by Rena Manse
“I don’t have time for a crash course.” He didn’t blink, making it unclear if his words were for her or Val.
“She talks to you stiff-shirts all the time. And she’s intelligent enough to fake it if she doesn’t. Isn’t that right, dear?” Val chuckled. “Aaron, give the woman something to do.”
“Jade is more th—”
“J—!” Val’s sputter made Ashley snapped to attention. She wasn’t the only one. The ash-brown eyes finally left her, blinking once to land on Val. “Aaron Elias Brick Gilyard, is Jade running this house, or am I?”
“You know what I’m saying is true.”
“Valerie, I can see his point.”
“You,” Val said looking square at her, “work for me, and I am in charge of this house. When the mistress of the house is incapacitated, I choose whom I will to represent me. And Aaron, that’s not Jade. Don’t look so terrified. Ashley isn’t going to con me into changing my will so she can poison me. We already discussed that, and removed it from the contract.”
Despite Aaron’s glance, Ashley cast a half smile. Yes, they had joked about it. Didn’t think the man’s sense of humor extended that far.
“Do either of you kids have any questions?” Scolded and set right, silence ensued. “All right. Ashley, wear the black dress, keep an eye on the wives, and keep your answers brief.”
At the moment, Ashley kept her eyes on the bedcover, sensing a heated gaze on her. After a minute, Aaron and Val easily switched to a companionable talk about their day. He kissed Val goodbye, but the residue of his stare weighed on her long after he’d left the room.
She was grateful she wouldn’t spend dinner alone with him as she’d done most of the week. He made decent conversation, expressed his concerns for his grandmother, but always turned cold as though she’d given a wrong answer.
Tonight he’d be in a good mood. Dinner with old friends would put a smile on his face.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Ashley twisted and turned, staring at herself in the mirror. Two weeks ago, Val’s gift fit fine. Now the sleeveless little black cocktail dress, with crisscross straps, was less forgiving around the waistline than she liked. The crisscross lifted and squeezed, emphasizing a za-zing figure she’d no idea she had, never mind have the chutzpah to show off in front of strangers.
Finally plucking up some nerve, she hurried downstairs—late—for the seven-thirty arrival of guests. She greeted three middle-aged men with their wives. A younger man and his wife were being welcomed by Aaron as Richard closed the door. Aaron’s senior legal adviser, Bruce, and his wife, arrived soon afterward, followed by another of Revealing’s lawyers with her lawyer fiancé who also worked at the company.
Head spinning, Ashley whimpered inside. No wonder Aaron wanted Jade here. She was cast as his date. By the looks he threw in her direction, her nervous hostess manners were lacking. Whose wouldn’t? His date. Val had decided to forego an appearance, leaving Ashley with nowhere to escape to recoup. At last, Aaron asked her to take three of the wives to the sitting room while the business heads convened in his office.
No time to catch her breath, Ashley’s ears burned with The Wives’ indisputable pastime of gossip. A minute into the conversation, she kept close guard on her words. She had no desire to end up on their gossip list by default.
Checking her watch, she wondered how long home business meetings lasted.
“Did you see the tall beauty fresh back from Paris? Joy, you met her at the fundraiser last week,” the buxom redhead monopolizing the conversation paused to sip her drink.
Joy Marshall nodded. “The, uh, black one Silvia’s husband introduced me to? I think she’s a model.”
“She’s not a model. She works in the Foreign Relations department.”
“Hmm.”
Redhead raised an eyebrow. “That’s what I thought. Do we have another Lynda Perry on our hands?” Fire-red curls flipped as she turned to include Ashley in the discussion, pointing toward the hallway. “Lynda is the foreign rights counsel at Revealing. She snagged her fiancé for his family ties.”
“He’s the son of Governor—”
“He’s the second consultant at Revealing she’s been involved with,” Redhead continued, cutting off her friend. Ashley sensed the cold, smiling silence of Mrs. Marshall as the other woman plowed on. “She’s a master at networking. Watch out, she’s good at it. Working her net.”
