Page 42 of For Your Consideration

I turned to look at Dale over my shoulder. He was slumped, looking rejected, as he shuffled his way out of the shop. I wasn’t even sure if he’d ordered or if he’d just seen Asher and made his way in here.

Asher swatted my hand away when I tried to grab a lid and didn’t give me my cup until it was secure and had a sleeve.

“Who was that?”

“Dale,” Asher answered as he grabbed his own drink.

I rolled my eyes and smacked his shoulder. The closed-off version I’d just seen was gone the second it was back to being just the two of us. “Yeah, I gathered that. Did the guy insult you or something?”

He looked genuinely confused, his brow furrowed like he was trying to figure out why I’d said it. “No.”

“You weren’t very friendly,” I said as I took a sip of my drink. Once I’d said it, it was almost like a light had turned on.

“Ah.” He nodded. “You’ve only ever seen me with you or Sophie or Quinn or one of the guys. I’ve been called a cold, cutting, rude bastard by many people. Even the men call me grumpy on a good day.”

I watched as he spoke. It was so matter-of-fact. Reaching out, I put my free hand on his arm. “I can see the grumpy part, but the rest seems a little harsh.”

When I smiled, his lips twitched and his shoulders relaxed. I had a feeling he was used to being judged for his attitude, and while it was fascinating to see that side of him, I wasn’t judging him for it.

“He’s been trying to get investment money from Knight Enterprises for a year now, but his business plan is shit and he’s already had two other companies declare bankruptcy while he was the chief executive officer. He won’t leave us alone, practically harasses Shelly.”

“Ah, so he deserved your grizzly attitude.” I elbowed him in the ribs and got an eye roll out of him.

“Most do.” He nodded. “Sit or walk?”

“Walk, if you tell me where we’re going.” He tilted his head and followed behind me until we were on the street. “I can push if you—”

His glance at me cut off my offer. I held up my hands, letting him know I surrendered as we kept walking. Asher kept one hand on the stroller and held his coffee in the other. Sophie was napping now, which may be good timing depending on where we were going.

“Do I have to guess?” I asked.

“We’re going to the zoo.”

I blinked, completely surprised. We hadn’t made it there yet even though it was only a ten-minute walk from my apartment. “You want to spend a Sunday at the zoo? Have you been to one before?”

He scoffed in reply.

“There’ll be screaming kids and people everywhere and Soph isn’t even old enough to really know what she’s seeing but we will have to move on her timetable because if we leave something before she’s done staring at it, she will scream.”

His brow furrowed, his eyes glancing down at her. “Will she like it?”

“Probably.” I shrugged. “We’ve never been before, but she loves her animal book—it’s her favorite. She always spends the most time on the elephant and gorilla pages.”

“Then we’re going,” he said with a firm, final nod.

He’d already bought tickets online so we didn’t have to wait. Instead we followed the line of strollers inside as both of us finished our drinks. Thankfully we were here only a little after opening so we might miss the worst of it. Sophie had woken up from her short nap, but she had a drooly smile on her face as we pulled to a stop outside the first exhibit.

I went to grab her out of the stroller, but Asher asked if he could carry her instead. I nodded, and he quickly had Sophie up and in his arms, her little coos making his eyes soften.

When I reached for the stroller, he shot me a look.

“You’ve got her, I think I can push the stroller.”

His brows furrowed a little as he looked from Sophie to the stroller.

“She’s precious cargo. You can’t tell me you’ll relax if you’re managing too much.” With that argument he let it go.

The penguins were active when we walked in, making noise and swimming. I talked to Sophie, laughing when she did. It put me close to Asher too, which I didn’t mind. He had such a calming ease about him. I also didn’t mind that people tended to give him a wide berth. His muscles, tattoos, and height made him a formidable presence, yet my daughter was incredibly happy and content in his arms.