In Love, Never Say Never (Ashton Fuller and Scarlett Stovall) novel Chapter 716

I wasn’t planning to subject myself to further awkwardness that night. I stood up and prepared to clear the table. Ashton, however, was looking at me strangely. Bemused, I asked, “Do you want to head over to the living room and rest?”

Ashton didn’t speak. He wordlessly got up and brought the dishes into the kitchen.

I took a step forward to stop him. He was a guest, after all. However, Ashton’s dark gaze halted me in my tracks. I gaped at him, unable to muster a single coherent thought.

I lowered my head and turned to the sink. Before I could turn on the tap, however, Ashton had hauled me aside. “Get over there. I’ll do it,” he said roughly.

I could only look on apprehensively as his long, elegant fingers set to work cleaning up the kitchen.

I made another move to assist him but was arrested by his menacing gaze. All I could manage was to stand by, hovering over his shoulder and fretting inwardly.

After a moment’s thought, I asked tentatively, “Why did you suddenly move all the way here? Aren’t you returning to K City already?”

Ashton tilted his head and looked at me icily. “Are you saying that you don’t want me here?”

Good Heavens! This man is impossible. I thought exasperatedly.

To Ashton, however, I shook my head vigorously. “There’s so much for you to do in K City. Haven’t you more or less settled your matters here?”

“What about that?” Ashton replied curtly. He turned back to the dishes in hand, scrubbing and rinsing them off expertly.

He seemed reluctant to talk. I made up my mind not to put myself out on Ashton’s account.

I thus kept to myself as I waited in the corner, ready with a hand towel for him to dry off when he was done. Ashton took it, then turned his attention to the fridge.

Baffled, I broke my silence. “What are you looking for?”

“Eggs,” Ashton replied, pushing aside cartons and several food items.

“What do you want eggs for?” I asked incredulously.

Ashton took out a jar of brown sugar. He turned to me serenely and asked, “Don’t you feel a slight discomfort in your stomach?”

Stunned, I nodded uncomprehendingly. “A little. What does that have anything to do with eggs?”

Ashton bit his lip, considering. Then he ordered, “Go to the room and get changed. Do you have any spare…?”

He trailed off, but any fool would have understood immediately what Ashton meant. My face immediately turned crimson with embarrassment.

Aghast, I quickly turned. There was a large stain on my pants that I had, up until that moment, been blissfully unaware of.

I’d dismissed the brief twinge of pain in my stomach earlier, never expecting my period to have arrived so suddenly without warning. It had been two months since I last had it and had long since lost track of my cycle.

Observing my flushed face and my hapless state, Ashton sighed. “Go and change. I’ll buy some tampons later.”

Without further ado, I turned and dashed for the stairs.

Before I could exit the kitchen, however, Armond and Nora’s voices drifted in, getting louder as their owners approached the living room. Armond and Nora had evidently concluded their talk.

I broke out in cold sweat and looked anxiously at Ashton for help.