No matter Riley's suggestion that they stay home, Ashe wasn't ready to deviate from his plans, not when they were actually both starving after their long bath. Riley wore a red dress that Ashe's stylist had delivered that morning, along with a pair of knee-high boots. The dress had been among a few that Riley had chosen for an afternoon tea event in Los Angeles the month before, only she never got to wear it because after learning that the press would be in attendance, she picked something that showed less cleavage and less legs than she was comfortable being photographed in.

And for that, Ashe was secretly relieved. He doubted he'd have been able to concentrate on holding a conversation long enough without worrying about someone looking down her dress - or her for that matter - a little too long. At St. Bart's, even when they had their own private villa, it took all of Ashe's willpower not to order Riley to turn back the first time she emerged without a stitch of clothing on to sunbathe in the pool. He'd never been this jealous before, and it worried him.

Maybe it was because as much as he thought Riley was beautiful, she had no idea just how beautiful she was. At five feet four inches, she was on the petite side, with a generous bosom that she tried to minimize by wearing high necked t-shirts - though that never worked, for almost everyone still looked anyway. She had big blue eyes, thick lashes, a pert button nose, and a smile that lit up the room. Her long blonde hair, if it wasn't put up in a pony tail most of the time, cascaded down her back and how Ashe loved to run his fingers through it.

But no matter how often Ashe reminded her just how beautiful she was (inside and out, as far as he was concerned), Riley was always the last one to believe it. She had had to live her life under the shadow of her older sister, Paige, who was once a top fashion model. Ashe had always assumed that Paige had gone into modeling after high school, but Riley told him Paige's life as a model begun when she was only four months old, as a baby gently placed in a warm bath for a baby shampoo commercial. This was followed by more commercials and catalog modeling. It had been their mother's idea to take Paige to that first casting call, in between her job as a librarian, and then another and another. There was a break in modeling gigs when she got pregnant with Riley, and then a permanent break after Riley was born and their mother began to develop pain and weakness in her arms and legs.

Now Paige was married to Clint Caldwell III, living her life as a Manhattan socialite and lifestyle blogger, with a following all over social media that numbered in the thousands. Her life, if her social media accounts were to be believed, was perfect and blissful. Though Ashe doubted whether the blissful part was entirely true - what with the recent revelation that their five-year old triplets Trey, Trevor and Thomas, weren't fathered by Clint at all, but by Gareth, Riley's ex-boyfriend. Gareth swore it had happened only once, while he and Riley were living together, and Riley would never have found out about it if she hadn't caught Paige and Gareth together in Paige's home office three months earlier.

The discovery was devastating for Riley, and it was one of the reasons why Ashe took her away for a month-long holiday, first to London and Yorkshire, and then to St. Bart's, where he'd had that awful discovery that while he may not have had any problems with walking around naked at a private villa, he had major problems seeing Riley do the same. Since when did he become such a prude?

But Ashe didn't need to ask himself why. He'd simply fallen for Riley. And he'd fallen for her hard. For why else was he feeling so anxious over their first Valentine's Day together?

Not that Riley was making the evening go any easier either, not after she saw Ashe wearing one of her favorite suits, and all she was determined to do was take it off him. Him in a suit just did things to her, she told him.

"But so does seeing me in just about anything else," he protested, laughing as he grabbed hold of her hands to stop her from undoing his tie one more time.

"Well, there is that," she grudgingly said after finally giving in to the idea that snow warning or not, Ashe was determined on having dinner at Del Posto. At least they didn't have to worry about hailing a cab for Ashe had hired the town car to drive them around that evening.

After dinner, as they sat at one of the tables on the balcony, Ashe gave Riley her second present, the wide platinum bracelet he'd originally planned as her first present of the evening - that is, until he surprised her with the promise ring in the bath. Then Riley gave him her present, a sterling silver tie clip that matched perfectly with the tie he wore for dinner.

"Somehow, someone prevented me from putting on my own tie bar earlier this evening. This," he chuckled, attaching the new pin to his tie, "is perfect."

"You're perfect," Riley said. "I still don't know how I managed to snag you, of all people."

