And now Gabriel is in Chicago, doing God knows what. The thought leaves me feeling ill. I’ve never heard him speak of another woman. Who could he have met when he wasn’t working? It has to be someone at work. Some beautiful, smart someone who doesn’t have a post-baby body, and now her lace panties are sitting in my car. My beautiful husband’s car.
Oh, Gabe, what mess have we made of our marriage? Only five years in and infidelity casts her ugly head. I feel like I’m sitting in a fog.
“Lost in thought?” Asher startles me, awakening me from my daze. I realize I’ve been absentminded tapping my pen on the desk. How long have I been absent?
“You look upset.”
He’s the last person I want to see right now. My head is clouded with my husband’s lack of desire for me. The last thing I need is to talk to Mr. I-have-absolutely-no-interest-in-you Asher. Just looking at him in his herringbone suit and pale-green tie, I’m reminded once again that I am not one of his beautiful models.
“Gray, what’s wrong?” His eyes widen with concern.
I can’t tell him about Gabriel. It’s so embarrassing. He’ll probably sympathize with him too. Men will be men, and no one knows that better than Alexander Asher, the male whore.
“I’m fine. I have a lot on my plate.”
Asher looks genuinely concerned. “If it’s work, I can get you help.”
Oh no, he can’t think this is about work. He’ll give my responsibilities to someone else and then everyone will think I’m inadequate.
“It’s a personal matter. I’m fine, Alex, really. I promise.”
Asher looks at me curiously. “I don’t know what you’re going through, but please know you can talk to me.”
I give him a nod in understanding.
He eyes me up for a few more seconds and rubs his full lips together as if trying to decide if he should pry further. He must decide not to because his body relaxes and he walks backward toward the door.
“I just swung by to tell you I’m heading out of town so I won’t be able to go through the final rundown with you.”
Leaving? “Where are you going?”
He stops with his back to the open doorway and places his hand on the frame. “Miami for a few days. I’m going there to wine and dine some donors. Malory was supposed to go, but she’s off to L.A. for the weekend, so that leaves me to seal the deal.”
I find myself relieved that he isn’t attending an event with anyone. Why does it matter so much to me?
“Actually, I was going to ask you if you could join me, since we’re soliciting money for your event. I understand it probably isn’t enough time to let your husband know.”
Under normal circumstances, I would never dream of leaving town without Gabriel and Jackson. But one is upstate with my mother and the other is in Chicago doing… I don’t even want to think about what he’s doing.
I thought I had this job under control. Instead, I have a world of work ahead of me, and after talking to Erik, I know if this production isn’t top notch, I’m out of a job.
“Thank you for the offer, but Erik requested final production notes by tomorrow.”
Asher’s face lights up. He releases the doorframe and takes a step toward my desk. “That’s perfect. We can do everything on the plane. I have a phone, a fax, Wi-Fi and… me.” His smile broadens as he raises his hands and points his thumbs in his direction. “You can’t hand in anything to Eric without me looking over it anyway.”
I roll my eyes at his arrogant approach. He has a really good point. There is no use doing all this work and then waiting days for him to get back to give me an answer. I could get a lot done with his undivided attention and I’d be able to hand in a final packet with Asher’s seal of approval.
This is also my event we’re getting money for. I should be the one to go. This is my job. I am one hundred percent capable of wining and dining some business people, getting the deal closed. And I could use a day or two away from home. Get my head together.
“I’ll go.”
Asher’s jaw drops. For the first time, I think I’ve completely shocked him. I like this feeling.
“Really? What about your husband?”
“He happens to be away on business as well. This couldn’t have come at a better time.”
“Excellent. I’ll let Erik know you’re traveling with me. However, my plane leaves in an hour. You won’t have time to go to Long Island and back. We’ll have to buy you some new clothes.”
“No!”
Asher knows my strong position on no gifts.
“Yes.” Asher is stern, his voice commanding. “You will buy new clothes and expense them. Don’t think of them as being a gift from me. They are a necessary business expense. That’s final.”
I have never been this impulsive in my life. Leaving home without a thing on me. This is crazy.
I run through the checklist in my head. The alarm is set, the iron unplugged, the lights and televisions off… all the things that would concern me if I were going away for a day or two. I call Gabriel to tell him I’ll be in Miami, but I get his voicemail. Part of me is relieved. I want to yell and scream at him, but I can’t be too impulsive. If he is having an affair, he’ll just lie, say they were someone else’s lace panties. I have to be smart about this. I feel nauseous at the thought of Gabriel being with another woman.
Asher and I sit in silence on the way to the airport. We are in his massive SUV, the one that drenched me the first day we met. We have come so far since that day. I was furious with him, but now I’ve grown to enjoy his company.
He was right. We could be friends.
I never would have thought it possible.
I turn my head away from the window to see he’s staring at me with a puckered brow. I reply to his expression with a softhearted smile. I don’t want him to worry.
For someone I have known only a few short weeks, I feel like I’ve known Asher forever. He said I could tell him anything, but this matter is just too personal and I fear he’ll tell me exactly what I know is true—that my husband is having an affair. I’m just not ready for him to know. I already feel like a failure.
We pull through a gate and into the private departure gate at Teterboro. The car stops at the bottom of a stairwell, leading to a private plane with ASHER emblazoned on it. A beautiful brunette waits at the bottom of the stairs. She opens our car door, surprised to see me exit. Perhaps she was hoping for some alone time with Mr. Asher at twenty thousand feet. She definitely looks like the president of the mile-high club.
Asher greets the stewardess with a knowing glance. Yes, these two have been acquainted before. Gross.
The plane is more than I ever could have dreamed of. There is ample seating for eight passengers, with plush leather seats and a place for dining. The table and consoles are a shiny birch veneer, and a large plasma television screen hangs on a wall adjacent to a kitchen. Beyond the seating area is a bedroom of the same colors. The full-size bed looks inviting, and I imagine the mile-high club has their weekly meetings in here.
I take a seat in one of the deliciously comfortable leather seats. Asher takes a seat next to me, pulls the newspaper out of his briefcase, and grabs my hand again. We haven’t said a word to each other since he asked me to join him in Miami. It’s amazing to be so comfortable with someone and sit in silence. I rest my head back on the seat and drift into a quiet slumber, pushing thoughts of Gabriel and his lace panties out of my head.
“Wake up, sleepy head.”
I don’t know how long I’ve been sleeping, but I wake to Asher gently rubbing my cheek. Somehow my head has found its way onto his shoulder, his arm tucked around my back, holding me tightly to his chest.
“We’re starting our decent. You should sit up for this.”
I blush at the thought of lying in such an intimate position with my boss for the last three hours. I didn’t realize I was so tired. The stress of last night has given me a mental and physical workout. Not to mention the fact I hadn’t slept a wink.