by Lucy Score
Ashley nodded. “Then I accept your invitation.”
He grinned. “I thought you might. It’s hard to resist a hot, devious security guy.”
Ashley rolled her eyes. “I knew that one would come back to bite me. You’re lucky my only other dinner option is with Steven, and one meal with him was enough. Especially when I had to pick up the check while he took a call from his girlfriend.”
“Remember, my shovel is at your disposal. Just try not to need it until we have enough to nail them to a wall.” He glanced discreetly at his watch. “Do you mind ringing me up before I go? I can pick you up back here at 6.”
She felt a little tickle of disappointment and immediately quashed it. She didn’t like that there was something electric about being close to him. Her heart beat a little faster and her senses were a bit sharper when he was in the room. But maybe that was because she still felt like prey around him.
Simple. Simple, simple, simple.
“Sure,” she smiled brightly. “We do very nice gift wrapping, but if you’re going to get Mona the flowers it would make more of a statement if it was all put together on her desk when she comes in on Monday.”
“Good point.”
She led him back to the register ... and Janice.
“Janice, this is Mr. Baine.”
Janice gave him a dazzling smile. “Good afternoon, Mr. Baine. You have excellent taste,” she nodded at the vase.
“Thank you, Janice. I just went with the expert’s opinion.”
“That’s usually the safest bet around here,” she laughed. “And what will be going in it?”
“Calla lilies,” Ashley said, as she peeled off the discreet price tag.
“Pink.” Jason supplied.
Janice nodded her approval and nudged Ashley with her foot.
“Janice, could you give Mr. Baine Lorenzo’s card?” Ashley punctuated her request by stepping on Janice’s foot.
“Certainly,” she chirped. “Lorenzo is wonderful, Mr. Baine.”
Ashley gave Jason the total, noting that the amount — high enough to purchase a very respectable pair of Ferragamos — didn’t even warrant a blink.
He scrawled his signature across the receipt and handed the pen back to Ashley, fingers lingering. “Thank you for your help.”
Ashley tried to ignore the humming in her ears as their gazes held and fingers brushed.
He strolled to the door leaving, Ashley and Janice watching him.
“Who was that? How do you know him? And how did you not melt into a puddle just now?”
Ashley blew out a breath and braced herself against the counter. “So it’s not just me? He’s really that intensely hot?”
“I have traveled all over this world and dated many, many, many handsome men. And I can say definitively that that is the hottest man on the planet. I repeat, how do you know him?”
“I met him at some cocktail party Friday night for Steven’s work.”
“You met him Friday and he showed up here today? He is clearly into you. What does Steven say? Oh, screw Steven. Put him next to Mr. Hot Body, and he looks like a garden gnome.”
Ashley snorted in spite of herself. Janice’s opinion of Steven hadn’t been very high since he stood Ashley up on Valentine’s Day last year. He went for drinks after work and didn’t make it home until the next morning.
She thought about explaining the situation to Janice, but decided against it. The fewer people who knew what was going on, the better it would be. And the faster it could be over.
###
Ashley closed the office door and leaned against it. She wished she could shut everything out of her mind as easily.
Anger over Steven and his infidelity warred with too many thoughts about Jason. She didn’t know what was happening there, but she was entirely too preoccupied with him. Visions crowded her mind. His face, those piercing eyes, the feeling she got when she found him watching her.
She shook her head to clear it. The absolute last thing she needed in her life right now was some overblown infatuation, she cautioned herself.
“There is no room in your life for someone like Jason Baine,” she reminded herself. His presence was too big, too powerful. She could lose herself there.
Maybe dinner tonight was a bad idea.
Her phone on the desk buzzed. A text from Steven.
Won’t be home for dinner. Late meeting.
She was pretty sure she knew what kind of a late meeting Steven would be having on a Sunday. It made her skin crawl. How many times had he touched her after coming home from being with Victoria?
Well, now there was no reason not to go to dinner with Jason.
“It’s just dinner,” she whispered. She could do this.
She could keep a safe distance from Jason no matter what happened physically, and cut Steven out of her life. And start over.
Ashley texted Steven back.
OK. Good luck. See you when you get home!
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
She left the store to run some errands after closing. She caught the tail end of the farmer’s market and stocked up on a few things for lunches. Then she hit the drugstore to pick up a prescription and ended up buying half of the cosmetics aisle to spice up her look before “just dinner.” There wasn’t enough time to run home to change clothes, but at least her face could look fancier.
“It’s just dinner, it’s no big deal,” she chanted, applying a rosy shade to her lips and smudged eyeliner into her lash line.
She returned to the store floor to finish unpacking a small delivery and add the new items to the system. The display of hand-painted dishes was taking shape and she was sure pieces would be walking out the door starting Monday morning.
Startled by a knock on the glass, she turned and took a deep breath. Jason was at the door. Waiting.
Ashley unlocked the door and held it open for him. He was still in his suit and Ashley felt a little self-conscious about her clothing choice. “We’re not going anywhere fancy are we?” She glanced down at her outfit and ballet flats.
