I can't believe my ears. I stop dead in my tracks, not daring to move, not even breathing. I'm almost convinced this is a dream, and that counting the backward sheep actually worked. Then he walks slowly in my direction. The crunch of the gravel under his shoes, his familiar scent as he moves closer, and his smile —the sad smile, yet the glint in his eyes reflects relief— assure me that this is real.

"Are you alright?" My voice comes out as a whisper.

He nods. "I will be." His eyes graze down to check my attire. "Where are you going this late?"

"I can't sleep. I thought I would just go to Chloe and snuggle with her."

Ashton's eyes turn softer. "Oh, okay. I don't know why I drove here. I can come back tomorrow."

"No, I don't need to go. I would probably wake her up if I went there anyway." I shrug as I cross my arms against my chest, feeling the chilly midnight wind. "Let's go inside."

We go through the garage which has direct access to the kitchen door. I flinch when realizing that I haven't had a chance to clean up. The pizza box is sitting on the countertops, next to the used dishes from our quick afternoon lunch, while Chloe's magazine and pink mug are occupying the dinner table.

"Beer?" I offer after quickly clearing the trash and dirty dishes off the kitchen counter.

"No, I don't think alcohol is a good idea for now. Can I have coffee instead?"

"Sure. I might need one, too."

"No extra sauce, please."

I open my mouth, wanting to answer him, but then I bite my lower lip as I chuckle. "About that, I'm sorry. I was pissed at you and wanted you to pay for the crude remarks you made on my first day."

"Such an interesting choice to punish your boss," Ashton replies, sauntering over to me before leaning back against the counter, and watching me setting up the coffee machine. "I was such an ass that evening; not having a good day at all. But not gonna lie, if I look back at that moment, I always find it hilarious. You were the weirdest yet the most fearless woman I ever bumped into."

"Wow, I'm not sure if it's a compliment but...thanks?"

"You're welcome."

As the machine starts brewing, the silence between us slips in, but it's nothing awkward; it's comfortable silence. The gurgling noise from the coffee machine fills the air while I'm watching the black liquid dripping into the carafe.

"How was the rest of the party?" I ask.

"Good. It went well. People were already going crazy when I got there. You should see Max and the girls on your team. They really killed it." Ashton shakes his head while chuckling.

"Oh, I missed out on the good part."

"There will be an official video for tonight's party. You can see it there." Ashton slips his hands into his pockets, looking down at my kitchen floor while his expression grows darker. "Diandra and I left a little hour after the real party began."

I hold my breath. This must be the part where he had a painful breakup with her. "I'm sorry for what happened between you two."

"Me too. But I know that our...whatever we had was bound to end eventually."

It takes my whole self-restraint to not ask him why it's bound to end because it's none of my business. Still, I need to know whether or not the kiss was one of the reasons.

"Did you...tell her?"

"Well," Ashton starts and then pauses to think, sending my anxiousness through the roof, "I told her I was here with you."

"So, she got mad because of what happened and what I did. And I made you a cheater. Gosh." I bring my hands to cover my face. "This is all my fault. You know what, I can talk to her, I'll apologize and explain that–"

"Stop, Charlotte. Just stop, please," Ashton cuts me. "Stop thinking like you are bad luck for everyone because you are not." Ashton might not raise his voice, but his tone roars the authority that shuts me up at once. "It's not because of you. The whole situation we've been having is just not healthy anymore. I've been thinking about ending it for some time, and I believe this is the best decision for me and her, and the rest of us."

The machine has stopped making noise, but my mind is too busy hanging on Ashton's every word. When he nudges my shoulder and points at our coffee, I grab the carafe and pour the contents into a pair of Disney mugs.

"Thank you." He takes the mug from my hand and brings it to his lips, inhales it, and carefully sips it. "Diandra and I were a couple a few years back," he continues.

"I heard the story."

"You did?" He glances at me, raising one eyebrow.

I nod. "She was your big brother's executive assistant in Knight and Co., but you weren't the CEO back then. After some commotion involving your brother, she resigned but you kept seeing her before she gradually disappeared from the picture. And she came back recently to reclaim you."

Ashton stares at me with a look I can't decipher. "That was quite a recap of my sad life. I'm surprised you've learned all of this."

"People talk, you know."

He chuckles as he shakes his head. "I bet. But I didn't know that my love life was also interesting for them. I thought they only talked about me because they wanted me dead or something."

I can't help laughing at his comment. "That also."

After our little laughter dies down, he goes on. "We were seeing each other for quite a while but there was always something in the way, something we never agreed on. She wanted children but I didn't. We then broke up because we couldn't see the future the same way."

