Into The Fire - E. L. Todd Page 0,97

tried to act cheerful. I really couldn’t care less that he had a nice woman in his life, one that he was going to marry. When it came down to it, if Tony hadn’t broken my heart, Ash wouldn’t have come into my life.

How could I possibly regret that?

“I hope you two are very happy together.” But you won’t be as happy as Ash and I.

“Yeah…” He didn’t seem happy at all.

I just wanted to get away from him. I had a million other things to get done that day—and one of them was Ash.

“Look.” He put his hands in his pockets. “I’m sorry for the way things ended with us.”

“It’s fine,” I blurted. “Tony, I’m over it.”

“You are?” A hint of sadness was in his voice.

“Yes. If you’re the kind of guy who goes to a strip club then ridicules the women on stage while you’re on the floor, then I don’t want to be with you anyway.”

“I just…your boyfriend doesn’t have a problem with it?”

“No. He’s not an ass.” I didn’t feel bad for saying that last part.

“I was just upset and blew everything out of proportion.”

Still. Don’t. Care.

“Can we sit down and have coffee or something?” he asked.

“Why?” Tony and I weren’t friends before we went out. Why should we be friends now?

He stilled at my abrupt response. “I just want to talk.”

“I’m confused. What are we doing now?” I was being the biggest bitch in the world but I didn’t care. He dumped me right in the middle of the strip club and he refused to talk to me afterward. I didn’t owe him a damn thing.

“Then can we get dinner later?”

I laughed even though it was rude. “Ash wouldn’t like that very much.”

“He doesn’t have to know.”

My eyes narrowed to slits. “Maybe you sneak around behind your partner’s back but I don’t.”

“I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Look, I don’t want to waste another moment talking to you. I’ve moved on with my life. I don’t care what you think about me—because I don’t think about you at all.” I moved around him and this time he didn’t block me. Then I strutted back to work, feeling proud for putting that jerk in his place.

***

At 5:38 on the dot, Ash walked into my apartment without knocking. “Your stud is here.” Before he grabbed a beer from the fridge, he leaned over the back of the couch and gave me a kiss. “I missed those lips today. And I can tell they missed me too.” He wiggled his eyebrows then grabbed a beer.

“My other lips missed you too.”

“Yeah?” He sat on the couch beside me and his eyes immediately darted to the area between my legs. “I’ll give them a kiss too.” His hand moved up my dress then yanked my underwear over viciously. Then he leaned down and pressed a few kisses to the area.

I immediately tensed and felt a distant shiver move through my body.

He pulled away, a devilish grin on his face. “You were right. They missed me too.” He took a drink of his beer and put his arm over the back of the couch. His fingers rested on the back of my neck, gripping me possessively.

“How was your day?”

“Good,” he said cheerfully. “I got fired.”

“What?” I turned off the TV and gave him a frightened look.

He smiled like he knew something I didn’t. “It’s cool, baby. I was leaving anyway.”

“What did you get fired for?”

“My boss found out I was stealing all his clients for my new shop. I’ve been taking appointments and handing out business cards. He was so pissed.” He laughed to himself. “Priceless.”

“Isn’t that kind of mean?”

“How so?” he asked. “I do all the inking and my clients come to me for a reason. He doesn’t do anything like that. He’s just a manager that runs the register. Why wouldn’t my clients follow me? It’s no different than a hair stylist.”

“I guess that’s true.”

“It was my last week anyway before the shop opens. Now I have more time to see you.” He kissed the shell of my ear then pulled away. “How was your day?”

“It was okay.”

“Nothing interesting happened?”

“I ran into Tony.”

He visibly stiffened. “What did that little bitch have to say?”

“Not a whole lot,” I said. “He wanted to sit down and talk and—”

“Did you?”

I shot him a glare. “What do you think, Ash?”

He relaxed at my response.

“And he apologized for the way things ended between us. I told him I couldn’t care less and I’ve moved on.”

He