He slid his hands in pockets. “You’re more than fine.”
“We look like we’re going to two different dinners.”
Jason studied her for a beat and then loosened his tie. He pulled it off, stuffed it into his jacket pocket, and then undid the top button of his crisp white shirt.
“Better?”
Ashley couldn’t help but stare at the hint of skin. “Much.”
He glanced around the darkened store. “Do you need to do anything before we go?”
She locked the front door. “Let me grab my bag and arm the alarm. We can go out the back.” She led the way past the register and down the hallway to the office. He waited in the doorway, making the tiny space feel even more crowded. Ashley tossed her phone into the clutch and switched off the desk lamp, sending the room into darkness. Fumbling for the keys, she turned and ran solidly into him.
He steadied her with his hands, his face shrouded in darkness. The only illumination was the red glow behind him from the dull exit sign in the hallway.
Ashley could feel his breath on her upturned face. Her pulse quickened. He was so close. The heat pumping off of his body warmed her palms through his shirt. He smelled like soap and spices.
“Why do we keep ending up here?”
“You know why.” His mouth was just a whisper away from her lips. His long fingers flexed their grip on her arms.
Ashley could hear her blood pumping in her head. “Don’t you think this is a really stupid idea?”
His breath was hot on her skin. “Yes, it is.” He released her arms but captured her hand when she started to step back. Jason turned it palm up and lowered his lips to the center. “I want to see you when I touch you the first time.”
Ashley’s fingers went lax and her clutch plummeted to the floor. Her palm tingled from his kiss, and she knew with certainty that’s how every inch of her body would react to those perfect lips.
She jerked her hand away and step
ped back. “The darkness isn’t the stupid idea I was referring to.”
Jason stood with his arms crossed. In silhouette, he was even more intimidating.
Ashley switched the lamp back on. Now she could see rather than just feel the intensity of his gaze.
“Do you really think that us hooking up when I’m supposed to be helping you spy on my fiancé is a good idea?”
“Are you that afraid of me that you think one little kiss would end in catastrophe?” he countered.
“Yes.”
Jason laughed.
“And don’t think for one second that I believe that it would be ‘one little kiss.’ I don’t know what this is,” she gestured between them, “but I know it’s something and you’re aware of it, too. And we both know it’s got disaster written all over it.”
“Let’s agree to disagree.” Jason put his palms up when she started to argue. “Come on. Let’s go. I’m hungry.”
Ashley rolled her eyes. She snatched her clutch off the floor and snapped off the light. “Come on, Romeo.”
Jason watched her double check that the exit door bar was locked before she entered the code in the ancient keypad. Once outside in the alley, she leaned heavily against the door and then tested the handle.
He ran his fingers over gouge marks dug in the doorframe.
“We had a break in last year,” Ashley explained.
“Do you always leave through the back?”
Ashley stashed her keys in her bag and nodded. “There’s only 20 seconds between setting the alarm and it arming, so it’s not enough time to make it back to the front of the store.”
“There’s not a lot of light back here,” he noted, glancing around the alley as they walked toward the next cross street.
“It’s fine this time of year. It’s mostly daylight when we close.”
“Where do you park?”
“In the garage two blocks over. Barbara, the owner, got us all cans of mace and little LED flashlights for when we close after dark.”
Jason said nothing. He walked shoulder to shoulder with her, hands in his pockets again.
“Is the big, bad security expert judging our setup?” Ashley teased.
“There is always room for improvement.”
They rounded the corner onto the side street and turned again into the hustle and bustle of storefronts and restaurants and the Saturday evening crowd. Jason guided her, a hand at the small of her back, toward a sleek, black four-door parked at the curb. Ashley goggled at the emblem on the hood.
“Is this a freaking Tesla?”
Jason smiled, eyes crinkling behind his aviators. “Yes. This is a freaking Tesla.” He opened the passenger door for her, and Ashley slid onto the two-tone leather seat.
“Do you mind if I make out with your car?” she asked when he settled behind the wheel.
“No, but you might have more fun driving it.”
“Don’t tease me about driving a Tesla, Jason.”
He grinned. “We’ll see how dinner goes.” He started the nearly silent engine and smoothly pulled away from the curb.
“So, where are we going? I’m not up on my spy etiquette. Is it safe to be seen together?”
“Given the situation, I thought it would be smarter to keep a low profile.”
Ashley leaned back against her seat to enjoy the ride. Forty-eight hours ago her life had been on a completely different path. And now? Now she was cruising out of Wilmington in a Tesla toward the unknown with a man she just met. One she wasn’t sure she could trust.
They headed north, the coast unwinding on their right in the slanting evening light. The silence between them was heavy, but neither tried to break it.
The city was far behind them when Jason pulled into the gravel lot of a cozy beachfront café.
“Do you like seafood?” he asked.
“Almost as much as I like racquetball.”
