Here for You (7 page)

It takes a few seconds but he reaches down and clasps my hand in his. I know he gets it. There are still people that care about him, and he just needs to feel it. He continues eating without letting go of my hand. I push my plate away and with my free hand pull my non-stop phone out of my purse.

Effing Charlie. I’m not going to curse, but he’s driving me crazy. He will not let me go, and I don’t know what to do anymore. I don’t want to file a restraining order, but he just won’t stop. I’m not concerned for my safety, but I just want him to stop calling, showing up at my house, stalking me at the office and knowing my schedule. I need to do something so he understands I’ve moved on.

I hit ignore the second the phone starts ringing. He does this all the time. He texts, and then he calls. If I don’t answer one or the other, he does it all over again. He does it over and over until I answer either the text or the call. I can’t change my number because a thousand people know me by this number. I also can’t block his number in case he actually needs to get a hold of me for work.

I know Quinn is watching me from the other side of the table. I hit the end button again and look up at her.

“Ash, it needs to stop.”

She says it softly, but it catches Cam’s attention and he turns to me. I just shake my head and look back down at my phone. He squeezes my hand and I look back up at him.

“Is he bothering you?”

I shrug. “It’s fine.”

He holds my stare and I shrink under the intensity. He holds it so long that I miss the next call that starts coming in. The ring tone starts to play and I see Cam’s eyes smile. “You have the best ring tones.”

I hit the end button. “Thanks.” I laugh.

“‘Before He Cheats’ by Carrie Underwood? That’s genius.”

I shrug. “Honestly, I probably
would
key his car just because it’d make me feel better, and my sister, well, she
is
the bleached-blond tramp.” Oh my God, I did not just say that with Quinn sitting so close. I close my eyes and hesitate before I turn.

I slowly turn my head, and she is staring right at me. “Your
sister!
”

Okay, now I will curse.
Fuck!
Quinn is going to go crazy. One, that I didn’t tell her right away. Two, that it was my sister. Cam knows this, but he doesn’t know I still haven’t shared it with her. “Quinn. Not now,
please
.” I’m begging her not to make a big deal of it now.

She proves why she’s my best friend and why I love her more than anyone in the world. “Fine. Not now. But we
will
talk about it tomorrow.” She leaves it at that, and I let out a long breath.

Cam tries to lighten the mood and raises his voice so those not deep in conversation hear. “Quinn, can you call her phone, please? I want Perez to hear what ring tone she has set for you.”

I know Quinn doesn’t care in the least and has no shame about it so she immediately accepts the challenge. She pulls her phone out of her purse, finds my name and hits send. Before it starts ringing, I turn the volume on high because I know she’s loving this moment. When “Maneater” starts playing on my phone, the entire group starts laughing and throwing insults out to Johnny. The poor guy has no idea what a challenge he has taken on.

When Charlie’s name pops up on my phone for the tenth time I decide to take it. I can’t turn my phone off completely in case an important business call comes in, so my best option is to try to convince him to stop calling tonight. I hit the talk button.

“Hold on.” I then cover the phone with my hand and turn to Cam, “Sorry, but I have to do this so he’ll stop.”

Cam nods, and I step out of the booth and make my way across the restaurant.

“Why aren’t you picking up my calls, Ashley?”

“Because I’m out to dinner with friends.”

“Where are you? I’m coming to get you now.”

“I’m not going to tell you where I am. You need to stop calling my phone. We’re done, Charlie. We’re never getting back together. Get it through you head.”

“We are done when I say we’re done, Ashley.”

“Charlie, I caught you in bed with my sister. That should be enough to tell you we’re done. If you want to marry a Hughes, you better start working on my sister because it sure as hell won’t be me. Now leave me alone!” I end the call with an exasperated sigh.

