by Lucy Score
“I’ve never sat in that chair before. It’s not very comfortable.”
Ashley stepped back to look at him. He was still dressed in his suit pants. He had discarded the jacket and tie and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt. She nodded. “Just what I was afraid of. You’re inappropriately dressed for our evening plans.”
Jason glanced down at his clothing. “Exactly what are our plans?”
Ashley handed him a gift bag. “These are for you. Consider them your uniform for tonight. Go put them on and meet me downstairs.”
“Downstairs? Is this your way of asking for a rematch?”
Ashley gave him a playful shove toward the stairs. “Go change. I’ll see you downstairs.”
She paused long enough to enjoy the view of him climbing the stairs and then hustled down to the lower level.
When Jason returned minutes later, he found her plopping steaming slices of pizza on paper plates.
“What do you think? Am I more appropriate now?” He spread his arms.
Ashley grinned. He had changed into plaid pajama pants and a t-shirt. “Very nice.” She nodded her approval.
“I see you are following a similar dress code.”
Ashley twirled in her sweat pants and long sleeve college t-shirt.
“This is a test to see if you still have the ability to be human on occasion. And if you want a girlfriend who lounges around the house in pearls and heels on a Monday night, you’ll be very disappointed in me.”
“I find that hard to imagine.” Jason brought his hands to rest on her hips. “So what are our plans besides pizza and pajamas?”
Ashley handed him the movie she had tucked in the grocery bag. “Rebecca.”
“It’s Alfred Hitchcock and it’s amazing.”
“Well let’s get started then,” Jason said, grabbing the pizza plates and leading the way to the sofa.
They dined on hot, greasy pizza and chips with beer and watched the movie on the huge flat screen. As the flames consumed Manderley, Jason paused the movie. “What is her name?” he frowned.
“Joan Fontaine?”
“Yes. What’s her character’s name in the film?”
“Aren’t you smart, Mr. Baine?” Ashley wiggled higher into a seated position. “Her character doesn’t have a name.”
“The main character of the movie is a woman without a name and the movie is named after a woman who isn’t even in it?”
Ashley nodded. “It’s amazing what just the memory of the presence of a woman can do to a man, isn’t it?”
Jason took a long pull of his beer and pushed play.
Ashley settled back against him watched as the flames on the screen licked at the R on the bed.
“Good movie,” she sighed happily. “So, how did the rest of your day with the investigators go?”
“You mean could they tell that I just got done having hot, sweaty sex with a beautiful woman when I went back to the meeting?”
“Pretty much, yeah.”
“No one said anything to me, but I didn’t realize until after everyone left that my hair was standing up and my fly was down.”
Ashley collapsed laughing. “You’re joking, right? The Jason Baine doesn’t walk around with his fly down.”
“The Jason Baine also doesn’t completely lose control during the workday and bang his girlfriend into oblivion in an empty conference room. I’m not convinced that you’re a good influence on me.”
“I’m not a good influence on you? Since I met you, I’ve spied, I’ve lied, I’ve been interviewed by investigators. I’ve been rudely accosted in an office. I think the problem here is you —.”
The pillow to her face cut her off. “Pretty sure I don’t usually start pillow fights either, but in your case I’ll make an exception.”
Ashley recovered from her shock quickly enough to plow a cushion into him, and the battle was on.
She went on the attack and he vaulted over the couch. The battle raged until Ashley ran out of pillows and resorted to using the last weapons she had at her disposal. She flashed him.
He plucked her off of the couch and pulled her down to the floor. “That’s not fighting fair.”
The kiss was teasing, but quickly deepened in intensity. Ashley sighed against his mouth and wrapped her arms around him. This was the right way to spend a weeknight.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
When she woke up in the lonely acreage of Jason’s bed the sun was still low in the sky. He was probably making her breakfast, she thought with a sleepy smile.
She stretched luxuriously and rolled closer to the nightstand to check her phone. She still had 15 minutes before her alarm, but since she was already awake and scheduled to be at the store by 10, it was probably a good idea to get moving.
She dressed quickly and padded down the stairs. Jason wasn’t in the kitchen, but there was coffee. She helped herself to a mug and wandered in the direction of his office.
The doors to his office were slightly open and Ashley heard voices. She paused, not wanting to interrupt business.
