Page 122 of Get A Fix

“Cooper,” Jeff yelled at me, and when I turned, he shook his head at me.

Apparently, I was not allowed to show Jeff Cushing’s wife man candy.

Ash had given the bad news to the bride that he would not be staying, but between paying for the wedding and allowing her trust to be paid out, there really was nothing she could say but thank you. We left without having to speak to anyone else.

At the airport, I got my first taste of what being with Ash in the wild would be like as so many people came up to say hello. He was gracious, but when I got the text that Jared Colter’s plane was on the tarmac, I immediately extricated him from the crowd.

“I need to⁠—”

“No,” I said sharply, pointing toward the door a man had just opened for us. He was taking us to the hangar where the jet was waiting. “We’re leaving now.”

He dropped his head, but I noted the quick flush on his cheeks and the shy smile. There was no doubt that Ashford Lennox liked to be told what to do. At least by me. I also loved that he was wearing my sweater. It was ridiculous to see that chocolate-brown shawl-collar cardigans were suddenly trending after the short time of us being at the airport and people spotting him in one. Watching him pull the collar over his face and inhale was amusing as well.

“That doesn’t even smell like me,” I grumbled as we walked through the heavy steel door and it was closed behind us.

“Yes, it does,” he murmured, leaning into me, kissing the side of my neck. “But your skin is even better.”

“You’re very romantic, you know,” I told him as we walked hand in hand toward another set of stairs.

“With you, yes, I seem to be,” he said, drawing my hand under his arm and around so I was holding on to him even closer.

I’d been on Jared’s plane before and was impressed, since I myself did not own a private jet. Ash didn’t say anything.

“No? Not fancy enough for you?”

“It’s wonderful,” he told me. “But most importantly, your boss graciously loaned this to us so we didn’t have to wait and could simply leave. I will always be grateful.”

“Me too,” I agreed, flopping down in my seat, smiling as he took the one right next to me and immediately leaned into my space.

Before we landed, he told me to put on my sunglasses.

“Why?”

“I don’t want you to go blind.”

I had no idea what that meant until we walked out into the main terminal of LAX. He wasn’t even kidding. The sound of all the cameras clicking at once was one thing, the flashes were a whole other story.

“I’m sorry about this,” he said, close to my ear. “I should have asked Levi to have a car here for⁠—”

“No,” I said, lifting my sunglasses, pushing them back in my hair and smiling at everyone and waving. “I’m the boyfriend. I want everyone to see me.”

His sharp exhale was not to be missed, nor was how tight he was holding my hand. The fact that everyone knew my name already and called it out to get me to turn and look should have been weird, but it was all right. I had agreed to live my life in the spotlight, and there was no going back now.

And then I had a thought that chilled me to the bone.

“What’s wrong?” Ash asked, concerned, stepping in front of me, hands on my hips. “Why’re you⁠—”

“I didn’t call my mother or my sisters,” I barely got out.

His laugh was warm and husky, though I had no idea what was funny. “You can call them later.”

“No, you don’t understand. I didn’t call and tell them about us, and they’re going to see me and you, us, for the first time on some site and⁠—”

“Is that it? You scared me for a second with⁠—”

“I’m so dead.”

He squinted at me. “You look a bit off.”