If You Love Me (5 page)

“I can’t
believe he’d serve you with papers without at least talking to you about it
first. That just doesn’t sound like Adam. I’ve gotten to know him pretty well
since you came to work for me.”

“I can’t
believe it, either. I tried to call him Friday night but he never returned my
call.”

“Ashley,
you need to talk to him. Take the rest of the day off. Hell, take tomorrow off,
too. If Marci did this to me, I know I wouldn’t be able to concentrate on
work.”

“That’s
very kind of you, Braydon.”

“Hey, you
need to straighten this out. Family comes first. You know that’s the rule of
thumb around here. Your job will still be here.”

“I’m going
to take you up on that. I need to talk to my husband. This has gone way too
far.”

“Good
luck, Ashley.”

“Thanks. I
have the feeling I’m going to need it.”

Ashley
grabbed her purse, coat, and the envelope as she headed out the door. She told
Carrie goodbye on her way out and rushed to her car. Not knowing what to do
first, she drove to Dillon’s apartment and rang the bell. “Is your brother
here?”

“Come in,
Ash,” Dillon offered as he stepped aside to let her in.

“Is he
here?” she asked again.

“No, he’s
still at work. He said something about working late tonight.”

“Do you
know anything about these papers?” she asked, holding up the envelope.

“Sorry to
say I do, come sit down. Let’s talk.”

“I suppose
you hate me now?”

“On the
contrary, I think my brother’s a damn fool. But I want to hear from you. Just
what the hell is going on, Ash?”

Chapter
Six

After
Ashley’s conversation with her brother-in-law she went home hopeful that Dillon
could talk some sense into his older brother. Surprised and delighted that
Dillon was actually on her side, he gave her reason to think things might work
out after all.

She put
the divorce papers in the desk drawer in the den and walked into the bathroom.
Stripping out of her clothes, she decided to soak away her tension in warm,
lavender-scented bath. As she sank into the luxurious bubbles she leaned back,
allowing herself to relax for the first time since receiving the awful delivery
at the office.

Totally
drained from the afternoon, she was almost asleep in the tub so she didn’t hear
the front door open or the footsteps in the hallway.

Ashley jumped
when she the familiar voice. “Ash, are you here? Dillon said I needed to come
over here so here I am. You want to talk, I’m here. If you want to tell me to
my face what’s going on, get in here and talk. Let’s get this over with.”

“Is that
you?”

“Of course
it’s me. Who do you think it is? Unless you’ve already given your lover a key
to
my
house,” he replied in a
sarcastic tone.

She got
out of the tub, dried herself quickly, and walked into the bedroom wrapped in
the towel.

“My
what?”
she asked.

“I didn’t
come over here to fight with you. The fighting is over. I’m giving you what you
want. Take it all. I’m setting you free to be with the love of your life.”

“Adam,
you’ve got it all wrong, baby,” she said as she ran to him and put her arms
around his neck.

He sighed,
closed his eyes, and removed her arms. “What the hell are you trying to do? You
want both of us? One man’s not enough for you anymore?”

 
“Didn’t Dillon tell you what I told him?”

“Dillon
told me to get my ass over here and talk to you. He said you stopped by. I
don’t know why you didn’t just sign the damn papers and leave them at his
place. Why did I have to come over here and get them?”

“I’m not
going to sign the papers.”

“Why the
hell not?”

“I don’t
want to,” she replied stubbornly.

“The
sooner you sign them, the sooner we can put this whole farce of a marriage
behind us and the sooner you can move on with your lover.”

“Is that
what you really want?” she said as she gently caressed his face.

 
“I don’t know what kind of game you think
you’re playing here.”

She moved
closer to him, letting the towel drop to the floor. She leaned up and pulled
his face down to hers, letting her lips touch his gently. She bit his lower lip
and kissed him. He surrendered to the kiss, pulling her to him. He forced his
tongue between her teeth as she willingly opened her mouth to allow him access.
He caressed her back and her hands went to his thick hair. She moaned as she
ran her fingers through it.

“Make love
to me, Adam,” she whispered.

Abruptly,
he released her. “Get some clothes on, Ash.”

“What’s wrong
with you?” she asked as she grabbed a robe from the bed and wrapped herself in
it.

“What’s
wrong with me? You’re all over that guy on the dance floor and now you try to
cozy up to me? I didn’t know you could be such a slut, Ash. I guess I was wrong
about you all along.”

“Adam!
I…wasn’t all over him…I know you saw us. Dillon told me, but it’s not what you
think. He walked over to our table and asked me to dance and we talked. He
kissed me…I didn’t kiss him. If you’d stuck around long enough, you’d have seen
me pull away and tell him I was a married woman.”

“Mighty
convenient that he shows up in town after I tell you to go find him, don’t you
think, Ash? I wasn’t born yesterday. Like I said, I don’t know what kind of
game you’re playing, but it’s not going to work. I’m not going to share you
with him or let you compare us so you can make up your mind which one of us you
want. Sign the damn papers. I’m giving you an easy out here.”

“I don’t
want out,” she replied.

“Could
have fooled me, baby,” he said. “If you’re not going to sign the papers, I’m
leaving. There’s nothing more to be said until you sign them. Goodbye, Ash.”

“Adam,
don’t…leave…me,” she cried out as he turned and walked out of the room. She
heard the front door slam behind him. Sinking down to the floor, she held her
head in her hands and sobbed.

When she’d
finally composed herself, she called Amy.

“What am I
going to do?”

“What’s
happened? Did you talk to Adam?”

“Yes, it’s
bad, Amy. He saw me with Ross at the club and imagined the worst. He had divorce
papers drawn up.”

