Ash: Jagged Edge Series #5

by A. L Long

  Closing the lid to the laptop, I began to wonder who this woman was that had me so interested. I knew no one had a perfect life and that everyone had skeletons in their closet, but I just couldn’t let her unknown record go. It was going to eat at me until I found out the truth about Ms. Daniels. Heading back to Peter’s office, hoping he was still around, I knew he would know of someone who could help.

  Tapping on his door, I looked at him and said, “I need your help with something,” as I walked in and took a seat in the chair in front of his desk.

  “Shoot, bro,” Peter answered, leaning back in his chair and placing his hands behind his head.

  “Okay, so here’s the deal,” I began. “There is a new girl that moved into the old Willows place up the road from me. Anyway, I really like this girl, but something is off with her.”

  “Off, how?”

  “Well, earlier tonight, I dropped her off at the A&J Distribution Center. She said she worked nights there. The thing is, I saw her walking away from the building and catching a bus. I tried following it, but I lost it.”

  “How could you lose a bus?” Peter chuckled.

  “I don’t know, but I did. Anyway, I pulled her name up on our data software and her records couldn’t be accessed.”

  “So, let me guess. You want me to see what I can do about finding out what’s in the file?” Peter questioned.

  “Yeah. I need to know more about this girl, Peter.”

  Peter and I sat and talked a little longer before I had to leave to pick up Juliette. It was too late to call his friend at the bureau to find out about Juliette’s sealed record. Given how young she looked, it couldn’t be too bad. If I had to guess, maybe a few misdemeanors, and since she was considered a minor, that would explain the sealed record.

  While I headed to the front door, Peter stayed behind to make sure everything was locked up at the shop. As I got into my truck, I felt the vibration of my phone in my pocket. Pulling it out, it was a text message.

  Juliette: I have decided to take a cab home. No need for you to pick me up. See you at your house.

  Me: No need to call a cab. Already en route to pick you up, be there in a few.

  Juliette: Not sure when I will be off.

  Me: Then I will wait until you are.

  Juliette: DON’T!

  When I got her last response, I knew something more was going on with her than having to work late. Starting my truck, I headed in the direction of the distribution center. I had a pretty good feeling that she wouldn’t be there. As I was driving down Broadway, something caught my eye as I was stopped at a stoplight across the way. It looked to be a woman being forced into a Lincoln Town Car. When the light changed, I just missed hitting the car as it pulled out in front of me. I could barely see who was sitting in the back, but I would know that profile anywhere. “Juliette, what the fuck?” I was so confused by what I saw that the honking from behind didn’t even faze me, until cars began driving around me.

  Taking my foot off of the brake, I tried catching up to the Lincoln, but it was too late. I needed to improve my skills in following cars. Losing sight of a bus was one thing, but now this; it was unacceptable in my book. Knowing that I had missed out again, I took a deep breath of regret and turned down the next block in order to get to my place. The only thing I could do was to wait for Juliette to arrive home and question her then.

  The house was dark when I pulled my truck into the garage. I didn’t know what I was thinking. I was hoping that she was already here so we could have our little talk. Heading inside, I went to the fridge and pulled out a cold one. Popping off the cap, I took a long pull and walked over to the living room where I knew I wouldn’t miss her coming home. The minute she walked through the door, she was going to have some explaining to do.

  I wasn’t sure how long I had been sitting on the couch before I dozed off. If it wasn’t for the sun shining through the window, I might have still been sleeping. Pulling my cell from my pocket, I pressed the ‘on’ button to bring it to life. It was seven in the morning, way past the time that Juliette should have been home. Thinking that I might have missed hearing her come in, I got up to check. Knocking lightly on her bedroom door, there was no answer, I turned the knob and pushed open the door to find that she hadn’t been home. Her bed was still made and her things were still on top of it. There was only one place I knew she could be. Grabbing my jacket, I headed out to her place. Since it was a beautiful morning, I decided to walk.

  While I was on my morning walk to Juliette’s house, I kept thinking about what I was going to say to her. I knew she didn’t know me that well, and giving me an explanation for last night was probably not going to happen. The most I could ask for was that she trusted me enough to tell me if she was in some sort of trouble. The way that man forced her into the Town Car last night wasn’t normal, and her resistance was proof of that.

  Looking down the road, Juliette’s house came into view. Just by looking at it, it appeared that no one was at home. Knowing that her car was in the shop and wouldn’t be ready until the end of the week, there was the possibility that she was home. When I reached her door, I knocked lightly and waited for her to answer. After about the third time, I was just about ready to give up and check the back door, but the door slowly opened. When she appeared, I couldn’t believe what I saw.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Juliette

  The look on Ash’s face said it all the minute I opened the door. If I’d had a little bit more time, I would have been able to hide the bruising under my right eye. I knew I should have contacted Ash when I got home and let him know that I decided to tough it out at my place. Watching the look on his face go from concern to anger, I finally said, “Don’t look at me that way. It’s not a big deal. I ran into the wall.”

