The Stand-In Girlfriend Ch. 10-13

"Eavesdropping isn't usually your style, Mr. Bishop," she said smiling as she slipped her arms around his waist.

Ashton sat down on one of the ledge of the gazebo and pulled Chevonne into his arms on to his lap. He put his arms around her waist, closed his eyes and held her tight.

He loved her with everything in him. He loved her and she loved him. She was about to make him the happiest man on earth by becoming his wife.

People would consider them crazy, foolish, and moving too fast for getting married so soon since they'd only acknowledged their feelings for each other two weeks ago. But it made perfect sense to them because they're both sure of their feelings for each other.

Ashton knew when he first saw Chevonne two years ago before he learned her name that she was the woman for him.

He also knew that the way he brought her into his life was selfish, wrong and hurtful to both Chevonne and Katrina and if he could do it over again he would be honest with Chevonne and he would've told her how he felt about her.

But he couldn't change what happened the only thing he could do was apologize to Chevonne and Katrina for what he did. He wasn't willing to give up his happiness to atone for using Katrina the way he did.

"I'm so sorry for this situation, that I've created" he said tightening his hold on Chevonne.

"I know," Chevonne said as he rested his chin on her head.

"I love you Chevonne," Ashton said looking down at her. "Regardless of how we came together, I never want you to doubt that."

"I love you too," Chevonne said the fear she saw in his eyes breaking her heart. "I don't doubt your love for me. I believe you with all my heart when you tell me that you love me. "

Feeling the need to be close to her Ashton kissed her. The kiss started out soft, gentle their lips barely touching. His need to be closer to Chevonne growing Ashton's hand slowly drifted down her back coming to rest on her derrière and pressing her core against his groin so that she could feel his need for her.

A moan made it's way out of Chevonne's mouth when her core came in contact with Ashton's groin. Ashton deepened the kiss holding Chevonne so tight she could barely breathe.

"I want you Chevonne," Ashton pleaded his voice filled with need and desire. "I need you. Please?"

"I understand what you're asking," Chevonne said resting against Ashton's chest. "But we can't do this. No matter how badly we want to, we can't do this. You have to go talk to Katrina without sleeping with me. You have to remember why you're going to see her. For our future. So that she knows that whatever the relationship was between the two of you was it's over now and she has to accept that it's over. I want you to do this because this is what you want. Not because you got a taste of me. I don't want you coming back to me because of guilt."

Ashton knew that she was right, she was killing him but she was right. He had to deal with Katrina for them and their future and not because he was on a sexual cloud from making love to Chevonne. He wouldn't use their first time together that way.

He squared his shoulders and knocked on the door of Katrina's hotel room.

Katrina went over to the door and looked through the peephole. Her heart filled with joy when she saw Ashton standing on the other side of the door.

She went into the bathroom to check herself out. She ran her fingers through her hair, adjusted her blouse so she showed a little more cleavage, checked her make up and sprayed a little of his favorite scent behind her ear then she made her way over to the door.

Deciding she didn't want to appear to overly anxious to see Ashton squashed down the urge to smile when she opened the door.

They both stared at each other trying to gauge how the other was feeling or what the other might say.

"We need to talk," Ashton said to her walking into her room before she could tell him to come in.

"You're right about that," Katrina said closing the door. "You've got some explaining to do about this," she said throwing the week old newspaper to Ashton.

Ashton bent down and picked up the newspaper opened it up and saw that it was a copy of the paper announcing that he and Chevonne had set the date for their wedding. He managed to hide the smile that almost broke out on his face when he turned to look at Katrina.

"What don't you understand?" he asked.

"I don't understand how in two weeks you can go from dating me to being engaged to Chevonne!" Katrina almost screamed.

"I love her," Ashton said plain and simple as if those words would explain everything.

"You love her?" Katrina questioned. "What do you mean you love her? How can you love someone you've only been seeing for two weeks? Two weeks ago I was the woman you loved and wanted to marry. How did Chevonne take my place so quickly?"

"Stop pretending and playing dumb, Katrina," Ashton said. "You're not as dumb or innocent as you're trying to pretend. Don't act as if you don't or didn't know that I was attracted to Chevonne. How many arguments did we have because I called her name out when we were having sex or when I was sleeping?"

"That was because you're infatuated with her," Katrina said. "You can't possibly love her not when you can have me."

"I was honest with you the first time we went out," Ashton said. "I apologized to you and told you that Chevonne, was the one I wanted to ask out and that I asked you out because I was afraid she would turn me down."

"That doesn't make you innocent in all of this Ashton," Katrina said. "You still slept with me, you still used me."

"I gave you what you wanted," Ashton replied his voice tight and tense. "You tried to use your body to push Chevonne out of my system and I accepted because I wanted to try and push Chevonne out of my system also. I even tried to make her less than human to me by ignoring and then joining in with you when you started making racist and snide remarks about her and African-Americans in general. But it didn't work Katrina. Chevonne was and is still there in my system and in my heart. I didn't began to hate her. I started hating myself and what I was doing to a woman that I still wanted and the heritage that created her. It taught me that I can't and shouldn't try to change who I love. I should've accepted the fact that I love Chevonne and I'm happy as hell to discover that she loves me too. We're going to get married and we're going to be happy together. It's over between us, Katrina. It. Is. Over. There is no more us. We're not getting back together and we're not getting married.."

