Page 100 of Billionaire Unbroken - Asher
“I’m not ready to quit my day job of illustrating for popular authors,” I said jokingly. “But there’s a lot of creative freedom when I’m writing my own books. We’ll see how it goes.”
“You could quit working for other people,” Asher argued. “I’d be happy to help while you’re establishing your own writing career.”
“I know you would,” I said with a smile. “But I need to feel like I have control of my own life. Maybe that’s hard for you to understand sometimes, but I’ve always taken care of myself financially, Asher. I think I need to prove to myself that I can do it again. I’ll let you buy me some of the things that I can’t afford,but I need to at least know that I’m capable of taking care of my needs. I’d like to know that I can take care of my mom, too. I need that confidence in myself. I completely lost control of that ability at one time. I want to feel normal again. That need has nothing to do with you. I trust you to take care of me, but I have to know I can rely on myself, too.”
He squeezed my hand. “I’ll try not to let your independence be a blow to my ego,” he teased.
I bumped against him. “It shouldn’t be.”
In a more serious voice, he added, “There’s nothing I want more than for you to regain your confidence in yourself, sweetheart. I want you to feel your own strength because I’m not sure you always see that in yourself.”
“I think I’m a work in progress,” I admitted. “It’s taken a long time for me to recover. I think I need that to feel completely sure of myself again. It’s been a long road, but I’m getting there. I don’t think I ever would have used your card for so many niceties if I wasn’t getting confident that I could pay that money back if you wanted it.”
“I don’t,” he grumbled.
I smiled because he sounded so unhappy about the thought of me trying to pay him back.
“I know that,” I assured him. “But I need to know that I can. I’m not with you because you’re a billionaire. I’m with you because I want to be. I’m with you because you’re the most amazing guy I’ve ever met, and because you make me happy.”
“Do you think I don’t know that?” he asked.
I shrugged. “I think you do, but maybe I want to prove it to you.”
“You never have to prove anything to me,” he said gruffly. “But if succeeding at your career makes you happy, then you know I’m supportive. Do you need any help publishing your book?”
My heart squeezed. “No,” I said softly. “But thanks for offering.”
And just like that…Asher was offering to do anything and everything he could to help me…again.
Maybe I should be used to that, but it would probably always touch my heart because wholehearted support was something I’d never experienced from a partner.
It was something I never wanted to take for granted because I knew what it was like to be gaslighted and sabotaged constantly.
It was one of the many reasons why I’d fallen for Asher so damn hard.
I let out a happy sigh.
Loving Asher was getting less and less scary for me.
Maybe because I was always sensing my feelings for him coming back to me.
We’d never talked about it.
We’d never discussed a serious commitment, but I knew Asher was as committed to this relationship as I was.
I knew damn well that Asher cared about me.
For now, as the two of us navigated this relationship, that was more than enough.
Asher
That damn dress is definitely going to kill me.
I probably shouldn’t feel primal satisfaction because I knew that I’d purchased that cock-hardening dress for her, but I didn’t give a shit.
My woman looked absolutely radiant, and my dick was hard as we sat in one of the best restaurants in Austin.
We’d spent the day exploring some of the historical sights and the art museum.
