by Cat Schield
Asher recalled how the public defender had presented what would happen if he admitted what he’d done and returned the money or kept pleading his innocence and took his chances in court. Guilty or not, he was screwed.
“I’m not going to admit to something I didn’t do.”
Gina’s expression closed down. Her next words demonstrated that she didn’t have the tiniest amount of sympathy for him. “You don’t seem to realize that the entire family is suffering because of what happened with the festival. Our family name is ruined. And there’s talk that we could be kicked out of the Cattleman’s Club because of this.”
Her words gutted him. Asher stood rooted to the spot as she dodged around him and headed toward the reception desk. In a daze, he made for the exit, forgetting that he was no longer free to move around at will until he reached the sidewalk and became aware of the electronic monitor’s unfamiliar weight rubbing against his ankle.
He was on house arrest until his trial. Whenever that was. While this situation was better than being stuck in jail, he still chaffed at the restrictions. Of course, he could venture out in Lani’s company. As long as she notified the officials of their movements, he could accompany her on excursions. He had only to persuade her he could help her investigation.
Bolstered by determination, Asher glanced around, unsure how he was supposed to get back to Elegance Ranch to begin his court-ordered confinement. No doubt his car remained at The Edmond Organization. He doubted anyone had thought to remove it from the parking lot. Should he head there to pick it up? How much trouble would he be in if he didn’t go straight home?
Asher started to pull his phone out of his pocket only to remember that it had been seized as evidence. How was he supposed to arrange a ride home without it? He could probably go inside and borrow a phone to call someone, but then remembered how Gina had acted toward him. What if everyone said no? He was a pariah now. No one would want to touch him with a ten-foot pole.
Cursing under his breath, he stood on the sidewalk and struggled to recall a moment when he’d felt more helpless. He’d been in plenty of dicey situations where he’d survived thanks to skill and/or good luck. His current predicament was unique and terrifying because he had no clue how to fix what was happening to him.
He couldn’t run or charm his way out of the situation. This was a problem he had to face head-on. Usually when disquieting emotions erupted, he’d turn his attention to something pleasant. Naturally Lani’s image popped into his head, and as he recalled their conversation earlier that day, the frantic thrumming of his nerves eased.
Almost as if his powerful need had summoned her, a black SUV pulled up to the curb and the passenger-side window rolled down. The woman behind the wheel turned her head in his direction. Her eyes, hidden behind aviator sunglasses, Lani regarded him for a heartbeat, assessing him. A moment later, she issued a two-word command.
“Get in.”
Asher didn’t hesitate. He needed help and Lani had appeared as if in answer to his prayer. Grinning at this uptick in his fortune, he opened the door and got in.
“Thanks for—”
“Save it.”
Her grim expression declared just how untrustworthy he’d become in her eyes. Yet for some reason this didn’t set him back the way it should. As dark as things had become in the last few days, Lani was here. She’d come to his rescue. No matter what she said, deep down, some part of her believed he wasn’t capable of stealing millions of dollars.
“How did you know I was out of jail?”
“Because I’m the one who paid your bail. I need access to you in order to do my job and that’s impossible with you behind bars.”
Not the rousing endorsement of his innocence he was hoping for, but he was thrilled to have her on his team even if his freedom was nothing more than a means to an end for her.
“Thanks,” he repeated. Not wanting to irritate her further, he quelled the urge to say more.
She took her foot off the brake and the car rolled forward. Lani drove with the same focus she applied to everything. As if by sheer force of will, she could control what happened next. Yet Asher perceived several hairline cracks in her confidence. His former lover gripped the steering wheel like it was the gunnel of a pitching boat while her attention remained locked on the road ahead of them as if expecting sinkholes to open up out of nowhere.
“My car is at The Edmond Organization,” he said, noticing that she was headed in the opposite direction. “If you want to drop me off.”
“It’s not there.”
“What do you mean it’s not there?”
“Your car has been seized by investigators. They are going over it now.”
Asher’s skin prickled. “Why?”
“They’re looking for evidence.”
“In my car?” he demanded.
“Your car. Your devices. Your home and office.”
As if spending the night in jail and being shunned by his family hadn’t been stressful enough, it appeared as if nothing in his life was going to escape unscathed by this mess.
He squashed his disappointment and lapsed into resigned silence as they headed out of town in the direction of Elegance Ranch, the Edmond family estate. The thought of being stuck in his apartment over the barn for the uncertain future gave Asher the chills. He hated being tied down... It was part of the reason his job at Edmond Oil frustrated him. There was no thrill or exhilaration being tied to a desk.
And that was why he’d jumped at the chance to be involved with the festival. It was a much-needed break from his routine. If only the whole thing hadn’t failed so spectacularly. Maybe it would’ve turned out if he’d kept a better eye on everything. Not that he could’ve predicted the tornado that destroyed the place. But if he’d paid more attention to what was going on, maybe he wouldn’t have been caught flat-footed with millions of dollars missing and all signs pointing straight at him like a ring of laser sights aimed at his head and heart.
