Chapter 181 It was my first kiss too

Chapter 181 It was my first kiss too
Asher sat there completely frozen in place, his mind going totally blank as the weight of what had just happened settled over him.

He had been deeply in love with Love for so many years now. She had always been the single closest person in his entire world, the one who mattered more than anyone else, yet the two of them had never once crossed that intimate line before.

They had never held each other in that kind of romantic way, never shared a real kiss, and never done anything at all that could possibly be mistaken for something beyond their usual close bond.

But now, her soft, warm lips had just gently brushed against his in the most unexpected and electrifying way imaginable.

Love slowly pulled back from him, her heart pounding so wildly and loudly inside her chest that she could barely hear her own thoughts.

A deep rush of color flooded into her cheeks, turning them bright red as she quickly avoided meeting his eyes altogether, feeling completely overwhelmed.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, her voice coming out barely above a whisper, shaky and uncertain. “I got totally carried away in the moment.”

A strange, intense look flickered across Asher’s face, something deep and unreadable swirling in his eyes.

Instead of pulling away or creating any distance, he actually leaned in even closer to her.

“So…” His dark eyes stayed locked firmly on hers, holding her gaze with an intensity that made her breath catch. “Is this how you tease a man?”

Love blinked several times in quick succession, feeling completely lost and thrown off balance by his words. “I don’t understand what you mean.”

One corner of his mouth lifted ever so slightly in a subtle hint of a smile, though his overall expression remained mostly unreadable and calm. “You just stole my first kiss.”

Love stared at him in total disbelief, her eyes wide with surprise.

His face stayed so remarkably calm and composed that she couldn’t tell at all whether he was joking around or being completely serious about what he’d just said.

Almost instinctively, she jumped right in to defend herself.

“It was my first kiss too,” she protested, her tone carrying just a tiny bit of indignation that made her sound almost offended by the accusation.

Asher held her gaze steadily for a long, heavy moment, the air between them thick with emotion, before he spoke again in that same steady voice.

“I made a very serious promise to myself years ago.”

His words came out clear and unwavering. “The first woman I ever kissed would become my wife.”

His eyes continued searching deeply into hers without the slightest bit of wavering or hesitation.

“In that case…” A faint but genuine smile thinned his lips. “You just volunteered yourself.”

Love’s mouth slowly fell open in complete shock.

Her brain struggled hard to fully process what she had just heard, the words spinning around in her head.

Was…was that actually his way of proposing to her right then and there?

Before she could gather up enough courage to ask him directly about it, his phone suddenly started ringing loudly.

The sharp ringtone completely shattered the incredibly charged and intimate moment between them.

Asher glanced down at the screen, his brows pulling together with a slight frown.

He answered the call immediately. “Okay.” That was all he said before quickly ending the conversation.

He slipped the phone back into his pocket and turned his full attention back to Love.

“I came to Los Angeles specifically to meet with a client,” he explained, running a hand through his hair in a distracted way. “She just called me.”

The moment Love heard the word “she,” an uncomfortable, uneasy feeling twisted and settled deep inside her chest, stirring up a wave of emotions she wasn’t quite ready to name.

She looked up at him with hopeful eyes, trying her best to keep her voice steady.

“Can I come with you to the meeting?”