to be put back on the shelves caught her attention, and since they were unattended, she collected them and made her way to the shelves along the far corner.

  There was a reason why Allen had called his coffee shop the Library Cafe. He had owned a bookstore ten years earlier, and when it was gobbled up by the big bookstores and the recession, he decided to combine his love for coffee and books into one place, calling it simply the Library. And while his entire inventory in those days had long been sold, these days, the books that filled the shelves were left by customers for other people to enjoy. There was also a dedicated shelf for brand new books, usually by local writers towards the back of the coffee shop, with proceeds donated to a nearby literacy program for children.

  As Riley made her way to the main shelves, she saw his boots first. They were unmistakably designer boots, ones that, if she had to ask the price, clearly she couldn’t afford them — not that she needed men’s shoes. As her gaze traveled up his long legs, she wondered if he’d been waiting for her all this time. No, get a grip on yourself, Ri, she thought. Why the hell would he be waiting for you?

  Ashe was seated in a round armchair which made his long lean form look uncomfortable, although ‘wedged in’ was probably a better description of his position. The chair-back was too low, the seat too shallow for comfort and the rounded armrests made lounging almost impossible. But Ashe had managed to squeeze himself into t
he armchair somehow, with one leg bent at the knee over an armrest and his torso tilted slightly diagonally to his left.

  “Alright, stop it with the slacking off,” she said, nudging his boot playfully. “I need to get through.”

  “Oh, let me do that,” Ashe said, unwinding himself from the armchair. He still wore his beanie and Riley wondered how he’d managed not to get noticed. She also wondered what the hell he was still doing there.

  “Thanks,” Riley said as she watched him put the books away. She was tired, her legs badly in need of a rest, but she had to be someplace else in half an hour.

  “You seriously have been here for the last two hours? Are you sure you’re not stalking me?” Riley asked him when he returned to the armchair, gathered his leather jacket and slipped it on.

  “Yes, ma’am. But no, I sure am not stalking you,” Ashe replied in a polite Southern drawl, complete with a tilt of his head and a huge grin. “I certainly hope it’s not a crime to live close by.”

  She was about to retort when her phone alarm went off to remind her that she needed to be elsewhere. Without waiting for him to speak, she turned around and headed towards the door. Ashe was right behind her, and soon walking next to her.

  “My meeting didn’t finish till an hour ago, and I thought I’d wait for you. Besides, I can’t get it out my head, this ménage à quatre of yours,” he grinned. “You’ve piqued my interest so much I had to cancel the rest of my plans for the evening and hope you’ll let me watch.”

  Riley stopped and stared at him. “Are you out of your mind? What I do is not worth anyone canceling their plans.”

  “I lied,” he said, giving her a sheepish look. “I actually had no plans this evening so I had nothing to cancel. But if you want me to leave you alone, I will.”

  Riley felt bad. He looked so sincere, she thought, and she was actually flattered that he’d waited for her. “I really don’t want you to leave, but what about your movie? The promotions and the interviews and all that?”

  He shrugged, digging his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket. “We just got back from Madrid yesterday, and for the rest of the week I’m free. I’m afraid I’m still jet-lagged so the old brain’s a bit fuzzy,” he said. The word ‘fuzzy’ sounded more like ‘fozzy’ when he said it.

  “What about your friend? Where did she go?”

  “If you mean Charmaine, she’s a journalist. She interviewed me for a Hampton’s magazine feature, and we were supposed to do the interview at around one at their office. But I did a photo-shoot that went two hours past schedule, so she suggested a nice restaurant down the street. But then I saw this place and remembered how it’s known for its caffè — ”

  “Caffè Medici,” Riley said, still walking as her phone alarm sounded again.

  “When I saw you that you were my barista today, I couldn’t believe my good fortune,” Ashe said, serious now. “I’ve been wanting to call you, Riley. I know where you live, but it wouldn’t have been proper to just show up at your door.”

  “It would have been creepy,” Riley said. “Thanks for the flowers, by the way. They were gorgeous.”

  “You’re welcome,” he grinned.

  “Did you write the note yourself?” she asked.

  “Of course,” he replied. “Can I at least walk you to wherever you need to go?”

  “To my foursome, you mean?” Riley smiled. “You’re really that curious about my foursome, aren’t you?”

  “In a strange way, I am.”

  “Would you like to actually join me? Not just watch?”

  “I’d love to.”

  Riley took a deep breath. “Well, I can always use an extra hand. I’ve got to warn you, though — a foursome can be messy.”

  “I don’t mind messy.”

  “It can be loud.”

  “I don’t mind loud,” he said.

  “It can be very exhausting. The participants can be very demanding.”

  “I can handle that, too. I work in Hollywood, remember?”

  “You might even regret it and disown all possible progeny.”

  “I’ll … take the risk,” he replied, though Riley noticed the pause. Then he gave her a sideways glance, as if suddenly unsure of his decision to come along.

  The walk to her destination was fairly short, a mere ten minutes, and as Riley walked up the steps of a beautiful brownstone, she pulled out the elastic that kept her hair off her face and shook her hair about her for dramatic effect, feeling like Greta Garbo.

