"Thank you Regan," I smile at Gage's aunt as we exit the small shop. "Bye Ashlynn, it was great meeting you," she returns a small smile. "I hope to see you again." "I'll definitely be coming back here," I say and she lets out a chuckle while she waves. Gage says goodbye to his aunt before he opens the door and lets me out first. We begin to walk back to the car when I hear Gage's phone ring. He gives me an apologetic look before he pulls out his phone and answers it. Gage doesn't speak at the start of the call, he's just listening to what the other person is saying. He looks pissed and next thing I know is I'm being shoved to the ground and Gage is laying on top of me. A loud bang goes off and my eyes widen when I realize what the sound was. "Be still, don't freak out," Gage says as another bullet is fired. My eyes begin to water and I start to panic. Not because of the situation fully, but because it's giving me flashbacks to
"You didn't have to do that Ashlynn," Jill says when breakfast starts. I just told her that I started the laundry for her. "What were you doing up so early anyway?" "Just couldn't sleep," I shrug and grab my fork. "It's also no big deal. It feels nice to help others." "I'll figure out some way to repay you for starting my work today," Jill says and I just grin. She's always been so nice. Breakfast is filled with some small talk. Kylie and Jill keep asking about my night last night. I tell them pretty much everything except about the shooting incident. One, they both would freak and two, I don't know if Gage wants me to talk about it. Well at least right now anyway. Gage showed up late to breakfast and looks exhausted. Maybe he didn't sleep much either. He did say he'd figure out everything and tell me this morning. "I'll see you at lunch," I say as I wave goodbye to Jill and Kylie. "Mr. Cutler wants me to clean upstairs today." "Ooh," Kylie smirks. "Tell me everything at
Gage's POV: I check the email that Vince sent me and smirk at the information. Perfect. I glance over at Ashlynn to see she's fallen asleep on the couch. She's curled up, almost into a ball, and I'm shocked on how fast she fell asleep. I don't blame her for being tired, she's had quite the eventful time while she's been here. And just thinking of that brings a pain to my chest. My eyes go to her cheek and see the scar across her cheek. In all honesty I notice it every time I look at her, but I try to avoid it at all cost. I shake my head and get back to work, deciding what our plan will be to find her. From spying on her meeting we discovered she's going to Spain, which will be easy for us. We have a good alliance going with the Spanish, they'll be willing to help us. I write down our immediate todo list to announce at a meeting after lunch. When that's done I start to check our shipments and deliveries to see if they are correct, and I do this for about an hour. I leave to ge
Ashlynn drops the cloth that was in her hand and her fingers lightly rest against my cheek. I let go of her wrist and grab her waist with both hands to pull her on to my lap. Her other hands rests on my shoulder, her nails slightly digging into my shirt. I rub my hands on her sides before I rest them on her thighs. Her body is fucking perfect. She cups my face and leans my head back and I smirk as she kisses my harder. She pulls back slightly to catch her breath, but she leans her forehead against mine. I see that her eyes are still closed but her lips are slightly parted. I pull back from her and kiss her cheek and down her jaw, right to her neck. Her shirt prevents me from going any lower than the top of her collar bone. Both of Ashlynn's hands squeeze my shoulders as she turns her head to the side. "Shit," she mumbles before she lets out a soft sigh. I nip lightly at the spot right behind her ear, and I can feel her body shiver in my lap. I smirk at the way her body's reacting to
Ashlynn's POV: I'm helping the kitchen staff clean up after dinner because my mind is everywhere right now. Gage still isn't back, but I can't blame him. He really does care for his family, which I admire, but I just want to know that's he's feeling alright. He's never been one to show much emotion, but for him to cry, I know this is really affecting him. And I never can sleep well, so it's pointless laying in bed when I'm just waiting for Gage to come back. Gosh I sound like an obsessed girlfriend. But I'm not his girlfriend! Sure we've kissed a couple times and we have really good conversations, but that doesn't mean we're together. Plus I've never had a boyfriend. So that's just how it works. "Hey Ashlynn," Kylie smiles as she slips into the kitchen. "I need your help!" "Is something wrong?" I ask, setting the rag I was holding on the counter. "I just need some help finding an outfit. Elliott is taking me to the movies because he doesn't work tonight," she smiles. "Now,
I wake up and almost let out a scream when it's hard to move. I relax when I realize it's just Gage, but then I really realize that it's Gage and my cheeks flush. His head is resting on my shoulder and his arm is draped over my stomach. My hand had somehow found its way into his hair while the other is laying over his arm. He's still asleep and doesn't look to be waking up. We stay in this position for a while because I can't find myself to wake him up. My fingers start to play with his hair again, but I find it relaxing as well. He stirs slightly but he stays asleep. I close my eyes just to rest, and I take a minute to enjoy the quiet. It's so nice not having to worry about anyone sneaking into your room because of superiority. I also don't think Gage would appreciate anyone seeing him in a vulnerable state, much like he's in now. He looks like a child who was finally put down for a nap after refusing to take one. Oh well, I still found it cute. I go to remove my hand from his h
"I still owe you a massage," Gage says as I take a bite of a strawberry. Jill brought us up a tray of food and I've been devouring the strawberries. We are currently just sitting on his bed, and he's doing work on his laptop. "True," I say, chewing the rest of the strawberry that's in my mouth. "It better be a damn good one though." "It'll be nothing less than perfect," he replies and closes his laptop. "Go on, lay down." "But I'm eating," I pout as I toss the strawberry top into the extra bowl. "You can eat afterwards," Gage says and gets off the bed. He moves the tray to the small coffee table that is sitting in his room. "Lay on your stomach." I groan because my foods taken away, but I lay on my stomach anyway. I fold my arms up so that my head is able to rest on them. I close my eyes as I feel the bed dip down. Gage climbs over so he's straddling my waist. He pushes my shirt up so my backs exposed, but he's having a hard time keeping it up. I slip the shirt off complete
Three weeks later Ashlynn's POV: Gage is slowly secluding himself, and it makes me sad. His grandmother is still at the hospital and each day her chances of getting past the heart attack decrease. He's also been figuring out the whole Iris situation, which I still don't know what it's about. He was gone for a week, apparently in South Korea, but that only gave him a new lead that she's currently in Iceland. So he's been busying himself with that. He rarely sleeps. Alex has put me in charge of bringing Gage his meals. I'll go in there to give him his breakfast and he'll be in the same clothes as the day before and his appearance just screams tired. Today I won't let him hide himself anymore. I grab the tray full of breakfast foods and a glass of orange juice. Tori gives me a small wave as I walk past her and up to Gage's office. A few of the maids give me small smiles as I walk by and I return them. The guards who are walking through the house look stoic as ever. I keep my head