  “That looks like more than running into a wall, Jules. It looks more like you ran into someone’s fist.” he replied with a serious tone.

  “Well, it wasn’t a fist, trust me,” I countered confidently. Leaving him standing at the front door, I yelled over my shoulder, “Would you like some coffee?”

  “Are you changing the subject? How is it that you can make coffee anyway? I mean, with there being no water.” Ash questioned.

  “I bought a jug of bottled water on my way home this morning. There are just some things a girl cannot go without, coffee being one of them,” I replied.

  As I began pouring Ash a cup of coffee, it dawned on me how horrible I must look. Not only did I have a black eye, I had a pretty good idea that my make-up was smudged, making my eye look worse than what it actually was. Handing Ash his cup, I tried to keep my head low, so that he couldn’t get a better look at me.

  Before I could take the first sip of my coffee, Ash asked, “So are you going to tell me why you insisted on not being picked up after work?”

  Placing my cup on the counter, I turned my head away from him and gazed out the small window in the kitchen. I knew he was waiting for an answer by the way he was tapping the teaspoon on the counter. Without even thinking, I said bluntly, “Because I didn’t need you to come after me. You probably have better things to do than being my chauffeur all the time.”

  “I told you that I didn’t mind doing that for you. If I had something else that I needed to do, then I would have told you,” he began. “There is one thing I don’t understand.”

  “What’s that?” I asked hesitantly.

  “Why would you be getting into a Lincoln Town Car when you were supposed to be at work?” he asked sternly.

  Shocked by his question, one thought ran through my mind. How in the hell would he have known that? I was very careful. He was nowhere near when I hopped the bus transit to the Mandarin, and for him to see me get in the car at the club couldn’t be possible, unless he had been following me the entire time. If that was the case, how much did he actually know and how much did I need to share with him? My gut told me that the best thing to do was to play stupid.

  “Why would I be getting
in a Town Car? It must have been someone else,” I responded, moving to the sink to place my half-full cup of coffee inside.

  I tried to keep my distance from him, but when he came up behind me, there was something about him being so near. The heat of his body was pressed so close to mine that I could feel it burning into me. I was so afraid to move for fear that he would suck me into a place that I couldn’t be. When he placed his hands on my waist and turned me to face him, it was all over. Even with my eyes closed, trying to shut out what was about to happen, I knew I would never be able to stop the magnetic pull.

  “Jules, look at me,” I heard him command in a gentle voice.

  Opening my eyes, they met his for just a moment before his lips met mine. The gentle touch had my head spinning. It was so much different than what I was used to. My mouth parted, willfully letting him in. The message of his kiss sent a current of desire through me that made my body began to shiver with delight. Never had a man kissed me before, so light and delicate, like the warmth of a summer breeze grazing my lips. It was something that I needed more of.

  When Ash broke the kiss, my eyes slowly fluttered open. It was as though he captured every emotion possible and I just stood there unable to say or do anything. How could a kiss from one man have such an effect on me? My head finally stopped spinning and I slowly moved away from him. If I stood close to him any longer, I wasn’t sure what would happen. Rounding the counter, I looked over to him for a brief moment before I asked, “Can we head on over to your place? My things are still over there and I could really use a shower.”

  “Sure,” he answered, placing his hands in his pockets.

  Without another word to each other, we headed out of my house and down the road to his house. It was a beautiful morning and the fogginess in my head was beginning to clear. As we walked side by side, I could feel the brush of Ash’s hand against mine, until he finally took hold of it and brought my hand to his lips. It was the sexiest thing I had ever seen. Trying to show him that I was unaffected, I dropped my hand from his and stuck my hands in my pockets. Looking down the road, I needed to say something to rid the silence between us.

  “So after I finish my shower, do you think we could work on getting my water up and running?” I asked hesitantly.

  “That’s the plan. I think I have what we need to get it fixed in the garage without going to town. You take your shower, I will see what I can find,” Ash said with a smile.

  As I walked in the direction of the guest room, I remembered what happened last time. “Wait, I need a towel.”

  “Oh, yeah, right,” he began. “Wouldn’t want a repeat from yesterday, although I didn’t mind.”

  Waiting for Ash to walk pass me, I followed him to the linen closet, which was located just across the way from the guest room. He could have just told me where they were. He handed me the soft towels and I went to the bedroom, while he headed to the garage to get what he needed to fix the plumbing in my house.

  I hated the fact that I wasn’t able to take a shower when I got home. I also hated the fact that I had the scent of that man on my body. I couldn’t wait for the day when I would finally be done with this and be able to move on. Turning on the water in the shower, I went to the bedroom and gathered the things that I needed while the water warmed up. Setting my things on the counter, I slipped off my clothes and opened the shower door. The water felt so good on my skin.