  “What are you doing?” Ashe asked.

  “Trying to look sexy,” Riley said. “You want to impress your hosts, don’t you? Take off your beanie. Look manly — like you can handle what’s to come.”

  Ashe gave her a look that was almost distressed, as if he were no longer sure that this was a good idea, but he took off his beanie and ruffled his hair. Then he cleared his throat and squared his shoulders, appearing taller and more refined.

  They heard the sound of a woman laughing from behind the door, then high heels tapping on wooden floors.

  “Are you ready for this?” Riley asked, pursing her lips at him and lifting one shoulder in the best silly seductive move she could think of.

  “I … think so,” Ashe replied, the tension on his face even more obvious now.

  “Well, don’t say I didn’t warn you, Ashe Hunter, because you’re about to experience the most amazing, mind-blowing ménage à cinq you’ll ever have in your life. I hope you brought protection, too,” Riley said, winking, “if you know what I mean.”

  She glimpsed a look of panic in Ashe’s eyes as the door opened to what could only be described as pure chaos.

  7

  Beautiful Again

  “Oh, wow, Riley! Is this your sacrificial offering?” Paige asked as she opened the door, three 4-year old boys dressed up as Ironman, Captain America and Thor running past her. She was dressed in a beautiful Monique Lluilhier full-length gown that shimmered about her feet and as Riley stared at her, she twirled, showing off the ensemble in full effect.

  “He stopped by the Library, and figured he’d help me out with the boys.”

  “She makes a wonderful caffè Medici,” Ashe said, grinning.

  “You still have a chance to get out of this, you know,” Riley said as the triplets, Trey, Trevor and Thomas stopped in their tracks and stared at him. Then before she could introduce the boys to Ashe, Trey, dressed as Thor, yelled at the top of his voice, I am Thor! before running off while the other two chased after him.

  “And miss out on my first ever ménage à cinq? I don’t think so,” Ashe said as Clint appeared at the top of the stairs dressed in a tuxedo. Clint was in his early fifties, with dark wavy hair and a hawkish nose. Although he came from a wealthy family that reeked of old New York status, he wasn’t the type to sit back and wait for the checks to come in. After his father had squandered most of the family inheritance, Clint had had to quit college and go to work. It took him fifteen years to build up the family fortune again through real estate and investment banking. He owned an investment company that specialized in commercial and residential buildings all along the East Coast, which meant he and Paige often found themselves attending charity balls and inaugural dinners. It allowed Clint to socialize and certainly didn’t hurt Paige’s love for attention.

  “Paige, Clint, this is Ashe,” Riley said in a loud voice, above the shouts of the triplets who hushed immediately the moment Clint told them to and disappeared into their playroom. “Ashe, this is my sister, Paige, and her husband, Clint Caldwell III.”

  Clint made his way downstairs and shook hands with Ashe, grinning broadly. He always reminded Riley of the American version of Gary Oldman, especially when he wore his reading glasses. “What a nice surprise! Riley’s never brought anyone over before to help her coral the three terrors. I guess she figured she needed reinforcements tonight.”

  “It’s probably best that he not know what he’s getting into just yet, dear,” Paige laughed before e
xtending her hand towards Ashe. “Very nice to meet you, Ashe. Riley has apparently been keeping you a secret,”

  “Unfortunately, I haven’t been around long enough for anyone to show me off properly but it would be nice to change that,” Ashe said. “There’s no point in disappointing the audience now, is there?”

  Everyone laughed, except for Riley, who glared at Ashe before one of triplets tackled her with a hug. Soon all three surrounded her, telling her all their plans for the next few hours.

  Let’s play with trains, auntie! No, I wanna build trains. Let’s read a story. I want Finding Nemo. No, I want Chuggington! I want some mac n’ cheese! Chicken nuggets! I am Thor!

  Before she was swept away by the triplets into the living room, she reminded Ashe that it really wasn’t too late to back out now.

  Clint laughed. “I won’t blame you if you decide to leave, Ashe. My boys can be quite a handful, but somehow, Riley manages to coral them quite well.”

  “Now don’t scare him, honey,” Paige said.

  “I don’t mind. Really, I don’t,” Ashe said, chuckling.

  “As long as you know what’s in store for you, Ashe. Many a brave man would easily run away from something like this,” Paige laughed, leading Ashe into the living room where the triplets were showing Riley their newest toys, which were partly still in their boxes. It was a Lionel train set and they were telling her all about how they planned to assemble all the parts tonight.

  “Well, I’m certain it will be fun,” Ashe said.

  After a few more minutes of small talk, with Paige wanting to know how Ashe had managed to find Riley (“purely by chance,” he said for he’d heard of how good the caffé Medici was at the Library Cafe), Clint reminded her that they had to leave. The town car was idling outside their brownstone and after loud goodbyes and air kisses, they were on their way, leaving Ashe and Riley with the children.

  “You can still get out of this, you know,” Riley said again. “I won’t hold it against you.”