The Arrangement (7 page)

***

Ariadne paced as she watched Asher hang his clothing in her closet. In order to make room for his clothes, she’d had to put away her winter clothing and store it in the guestroom.

“You’re going to wear a path in the carpet,” he said in a casual tone as he placed a shirt on a rack.

It was uncomfortable, Ash, her nemesis, invading her
personal space. His suit jackets were brushing up against her blouses. His male scent was already commandeering the room, dominating the delicate potpourri she had housed in glass bowl in the walk in closet.

“This is weird,” she said at last.
“Don’t you think this is weird? I’ve never lived with a guy before.”

“Don’t worry. I stopped peeing on carpets in college.”

She’d like to think he was joking. She eyed him with disapproval. “When we go to the reunion, I forbid you to get drunk.”

“I don’t do that anymore either.”

“Keep it up, and I’m going to think you’ve become positively dull.”

He grinned and went back to unpacking. She watched him for a moment before saying, “I’m going to go fix dinner. Any preferences?”

“Anything you cook will be fine with me.”

They were digging into their plates of lasagna when she heard the key in the lock. Her mother didn’t see the sense in bothering with the doorbell or with knocking. She simply let herself in. When Ariadne had pointed out that it was possible that her mother could one day walk in at an awkward moment her mother had scoffed at the possibility. As yet, it had not happened, but still…

Her mother drew to a halt at the archway to the dining room.
“Well, who do we have here?” She entered the room like a whirlwind, the impression aided by the layers of lavender chiffon in her dress. She was all smiles as she pulled out a chair next to Asher and sat down.

“Mom, this is Asher.”

“Oh, the little white boy you married while on vacation.”

Ariadne frowned.
Aurora knew exactly who he was. She’d called her mother from the beach to inform her about the marriage. At the time, she thought Aurora had taken the news well. But when she came home, her mother had come over to return her mail and then rushed off to have her nails done without even bringing it up. Ariadne braced herself for possible drama. Her mother was outspoken and often outrageous. She’d been embarrassed by her on any number of occasions. The one thing that she could always count on though was that her eccentric mother had her best interests at heart. She tried to remind herself of that fact even as she began to pray.

“So,” Aurora continued,
giving her closely cropped afro a pat, “if my memory hasn’t failed me, you’re also the little boy who crashed his father’s brand new Lexus in his back yard.”

Asher smiled. “It was a BMW, ma’am.
And the car was mine.”

“
Is my memory also flawed in thinking that your father had to bail you out of jail for getting into bar fights, disturbing the peace, and who knows what else?”

Asher winced. “I’ve been known to spend a night in jail.”

Her mother hummed as she blatantly sized Asher up. “You’re not planning on having my daughter leave her safe home at three in the morning to save you from some urine soaked cell, are you?”

“I don’t do that anymore,” he said and Ariadne laughed. After a second Ash joined her while her mother watched the two of them curiously.

Aurora shook her head. “Is there more of that lasagna in the kitchen?”
At Ariadne’s nod, her mother stood. “Come fix your mama a plate,” she ordered.

Ariadne followed her mother to the kitchen. She took a plate down out of the cabinet. Aurora leaned against the counter and watched as she sliced into the lasagna. “He’s handsome, charming, and fascinating. He’s the exact opposite of every man I’ve ever seen you date.”

“Well, Mom-”

“I love him. He’s perfect. So much better than
that last weasel you dated.”

Ariadne blinked. “Mom, the man just told you he was known to get arrested and that he wrecked a car and you like him better than Daniel, an upstanding doctor.”

Aurora made a face. “He was a lady part doctor. Ew.”

She shook her head. There was no understanding her mother’s logic.
She had always been rather eccentric. At thirty, she’d decided that she wanted to have a child. Rather than get married, she chose in vitro fertilization. Aurora said she’d never met a man who she felt like she could put up with on a permanent basis. Apparently, she still hadn’t. She went through men like disposable tissues. Though her mother had slowed down in recent years, Ariadne thought that perhaps her mother’s dating style was the very reason why she was so cautious about the men she chose.

