Page 36 of For Your Consideration

“I bet she’ll eat some banana now as long as you stay in view. Are you good to stay on the phone?” Sutton asked.

“As long as you need.”

Someone would’ve had to rip this phone out of my cold dead hands to get me to leave.

She sent me a small smile before she slid some fruit onto Sophie’s tray. Sophie kept the toy in one hand but picked up the food and started humming as she shoved some in her mouth. The redness in her face started to go down.

“Heard you saw a picture of me tonight,” I said once things were more settled on her end. Sutton’s face flushed and she looked down. “I hate that I’m not there so you can look me in the eye,” I grumbled. That got her to at least look up at me. “Noah likes to make fun of me for being so closed off. Jaxson thought Noah might appreciate the photo evidence of me being incredibly uncomfortable as I turned down that woman.”

She waved her hand. “It’s fine. I don’t have any reason to be bothered. You don’t have to explain yourself to me.”

“I may not have to, but I want to all the same. I did not take anyone home tonight, which should be obvious since I’m sitting here talking to you and Soph, but I wanted to be very clear.”

She let out a sigh and some of the tension in her shoulders disappeared at my words. She bit her lip and nodded at me.

I had to hold in a groan. Seeing her bite her fucking lip made me want a taste.

What kind of sound would she make if I bit her lip for her?

“Ash?” she asked, pulling my attention back to her eyes. I raised my eyebrow because clearly I’d missed something but she just shook her head at me.

“Tell me about your day.” I deflected to a demand, which was what I was used to.

Instead of being bothered by it she just started telling me everything that happened. About a funny phone call she had and something one of the staff did. As she spoke my mind wandered to where else she might like to be demanded. The thought had me shifting in my chair. I focused back on the conversation and she didn’t seem to mind my occasional grunts of reply.

She was talking about mundane, some might say boring stuff, and yet I never wanted her to stop. I loved the sound of her voice. Maybe I could find a way to record it and play it at night. Would that be crossing a line?

I managed to keep her on the phone for another half an hour before Sophie started demanding her attention and she had to start her bedtime routine. I didn’t tell her that I would have given anything to be there doing that with her rather than in this hotel room.

Sleep evaded me as I stared at the ceiling and plotted my next move to spend time with Sutton again.

Because you should want to hang out with your friends.

11

Sutton

Iran my hand through my hair, trying to make sure I didn’t have any pieces out of place, just as there was a knock at the door. I looked around my small apartment to check it one more time.

Regret and nerves had been burning a hole in my stomach since I’d told Quinn to come here, and it was a nasty combination. I was really looking forward to a girls’ night when Quinn suggested it but I almost had to cancel.

Iris had a last-minute invite to a bingo night. Since she hadn’t gone out much I pushed her to go, telling her Quinn had to cancel, even though it was a lie. Plus, Iris spent so much time with Sophie that I wasn’t mad about getting to keep her tonight.

When I called Quinn to let her know, I’d suggested my place as an option so I didn’t miss out.

It was a Saturday night, meaning that most likely she’d be skipping an evening with the Knight Enterprises men since she’d told me they usually hung out all day. I wanted to make sure she didn’t regret it.

Sophie babbled happily from the blanket in the middle of the room, not at all bothered by my stress. I’d spent the day scrambling to clean the already clean apartment from top to bottom, hiding some of our clutter in our room. I gave it one more look-over before moving to the door and pulling it open. “Hey.”

Quinn’s bright smile met mine a second before her eyes moved to the floor behind me. She all but ignored me and pushed forward, leaving me with another woman at the door.

“Hi, Sophie, my gosh!” She immediately plopped herself down on the ground with her. “You are just so adorable!” Quinn had met her at the charity event but was too busy to really spend much time with her.

Sophie cooed again and flapped her arms a few times, looking hesitantly back at me then at Quinn. I could tell she was uncertain; we weren’t around people often. She made no move to get closer to Quinn, nor did she reach for her. This was how I’d expected her to be with Asher, but no, she’d reached out and tucked herself into his chest. Now whenever he was around she wanted to be in his arms.

“I think so but I’m a little biased.” I smiled, stepping aside to let the woman, who I assumed was Emma, into my place.

“Thanks for having me over,” Emma said as she held out her hand for me to shake.