Because Ashley would now be staying with him, Craig asks his management for a bigger hotel room and boy do they deliver.
The elevator just so happens to be in the process of being repaired, so they have to use the stairs to get to the 10th floor. When they reach the top, Ashley is exhausted and it shows.
"Wow, this is a serious workout!" she exclaims.
"Ya, elevators are nice," Craig says while struggling with one of Ashley's suitcases trying to pull it over the next step. "What in the heck do you have in here, anyway?"
"Oh, ya know. All my sexy outfits just for you."
"Are you serious?" he asks rather excitedly, eyes wide.
"No…they're shoes, you dirty little man."
"You're just one big tease, Ashley Kerwin."
Ashley simply laughs in response.
"Why do you even need that many pairs of shoes? I have like two."
"A girl's gotta be fashionable," she replies.
Craig just shakes his head. He leads them to their room and opens the door. Ashley stands in awe outside the door before walking in.
"Wow, you've really moved up in the world, Manning. This is the nicest hotel room I've ever seen."
"Hey, what about…"
She interrupts. "But not the most special…at least not yet," she says with a wink.
"OK, seriously. It's taking all of my effort to not run over and attack you right now. It's late and I know you must be tired, so I'll let you rest. But like I already said, you are such the tease."
"Well, don't use up all that effort…you'll need it in the future, like tomorrow."
"Oh, just stop. You're killin' me," he says.
She smiles and goes straight to her bed, at least she assumes it's her bed since it is made and the other one is in shambles.
"This one is mine, right?" she asks, pointing to the bed on the left.
"No," Craig says expressionless. Ashley has a puzzled look on her face, but she decides to climb into the unmade bed anyway.
"What are you doing?" Craig asks. "Of course I was kidding!"
"Well, jeez. You were so serious."
"Well, I didn't actually think you would believe me."
She pauses. "I didn't," she says. "I just wanted to see how you would react." She snorts and gets into her real bed.
Craig just stands in the middle of the room staring at her. "Are you going to join me or just stand there?" she finally asks.
Craig runs over and jumps onto the bed, cuddling up next to her. She turns her head to face Craig and says, "Hey don't get any ideas, buddy."
"What? Me?"
"Yes, you."
"All right, all right," he says. He kisses the back of her head and whispers goodnight.
"Nite, baby," she responds. They both fall asleep with smiles on their faces.
They wake up early the next morning. Craig insists Ashley come with him to the studio to check everything out. He even lets her take the first shower, since he knows it will take her longer to get ready than it will him. Plus, he can get in a few extra minutes of sleep in the process. Ashley finishes her shower and concludes getting ready in the bathroom while Craig takes his shower. All she had left to do was her hair and makeup. Craig says something, but she can't quite make out what it is that he's saying.
"What?" she asks. He repeats what he said, but she still has no idea what he's saying so she moves directly in front of the shower door.
Craig opens the door and grabs her hand. "Come here you," he says while pulling her into the water.
"Ahh. Craig, what are you doing?" she asks.
"I think it's pretty obvious," he responds while closing the door behind her.
She grins and he begins kissing her. First her neck and then he moves slowly to her lips. He tugs at her shirt and pulls it up as she puts her arms up above her head. He pulls the shirt completely over her head and throws it out over the top of the shower. It lands with a loud thump.
"This is still kind of heavy," she whispers while shaking her leg to show that she still had her jeans on.
He kisses her one last time and then moves down to the button on her jeans. He kisses her belly button while undoing her pants button and the zipper follows. He pulls them down just enough so that she has to wiggle her way out of the rest to get them completely off. He's kissing her in the process, making it that much more difficult to shed the pants. He's hitting all the right spots, her spots: the neck, the ear, the stomach. He backs her into the corner of the shower and puts his hands up on the wall. Ashley was getting extremely hot and bothered; it was then that Craig decides to announce that he is finished with his shower.
"Wha?" is the only form of a word that leaves Ashley's mouth. She's left blinking, her mouth fully wide as he steps out of the shower and grabs a towel. "Now who's the tease, Manning?" she yells over the shower door.
"That was fun," he replies. "So fun, we should try it again sometime."