Joy Marshall leaned back and crossed her legs in her short skirt. “She’d once tried to tie down Aaron.”
Joy, Redhead, and young Silent Number Three all nodded in unison.
“You must be Aaron’s latest special friend.”
Braving a reply, Ashley answered, “No. I’m Valerie’s nurse.”
The answer bounced off skeptical stares and a long look at her dress.
Ashley tried to swallow her shrimp hors’ dourve. What on earth was Aaron doing with this crowd? A vicious shark, yes, but did he really swim this ocean? When Janet announced dinner, Ashley sprang to her feet. Take her anywhere but alone with the sharp tongues. The business meeting may have ended, but the aftermath permeated throughout dinner. Aaron looked like he’d had a worse meeting of the minds than she.
Across the table she watched the already dangerous mood twist to a barely-restrained temper. This isn’t how you treat friends. She gave him credit for his efforts, though. Two of the men seemed to think poking a tiger with a stick a harmless thing.
From what she gathered, Aaron’s company wanted to venture with them, but the young gentleman and one of the older women wouldn’t comply. Her Loose Tongue Wives Club looked relaxed, even took time with dessert, before all three made excuses to leave.
Ready to see them go, she offered gracious smiles and waves as everyone left, turning away from a roaming eye or two. As if. What kind of low minds did these people possess? Ashley shut the door and turned, but found the energy of the night’s bickering fueling her anger.
“A little decorum would’ve helped,” she snapped. “How could you drag your hideous argument to the dinner table? Is that what you expected your grandmother to sit through?”
He offered no comment. His eyes cut away to the floor, and it dawned on her that he’d scheduled the dinner on a night he knew Valerie would be incapacitated.
“What is the matter with you!” Her heart felt sickened that he’d used Val’s illness this way. “You of all people should be more professional than what I witnessed tonight. You want a tip? If you’re going to stage a coup under her nose, know how to control it.”
His stare seemed more offended than angered, and his silence grew unpleasant. Ashley ran a hand around her throat where goose bumps sprang to life, and quickly gurgled a good night.
She checked in on Valerie. The elderly woman had fallen asleep with her book club edition on her chest. Beside her on the bed lay a stack of gardening magazines, word-search booklets, and Revealing’s business summary.
Ashley transferred everything outside the room to the wheeled cart holding dirty dishes. Due to the cast, Janet cut Val’s food into bite sized portions. Plenty remained in the serving dishes. Despite her abundance, Val was a fan of leftovers. Ashley turned off the light and, not wanting to bump into Aaron again, took the serving tray to the third floor.
Aaron watched Ashley disappear upstairs into the hall leading to Val’s room. If he didn’t feel a blade to his throat already, this woman cut him with her words. She’d also sobered him.
Keeping his two worlds apart became harder and harder. He’d anticipated some form of fallout, so opted to have the dinner on his own turf. But this was bad. He’d brought the danger to his home and let it get out of hand. Glancing up the stairs, he wondered if Ashley would help him relieve his anxiety. He needed something tonight.
She believed in God, even glowed when they went to church. But she hadn’t raised any objections during their time on the balcony the other week. She shouldn’t have reservations about sharing more. Just another transaction. Another for
m of communication. Besides, there was an uncommon attraction to a sexy, feisty woman who knew how to hold her own with him.
By the time he arrived on the landing, Ashley still tinkered around in Val’s wing. He journeyed down the other hall to wait outside their rooms. Hearing the clank of cutlery fade in the direction of the third floor staircase, he agreed on the better locale, but even more unsettled he needed comforting from her in the first place. Clutching the door handle, he closed his eyes as his ears chased the sound down the hall.
He could…ask for help. He palmed his forehead, giving it a rub. If he shared his secret he wouldn’t be under so much strain.
Aaron exhaled. Organized his thoughts. He followed.
“Take these down tomorrow,” Ashley muttered. She stared at the contents of the third-floor fridge, which Janet kept stocked for whenever Aaron used it. Little good it did now. She squeezed, then shoved, the leftover food onto the bottom shelf, and turned to leave.
