Chapter 111

The car wasn’t crowded at all. Gino and Dominic had long since made themselves scarce. Ashton sat with the takeaway bag beside him. He lowered the temperature in the car until the faint flush on Mirabelle’s cheeks subsided. The windows had a tinted glaze to protect them from prying eyes. Mirabelle removed a bottled water from the minifridge and drank. ‘Is this Carmen’s cooking?’ she asked, eyeing the box suspiciously. ‘Yes,’ he said absently. A few water droplets had dribbled down her chin. She was licking her lips. She looked at him. ‘You really didn’t have to bring me lunch. There are plenty of places to eat around here. And it’s not exactly on your way.’ It wasn’t. Not even close. It was a forty-minute detour with traffic and a minor detonation of his schedule. But Ashton hadn’t been thinking logically when he’d spotted her with Finn Carter. Logic had left the building the second he saw that man’s hands on her shoulders. ‘I happened to be nearby,’ he lied smoothly. She shrugged. ‘Al