“I want to hire you,” Asher declared abruptly, turning his head to stare at her elegant profile. “To prove I’m innocent,” he clarified, determined to do or say whatever it took to get her on his side.
“I already have a client.”
He refused to be deterred. “You can work for both of us at the same time.”
“You can’t afford me,” she reminded him with a hint of a smirk. “Your assets are frozen.”
“I have ways of generating cash.”
Her dark eyebrows rose above her sunglasses. “You’ve found someone else to steal from?”
He ignored the flippant jab. “I have twelve horses I’m training as polo mounts. They aren’t all ready to go, but selling a couple of them would pay your fees.”
Lani shook her head. “It’s not just about the money. It would be a conflict of interest to work for you while I’ve been hired to investigate the theft and find the money.”
“The way I see it, he hired you to get to the truth.” Asher kept a close eye on her reaction to his reasoning. “I know I didn’t steal the money. So, if I hire you for the same reason, then you don’t have to be worried about any conflicts of interest.”
She rolled her gaze his direction before returning her attention to the highway. “My intention is to find out what’s going on. I’m not going to stop until I get to the bottom of what happened to the money.”
“Good. Then we’re on the same side.”
“We’re not.” His assumption had obviously set a spark to her temper. “Just to be completely clear, I believe you had the means and the opportunity to steal that money. I’m really good at what I do. I will find out what happened and where the money went. And when I do, I’ll know who’s guilty and who’s not.”
* * *
Asher pressed his point. “That’s fine with me because I swear to you that I didn’t take the money.”
“Ga
slighting won’t work on me.” She paused and took in his confused expression. “Gaslighting. Where you keep saying something over and over in the hopes that I’ll eventually believe that it’s reality.”
“If I’m repeating the same thing over and over, it’s because I’m telling the truth.”
“Let’s just agree to disagree,” she said, echoing something he’d said to her before they parted ways five years earlier.
It hadn’t been the words as much as his dismissive tone as he’d delivered the cliché. Afterward she spent a lot of time thinking about how that abrupt breakup made her feel. What bothered her at the time was how he hadn’t taken her concerns seriously. She’d not felt heard. Her feelings had been swept aside as if they hadn’t matter. As if she hadn’t mattered to him.
And that, in a nutshell, was what had been wrong with their relationship the whole time. It hadn’t just been a summer fling for her. She hadn’t had enough experience with men to be able to lock her heart in a box and engage in some truly phenomenal sex as if it were some sort of trendy new aerobic exercise.
Maybe if he hadn’t been her first, she would’ve been more emotionally sophisticated. More capable of keeping their relationship in perspective. Of realizing that no matter how special he treated her in an effort to get her into bed, it was all just a means to an end. She’d been little more than a distraction that summer, a fact that had become clear when he’d never contacted her again.
Neither one of them spoke until Asher gave her the key code to unlock the gate.
“Are you still in the apartment above the stables?” she asked, angling toward the driveway that led past the main house.
“I prefer the horses to Rusty’s company.”
Lani shored up her resolve as a smile ghosted across his lips. The last thing she needed was to get sucked in by Asher’s attempt to manipulate her emotions. He needed her on his side, a friendly ear to fill with his tales of woe. Well, she wasn’t going to fall for his tactics. She wasn’t on his side. And nothing he said or did was going to change that.
She parked the SUV behind the stables and while Asher slid out of the vehicle, Lani reached for the duffel bag she’d stashed in the back. He glanced at it as she joined him at the base of the stairs that led to the two-bedroom apartment above the barn.
“What’s in the bag?”
A little tingle of excitement danced across her skin. “I’m planning on staying here while I get to the bottom of what’s going on.”
“Staying here?” he echoed, his expression softening with interest. “With me?”
Oh, no. She recognized that look. Her pulse jumped at the implications. Whatever assumptions he was making, she needed to shut him down ASAP.
“This isn’t a booty call,” she declared, wincing at her raspy tone. “You have two bedrooms. I’m planning on using the one you don’t sleep in.”
“You’re welcome to, of course,” he murmured, watching her from beneath heavy lids, a smoky glow kindling in his gaze. “But are you sure you’ll be comfortable alone here with me?”
Oh, she’d definitely be uncomfortable sharing four walls with him, but with the future of her business riding on this investigation, she intended to keep things professional between her and Asher.
Don’t worry about my comfort, frat boy. Worry about the mountain of evidence against you. It’s what she should’ve shot back. But that’s not what came out.
“I have no intention of sleeping with you ever again.” Even as the declaration escaped her, Lani knew she’d overreacted.
“Okay.” He drew the word out while peering at her expression. “It seems to me that you had no intention of sleeping with me five years ago, but look how great that turned out.”
Lani noted the heat surging through her veins at his smugness and registered annoyance and impatience. Not desire. Not yearning. She was angry at him for reminding her of something she couldn’t forget.
“I didn’t know what I was doing back then.”
“Maybe not at first,” he agreed, misinterpreting her response. While she sputtered in mortified dismay, one side of his mouth kicked up into a wicked grin. “But you sure got the hang of things. And if I remember correctly, you even managed to teach me a thing or two.”