“Good.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The hostess, a runway model of a brunette, led them to a quiet table on the deck overlooking the ocean and hovered for a moment too long while Jason pulled out Ashley’s chair. Ashley couldn’t blame the girl. Jason Baine wasn’t just easy on the eyes, he demanded their full attention.
He shed his jacket and hung it on the back of his chair. When he sat, he unbuttoned his cuffs and worked at rolling up his sleeves.
“I feel like I’m watching Jason the mogul morph into Jason the human being.”
He raised an eyebrow and adjusted a cuff. “Like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?”
“I’ll let you know after dinner.”
“Fair enough.”
Their waiter, a gangly hipster, arrived with a pitcher of ice water and a plate of freshly baked rosemary bread. He pushed his black-rimmed glasses up his nose as he recited the specials with gusto.
She settled on a glass of white wine and the shrimp and asparagus special and amused herself with the dessert menu while Jason ordered.
“Did you have a good meeting?” She asked when the waiter left them.
“A productive one.” He drizzled olive oil over a slice of bread and dropped it neatly on her plate.
“Is that the same thing as good?” Suddenly aware of the lunch she had skipped, Ashley sampled the bread and sighed. “Oh my God, that’s delicious.”
Jason raised an eyebrow and helped himself to a slice. “Damn. That is good. And yes, the meeting went well.”
“I can imagine you have some interesting meetings on Sunday afternoons in your field.”
“Almost as interesting as the ones that take place at 3 in the morning. Security threats never sleep.”
“I assume neither do the ones trying to prevent them.”
The waiter returned with their drinks.
“How was your day?” he asked.
Ashley blinked over her wineglass. When was the last time a man had asked her that over dinner?
“It had its ups and downs.”
“Which one is this?” Jason asked.
“I’m withholding judgment until the shrimp gets here, but so far consider yourself an up.”
“How were things at home?”
Ashley leaned back in her chair and toyed with the base of her wineglass. “Hard.”
“I can imagine.”
“Can you? Have you ever lived with someone whose utter disregard for your feelings suddenly became so clear you felt like an idiot for not seeing it sooner?”
“Yes, but that’s not why we’re here, Ashley.”
Ashley leaned forward and cupped her chin in her hands. “Why don’t you tell me why we’re here?”
“I need your help.”
“You seem to have a lot of resources at your disposal. Why exactly do you need me?”
Jason paused as if weighing his words carefully. “You can get closer to certain information than I can.”
“Information that you think Steven has.”
Jason nodded.
“And you think he’ll be an easier target than Victoria.”
“I know he will be.”
“So through Steven, you’re hoping to get to Victoria.”
“Yes.”
Ashley took a gulp of wine. She hated putting those two names together in a sentence. A flash of them wrapped around each other on Jason’s security monitor sliced through her.
“You’re sure what they’re doing is illegal?”
“I can’t prove anything, yet. But yes, I’m sure.”
“What’s the end game here? What happens if I help you and we find the proof you need?”
“I’ll take what we have to the client — in this case my grandfather. And he will decide whether or not to go to the authorities.”
“Who are?”
“For something like insider training, the SEC and the FBI.”
Ashley froze with her glass halfway to her lips. Depending on his involvement, Steven could end up in jail. She was equal parts thrilled and horrified.
“I’m all for karma, b
ut I’m not sure I’m comfortable being a tool of karma.”
Jason reached across the table and took her hand. “They’re breaking the law. And they obviously aren’t earning humanitarian awards in their personal lives either. They’re greedy and selfish and careless.”
Ashley stayed quiet, stomach and mind churning in unison.
“What information are you looking for? And how do I get it?”
Jason squeezed her hand before letting go. “We’ve already forensically imaged his work laptop.”
“Did you find anything?”
“A few things. Mostly just a ridiculous amount of porn.”
Ashley slammed her glass down.
Jason continued smoothly. “Ideally, we want to get access to his home computer and his cell phone. However, we can’t do that without going to the authorities first. And we can’t go to the authorities without proof. That’s where you come in.”
“You want me to do some good old-fashioned spying — following him, ‘accidentally’ reading his emails, checking his browser history — so you can get enough to get a warrant.”
“Essentially anything that a woman who suspects her significant other of cheating would do.”
“Well that shouldn’t be hard,” Ashley sighed. “What am I looking for?”
Jason took a sip of his beer. “Any kind of business communications with someone outside the company. New friends on Facebook, phone numbers that show up on his cell bill repeatedly. I’ll get you access to his work calendar so you’ll know what are legitimate meetings and what might be happening off the books.”
Any further comment was postponed by the arrival of their waiter, dinners in hand. He fussed over their plates for a moment before retreating to the kitchen.
“Enough shop talk,” Jason said, leaning forward. “It’s a beautiful night, let’s enjoy it.”
Ashley raised her glass. “To a beautiful night.”
He leaned forward and touched his glass to hers. “To us.”
“Go team,” Ashley said wryly and dug into her shrimp.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The strings of overhead lights came on as daylight shifted to dusk. The patio heaters and outdoor fireplace gave off a comfortable blanket of warmth.