  Not only did I have a nasty black eye, my body felt like it had gone through hell, which technically it had. As I stood in the shower and let the hot water scorch my body, I thought about my life up to this point. I wasn’t sure when it got to be so complicated. That was a lie, and I knew exactly when it became so complicated. It was the day that I thought I needed that Ruby Red Matte lipstick. It was the day that I met him. The man who would show me the difference between controlling my freedom and having my freedom controlled. That was five years ago. In exchange for my freedom, he promised that no one would know what happened that one miserable day, but mostly, my mom would never find out.

  Rinsing the conditioner from my hair, I finished washing the remaining lather from my body and turned off the water. While still in the shower, I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around my soaked hair. I wrapped the other towel around my body and tucked the end between my girls to keep it in place. Even though I felt cleaner, I wasn’t feeling any better about the job assignment last night. At least, that was what I preferred to call it.

  As I looked in the mirror, I knew that I could make this life go away and have the life that I dreamed of since I was a young girl, but having that would mean telling my mom the truth. I would no longer be the best thing that ever happened in her life. I would be just another disappointment to her, and I wasn’t willing to be put in the same category as my dad.

  Pulling the towel from my hair, I tried to think of something else. I didn’t want to ruin my day thinking about my pathetic life. Walking over to the bed, I opened up my bag, which was still on the bed, and searched inside for my cute pair of panties and the matching bra. Stripping off the towel, I started putting them on. When I was dressed, I headed back to the bathroom to see what I could do about covering up the shiner that I had under my right eye. I knew I shouldn’t have argued with Sebastian. He owned me and I should have obeyed him no matter what the request, but with what the client wanted to do me, I just couldn’t agree to it. But in the end, I ended up doing as he asked anyway.

  Looking ten times better than I did earlier, I headed out of the bedroom and down the hall to find Ash. Thinking that he might be in the kitchen, I walked in that direction. He wasn’t there. I remembered him saying that he thought he might have the materials needed to fix the plumbing problem at my house. I walked over to the door leading to the garage and turned the knob. Just as I opened the door, I could hear the sound of music playing. He had to be there. He came into view as I walked down the steps. He was looking through a tub filled with various objects that looked to be related to things you would use for plumbing.

  I didn’t want to scare him, so I lowered the volume on the stereo. The minute he looked over to me, I waved my hand and said, “Hey.”

  Smiling at me, he asked, “How was your shower?”

  “It was wonderful. Thank you,” I replied. Stepping closer to him, I looked inside the tub to see if I could tell what he was searching for. “Are you finding what you need?”

  “Yep. I think your plumbing will be fixed in no time,” he said.

  Putting the items that he didn’t need back into the tub, he took hold of it and placed it back underneath his work bench. I watched as he put the pieces together like a puzzle. He then grabbed a few other items and walked over to where I was standing. Looking at what he created, he held it up and said, “I think this will work to fix the leak.”

  Nodding my head as if I knew exactly what he was talking about, I turned and headed back up the steps leading to the kitchen. Before I opened the door, I said over my shoulder, “I’m going to grab my things. I’ll be right back.”

  ~****~

  When we got back to my house, it was already late morning. I was hoping that Ash would be able to get what he needed to get done with the plumbing before it got too late. My body was exhausted and the only thing that I wanted to do was go to bed before I had to go back to work.

  Walking to the front door with my keys in my hand, I noticed a package leaning up against the screen door. I was pretty sure that Ash spotted it as well. Picking it up, I put it underneath my arm and stuck the key in the lock. As I pushed the door open. I heard Ash’s comment, “Secret admirer.”

  Looking over to him, I said, “Right,” before I placed the package on the coffee table and headed to the kitchen. I knew that he would be following me there. Opening the fridge, I asked, “Can I fix you a sandwich or something before you start?”

  “Nah, I’m good,” he replied.

  “Alrighty then,” I said as I pulled out the bread, some lunch meat, lettuce, and the mayo.
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  While I was fixing myself a sandwich, Ash began working on the sink. Placing the knife in the mayo jar, I stopped mid-scoop as Ash slowly peeled off his t-shirt. I had never seen so many muscles on one guy in my life. It wasn’t the only thing that got my attention. The tattoo that he had on his left shoulder was amazing. It looked like it could have been something tribal, like a flame or something. I couldn’t help but stare at it. Men with tattoos weren’t my thing, but in Ash’s case, it suited him.

  Moving my eyes from his Adonis body, I focused on making my sandwich. Just as I was ready to bite into it, Ash mumbled something from under the sink. Walking over to where his body was sprawled out, half inside the cupboard and half resting on the floor, I crouched down and asked, “Did you say something?”

  “Yeah. Can you hand me that wrench?” he asked between grunts.

  I had no idea what a wrench even looked like, but there were only two tools lying on the floor. One of them I knew was a screwdriver, so the other one had to be a wrench. Picking it up, I turned towards him and placed it in his hand that he had held out for me. Rising to my feet, I went back to the counter where I set my sandwich.