Page 109 of For Better or Hearse

Nathaniel bites back a smile. Withdraws his hand.

Ash flounces back against her seat, breathing heavily. Her eyes are a swirl of green and gray, glassy and glazed. “I hate you,” she whispers.

Don shakes out his paper. “Claire, you have my card. Try not to spend it all in one place.”

For a brief second, his mother looks irritated. Then she folds up her napkin without another word.

“Designated gender roles.” Ash’s lips curl. “We love to see it, don’t we, Don?”

Nathaniel fights a smile.

His father makes a sound of dismissal and goes back to his paper.

At that, Ash sighs and taps at the screen of her phone.

“What’re you doing?” Nathaniel asks, tilting a fraction closer.

“Marking down how often he speaks to me,” Ash replies, eyes on the device. “So far, I have been acknowledged once, grunted at four times, and addressed by name negative three.”

Nathaniel frowns. She says it lightly, but inside, he’s seething.

Delaney drums the table in excitement. “And for theladiesss, spa and shopping day in town!” She lifts her mimosa glass high.

“Wait. What?” Ash’s voice is flat. Her panicked eyes rush to his.

This time he doesn’t bother to hide his smirk.

“Shopping. Sounds right up your alley, Bigfoot.”

“Oh, you fucking Tall Asshole,” she growls.

Fuck. It’s all he can do not to kiss that sharp mouth in front of everyone.

“Lobby.” Don’s sharp bark calls the group to order. “Five minutes, Nate.”

Ash glowers. “Nathaniel,” she says under her breath.

In the lobby, he and Ash hover close, but not too close, to one another. His father calls their separate drivers. Heat rises in the space between them. He’s tempted to touch her, but he can’t do that right now. Not with his family around. And why does it feel like his heart’s getting yanked out by a scythe?

Ash’s husky voice sounds. “What’s wrong?”

Nathaniel rolls out his shoulders. “I hate wasting a day with my father.”

Eyes searching his face, she lifts her hands. “Jaw,” she says, tapping his jaw. And it unclenches. “Now shoulders.” Another tap.

Nathaniel’s body relaxes. The tension eases out of him as easy as that. Because of Ash. She’s a goddamn dream.

“Think of it this way,” she says. “It’s another day with your grandfather.”

Nathaniel nods, but he’s hyper-focused on only one thing. “You’re right. But it’s a day away from you.”

Eyes wide, she looks startled by his words. Then expertly resets her face into an expression of nonchalance. “We have tonight.”

But it’s not enough, he wants to say.Four more days with you is not enough.

“Yeah,” he rasps. It feels like there’s acid in his windpipe.

Ash grins. “If you do one thing for me today, please kick Don’s ass.”