Cheeks flaming, Lani silently cursed. From the moment she’d agreed to take this gig, she’d warned herself to remain focused on the case and not rehash how their summer romance had played out.
“Why don’t we concentrate on the present,” she suggested in a desperate rush, once again questioning her wisdom in taking on this assignment.
He gave a lazy one-shoulder shrug. “You’re the one bringing up our past.”
She set her foot onto the stairs and stomped up the stairs ahead of him. Why hadn’t she argued more vigorously against Kingston Blue’s insistence that she was a perfect investigator to take on the mystery of the missing millions? Every time she tried to follow her instincts when it came to this man, the best way forward was always murky.
Reaching the landing at the top, she shifted to one side and waited for Asher to enter the unlock code, but he merely turned the knob and pushed open the door.
“After you,” he gestured with exaggerated gallantry.
Lani stared at the door. “You don’t lock it?”
“What’s the point? There’s fencing all around the property and a gate at the entrance. Who should I worry about getting inside? Ross? Gina? Rusty?”
“They’re not the only people who live here. What about Ross’s college friend?”
“Billy Holmes?” Asher chuckled. “The guesthouse where he’s staying is way nicer than this. Besides, he doesn’t seem the type to show up uninvited.”
“But there are parties on the property. And staff. How many people have access to your apartment?”
“I never thought about it.” He made a shooing gesture to urge her inside. “And anyway, I don’t keep anything of value for someone to steal.”
“That watch you’re wearing isn’t cheap.”
He glanced down at the Breitling on his wrist and from his surprised expression, he obviously didn’t register the ten-thousand-dollar accessory as being anything out of the ordinary. Lani didn’t know whether to laugh or hit him. Five years ago, dating him had opened up a whole new world for her. She’d grown up in a comfortable middle-class home and never lacked for anything, but once she’d been drawn into Asher’s circle, she’d gotten a firsthand glimpse into all the finest things money could buy.
Not that this had anything to do with why she’d gone out with him that first time. In fact his determination to buy her affection with huge tips had reinforced her resistance to his pursuit. Still, dating him had swept her into a fairy tale and she’d enjoyed being a princess for a little while.
“Holy sh—”
Asher’s shock roused Lani from her musings. The apartment was torn apart—every cabinet in the kitchen was open, plates, cups, pans and silverware all over the countertops and floor. The couch cushions had been pulled apart and the small desk near one of the windows had been ransacked.
“What did they think I was hiding?”
His shoulders sagged as he rubbed his face. Sympathy whiplashed through Lani before she could steel herself against it. To her dismay, the profound defeat gripping Asher did little to distract from his sex appeal. In fact she was seized by an overwhelming urge to slide her arms around his broad shoulders and revisit the intense physical connection she’d only known with one man. This man.
Lani ground her teeth and slapped some sense into her emotions. She might no longer be in love with him, but his ability to burrow beneath her skin was alive and well.
“This is definitely worse than I expected,” she murmured, bemused by the devastation. “Why don’t you go grab a shower while I clean up.”
After tossing her duffel bag into the empty bedroom, Lan
i put in earbuds and set to work putting the kitchen back together. Given that the theft had happened electronically, they could’ve been looking for a thumb drive and something that small could be anywhere. She swept scattered pasta and cereal into the trash and loaded the dishes and drinkware back into the cabinets. Sorting the silverware into the drawers took some time and as she worked, Lani couldn’t help but wonder if the investigators had left the mess as a warning to Asher or if they’d had a limited amount of time to complete a thorough search.
She didn’t notice Asher had returned until a light tap on her shoulder caused her to whirl around. He was standing right there, inches away, smelling of soap and minty toothpaste. Her brain went off-kilter as she stared at his lips, moving as they formed words she couldn’t hear because...
He plucked her left earbud free and before she could make a grab for it, he’d fitted it into his ear. One eyebrow shot up as he listened to the song.
“I thought you only listened to Lowercase when you were worried about something.”
His question was the yummy center of a raspberry-filled donut. Her mouth watered as if the sugary-sweetness flowed across her taste buds. How was it possible that he’d remembered her obscure taste in music after all this time?
“It helps me think.” Lowercase was a music genre built around unheard ambient sounds.
“What are you thinking about?”
Lani held her hand out for the earbud, not wanting him to read anything into tonight’s musical choice. His fingertips grazed her palm as he dropped the one he’d taken back into her keeping. Weathering the zing of pleasure at the contact, she popped both earbuds back into their case and slid it into her jacket pocket.
“This case. My next steps.”
“You always have a plan, don’t you?” He sounded resigned.
“It beats running around without direction, hoping something will develop.”
“If you plan for everything, nothing will surprise you.” He spun her around and tugged the elastic band down her ponytail, freeing her long hair. “I’ve really missed this,” he murmured, threading his fingers through the dark curtain, fanning it over her shoulders. Several strands spilled over her cheeks, tickling her skin. “Your hair is like satin. I’ve never known anything like it.”