He Said I Was Clingy, So I Walked Away on the Day Our Contract Ended Chapter 03

He Said I Was Clingy, So I Walked Away on the Day Our Contract Ended Chapter 03

Recalling how miserable his stomach had been the previous day and how subdued he’d acted the night before, I took pity on him.

[Sure, send it over.]

He seemed unexpectedly pleased on the other end. Reserved as Asher Carter always was, he even sent a cute iMessage animated sticker that read: [Yep yep.]

“Mrs. Carter, do you want me to run this lunch over to his office then?” Ellen gaped at me as if she’d witnessed something totally out of the ordinary. ” Did you two have a falling-out? He seemed really down when he headed out to work earlier.”

I frowned at her.

“If you’re not up for it, Lorraine can take care of dropping it off.”

His lousy mood was the last thing I cared about. This was nothing more than a contractual marriage. Now that I’d dropped my performative act, Asher was nothing more to me than a high-end male companion with no emotional weight whatsoever.

She clamped her mouth shut awkwardly, grabbed the prepared meal container, and headed out the door.

A little over ten minutes later, texts popped up on my phone from Asher.

[?]

[Thought you’d come eat with me.]

[No need dropping off lunches going forward, then.]

I opted not to reply at all. When I woke up from my midday nap, I noticed he’d deleted all three messages entirely.

What an infuriatingly confusing man.

Now that I’d stopped clinging to Asher constantly, my craving for dramatic performative energy had nowhere to go. Naturally, I fell back on my oldest hobby: splurging on luxury designer handbags.

My best friend Clara Bennett was on the phone with me, sending over a contact card.

“I’ve found this amazing personal shopper, Jesse Reed. Tons of women in our social circle buy from him—he’s super charming and always has authentic, hard-to-find inventory.”

“You’ve been playing the devoted stay-at-home wife for ages and missed so many limited-edition releases, but he’s got them all in stock.”

I added his contact right away, locked in a meeting time, and hurried out to meet him.

For two days straight, Asher hadn’t headed home at his usual late time of ten thirty, which struck me as odd.

Glancing up at the clock showing seven fifty, I held my arms open and walked toward him.

His eyes lit up instantly; he stood from the sectional couch and opened his arms to pull me in.

And then…

I sidestepped his embrace, tossing all the new handbags I’d picked up that afternoon off my wrist and onto the couch in a heap.

Asher froze completely. I flopped down onto the cushions and lay there exhausted for several minutes.

“Go wash your hands for dinner.”

After a long pause, he reached out to tug me upright. His leg knocked against my favorite new bag in the process, and I shoved him away on instinct.

” Give me some space.”

Thick, heavy tension hung in the air. His dark eyes narrowed sharply, and a flicker of embarrassment washed over me.

” I already had my meal. You can eat without me.”

Frustration simmered plainly across Asher’s face, his expression darkening even further.

“Alright.”

After my shower, I climbed straight into bed ready to crash—I’d been running errands shopping all afternoon and was worn thin.

I looked up. Asher was half-undressed, his bathrobe hanging loose.

The man had a hell of a body. I had no idea how he stayed in that kind of shape with his work schedule.

Part of me felt tempted, yet exhaustion outweighed any desire.

I tried to pretend I hadn’t noticed him and shut my eyes to sleep, only for him to wrap one firm hand around my calf.

His warm palm slid slowly up my lower leg.

Asher had always had a lovely voice, especially in intimate moments—deep, with a rough, gravelly undertone.

“Don’t you want anything tonight?”