“Good.”
“Watcha doing?”
“Baking cookies.”
“Oh, what type?”
He puts the phone down. “What type are they, Grandma?” he calls.
“Chocolate chip,” I hear my mom say in the background.
“What are you doing?” he asks.
“I’m just…” I pause for a moment. “I’m cleaning the house. Are you being a good boy and helping Grandma?”
“Yep. We’re going to the playground after lunch, too.”
“Oh, that’s fun.” I smile and my heart breaks a little. I miss him.
He starts talking to my mom as though forgetting he’s on the phone to me.
“Owen?” I call.
“Yeh?”
“I’m going to go, darling, but I’ll call you later tonight. I love you.” I smile.
“Love you, Mom. Grandma she wants you,” he says.
“Hello, dear.” Mom says through an obvious smile.
“Is everything okay?” I ask.
“Everything is fine.”
“Did Owen sleep alright?”
“Perfect.”
I smirk. “In your bed?”
Mom laughs. “Perhaps.”
“Thank you so much, Mom. I can’t tell you how grateful I am to you for you doing this for us both.”
“Ash, stop worrying about us and have a nice peaceful week.”
My phone alerts me to a text before the name Cameron flashes across the screen.
“Okay, I’ll call you tonight.”
“Speak then. Have a great day.”
I hang up and click on my message.
You are grounded without wifi, young lady.
I laugh out loud and text him back.
Your car was made to be driven like that.
A reply pings back.
That’s a whole different punishment.
I’m talking about the state of your car.
It’s a health hazard, Ashley!
I bite my bottom lip to stifle my over the top smile. I write back.
Quit nagging me.
I glance around at people walking by the car. I must look crazy laughing to myself while I sit in the car alone. A reply bounces back.
You have fifty minutes!
I get out of that car and press the fancy car lock. Everything bleeps and as I walk across the parking lot, I call Jenna. It goes to voicemail and I leave a message.
“Hi, babe. I hope everything is going alright. Call me as soon as you get a chance.”
I hang up and straighten my shoulders.
Right. Sexy hot date dress, coming right up.
The thing about shopping that annoys the crap out of me is this: When you have no money and nowhere to go, you see every damn hot outfit ever created. But, when you have no time and a specific target in mind, there is absolutely nothing to be found anywhere. I’m in a near panic. I have ten minutes left to find a dress for tonight and I’m starting to sweat.
Why is it so fucking hard to find a sexy, non-slutty dress?
I flick through the clothing rack, annoyed. Everything here screams that I’m a two dollar whore, or come grab a granny. There’s nothing in between. My phone rings and I glance at the screen to see one of my favorite names light up. Jenna.
“Hey.” I smile. “Are you okay?”
“Hi, Ash. Yes, it’s not as bad as they first thought. She’s going to be alright.”
I put my hand on my chest in relief. “Oh, thank God, Jen.”
“I know. She had us all scared for a while there but they think she’s going to make a full recovery.”
“That’s great.” I smile.
“I’m so relieved. What are you doing?”
I shake my head and smirk. “I have news.”
“What kind of news?”
“Mr. Stanton news,” I whisper as I continue to flick through the dresses.
“Oh my fucking God. What?”
“He came to the club and I was busted. He knew it was me, despite the wig. We had this huge fight and then he demanded a lap dance.”
“What?”
“And then two days later he requested a night in the Escape Lounge with me.”
“What the fuck?” she screeches.
“I know. But he didn’t want me to sleep there, so he took me back to his house, which is like crazy rich, and we had awesome sex all night and now I can hardly walk. He’s taking me to New York for the weekend, but I’m going to look like a potato because I can’t find anything to wear,” I blow out through my last breath. Jeez, that was a mouthful.
“What the heck” She pauses for a moment. “Did you tell him about Owen?”
I scrunch my face up. “Erm. No, not yet.” I wince.
“Ashley, what the hell are you doing?”
“Oh, Jen, I just want him to get to know me before I tell him I have a son.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s going to change the whole dynamic and I will become someone’s mom to him. I won’t matter anymore.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I kind of do,” I mutter sadly. “Look, I’ll tell him as soon as we get back on Monday. Jen, when have I ever had the opportunity to go away with a dreamy guy for a fun weekend with no strings attached?”
“This is true,” she mutters, distracted.
“Do you think it’s bad if I hold out until Monday? I mean… who knows, we might not even hit it off and it won’t matter anyway.”
“Again, true.”
I blow out a deflated breath as I turn a full circle, looking at the dresses on the racks. “I’ve got to find a date dress and there is literally nothing anywhere.” I sigh.
“Hmm, look at that little dress shop near the coffee place we go to.”
I frown. “Which one?”
“You know… It has the rocking horse in the window?”
“What? Near the coffee shop?”
“Yes, across the road. I saw about fifty things in there to die for.”
I shrug. “Okay, it can’t hurt.”
“Send me some photos from the changing room.”
I fake a smile and give the attendant a wave as I exit her shop. “I have approximately…” I look at my watch. “Eight minutes to find a dress that is going to drive him wild.”
She giggles. “Piece of cake. Get off the phone and start running, bitch.”
I fall into the seat as Cameron fusses about in the overhead luggage compartment.
I’ve never flown first class before. I glance around at everyone who all look like its their God given right to fly in such luxury. Cameron is wearing blue jeans and a navy sports suit jacket with a white T-shirt. His dark hair is in messy curls and he looks like he probably owns this frigging plane. He exudes money. My eyes roam down to my thirty-dollar dress and shoes, and I cringe. Do I look like I have no money? Because that’s sure how I feel. He pushes our bags around and rearranges them in the overhead, and a broad smile crosses my face as I watch him. Cameron has to have things just as he likes them or it annoys the hell out of him. When I got to his house earlier, I found him in the throes of hoovering and cleaning my car. He said it would have bothered him all weekend if he didn’t do it. My little baby is now sparkling clean, like a diamond. Cameron finally falls into the seat beside me and, without thinking, picks up my hand and places it on his thigh. I’ve noticed he does this a lot-he wants my hands on him. In bed he wants me to cuddle his back. In the car he picks up my hand and puts it on his thigh. He turns his attention to me now and squeezes my hand in his before he throws me a sexy wink and flashes a swoony smile.
“We didn’t have to fly first class, you know,” I whisper.
His head leans back against the headrest. “Yeah, we did.”
I lean in so nobody else can hear. “You waste a lot of money.”
He smirks. “And you talk too much.”
Cameron
I tap my pen as I think before I write the words Mount Everest.
“That’s not it,” Ashley interrupts from over my shoulder. I smirk. “Know it all. Yes, it is.”
I’m doing the crossword in the paper and we are just about to land in New York.
“Try Mauna Kea in Hawaii,” she tells me.
“I’m looking for the highest.”
“Yes, and while Mount Everest is the highest above sea level, it’s not the actual tallest mountain.”