His Absolute Insistence: A Scandalous Billionaire Love Story (Jessika, #2) by Cerys du Lys

life and everything.  Please, just let that be Asher and please don't let it be a mistake or a trick, and please don't let the hallway be empty.  Tears streamed down my cheeks, crashing against the front of my dress.  I opened the door more, revealing the hallway to me, and my apartment to...
    Asher.  Yes, it was him.  He stood there, smiling, but as soon as he saw me crying, he stopped.  His face contorted into some rendition of anguish and unknown pain.  He ran to me and grabbed me, wrapping his arms around my waist and squeezing me into a tight embrace.  The door closed behind us and he locked it with one steady hand while he held me with the other.
    He didn't know where anything was, he didn't know anything about my apartment, but it didn't matter.  He held me tight and picked me up.  I wrapped my legs around his waist and my hands around his neck and he put his arms around me and rested his hands on my rear, squeezing me close.  We walked like that—or, he did, carrying me—towards the little hallway and then my bedroom. 
    He carried me to the side of the bed, then he knelt atop it, still holding me in his arms.  We moved like that, he and I together, until we were in the middle of the bed.  Asher let himself fall softly to the side, his head and mine landing gently on a pillow.  He held me tight in his arms and I curled my body against him and onto him, nuzzling as close to him as I could.
    "What's wrong?" he asked, whispering into my ear.  His lips touched stray strands of my hair, kissing my earlobe with a gentle wisp of a peck.
    "I don't know," I said.  I didn't.  I still didn't know.  "Jeremy left and everything was fine but then I heard a knock on the door and I thought it was you or him or both of you.  I called out and asked but no one answered, then someone knocked again so I figured you hadn't heard me.  I went to go answer and no one was there.  It scared me.  I don't know why.  It's silly, really.  I feel so stupid for being scared about something like that.  It was probably just a mistake or a joke.  Someone in the building's child going around knocking on all the doors for the fun of it, then laughing after, you know?  That's probably what it was."
    "It's alright," Asher said to me, his soothing words brushing softly against my senses, his voice tingling in my ear, breath caressing against my neck.  "It was probably nothing, but everything's been so difficult the last few days that even nothing can be disturbing.  You aren't stupid, Jessika.  Things are a little stressful, that's all."
    "A little?" I asked, choking on a laugh.
    "Maybe they're a lot stressful," he said, grinning.  "I'm here now, though.  Everything will be fine.  Dinner smells amazing.  Did you cook it by yourself?"
    "Jeremy helped.  He went to the store and bought everything, and he helped me prepare it, but I did the cooking part.  I like cooking, Asher.  I haven't been able to cook much, because everything is busy and you have people who cook for you, but I like it."
    "Do you want to cook sometimes?  I thought it was easier to have someone else cook for us, but if you want to do it, we can figure something out.  I'm sure the kitchen staff would be more than happy to help you, or you can do it on your own if you want, too."
    "I can't do that," I said.  "It's their job.  I don't want them to feel useless.  I don't want to take their jobs away from them."
    Asher shrugged, blowing a puff of air between his lips.  "I'm not going to fire them.  They can cook for the rest of the house, and you can cook for us."
    "I'm not a good cook.  I used minced garlic from a jar.  Jeremy said they'd hate that.  They'd want to use fresh organic cloves of garlic or something.  I'm sure it's good," I said, hasty.  "I mean, I'm sure they've gone to a culinary institute for all this and they know what they're doing, but I just like simple stuff sometimes.  I can't force my way into the kitchen and make us