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support of friends and family is so
very crucial in these early stages.”
    “Kate’s got our full
support,” my dad put in eagerly. “Sounds like things are
really picking up for her.” He gave me a sideways hug, still
seated. “I’m proud of you, kiddo. This couldn’t be
greater news.”
    I felt a burst of warmth in my heart
for my whole family, who were looking at me now as if I had swept the
Olympics. God, this was all I ever wanted. This approval and pride,
just a moment of it, just for me.
    I smiled at Asher, and I tried to let
that smile show how grateful I was. In this moment, I didn’t
care if he was an unfaithful dick with an entourage of ditzy blondes
so vast they could have formed a volleyball team. He’d given me
this moment even though I’d blown him off the other day, even
though I’d been sitting here lying through my teeth to impress
my parents, even though he didn’t have to. For some reason, he
was on my team. I could have hugged him.
    He smiled back, that dimple in his
cheek winking. His electrifying eyes seemed to simmer with unspoken
words. He took my hand, and there was just the slightest bit of extra
pressure as he squeezed it in a firm, businesslike shake that
practically set my brother swooning with jealousy. “I do have
to get back to my previous appointment, but I’m glad we ran
into each other. I’d hate to pass up this business opportunity.
I look forward to our meeting.”
    I stammered some kind of goodbye as he
released my hand, trying hard not to blush red enough to match my
hair. I also tried—though maybe not as hard as I could have—not
to blatantly ogle that ass as he walked away, or think about how I’d
like to grip it tightly to me as he thrust into my—
    Family time! Family time! Keep those
thoughts G-rated, Katie!
    Thankfully, said family was too busy
sitting around the table stunned and gobsmacked to notice my odd
demeanor.
    “What a nice man,” my
mother eventually said in a slightly dazed voice. “Kate, do you
know if that’s his natural eye color…”
    A whole sentence without her expressing
any disappointment in me. Damn, but this man had just played my
entire family like a three string quartet, and I loved it.
    And now I had to go apologize for it
being necessary in the first place.
     
    #
     
    “Asher. Hi, Brody. Sorry, can I
interrupt for a second?”
    Asher stood quickly, taking my arm and
guiding me out to the balcony. “Of course. Is there a problem?
Do you need me to go take the piss out of your brother again?”
    “Ha, no. Actually, I just—”
I pulled my arm away with an apologetic grimace; I didn’t want
to seem rude, but it was suddenly hard to concentrate on what he was
saying when he was touching me. I could feel the heat of his hands
through my sleeve. “I just wanted to say thank you, and sorry.
I don’t usually go around lie-bragging about how great I am,
but my brother was being King of the Dickwads and I guess he pushed
one button too many.”
    “You don’t have to
apologize,” Asher said with a laugh, lounging back against one
of the balcony’s columns. “I have five older siblings. I
know what it’s like to always be in competition. My oldest
brother—he was the golden child for as long as I can remember.”
    “Bet you don’t have that
problem anymore, though,” I said, matching his posture and
trying not to let my breath catch at the way the top two pearl
buttons of his shirt were undone, exposing smooth, deeply tanned
skin. “A few billionaire dollars has got to shut him up,
right?”
    Asher’s expression darkened, and
I felt my heart quicken.
    “You’d be surprised,”
he said, and didn’t expand further.
    It was just starting to get dark out,
and the balcony’s torches and the colored lights of the street
still left us half in shadows. We were only on the balcony of a
steakhouse, less than twenty feet away from a dozen other customers,
and yet the gloomy half-light made it feel…exciting. Illicit.
    I wondered