“Did you
tell him you don’t want Ross and you don’t want a divorce?”

“I tried.
I spoke to Dillon and he knows the truth. Instead of telling Adam, he sent him
over here for me to tell him. Adam thought he was coming here to collect the
signed papers. I tried to talk to him. I tried to seduce him. Nothing worked.
He thinks I’m with Ross and I’m trying to compare them so I can make up my
mind. He…he called me… a slut.”

“Adam
called you a slut? That’s not Adam. What did Dillon say? Was he an ass to you?”

“Believe
it or not, Dillon wants us to work it out.”

“I think I
need to have that talk with Dillon. Maybe between the two of us we can bring
Adam around.”

“I really
think Adam’s mind is made up. Ross coming to town has just made things ten
times worse than what they already were. I love Adam…I’m as sure of that as I’m
sure my name is Ashley Brant. But he won’t believe me.”

“Leave
things to me. I’m thinking of a plan right now but I’m going to need Dillon’s
help. I’ll get back to you.”

“I don’t
think it’s going to do any good, whatever it is you’re thinking,” Ashley
replied sadly.

“Calm
down, drink a glass of wine, and leave it to me.”

“I’m going
to bed. I can’t deal with this anymore today. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.
Braydon told me to take a few days off to sort all this out.”

“I knew I
liked that guy,” Amy answered. “I’m going to call Dillon, you get some rest.”

“That’s
the understatement of the year.”

Ashley
hung up and fell into bed. After mulling everything over in her mind several
times, she finally fell into a deep, dreamless slumber.

When she
woke, she checked her phone and saw that there were no messages. She got up and
went to the kitchen to warm up a can of soup. She didn’t have an appetite but
knew she had to eat. She was going to need every ounce of strength she could
muster to fight for her marriage in the days and weeks to come.

“You’re in
for the fight of your life, Adam Brant. I won’t give you up without a fight,”
she said as she poured her dinner into a bowl.

Chapter
Seven

Amy walked
into the gym and looked around. She’d been hoping to find Dillon there and she
wasn’t disappointed. He was lifting weights on the other side of the room.
Determined to enlist his help, she headed toward him.

 
“Hey.”

“I was
hoping you’d be here. We need to talk about your brother and my best friend.”

Dillon set
down the weights and walked over to her. Pulling his hand on the small of her
back, he guided her to the snack bar. “Let’s go in here and get some juice.”

 
“Adam and Ashley need our help. I’m afraid
this whole thing has blown out of proportion and with Ross back in town, it
doesn’t look like it’s going to get any better. I was hoping you’d be willing
to help me.”

“I’ve
actually been thinking about calling you. I agree with you. They need help.
Adam won’t listen to me. He thinks he’s doing the noble thing, giving Ash her
freedom. He’s hurting like crazy, but he loves her enough to let her go because
he thinks it’s what she wants.”

“It isn’t
what she wants. That’s the problem. She loves your brother. She didn’t ask Ross
to come back here. She has no use for that jackass.”

“She told
me. You know I was against the two of them getting married so quickly but I’ve
grown fond of my sister-in-law over the past few years.”

“Are you
willing to help?” Amy asked, holding her breath as she waited for his reply.

“What do
you have in mind? I’m not sure we can do anything to make this better.”

“I think
we need to do the old-fashioned interfering routine. You get him someplace and
I’ll get her to the same place…they can take it from there.”

“He’ll
never go back to the club where he saw her kissing Ross.”

“There’s
always the Slippery Noodle,” she replied with a grin.

“Ah, yes,
the old Slippery Noodle. Okay, Saturday night, eight o’clock. I’ll get him
there and you get her there. But don’t be disappointed if this doesn’t work. It
may be too late for Adam and Ashley.”

“He loves
her. You said so yourself. And she loves him. How can it ever be too late?”

“Typical
female reasoning, love conquers all,” he replied with a chuckle.

“Try it
sometime, you might like it,” she retorted as she got up to leave.

“So, Amy,
are you going to dance with me Saturday night?”

“Are you
asking?”

“I reckon
I am,” he said with a wink.

“We’ll
see.” She smiled and walked away, leaving Dillon staring after her with an open
mouth and a twinkle in his eye.

One down, two to go.
Dillon was
on board, now she had to worry about Ashley.

Amy pulled
into Ashley’s driveway and sat for a minute before getting out of the car.
Finally she went to the front door and rang the doorbell. The house was cute,
in a nice neighborhood, and was a great place to raise a family. At least that
had been the plan.

Ashley
opened the door. “Come on in.”

“How’re
you doing today?” Amy asked as she followed her friend into the living room.

“Not good.
I must have picked up the phone a hundred times to call or text Adam.”

“But you
didn’t?” Amy asked.

“No, I
didn’t. I was afraid he’d hang up on me or not even answer.”

“Let’s go
out again Saturday night. We can go to the Slippery Noodle. It’s been ages
since we’ve been there. What do you say?”

“After
what happened the last time you and I went out? Are you crazy?”

“Probably,
but what are the chances of Ross being there? You just need to get out to pass
the time a little until you can get Adam to see reason. We don’t have to stay
long. You can’t stay cooped up in this house hiding from the world forever.”

“I’ll have
dinner and we’ll see about staying for some of the entertainment but I’m not
making any promises. I guess I have to get used to girl’s night out again since
it looks like I’m going to be single. Adam’s not going to give up on this
divorce thing.”

“Great. I’ll
call you Saturday.” Amy stood up. “I’ll let myself out. Are you going to work
tomorrow?”