At the rear of the house, a shadow moved. Ashley threw a glance at the elevator beside her on the far side of the kitchen. It would be the fastest escape route—if she knew the code which brought it exclusively to the third floor. Trapped at the front, in the top of the reversed L-shaped haven, the main door sat toward the back, facing the moving shadow. Oh, she was toast.
Shaking her head in exasperation, she shed her shoes and quick-stepped to the exit. She hesitated when soft Blues breathed into lifeless dark. Oookay. The figure ambled to the fireplace, and while the real flames from the artificial logs glowed, she studied the lines on the side of Aaron’s face. He squatted in front of the hearth, dinner jacket and tie gone, collar buttons undone, and sleeves rolled halfway to his elbows, all giving him a disheveled appearance.
He’d designed this room to get away. What happened tonight warranted hibernation. Frustration-hardened features, mixed with a lost look, made her feel sorry for him. No time for that. She rounded the corner and stopped. Two solid bolts held the door. Slouching, she turned to announce her presence but found Aaron standing, facing her.
“I put Valerie’s food in the fridge. I didn’t want it to go bad. Sorry to intrude.”
“It’s okay.”
He didn’t shout for her to get out. Her earlier tirade perhaps forgotten. She looked around the open-concept room.
“Thanks for filling in tonight. You did a great job. Kept your head.” His coarse voice drew her closer for careful study of his face.
“You don’t look so good.”
“I’m fine.”
“You don’t look it.”
“I’m. Fine.”
Says the temperamental man impermeable to defeat. She wasn’t fooled. Whatever he wanted to share was difficult for him to say. Ashley skidded her gaze around the fire-lit room, hooked her fingers behind her back and swayed to the music, waiting. This was the place for him to let loose. His eyes narrowed instead.
“Why aren’t you threatened by me?”
Surprised by the arbitrary question, she slowly shook her head with a shrug. “Don’t give a bully a foothold, you take his power.”
“A bully.” He chuckled. How incredible that a man his size could sneak up on her while she stared right at him. He stopped a foot away, folded his arms over his chest, and squinted as he whispered, “That’s what you want, isn’t it? My power.”
“I want peace.”
His face went blank and he stared for a few more heartbeats. He dropped his hands into his pockets, turned his back, and wandered in a half-circle before facing her again. “I don’t have any peace to give.”
“With this bunch, it’s no wonder.” She flapped an arm and shook her head, but had to ask. “Why are you sneaking around behind her back?”
Again he stared. “What do you mean?”
“You know what I mean. I can tell you love her, but you’re up to something Val wouldn’t approve of with her husband’s company. What are you doing?”
“I don’t talk about business here.”
“You brought it into this house yourself. Talk about it all you want, but you’re incapable of separating business from pleasure. They’re one and the same with you. You’re just a machine.”
Aaron’s lopsided smile looked weary. He backed up and sank to the knee-high footstool behind him. “I planned an evening to call in some markers. Unfortunately, some greedy people forgot about favors extended to them when they needed it.” He propped his elbows on his knees, his hands semi-clasped in front of him. “When I said I don’t talk business here, I meant this room. I don’t even turn on that computer anymore.” He waggled a thumb over his shoulder.
“Oh. Sorry.”
He shrugged. She’d received an apology and a personal incentive from this man in the space of a minute. She hoped she wouldn’t regret taking advantage of him while he was down, but… She dropped her shoes and planted her hands on her hips as she let out a sigh.
Strolling to within a couple of feet, she knelt and read the stress-lined face. “I pray that God gives you the strength to endure what needs to be done, but also to come out clean.”
The vacant stare may have been trying to hide the fact that he thought she was crazy. She didn’t care. With people like this tearing at him day in, day out, no wonder he didn’t have a heart left.
“Okay, no business. So, let’s talk about your friends. Being with friends shouldn’t do this to you. Look at you. They’re a pack of jackals if you ask me. Turn your back and you’re liable to find the butt of a blade sticking out.”