“Off the record, Lenore told me they would be fast-tracking this. I can’t have Victoria hovering around the company wreaking havoc for much longer.” It was Eli on speakerphone.
“I understand, Grandfather. But it’s in the hands of the authorities. I’ll do what I can to guide them to the evidence quickly.”
“I know,” Eli sighed. “But when you get to be my age you get to be a little impatient when it comes to getting what you want, which can be dangerous. I see that trait in you, sometimes.”
Ashley peered into the room. Jason had his back to her, his chair swiveled to face the windows behind his desk. He scrubbed a hand through his hair.
“I’m an extremely patient man, Grandfather.”
Eli harrumphed. “That’s why you decided to cut your weekend short to send that poor girl home early to catch them in the act? That’s not patience, my boy. That was a dangerous decision to make. You’re very lucky it worked out, but I warn you. Using people like that isn’t good for the soul.”
Ashley felt icicles form in her belly. Without thinking, she stepped into the room. Jason turned in his chair.
Their eyes met, and she saw the pain she felt mirrored in his face.
“Grandfather, I have to call you back.” Jason hung up the phone and rose.
“You knew.” Ashley’s voice rang out sharply. “You knew that Steven and Victoria were at the loft.”
“Ashley —”
“You sent me home early on purpose to catch them. Why? Why would you do that, Jason?”
“Ashley, please listen. I couldn’t let you go home to him after that weekend.”
“So you humiliated me instead.”
“Ashley —”
She held up a hand. “Stop. Were you afraid that I was going to tip him off?”
“No.”
She crossed her arms over her chest.
“How can you be so cold? So manipulative? It’s quite calculating to play with people’s lives. This was all about Victoria, wasn’t it?”
“Whatever I did, whatever I’m doing to take Victoria down needs to be done.”
“Why? What did she do to you that was so horrible?” Ashley paced. “Sure, she’s a bitch. But what did she do that has you so desperate to destroy her?”
Arms folded, his face was stone.
Ashley stopped her pacing and turned to face him. “It doesn’t even matter, does it?”
“Everything matters,” he said quietly.
“You know what matters to me? I have no home. I may have to testify against my ex-fiancé, who I caught in my bed with his mistress. I have been humiliated. And the very worst part is that this is all part of your plan. Do you even care?” Her voice cracked on the word and she spun around to hide her face.
“Ashley,” she heard him round his desk.
“I’m such an idiot. I didn’t even put it together when you told me your team saw Steven and Victoria leave. They had to be the
re, watching for something.”
Jason held up his hands and took another step forward. “Please, just listen.”
“Stay away from me! Leave me alone.” With that, she pushed through the terrace doors and fled.
The smooth stone stairs were cool beneath her bare feet. Ignoring the expansive river view, she hurried in the direction of the driveway. She was going to leave this place behind her forever.
The tears fell freely on her cheeks now and she swiped at them impatiently. She had let herself be humiliated long enough.
Why was it that Jason’s betrayal hurt her more than Steven’s? Steven was the one who was supposed to love her and be building a life with her. Yet it was Jason’s callousness that drove into her heart.
Why was that the sucker punch?
The whole thing was a game. From the racquetball court to the cabin. Everything had been planned to gain her trust. What a convincing player Jason was. She shivered in the sunlight as flashes of him touching her raced through her mind.
It had felt so real to her. Had it meant nothing to him? Was anyone that skilled as a player?
One thing was sure. She was done with it all. Propelled by anger, Ashley rounded the house. She had wasted more than enough of her time on both of them.
“Ashley!” Jason’s voice called down the path behind her.
The anger spiked. She should run. She should get in her car now and drive away. But she stood her ground. This was a battle she craved to have.
“Ashley!” Jason rounded the house, sounding relieved. “Are you okay?”
She let out a short, sharp laugh when he reached for her arm. She yanked away as if he had scaled her. “Don’t touch me. I’m not some pawn to be used. I told you to leave me alone.”
Ignoring her warning, he grabbed for her wrist. “Listen to me. Let me explain —”
Ashley shoved him, setting him back a half step, but not before Ashley saw the blaze in his eyes.
She turned and broke into a run toward the river.
