Always Mine (The Barrington Billionaires, Book 1) (23 page)

Andrew’s eyes narrowed, but he was smiling in anticipation of the punch line.

“A platoon,” Emily said with a huge smile.

Lance laughed. “Ouch, she got you.”

Andrew joined in the laughter then waved a finger at Emily. “Oh, just wait. I will find the perfect artist joke.”

Grant stepped into the room and said, “All that laughing can only mean one thing. Emily, are you staying for dinner?”

Emily met his eyes hesitantly. Of all of Asher’s siblings, he had put aside the most time to help her design a financial plan for the museum. “Grant, I am so sorry about what I said.”

Grant shrugged a shoulder. “That was a horrific night for you. I’m sure we can all put it behind us.”

Ian appeared at Grant’s side. “Dad called and told me to get my ass over here, but I was at B&H because Asher wanted to talk to me about something. What did I miss?”

Kenzi cocked her head to one side. “Wait, Asher asked you for help too? Did he swear you to secrecy?”

“Maybe,” Ian answered vaguely.

“Me, too,” Andrew and Lance said at the same time.

Grant looked skyward and said, “And here I was thinking I was the special one.”

Sophie looked around at each of her children and said, “What is going on?”

That’s exactly what I’m asking myself,
Emily thought, but before anyone answered, Dale came back into the room. He said a few words to each of his children then looked at Emily. “Can I speak to you for a moment? Alone?”

Emily’s stomach clenched nervously. “Sure.” They stepped off to one side of the room and Emily held her breath while she waited. He couldn’t be upset with her, could he? If he was, why would he have called all of his children to come home while she was there?

“You and Asher have some things you need to figure out before we can have you stay here again.” His tone was firmer than Emily was used to hearing from him.

It wasn’t what Emily had expected to hear, but she held her tears back and told herself he was only saying what she knew was true. If things didn’t work out with Asher, she didn’t belong there. “I understand.”

Looking into Dale’s eyes, Emily saw why Sophie had defied her father for him. He was a kind man even when he was protecting his family. “But I want you to know that we care about you.”

Emily blinked, but she couldn’t hold back the tears. She wiped them away as quickly as they fell. “Thank you, Dale.”

“Don’t you cry, or I’ll get a lecture from Sophie.”

Emily sniffed and smiled. “I blubbered all over her, I’m sure she won’t blame you. Believe it or not, I’m not usually so emotional.”

“I hope you’re around long enough to back up that claim.”

Emily nodded, although she wasn’t at all sure she would be. “Did you call Asher?”

“No. You two need to figure this out on your own.”

He makes it sound so easy.
“Do you want me to go now? I feel strange leaving after everyone just got here.”

He gave her a sympathetic look. “Stay for a while, Emily, but perhaps not for dinner. I’d love to see you marry into the family. I just don’t know if my son can pull his head out of his ass long enough to make that happen.”

In addition to
his regular work, Asher spent the day preparing before he went to see Emily. He wasn’t going to plow forward with Emily. He had a plan.

He hated to admit it, but Alessandro and Victor made a solid argument, modifying his methods. If anyone would have told him he’d be taking relationship advice from two old men, Asher would have laughed the idea off, but the longer they’d spoken, the more what they’d said made sense.

According to Alessandro there were four steps to winning a woman’s heart.

“Step One: The Grand Gesture. Women say all they need is for you to love them, but they actually need more than that. They need tangible evidence that the man they are about to spend the rest of their lives with is willing to move heaven and earth for them.

“Step Two: The Talk. Address the problem. Don’t make excuses. And it’s not enough to say you’re sorry, you have to know why. Women ask a lot of questions. Some can be tricky to navigate. Prepare responses ahead of time.

“Step Three: The Proclamation. If it’s love, say it. A proposal, do it. Don’t leave much time between the talk and the proclamation or Step One will be necessary again.

“Step Four: The Sex.”

Asher had stopped Alessandro there and thought about Emily’s offer to sell her land. He completed his personal purchase of the rest of the property in that town and had told the lawyer to move forward with purchasing hers.

Grand Gesture? I’ll show those two geezers a grand gesture.
He’d met with each of his siblings and had given them tasks to help make it happen, then had sworn them to secrecy.

He wasn’t overly worried about Step Two. She was the one who had accused him wrongly, but he’d prepared a brief apology anyway. If two simple words were what was standing between him and waking up next to her every morning, he’d say them gladly.

Step Three required some reflection and then a trip into the city to buy the perfect diamond. If time had allowed, he would have designed her ring, but he wasn’t waiting past the night of the auction to propose.

He’d cleared his schedule for work the day after the auction in anticipation of Step Four.

All in all, Asher was feeling confident that everything would go smoothly. All he had to do now was convince Emily to come back to Boston for the auction.

Ryan beeped in. “There’s a woman here to see you.”

Asher checked the time on his watch. It was almost six. “Tell her I’m busy.”

“It’s Ms. Harris.”

Asher stood up with a force that sent his chair flying into the wall behind his desk. “Send her in.”

Emily stepped into his office, looking so beautifully fragile Asher wanted to rush to her side, pull her into his arms, and kiss her, but he didn’t. He’d said he wouldn’t plow over her feelings, and he was determined not to.

“Can we talk?” she asked.

Shit. Talking was supposed to come after the Grand Gesture.
He walked around his desk and motioned to a chair. “Have a seat.”

“I’d rather stand.”

The conversation reminded him of the first time he’d met her. In retrospect, he admired the courage she’d shown by coming to Boston to tell him to his face what she thought of his offer. Had she not done that, they wouldn’t have met. Asher didn’t want to say or do anything that would make her walk out of his life again. He didn’t know if he should say he was sorry she’d lost her museum or let her bring it up.