Katrina listened to Ashton with tears streaming down her face not believing the words coming from his mouth. He was choosing Chevonne over her.

"You don't mean what you're saying," Katrina said. "You can't mean it."

"I mean everything I'm saying to you," Ashton said. "I'm marrying Chevonne. I love her."

"You need to leave," Katrina said not trusting herself to be able to remain civil to Ashton. "You need to get out of here before I do something I might regret later but enjoy very much at the time that I do it."

Ashton made his way over to the door. "I'm sorry I hurt you," he said, "but I hope that you accept what I said and not do anything that would interfere with my plans to marry Chevonne. Because we are getting married and there's nothing you can do to stop it."

Katrina watched him as he left her room.

"You haven't won yet Ashton," she said to an empty room. "I've got three weeks to put a monkey wrench in your plans and that is exactly what I'm going to do. You haven't seen the last of me."

Later that day after spending hours in her room crying her eyes out Katrina came down that evening to head out of the hotel to get herself some dinner. As she was walking through the lobby of the hotel she bumped into Martin.

"What're you doing here?" she asked Martin surprised to see him there. "Are you following me?"

"No, I'm not following you," Martin said insulted that she would think such a thing. "I'm here because my sister is getting married today."

"What do you mean your sister is getting married today?"

"My mother called me a few days ago and saild that my sister Chevonne was getting married and I should get to London by today if I wanted to be a part of it."

Katrina almost fainted when she heard that Martin had a sister named Chevonne that was getting married in London.

'It can't be the same person', she thought to herself. "What's your last name?"

"We agreed when we met in the bar that last names wouldn't be necessary because it would only complicate our relationship," Martin said.

"What is your last name?" Katrina demanded. "This can't be happening to me," Katrina said when Martin told her, his last name.

"What can't be happening to you?" Martin asked confused as to why Katrina was behaving so strangely.

"Who is your sister marrying?" Katrina asked even though she already knew the answer she needed his confirmation.

"A guy named Ashton Bishop," Martin replied.

Katrina's world began to spin around, spots appeared before her eyes as she struggled to breathe and try to remain standing upright. But it was a battle she couldn't win. Katrina fainted.

Luckily Martin caught her in his arms before she hit the floor.

"What happened?" the manager asked rushing over to help.

"I don't know," Martin said, "but I intend to find out."

Chevonne paced her room. The garden had been decorated, all their guest had arrived (except for her brother), she was dressed wearing the beautiful white, satin, lace covered wedding dress that her mother and Alice helped her pick out.

The only person missing was the man she loved, her groom Ashton. He was off talking to his ex letting her know that it was over between them and that they were getting married.

Images of Katrina's reaction to what Ashton was going to say to her popped into Chevonne's mind. She could see Katrina trying to seduce Ashton to try and change his mind.

The thought that maybe she should've slept with Ashton tried to take root in her mind but Chevonne refused to allow it to do so.

She knew she did the right thing not sleeping with him. She wanted him to be free to make any choice he wanted. To show him, she trusted him and having sex with him wouldn't have allowed him to do that. Chevonne wanted him to feel free to walk away from her if he wanted to.

Not for him to come back to her because he felt guilty because she had sex with him. She refused to sleep with him for herself also.

She had to know that if he came back to her he came back because he wanted to be with her.

"Hey, you ready to get married?"

Tears streamed down her cheek as she turned to see Ashton's smiling face in the doorway. She released a breath she didn't know she was holding and ran into his arms.

"I'm so glad you're here," she said. "I'm so glad you chose me."

"Did you ever doubt that I would?" Ashton asked as she rained down kisses on his face.

"I was scared," Chevonne said being honest with him and enjoying the feeling of being in his arms once again. "I was so scared that you would decide that you didn't want me and you wanted to be with Katrina."

"No way," Ashton said. "I'm yours until death do us apart.

"And I'm yours," Chevonne said. "Until death does us apart."

"Kiss me before our mothers come up here and pull me out of here," Ashton said.

That is exactly what happened as Chevonne gave Ashton the most passionate of kisses.

"You shouldn't be in here," Alice said to her son. "Don't you know it bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding?"

"I'm not worried about having any bad luck today mom," Ashton said. "I'm marrying the girl of my dreams."

"You're about to have a nightmare of your life if you don't get out of here and get dressed," Sarah said. "You've only got forty-five minutes to get ready."

"I'm going," Ashton said. "I just had to see my future wife and steal a kiss before I got dressed."

"You've got your kiss," Alice said pushing her son towards the door, "it's time for you to leave now."

Ashton left telling Chevonne he loved her before he closed the door and left her alone with their mothers.

"He loves me," Chevonne said wiping tears from her face. "He loves me."

"Yes, he does," her mother said joining her crying, "but we all knew that before he opened his mouth."

"That son of mine never could keep a secret," Alice said wiping away her own tears and causing everyone to start laughing. "I know the two of you are going to be very happy together."

"You are so right," Chevonne said giving the woman who was less than an hour away from being her mother-in-law a hug. "You are so right."