She peaks her head out of the door and says, "I'm only doing that again if…if you finish what you started next time!"
"We'll see," he replies with the trademark Craig Manning smirk.
"Oh, it's SO gonna come back to you. Just you wait."
"What is that? Are you talking? I…I can't hear you," he laughs.
"You're so not funny. And now we're gonna be late because I have to re get ready."
"Well, re hurry up then."
Ashley gets out of the shower and glares at him.
"Oh, you're so HOT when you're mad," he says accentuating the hot while walking toward her.
"Oh don't even," she counters. "You get your little paws away from me mister!"
"Aww. Please," he says while moving closer and giving his best puppy dog eyes and pout.
"No…stop," she says trying to back away but it's too late. He has her up against the wall and there's nowhere to go. "Are you trapping me?" she asks.
"I guess I am," he smiles and leans in for a kiss. She bites her lip and leans forward into his awaiting kiss, but stops just shy of his lips and reaches for a towel on the ground. She picks it up and swats him in the butt and runs away laughing.
"Ha!" she exclaims.
"Oh, this is gonna be a long couple of months if you keep teasing me like that."
"Are you trying to get rid of me already?" she asks.
"Uh, quite the opposite. I never want you to leave my side."
Now see, how can she not fall for lines like that? "I so so love you," she says.
"But I love you more," he replies.
"No, I don't think that's true because I love you a whole lot."
"Ya, you might but I love you a whole lot more."
"OK, now you're just antagonizing."
"Maybe a little," he says. "So you gonna get ready or what?"
"I would if you'd leave me alone."
"Oh, all right." He kisses her cheek and walks out of the bathroom and turns on the TV.
Ashley is ready to go and she wakes Craig up so they can leave. "OK, it did not take me that long to get ready," she says.
"I know. I'm just messing with you."
"Jerk," she says while bumping him with her hip. "Let's roll."
The elevator is still under construction, so they use the stairs again. At least this time they were going down instead of up, Ashley thinks. They get outside and Craig pushes the alarm button on his key chain.
"They gave you a car?" Ashley asks.
"Like I would use public transportation. As if," he says doing his best Cher impersonation.
"Pardon me," she says.
"No, it's kinda like the company car and I kept getting to the studio late trying to ride the bus or a cab so they told me to use it."
"Oh, that's good. I'm glad you didn't go all prima donna on me."
"Not yet, anyway," he says with a playful wink.
The studio is not too far away. The drive only takes around 15 minutes. They exit the car and make their way inside. Once in the main area, Craig spots Leo.
"Hey man," Craig says extending his hand. Leo returns the gesture.
"Glad to see you back and who is this young lady we have here? Would this be Minnie?"
Ashley rolls her eyes and turns her head.
"Oops, guess not," Leo says. He mouths 'sorry' to Craig.
"No Leo. The name's Manny and her and I are done."
"Wow son, you move quick!"
Craig laughs. "Leo, this is Ashley. Ashley, Leo."
"Wait…this is Ashley? THE Ashley?"
"The one and only," Craig replies.
"Am I missing something here?" Ashley asks confused.
"It's just nice to finally be able to put a face to the name."
"I guess I kinda talked about you a lot," Craig explains to her.
Ashley blushes. "A lot? Is that a joke?" Leo responds. "You're all he ever talked about. I guess that would be why I didn't remember what's her name. Heck, all his songs are about you. Everyone's gonna want to meet you."
Ashley just stands there sheepishly, not knowing what to say.
"Aww, is my girl a bit shy today?" Craig asks while putting his arms around her.
"I can't believe you're here. This is so awesome. I can't wait to hear what this guy is gonna do now!" Leo exclaims. "But uh, it was nice to meet you Ashley. I gotta get back to work now. Work…you know what that is, right Craig?"
"Ya, ya," Craig says patting Leo on the back. Leo smiles and walks away while waving goodbye to Ashley.
"He seems nice," Ashley says.
"He is. He's a good guy. So…"
"So, I'm well known around here huh?" she asks.
"I guess so. I never realized I talked about you that much. Just habit I guess. I tend to blabber on and on about the things I love."
If she wasn't sure before, she knew at that exact moment she would spend the rest of her life with this man.