She took out a wine glass and Aurora stopped her. “Better not. I’ve got to drive home after this. I
won’t stay long. I don’t want your husband to think that his mother-in-law is a cock blocker.”

“
Mother!
”

“What?” Aurora shrugged. “You’re newly married. He just moved in. Surely you have better things to do than entertain. Water will be fine.”

Filling a glass with water, she said, “Can you please try not to embarrass me?”

Aurora picked up her plate. “I can’t promise. You’re embarrassed by the strangest things.”

Ariadne carried the water to the dining room, apprehensive of what calamity was about to befall her.

“Finished talking about me?” Ash inquired with a smile when they took their seats.

Ariadne barely contained a groan. Neither of her dinner guests was known for their restraint. She mentally girded herself for a very trying meal.

“So, Ari tells me that you’re a lawyer. Do you intend to get a job at one of the firms here?”

“I discussed it with my father. He wants to open another office here.”

“Well, that’s perfect.”

Ash nodded. “I thought so as well.”
He sipped his wine.

“When can I expect my grandchildren?”

Asher almost choked on his wine and Ariadne giggled. He was finally getting a dose of his own medicine.
Ash coughed a few times, but when he recovered, he was quick to throw the heat on her. “That depends on your daughter,” he said. “I’m happy to start right away.”

As her mother’s gaze swung her way, she said, “We’d like to be on our own for a year or two. Plus Ash is going to be busy starting the new office.”

“You’re not getting any younger.”

“I’m only twenty-eight!”

“The years fly by fast,” Aurora cautioned. “Don’t wait too long.”

Ariadne nodded, suddenly feeling guilty for not telling her mother the truth. She’d decided that letting her mother in on the secret would mean asking her to lie to family as well. She couldn’t do that. Beneath the table, Ash’s warm hand covered her knee and he gave it a squeeze. Her eyes met his and she knew he understood exactly what she was feeling.

She’d forgotten some things about Asher, Ariadne reflected later that night as she plumped her pillows and lay down her head.
Asher was actually quite intelligent. When they were in high school, she’d assumed that his father used his money to buy Asher out of scrapes and possibly to purchase his acceptance to Duke University. Anyone who got into as much trouble as Asher couldn’t conceivably have the grades to get into a good school.

It wasn’t until one weekend when Erika had wheedled her parents into ordering Chad to take her to a friend’s party that she realized how smart Asher was. Though Erika had permission to go to a senior’s party, they couldn’t go until they finished their trigonometry homework. They’d both been struggling while Chad had been growing increasingly frustrated with having to wait for them. Finally, Asher had reluctantly stepped in and tutored them. Ariadne had been skeptical about accepting his help and then shocked to find he was actually quite skilled at math. Ash had been rather grumpy about it, almost as though he didn’t want to ruin his reputation as a bad boy.

Tonight as he’d held his own while discussing a variety of topics she’d recalled how smart he was. And charming and sexy. When he wasn’t being annoying, it was easy to see why so many women fell for him.

There was a knock on her bedroom door only seconds before it opened. The light came on as she rolled over. “You’ve got to stop doing that. Suppose I was naked?”

“Then it would have been a happy day for me,” Asher said, taking a seat next to her on the bed and forcing her to scoot over to give him space.
He was still fully dressed in worn jeans and a soft cotton t-shirt.

She sat up, one hand holding the sheet to her chest.
“What do you want?”

“Just these.” He produced a blue ring box and popped it open. Two rings nestled in a bed of velvet. One was an engagement ring with a two carat princess cut diamond. The other was a platinum band with channel set diamonds in the same cut.

“They’re beautiful,” she breat
hed. “But you didn’t have to buy anything so extravagant.”