"I should be asking myself how I managed to snag you, not the other way around," Ashe said, covering her hand with his. "You're you, Riley. You haven't been anyone else but yourself, and I love that about you."

Riley's expression turned serious. "I'd like to believe you're you when we're together," she said. "That Yorkshire lad who did good."

"Not just any Yorkshire lad," Ashe added. "But one who has to always be better than he was the day before."

She frowned. "Isn't that tiring?"

"You just said so yourself, Riley - that I'm perfect," Ashe said. "And I just want to be perfect for you."

Riley sighed. "Then I don't want you to be perfect at all, not for me. I just want you to be yourself, even if you make mistakes. You can't be 'on' all the time, Ashe. Sometimes you just have to be yourself, like you were when we went to your home in Reeth. I want to be with that version of Ashe who didn't have to worry whether there were any paparazzi hiding in the bushes - not that our seating placement here on the balcony is helping, considering everyone's watching us."

"No, they're not," Ashe said, though he had to admit Riley was right. They'd been seated right on the balcony which, while it gave them full view of the restaurant's first floor, gave everyone else an unobstructed view of them. But no one was paying attention to them, at least not to the point that it was annoying or obvious. Ashe had gotten used to the side glances and the discreet ways people tried to take their selfies while trying to catch him in the background, and he understood how this was unfair to Riley.

Then Ashe caught himself and focused his attention back on where they were and what they were celebrating. Ashe reached across the table to touch Riley's face, and she closed her eyes as he brushed the back of his hand against her cheek.

He wanted to tell her about what he'd done, that he'd gone to see her father - who wasn't really her father - to get the perfect present for her. Though now, Ashe wondered if giving her the book was the best thing for him to do. It would open up so many questions from her - how did he know about it, where did he find it, and from whom - and Ashe wasn't ready.

The truth behind Sid's revelation, if indeed the man spoke the truth about Riley not being his daughter, weighed heavily on Ashe ever since he heard it. Just that morning, the director was impressed with the intensity with which Ashe delivered every line, the anger he put into the fight scenes between him and Chase Milkin, the actor who played Aufidius, and "the burning rage" that lay behind his eyes.

"This is how I want you to be, Ashe, throughout the entire run! Righteous, unflappable and completely unsympathetic to the requirements of political theater!" Conrad Blake declared enthusiastically as Ashe stood in front of him, his chest heaving from the exertion of the choreographed sword fight, perspiration dripping down the back of his neck. Yet he never bowed his shoulders. He was angry at the heavy weight that seemed to have been handed to him, and he had wanted someone to take out his anger on.

After rehearsals, Ashe apologized to Chase for the way he'd put more than was required into the fight. Ashe had caught the look of pure fear in Conrad's eyes.

"It's alright, man," Chase said, laughing. "We've only been doing this for three straight weeks, eh? Surely we know the steps by heart now."

And they did. Ashe practiced the steps inside his condo when he was alone. He dreamt them every night, just as he dreamt the lines he recited. But always he did this alone, for he didn't want to burden Riley with his work when they were together. When he was with her, there was only her - though her past seemed to be encroaching into what should be just the world he and Riley shared. But then who was he to complain about Riley's past? Everyone had one and just as Riley's past shaped her, so did Ashe's.

"Earth to Ashe Hunter," Riley said softly and this time, it was her hand on his face, pinching his chin as Ashe blinked and looked at her. "You disappeared on me."

Ashe took a deep breath and exhaled. "I must be more tired than I thought I was," he said softly.

"We don't have to go to the planetarium, you know," Riley said. "I'm happy to go home."

"How do you know we were going to the planetarium next?"

"Melissa slipped up and mentioned it," she said, smiling. Melissa was Lance's fiancé, and she, along with Lindsay, Ben Stafford's wife, had become good friends with Riley since they all went to see Aerosmith in concert in Atlantic City in November. Ashe knew the women got together on Wednesday nights, which usually comprised of dinner and drinks, although for the last two weeks, they'd started attending a belly dance class in Midtown. Already Ashe had caught Riley practicing the shimmy in front of his full-length mirror when she thought he wasn't looking.