“By all means, don’t be shy about speaking your mind.” Firelight turned his smile soft.
She smiled back. “Hey, you invited me to stay so you must have wanted some friendly advice. I suggest you take it. Don’t have anything to do with these people.”
“We’re friends? Ashley, you’re way too considerate. I lick my own wounds, thank you.”
“Right, I forgot. You’re a jackal, too.”
“Only on Wednesdays.”
He grinned at the old joke. She rolled her eyes and shook her head. His lame amusement shouldn’t soften her so much. The vulnerable chink in his emotional armor remained and she wanted to pry it wide open, but she couldn’t bring herself to pick at a man when he was weak. She’d never stand for anyone doing it to her father.
Killer instincts shot, Ashley focused her thoughts, and her sight. Starting with that gorgeous smile that closed into a soft glimmer of an afterthought. Aaron’s eyes glistened through the muted light. Did he still see her as a threat to Val? The slide of his gaze over her body made every portion of her skin tingle in response. No. No threat.
Aaron restored eye contact and glided forward, floating from his crouched position on the stool to kneeling over her, trapping her with his knees on either side of her legs. The fluid motion woke her up. A man like Aaron didn’t look to fool around. There was no question of what he expected from a woman in his private room. One who allowed access to her desires with one delicate stroke of his knuckles. A finger lined the seam of her lips.
“You are so beautiful.” He sounded amazed. When he leaned forward, hot air poured over her cheekbone. “I’d like you to stay here tonight, Ashley. Just tonight.”
The consequences of which she couldn’t imagine. The barricade of his legs remained miniscule, but her blood cramped her folded knees and she needed to stand up. “You know what, I need to go.”
He must have heard, but Aaron’s nose tickled up her neck. The feather touch of his lips ending on her chin made her sigh at the ceiling. It wasn’t a kiss, but he’d left no mistake of how pleasurable his lips could be.
He sat back on his haunches and gazed at her. She closed her eyes, just for a second when his hand contoured her neck, lingering around the vulnerable section with no more pressure than silk. But then his thumb rose to glide across her lips, and when she looked, she understood he wanted to gauge her reaction to him.
She froze. If he waited for an active response, telling him she needed to go without making a
n effort to do so didn’t cut it. The mere acknowledgement of his caressing thumb would be an invitation for him to go further.
What tenderness. Aaron’s caring touch must work wonders for him. His overwhelming sex appeal could make any woman believe the idea of going to bed didn’t stem from his own subtle maneuvering. Just what she needed to remember mere seconds from relaxing into his warm hand.
Hearing a dull buzz, and feeling him flinch slightly, was cause for concern until he reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. His eyes paused on the caller I.D. before he slipped it back.
“Lynda,” he informed, shaking his head at the call’s unimportance. Inquiring eyes attached to her again, Lynda apparently forgotten.
Lynda who? From dinner? Lynda who wanted to marry you? Lynda whom you probably slept with? Valerie’s words came back: “Aaron doesn’t have any trouble meeting lady friends.”
Ashley pulled away. “Excuse me. Don’t let me stop you from handling your business.”
“It’ll keep.”
“So will you.”
Fire-licked eyes drilled her. He must have recognized a look of disgust on her face. Rocking to his heels to stand, Aaron dragged her to her feet with one arm before her legs were ready to take the struggle on their own. Her calves and knees squawked with the sting of pins and needles, but Aaron’s stare kept her from acknowledging the blood-flow rebellion.
“I can’t figure you out!” he shot hot and short. He loomed over her with his hands on his waist like an infuriated basketball coach.
She walked into the cave he formed with his stance and glared back. “Not every woman wants to sleep with you. What’s so difficult to figure out?”
Death-rays scanned her before he turned his back. “Get out,” he murmured.
Yeah, she’d get out of this me-Tarzan-you-Jane game. She stalked to the door and savagely threw back the locks. Should have known the huge deadbolts wouldn’t make a sound if she hadn’t heard them when he came in.