“Yes, I did. I couldn’t have my beautiful wife wearing anything less.” He removed the rings from the box and slipped them onto her finger.

“I didn’t get you a ring,” she protested.

He shrugged. “I bought one.” He wiggled his fingers and a plain platinum band winked in the light. “We couldn’t show up at your family reunion claiming to be married and not have rings.”

She studied the rings on her hand. “Still, they’re more than I would have expected. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

She cleared her throat. “My mom really liked you.”

He grinned. “Moms always love me.”

“That’s hard to believe.” He hadn’t lied to her mother even when the truth wasn’t pretty.

He laughed. “It’s strange, but it’s true.
I usually try to avoid meeting them, but it occasionally happens.” He patted her leg and stood. “I meant to ask your mom, but I forgot. Why did she name you Ariadne?”

“Well, you know she teaches Greek mythology at the university. Ariadne
was one of her favorite names. How did you end up with Asher?”

“It was my mother’s maiden name.” He ran a hand through his hair. She realized that he’d had a haircut recently. “So…she didn’t think there was anything amiss between us?”

“No. Why?”

He shrugged. “Just curious.” He smothered a yawn.
“I’m going to turn in. Goodnight.”

He turned out the light and closed the door behind himself. Ariadne turned on the bedside lamp and stared at her wedding rings. They had to have cost him a small fortune.

Out of nowhere, she was
assailed with the memory of her one make out session with Asher. It had not been of her choosing. Erika’s parents had thrown her a graduation party and had been considerate enough to not be present. Their house had been packed with rowdy teenagers. Chad, Asher and Ted were unofficial chaperones. Ariadne’s graduation celebration had been the exact opposite. It had been more of a family dinner with very few of her friends present.

Chad, Asher, and Ted had proven to be rather ineffectual as chaperones. They didn’t care if anyone drank alcohol as long as they didn’t get wasted or try to drive after drinking.
Though she’d been offered spiked punch, Ariadne hadn’t accepted it.

Somehow in wandering through the rooms of the house, she’d lost track of Erika and just about everyone else she actually knew. Finally in the basement, she’d found the boys hanging out with a few of their friends and some high school kids trying to be cool merely by being in the company of college students. Chad had a girl on his lap that she’d never seen
before. Ted sat alone, nursing a beer. Asher was in a recliner but still had a girl on either side of him, vying for his attention. Surprisingly, they were playing Truth or Dare. It seemed to be an activity that she and Erika would have enjoyed and they would have teased them mercilessly about being childish.

After watching for a few minutes, she could see that they were playing a very adult version. The questions they asked were personal and intimate. The dares involved drinking beer or make out sessions. She was just about to return upstairs when someone asked her to join the game. She was about to decline when Asher drawled, “She couldn’t handle it.”

Bristling, she agreed to play just to spite him. He arched an eyebrow as she sat down. Unfortunately, it just so happened that Asher was the person to
pose the question of Truth or Dare to her. He flashed an evil grin that she found quite unsettling. She was afraid of what terribly personal secrets he would have her reveal in a room of semi-strangers. Swallowing her trepidation, she chose, “Dare.” After all, she’d sipped a beer before. It was
awful
and she’d only done it then because Erika’s parents had been having a cool moment and had said they could share one bottle. But Chad and Ted wouldn’t demand she take more than one sip. They were supposed to be watching out for them after all.

Asher’s grin only grew. He stood up
, brushing off his harem without a backward glance. “Good. Come with me.”

“Whoa,” Chad said
, suddenly alert. Previously, he’d been completely absorbed by the girl on his lap. “What the hell are you doing?”

“She chose dare,” Asher explained, grabbing her hand and tugging her from the room.

“
Then have her drink a beer,” Ted spoke up.

“I don’t want her to drink a beer,” Asher growled. “She’s too young for beer.”

“Yeah, well, I’ll bet she’s too young for what you have in mind, too.”