"You're exhausted, Ashe," Riley said. "And you've outdone yourself today, even if you think you didn't do much. All this I appreciate, but what I really want for Valentine's Day is you. It's always just been you. Everything else is just frosting."

"Even frosting has its own merits," Ashe said, catching her hand and kissing it. "Home it is then."

They had just made it down the grand stairs when someone called Ashe's name. Ashe kept his hand behind Riley's back as they turned to the source of the voice and the sound of footsteps approaching.

"Ashe Hunter!" Said a woman with long brown hair and bangs framing a beautiful face. She wore a figure-hugging black dress with lace cutouts, her shoulders bare. Behind her, Ashe saw the table she'd just vacated, leaving behind a young man in a tux who just then pulled out his cell phone and was checking his messages.

The woman's large green eyes looked from Ashe to Riley though her gaze landed solely on Ashe as she drew closer. "It really is you. Emmet told me you were seated up on the balcony and at first I thought my eyes were deceiving me, but now I know they weren't. You look marvelous, darling."

"Catriona, what a surprise to see you in New York," Ashe said, his back stiffening as he pulled Riley alongside him. "Aren't you supposed to be in LA?"

"Emmet and I are doing promos for Carnival Road, but we're heading back to film more scenes tomorrow," she laughed, pointing to her companion still texting at the table. "I hear it's in the 80's in LA and I can't wait to get back. I'm so ready to boycott my fur coat, and I've only been here forty-eight hours. You two must be so depressed with this weather."

"We love it," Ashe said drily.

Catriona turned to Riley. "Won't you introduce us, Ashe?"

"Riley, this is Catriona Marks. Cat, this is my girlfriend, Riley Eames." Ashe said, sounding almost like he were reading from a teleprompter. He wished he could disappear, and Riley with him. The last person he had expected to run into tonight, or any night, for that matter, was Catriona.

"It's very nice to meet you, Riley," Catriona said sweetly, squeezing Riley's hand.

"Likewise. You're very beautiful," Riley said, her eyes wide as she stared at the older woman. Ashe wondered if Riley recognized Catriona Marks, British stage and movie actress and now star of the upcoming US cable TV series, Carnival Road. But since he knew Riley didn't watch cable or network TV on her own, it was unlikely. She hadn't even recognized Ashe when they first met.

Catriona brought her hand to her chest, as if touched by what Riley said. "Awww, she's so sweet, Ashe - and so young. So like...vanilla! I like her already."

"That's enough Catriona," Ashe said through gritted teeth. The woman's energy sought to overwhelm him, from the powerful scent of her perfume to the timbre of her voice that now attracted attention.

She turned to face Riley. "You have the most gorgeous hair, Riley! So thick and so blonde. I bet you're a natural," she said, her eyes drifting down Riley's dress and winking at her.

Riley blushed as Ashe glared at Catriona.

"Yes, it is, then," she smiled knowingly before lowering her voice as she turned to look around them. "Oops! Sorry, I can be so loud sometimes-"

"Yes, you can," Ashe said stiffly, turning to face the main lobby. "It's a pleasure to see you, Catriona. We were just leaving. Good night."

Without waiting for Catrina to say something, Ashe led Riley towards the door, his hand against her back guiding her faster than she could walk in her high heeled boots. Riley was asking him how he knew her but Ashe couldn't answer her, not yet. Not until they were back in his condo, away from the attention Catriona's outburst had attracted in the middle of the restaurant.

Of course, Catriona had to catch him right at the bottom of the stairs, where everyone could see them together and where he was sure someone must have photographed them. Ashe frowned, wondering how soon before the pictures would be uploaded online. Would anyone remember?

Who was he fooling? Did he really believe no one would remember?

Catriona had obviously not forgotten.

It had been five years since he'd last seen Catriona Marks - five refreshing years since he walked away from her. Ashe realized then that while he knew almost everything about Riley, she knew nothing about him, at least not when it came to his life after he left his hometown at eighteen to the time when he and Isobel Reign, his co-star in Sentience, dated and then broke up last year. She knew nothing of his time when he was a struggling actor when he had done things he now regretted doing - things that got him to where he was now.

Everything had a price. 

His success, most of all. 

AUTHOR'S NOTE: 

Uh-oh. Ashe has a past!