She raised her chin and met his eyes. “I misjudged you, and I’m sorry. I should have trusted you.”

Asher clenched his fists and took Alessandro’s advice to choose his words carefully. “I gave you enough reasons not to.”

Her eyebrows rose and lowered in agreement. “Still, I hope you’ll accept my apology.”

He stepped closer to her. He didn’t want her to be sorry. He wanted to tell her all the ways he would be a better man for her. “Emily.”

She put up a hand. “You were right about a lot of things. There was nothing left for me in New Hampshire. Even if it had all worked out the way I’d planned, it wouldn’t have been what my mother and I had envisioned.”

Asher didn’t want to agree or disagree. “I’m sorry,” he blurted out.

Emily’s eyes filled with tears. “I’m sorry, too, but I don’t know where we go from here. I want to believe we could get past this, but we keep coming right back to this place. How do I know we won’t be here a month from now? How do I know . . .?”

That I would move heaven and earth for you?

He approached her. “Are you attending the auction?”

Emily nodded.

“Then I’ll see you there.”

Emily frowned, searched his face, and nodded. “Of course.” She turned quickly away and started toward the door.

“Emily,” Asher said as she opened the door.

“Yes?” she questioned, without turning around.

“The auction is an important night for all of us. Make sure you come.”

She stood absolutely still for a moment, then said, “Your family has been very kind to me. I’ll be there.”

‡

T
he day of
the auction Emily met her eyes in the full-length mirror in the bathroom of Celeste’s apartment.
I can do this.
She hadn’t heard from Asher since she’d left his office, and she told herself it was for the best.

Seeing him had been torture. How could he dismiss her that way? Had he already moved on?
Women usually want to sleep with me, and it’s never been more complicated than fitting them into my schedule.
Well, he’s always been honest, I have to give him that.

How had he asked her to stay?
The auction is an important night for all of us.
That was probably the cue to remind her that she has no place in his family. In his life.

It was never supposed to be forever.

Celeste had said she’d encouraged Emily to go to Paris with Asher to wake her up, get her to see there was a whole world outside of Welchton.
I wasn’t supposed to fall in love.

She skimmed her profile in the mirror dispassionately. The dress was beautifully cut and clung to her curves. Celeste had organized hair and makeup to be done professionally, and the result was a polished look Emily’s artistic eye appreciated, but she didn’t feel beautiful. She felt confused.

If he cared about me, he would have tried to convince me to stay instead of agreeing with me that we could never work out.

After she’d walked out of Asher’s office, she’d wanted to run back in and tell him she was being a fool and that, of course, she would try again. But she’d forced herself to keep walking.

I want the kind of love my grandfather had for my grandmother.

Did you feel like this when my father left you, Mom? How long does it hurt this badly?

Emily remembered asking her mother if she ever wished she’d never met her father. Her mother had said, “How could I ever regret anything that made you? Life is full of miracles and tragedies. We decide which is which and who we become because of them.”

Mom, I’m trying to see the miracle in all of this. I wish you were here. I’ve always known where I was going and what I was doing. I don’t know anything beyond my decision to finally give up.

Celeste snapped her fingers beside Emily. “The car is downstairs. Are you ready to go?”

She forced a smile to her lips. “I didn’t get this gorgeous for nothing.”

Celeste laughed. “That’s the spirit. Let’s go see how the one percent parties.”

Emily turned away from the mirror. “I shouldn’t drink tonight.”

Celeste walked with her out of the bathroom and through the bedroom. “I’m with you on that. Are you going to be okay if Asher is there?”

Emily wrapped a shawl around her shoulders. “I’ll have to be, right? It’ll be fine. We didn’t end badly. We simply agreed not to try again.”

Celeste grabbed a handful of tissues and stuffed them in her clutch bag. “Just in case.”

“I’m fine,” Emily protested. They walked out of the apartment to the elevator.

“I didn’t say you weren’t. It’s been a long week for me, too. Give me a glass of wine and I might start bawling.” She winked at Emily. “Especially if all the rich men there are married.”

Emily slid into the back of a town car beside Emily. “What do you think tonight will be like?”

“Hard to say. Sophie’s charity auctions are usually well attended and at the top of everyone’s social calendar. It might not be like that this year.”

Emily clutched her purse to her lap. “Because of me?”

“Do you want me to lie or can you handle the truth?”

“Lie.”

“It has nothing to do with you.”

No wonder Asher agreed to end our relationship.
“I hope there’s a good turnout, for Sophie’s sake.”

“Me, too.”

They drove the rest of the way in tense silence. Celeste seemed to understand that Emily was too nervous to make light chitchat. There was a long line of cars in front of the auction building. “This is a good sign, right?” Emily asked.

“Absolutely,” Celeste said in a positive tone. “Put on your brightest smile because it looks like the press is taking pictures as we go in.”

Asher saw Emily
the moment she entered the building, but he didn’t make a move to meet her. He had never seen her look more beautiful, but he had a feeling he would spend the rest of his life thinking that, each time he saw her. It took everything he had not to go to her, but he had a plan, and he was sticking to it. The crowd that filled the large bidding room spilled out into the surrounding rooms. Some of his mother’s usual crowd was there. Those who had decided not to attend would regret their decision when the papers reported on those who had. Alessandro and Victor had not only invited their family, their enormous family, but had also invited their friends.

Brice Henderson came to stand beside him. “I didn’t realize you knew half of these people.”

“I don’t,” Asher said. He looked across the room to where Dominic and his wife were standing with Alessandro, Victor, and their wives. Alessandro noticed his attention was on them and raised a glass in salute. “But I have family who does.”