"Oh, no. And the fact that you have a kid now must be a big slap for her."

He nods. "It is," he replies with a sigh. "When we reconnected again, she said that she finally accepted the fact she would not have kids."

"What do you mean? She gave up her dream of having kids for you?"

"No. She can't have kids. She has an infertility issue." Ashton's explanation sends a dull jab in my gut as if I can feel Diandra's pain. "Then Chloe made her entrance into my life."

I'm speechless. For the whole two minutes, I don't know what to say or what to do. I left the party hating that woman with every fiber in my body, but now my chest is tightening for her. She's been through all this pain, and now she has to learn about another woman who had her future husband's child, a child she can't have. And the fact that I didn't let her have access to Chloe must have made her feel like an outcast.

"She took the news about Chloe hard. She resented me for having a kid with you, she resented Chloe for showing up at the wrong time, but what she resented the most was our decision to not bring Chloe to her yet. She felt left out, and it was how things between us went downhill."

"I don't get it," I mumble, more to myself. "She said she was fine with Chloe in your life."

"She said that? To you? When?"

Oh shit! I shouldn't have said it out loud, but his boring eyes into my skull give me no choice but to tell him the truth. "I talked to her tonight at the party."

Ashton furrows his eyebrows, his tone dangerously low. "Okay?"

"She just asked me, nicely, to let you introduce her to Chloe." Well, that's almost the truth.

"It can't be nicely if you were home and drunk an hour later. I want to know, Charlotte, what exactly she said to you."

I put my cup on the countertop and sigh. "She said that I put you in a difficult situation because I made you choose between her and Chloe. It's cruel considering this is the time you need her support the most. She said that I was breaking you apart because of my immature decision."

Ashton closes his eyes and lets out an exasperated breath. "And you let her words go straight to your head."

"Yeah." I put both my hands on the back of my neck while looking down at the floor. "I couldn't help it. I was just confused, you know, and lost. I still am. I've been doubting myself if I'm a good mom for Chloe, if I know what's best for people who care for her." And once again after so many times tonight, my tears pool in the corners of my eyes. I blink rapidly to prevent them from falling.

"You are a great mom, Charlotte. The best I have seen so far. Even my mom can't hold a candle to you," Ashton says. "And what Diandra said is not true. You're not breaking me apart, not even close. I understand every single decision you made for Chloe and I'm totally on board. I told her that it was our decision to keep Chloe in the family for now, and that she needed to wait if she wanted to be a part of my daughter's life."

I know this situation is painful for Diandra, but I can't help feeling the warmth sneak up in me when I hear his explanation. He does care about Chloe.

"And then she started to rant over this decision we made. She believed that you were trying to control me through Chloe, and that I became a weak man who didn't know what he wanted." Ashton's jaws clench. "I know damn well what I want, and I don't need a woman to tell me what to do. And tonight, enough is enough."

"I'm sorry," I murmur.

Ashton just shrugs and continues drinking the rest of his coffee. "And I'm sorry about Watkins, too. Well, for my selfish reason, I'm glad that he's out of the picture completely now."

A smile sneaks up on my lips when I hear his remark. He sounds more like a jealous man instead of a concerned father. At least, I know that we have this mutual attraction for each other because I can tell by the way he kissed me back.

The kiss.

I wince when the scene of me crashing my lips on him flashes in my head. "Right. We need to talk about the kiss," I say, taking a deep breath to prepare myself for the coming embarrassment. "I'm not gonna lie that you are an attractive man–"

"Oh yeah, I still remember you said it out loud." He laughs but when he sees my deadpan look, he stops. "Sorry."

"But at the moment, my priority is Chloe. I don't want to add extra drama to this. I mean, we just met–"

"We met eight years ago."

"Yeah okay, but we started to get to know each other recently. If we rush into this...you know, the physical attraction between us, I don't think it's a wise thing to do. If we screw up, Chloe's happiness is on the line. My point is that we are still in the phase of getting to know each other, the three of us. And maybe we can take this slow and see what happens?"

Ashton fixes his gaze on me and I suddenly don't know where to look. I sip on my coffee while waiting for his answer, and it feels like forever. His furrow slowly disappears, and a faint smile curls up in the corners of his lips. "I agree."

Nodding, I smile back at him, not sure if this is what I want to hear at the moment, but this is what we should do. I know I will fall deeper every day for the very man who is standing in front of me right now, and it's going to be darn hard to suppress my feelings. But at least we agree we do this for Chloe, our daughter.

"What now?" His deep voice brings me back to the current moment.

I grin at him. "Let life surprise us."

⭐⭐⭐