I turn to see Crystal whispering something to Anderson and I wish they would just leave. I talked to the guys after it first happened and told them to accept it because I wanted whatever made her happy. They’ve been pretty good about it, but sometimes I notice Perez and even Fonz giving them dirty looks. I appreciate everyone’s support, but I’m glad they’re still allowed to be part of the group. She catches me watching them and gives me a sympathetic smile. God, why do I still let her get to me?

I look away from her and see Quinn looking at me now. “I’m going to go find her. I’m really worried about her.”

“Why are you worried?”

“He doesn’t leave her alone. He’s been doing this every day since that afternoon.”

This pisses me off even more. “You stay here. I’ll go find her.” I see Perez relax a little. He likes this woman and that is scaring me too. Shit, her ring tone is “Maneater.” I’m afraid she’s going to tear his heart out and stomp on it. I’ve never seen him get too caught up in a woman, but the way he is looking at her tells me he’s already there, and it’s only been a couple of weeks. I can’t have him fall apart on me now. We’re too close to the Series.

I slide out and go in search of Ash. The only thing that will make my world right at this moment is to see a smile on her face. I need that before I can pitch tomorrow. It’s an important game for me and even if only as a friend I need to know she’s there for me.

I see her with her head down near the front doors. When she hangs her phone up, her shoulders drop. I walk up behind her and wrap my arms around her waist. Without hesitation she leans back into my chest, and I immediately feel better.

“Ash, you need to tell me if I should be worried.”

She shakes her head and lets out a sigh. “He’s just annoying but persistent as hell. He wants to marry in to the family name, that’s all. It really has nothing to do with me other than my last name.”

I furrow my brow. “What last name?”

She hesitates. “Hughes.”

I run the name through my head and think of the possibilities. I go for the biggest one I can think of. “Hughes & Donnelly?” When she doesn’t immediately answer, I know I guessed right.

She pauses even longer and eventually turns in my arms. The entire staff knows me and none of them are going to bother us even though we’re standing in the middle of the entrance. Ashley doesn’t seem to be aware of anything around her and is focused on my face. “Does it bother you?”

I lie. Well, maybe not a lie, but I’m not sure yet if it bothers me. “No.”

She studies my face and sighs. “It does a little, but that’s fine.”

“Who is the Donnelly?”

Emotion crosses her face. “My mom’s maiden name. My dad thought two names on the company would make it seem stronger, bigger. He didn’t actually want a partner, so he used my mom’s name.” She sighs and then looks back up at me. “Can we get out of here? You have to pitch tomorrow, don’t you?”

I nod. “Let’s go back and get your purse and then we can head out. “Will you come to the game tomorrow with Quinn?”

“I don’t know if she’s going. We haven’t talked about it.”

“You’re going. I’ll talk to Johnny about seats. Just go to will call before the game. There’ll be tickets under one of your names.”

She doesn’t say anything but heads back toward the tables with me. When we walk up, she grabs her purse and we don’t sit back down at the table. She gives Quinn a long hug, and I hear her assuring Quinn she’s fine and will call her in the morning. I say goodbye to all the guys and Ashley follows me as I do. Fonz gets up to give her a hug. I stare at him.

He gives me an innocent look and throws his hands up in the air. “Hey, I was just giving her a hug goodbye as your girl. Nothing more, I swear.”

I motion for him to continue with his hug, and I swear the smile on his face doubles in size. Poor kid. He has no idea how out of his league Ashley is. I guess one hug can’t hurt. She seems to enjoy the attention, and I take her hand as we start to leave. I feel a hand on my arm as we’re making our way out. When I turn, I see Crystal.

“I just wanted to say good luck tomorrow.”

“Thanks.” I glance at Ashley, who is looking down. I know she doesn’t want to get caught between Crystal and me. I see Crystal start to pout when I don’t say anything else. This girl wants the best of both worlds, but she’s not getting it from me tonight. I turn back around and continue out with Ashley.

As the valet brings my car around, I ask her for her address. “I can just take a cab home, Cam. I know you have to get to sleep.”

“Ash, either you tell me where you live or I’m bringing you home with me. I’m not letting you go home in a cab.”

