By the time Ashe had walked outside he felt calmer, pulling the collar of his coat up to cover his neck and ears. It was nice to be outside, breathing the crisp cold air, his public 'armor' consisting of a flat cap and thick-rimmed dark glasses. Few people recognized him, and those who did had only enough time for a brief nod or look of recognition before he was gone, continuing his journey. New York was great for that. Everyone was too busy with their own life to bother with his. The only ones who persisted were the paparazzi, and in the cold of a New York winter he rarely encountered them.

Just because there were no paparazzi to be seen, however, didn't mean that they were entirely absent. As Ashe walked past a newsstand he caught a glimpse of himself as a young man, next to Catriona. A more recent picture accompanied it, taken just the night before when he'd run into her outside Riley's apartment building.

Hollywood Star Reunites With Brit Dominatrix After Dumping Girlfriend! screamed the headlines. Ashe thought of purchasing a copy but knew it wasn't necessary. Lance would have one, or Betty, who was probably in the midst of exercising whatever damage control she could.

Ashe knew what the articles would say, especially about Riley. They'd been saying the same thing since they'd first photographed him holding her hand at JFK just before Christmas, on their way to London. The articles had said the same thing at Heathrow, and weeks later when they'd arrived back from St. Barts. They wrote that, though Riley was pretty, she was not beautiful like her older sister, former model Paige Eames-Caldwell. They said that she was only a barista who used to live with Gareth Roman, and that after Gareth had dumped her for Hollywood (and hotter babes), she'd set her sights on Ashe.

For the last month they'd stopped writing these horrible things about her, mainly because there was nothing more to write about. Now, with Catriona in the picture, there was plenty to write about, including whatever they'd dug up from his past. Ashe slowed his pace, wondering if he should purchase a copy of the tabloid just to see what Collette had let slip to her sources. But he decided against it, knowing it would be counter-productive. He never read things about himself. If he did, he'd never get anything done, too worried about appeasing this or that critic. That's what his team was for.

But unlike Ashe who had a team whose main concern was to ensure his success, Riley had no one but Ashe to protect her.

* * *

Wearing a baseball cap pulled low to cover his face, the man brushed past Ashe as he opened the door to his building. Ashe noticed the scar along the side of the man's face, running from the corner of his right eye down to the middle of his cheek. The man glanced at him briefly, eyes widening before Ashe turned away from him and continued walking.

At the lobby desk, the doorman waved at him. "Mr. Hunter, this was left for Miss Eames."

As Ashe approached the desk, Terence handed him a folded note. "That man was looking for Miss Eames, but I couldn't get her on the phone, so he left this here for her."

Ashe took the note from him, frowning. Riley had finally agreed to move in with him, but first she wanted Miss Bailey to get used to his apartment. She was supposed to bring Miss Bailey over today after spending her day with her nephews and then moving some of her things into the condo.

"Did he say who he was?" asked Ashe, slipping the note into the pocket of his jeans.

"No, but he needs no introduction as far as I'm concerned," replied Terence grimly. "He's known on the street as Sammi Parks, though he hasn't been around for a while. He's a drug dealer, better-known in the upper west side where my sister and her family live. My nephew got involved with drugs last year, and Sammi was his dealer."

"Did he say anything else?"

"No, he just wanted to know if he could see Miss Eames. Maybe he followed her from the Library when she went to get us some coffee. I was helping her to move some of her bags from the cab earlier on. Sammi arrived shortly after she did and left her a note when she didn't answer the phone," said Terence. "Paparazzi I can deal with, Mr. Hunter, but drug dealers... well, the board wouldn't approve."

Ashe knew that Terence was used to paparazzi waiting outside the door. After all, he wasn't the first actor to live in the building. As of last count, there were two other actors and the lead guitarist of a popular alternative rock band.

"I doubt he's the first dealer who's ever crossed this lobby, Terence," said Ashe. "Thank you for letting me know."

Ashe took the stairs two at a time to the third story, where his condo occupied half of that floor. The lead guitarist, currently on tour in the west coast, owned the other half. Pushing away all thought of Sammi Parks, Ashe forced himself to calm down before he stepped through his front door, loosening his shoulders and taking a few breaths to center himself. He couldn't let the seeds of doubt take root. The moment that happened, he'd have joined the ranks of those who didn't believe in Riley.

As he opened the door, he called out Riley's name but heard only the sound of water running from the master bathroom. Miss Bailey was already perched on top of the cat tree, looking out the window. He spotted Riley's luggage inside the guest bedroom and two new dresses wrapped in plastic hanging in the closet, its doors still open.

The moment Ashe walked into his bedroom he saw her, sitting on the rim of the tub, facing away from him, her hair falling down her naked back. As Riley waited for the tub to fill, Ashe watched her pull up her hair and twist it into a loose bun, pinning it with a clip that she'd held between her teeth. She reminded him of a painting, Woman Combing her Hair by Edgar Degas, except in that painting the woman was sitting on the floor.

"Riley, I'm home," he said, surprised at the hoarseness of his voice.

"I didn't hear you come in," she said as Ashe stepped into the bathroom, slipping his coat off his shoulders and his cap from his head, then ruffling his hair with his fingers.

"How was your time with the boys?" he asked as she turned off the water and rose from the edge of the tub.

"It was fun until two men showed up and started taking pictures."

Ashe took her place on the edge of the tub and sat down. "What did they look like?"

"They looked like regular people, only they were taking pictures of us. One of them had a camera, so it was pretty obvious," she replied, her brow furrowed in annoyance.

"They were taking pictures of you?"

She shook her head. "Not just me, but the boys, too. I thought kids were off-limits in this kind of thing."

Ashe nodded, making a note to have Lance and Ben stop by the Library Café to check on paparazzi. "Ideally, they are."

"So we left the museum early, came here for ice cream and then they left so I could move things in."

He pulled her close so that she was standing between his knees. "Maybe next time, you could have Lance or Ben with you, and Melissa or Lindsay. That way, you've got reinforcements."

"That's the thing, Ashe, I shouldn't need to do that," she said. "It's all so annoying, that's all."

He pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. "I'm sorry, petal."

She smiled and kissed him on the lips. "It's not your fault. Care to join me?"

"I thought you'd never ask." He kissed her back, catching her lower lip between his teeth and hearing her moan, her fingers digging into his shoulders as he felt her body melt against him. Suddenly all thoughts of his talk with Paige and Sammi's appearance at the lobby were forgotten, replaced only with thoughts of her and the things he wanted to do with her.

This was the Riley he had fallen in love with, hard and fast, the girl who could turn his mood from dark to light with just a smile, the one who trusted him with her heart and her soul, who would do anything for him.

Apart from his family thousands of miles away, she was the person who made him feel most human. It was if she'd stripped him down to that which made him just a man, with nothing to his name but his love for her. He loved the scent of her, the feel of her body against his skin, his hands, and his lips. He loved feeling the beat of her heart when he held her close, the way her breath warmed the skin of his chest just below his collarbone, especially when she fell asleep there.

When Ashe drew away to give her a chance to catch her breath, she shook her head in protest and pulled his face back down, kissing him, wanting more. Within minutes the bath was forgotten. Ashe lifted her in his arms and carried her to the bedroom, laying her down on the bed and making love to her as if nothing mattered but each other.

What did Paige or the tabloids know about the woman they constantly put down as stupid or dull? They had no idea just how beautiful, smart, and perfect Riley was.