Free Collecting Scars by Tee Smith Page A

this.
    “What time do you have to start work?”
    “Half an hour,” she replied glancing up at the clock on the wall above the oven. “I will have to leave in twenty. It takes me ten minutes to walk there.”
    “I'll take you,” Xavier quickly jumped in.
    “Oh you’re so sweet, you don't have to do that.”
    “But I'd like to,” his eyes sparkled.
    “What will Gemma think?” Asha opened her mouth and covered it with her hand, in mock surprise.
    Xavier rolled his eyes at her now and huffed out a laugh. “That her friend had a good night out.”
    “And that’s she finally loosening up a bit,” Joanie interjected.
    “Hey,” Asha scowled.
    “Well, it's like the first time you have had a man sleep here... like...ever. I was starting to think you had taken a vow of chastity,” Joanie dead-panned.
    Xavier looked back to Asha with raised eyebrows in question, but he did not say what he was clearly thinking.
    “Not true...” Asha argued furtively. “Xavier stayed here before.”
    Xavier and Joanie, both let out a laugh.
    “Whatever,” Asha exhaled in frustration at the pair, rising from her chair. “If you guys are just going to poke fun at me, because you all think I’m a ….a prude, or whatever. I'm going to get ready for work.” She stomped off down the hall, annoyed at them both. Mostly Joanie, just because she liked to sleep around.
    Leaning over to fasten her shoes, she felt a pair of hands come to her hips from behind.
    “Hey, beautiful.”
    She stood and spun to face Xavier, his hands quickly moving back to where they had been. A wide grin on his beautiful lips. Asha was so tempted to kiss those lips, but then she remembered, she was supposed to be mad at him.
    “What?” she managed in her best grumpy voice.
    He ran his finger down the side of her face, leaving a ticklish trail. She loved how he did that.
    “I had an amazing night last night,” he said softly, looking into her eyes. “You are amazing, don't let Joanie get to you.”
    How could she stay mad at him when he spoke to her like that? He looked at her like she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. This man was certainly charming.
    “Thank you,” she leant forward and pressed a kiss to his soft warm lips, he tasted like coffee. She let out a small moan of pleasure. “I had an amazing night too.”
    “Now we better get you to work huh?”
    “Yeah I guess so...time to face the firing squad. A.K.A Gemma,” they both laughed.
     
    ***
     
    Gemma only stirred her up a little bit when she arrived on Xavier's bike. Mostly she just pestered her for details. Asha told Gemma all about Polly, the wonderful meal she had cooked her and Xavier and about her club, the 'dollhouse'. Gemma listened enthralled by the story. Telling Asha, she had heard of Polly's dollhouse. Apparently it had been spoken of in hushed tones around town for years. Also confirming, she had heard rumours of local celebrities frequenting it years ago. Including one story of a police commissioner who was embroiled in a sensational story about having an illicit affair with Miss Polly herself.
    The day passed without Asha hearing from Xavier. She couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, but she knew he had a business to run and neither of them had time to be in each other's pocket. In reality, she had spent more time being with Xavier or thinking about Xavier than she probably should have in the past week or two and she really should be concentrating more on work anyway.
    She went home alone, Joanie had gone out for the evening, so she ate a microwaved meal. Had a shower and popped into bed. It was still early, around nine o'clock, but she was tired from her night spent with Xavier. Just as she was drifting off to sleep, she heard her phone ping and reached for where she had left it on the bedside table.
    X- Hey beautiful, hope you had a good day, wish I was there with you now. Have work tonight. Good night sweet dreams X
    “Aww,” she whispered. “He