“Fine.” She gives me her address and we both get in the car.

The ride is quiet for a while, but there is nothing uncomfortable about the silence between us. It’s more comforting knowing we don’t have to be talking. Ashley finally breaks the silence.

“I have an idea.”

“Idea?” I give her a half-smile although something tells me this isn’t going to be as simple as a suggestion for the next restaurant we should eat at.

“Your friends think I’ve slept with you, don’t they?”

I hesitate before answering her. I know they absolutely do because she called me Cam. I still don’t know why I gave Cam as my name, but something inside me wanted her to call me that. I resign myself to the fact that she can read me. “Yes.”

“Good.”

I fail to hide my surprise. “Good?”

“Well, maybe not good but fine. You need the guys to think you’re with someone so they get off your back about just hitting the next thing you see, correct?”

I can’t help but laugh. “Hitting the next thing I see?”

“Whatever term it is you guys use. You know exactly what I mean. You said so yourself, and that was a month ago. I imagine they’ve become even more relentless since then.”

Even though she doesn’t ask a question, she looks at me waiting for an answer. “Yes, they have.”

“Fine. I need someone in my life to help me get rid of Charlie. He’s not going to let up until he sees me with someone else. I need to have someone with me at business engagements. I can’t handle this, and I don’t want to have to file a restraining order against my ex. He’s my employee too, so that really would not be a great option. But I think he’ll stop if he sees me with someone else.”

I have nothing to say to that, so I just nod.

“So my suggestion is we act like we’re dating for the public. I feel like we’re friends at this point, and I think we have each determined that the other one is important. Am I correct?”

I nod again.

“So I think we can pull it off, but there have to be some ground rules.”

“Hold on. What am I getting out of this?”

She laughs and I feel a surge of desire. “You need your team to believe that you are over your ex.”

“Crystal.”

She nods. “I know you’re not ready to move on. Your heart still belongs to her, so you can’t move on with someone else.”

I can’t deny what she’s saying. It’s more than just loving Crystal, but now is not the time to get into that.

“By me acting like your girlfriend, you get everyone off your back, and you don’t have to hurt another girl by pretending you care about her. You don’t have to move on until you’re ready.”

I don’t know why, but what she’s saying does sound logical. “Okay. What do you get?”

“I don’t have time to get to know someone new right now. I’m too busy at work and I don’t even want to take the time. I like being with you and hanging out, so I figure it’s an easy solution. When Charlie sees me with you at business functions, he’ll start to understand that he’s been replaced.”

I look at her and I realize she’s dead serious. I can’t say I disagree with her proposal but I’m afraid one of us will get hurt. Before I can express that concern she speaks up again.

“Ground rules.”

I nod. Just like our first meeting, they need to be set, and as long as they are followed, it will work. It did last time until she fell back into my life.

“Physical affection should only be for public. Agree?”

“Yes.”

“So if we have to kiss for appearance, it’s okay as long as we’re in public. Agree?”

I turn to her quick and grin. “Yes. But maybe we should practice just to make sure it looks natural in public?”

She rolls her eyes, but the blush that creeps across her face tells me she wants it too.

“And if one of us wants to start seeing someone, we have to tell the other person. We treat this like a regular relationship. If you find a girl you care about, you tell me before you do anything. I don’t think either one of us can afford a public betrayal. I feel like we owe that to each other. Yes?”

I nod again. She has said nothing I disagree with and surprisingly find her offer to be perfect for so many reasons. “Deal, Ms. Hughes.”

“Really? Just like that you agree?”

“I made myself a promise when I first met you. Once I had you, I would never let you go. I know I don’t have the ability to give you my heart and everything you deserve, but I will do whatever I can to make your life easier. I was serious when I said I needed you in my life. I know I can only offer friendship, but I need that more than anything. I can’t tell you the last time I had someone offer comfort and support that wasn’t looking for something in return.”

“Well, I am asking for something in return.”