He was pounding down the path behind her. Sprinting now, she rounded another bend to where the yard opened to the riverfront with a boathouse the size of a small house. He was closing in on her, but she kept running.
She should have run faster.
His hand closed on her shoulder yanking her backwards against him. She whirled around in his arms to face him.
“I told you not to run.” He wasn’t just angry, he was furious.
Ashley gasped for breath, noting his was obnoxiously even.
He shook her once, hard, and she shoved at his chest without gaining an inch of freedom. He merely tightened his hold on her. They froze that way, with his hands digging into her shoulders and hers fisted against his chest. He was so tall, he all but loomed over her. Now his breathing was as ragged as hers.
“You will listen.” His grip was bruising.
Ashley put up a respectable fight, but found herself flat on her back in the dewy grass with Jason on top of her. He pinned her hands overhead with one hand.
“I am going to kick your ass,” Ashley ground out between clenched teeth.
He shifted his hips into hers and she felt the entire length of his hard-on pressing into her. “Shut up and let me explain.”
Ashley growled. It was hard to think, or stay livid, with the devil grinding against her.
“I did know that Steven and Victoria were there that morning.”
“What a nice little joke for you,” she snapped.
Jason clamped his free hand over her mouth. “Shut up.” He said it mildly as if asking her to pass the salt. “I couldn’t let you go back to him and play house. Not after that weekend. Even if it meant jeopardizing the investigation.”
Ashley went still and he slowly removed his hand.
“I’m listening,” she said as haughtily as her current position allowed.
“I couldn’t stand the thought of saying good-bye to you and sending you home to continue pretending that you were a good little fiancée. The thought of you sleeping next to him ...”
He cleared his throat. “I couldn’t let that happen. So I did what I always do and manipulated the situation to get what I wanted.”
“Why didn’t you just ask me not to go back?”
“Because if you left suddenly, they, or Victoria at least, would have been suspicious. She might have tried to delay their plans.”
“So you were using me to get what you wanted on both fronts.”
“Yes.”
“And you expect me to believe that you care about me?” She was getting angry again.
“This,” he pressed against her, “is real. What you make me feel is real. What I make you feel is real.”
“What you make me feel is hurt and betrayed and angry.”
“That’s not all you feel.” His hand settled on her belly and need ignited.
He groaned and shifted his weight. “Look, I can’t concentrate with you writhing under me. If I let you up, will you stay and talk or are you going to take off again?”
“I’ll play it by ear.”
“Fair enough.” He moved off of her and sat next to her.
“You lied to me.”
“I didn’t lie. I deliberately withheld information.”
Ashley rolled her eyes. “Don’t argue semantics with me.”
“Ashley.” He waited until she turned to look at him. “I’m sorry. Until I met you, there wasn’t anything more important to me than taking Victoria down.”
“Uh-huh.” Ashley felt like the sarcasm was leaking through her pores. “Why do you need to get rid of her? What did she do, besides be a miserable bitch?”
Jason stared off over the river. Several moments passed before he took a deep breath and began.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
“Ashley, no one knows this. I’ve never told anyone,” Jason began.
“I met Victoria when she was 15 and I was 18. It was the summer before I left for college, and my father announced he was getting married again. He moved Victoria and her mother into our home right before the wedding.
“She was a beautiful girl already. And she knew it. She used it to get things. And if her looks didn’t get her what she wanted, she used other ... tools.”
Jason got to his feet and started pacing. “One night, she came into my bedroom and laid on my bed. Started taking her clothes off. She wanted me, she said. But even then, I knew she was poison. And she was 15 and she was my stepsister. I made her leave. She tried again and again. The last time I was in the shower and she came in.”
He stopped pacing and stared out over the flowing waters. “She started touching me. I was 18 in a shower with a naked girl wrapping herself around me ...”
Ashley’s stomach clenched.
“I almost let it happen. But she looked at me and had this look of triumph in her eyes and I knew I was about to give her a weapon.”
“So you stopped her.”
Jason nodded. “I stopped her. I pushed her out into the hallway, wet and naked. I told her she was nothing to me but a little girl with daddy issues and I shut and locked the door in her face.
“She pounded on the door, screaming. Saying I’d be sorry. She’d make me pay.
“By the time our parents came home she seemed normal again and I thought it was settled. Over. But it wasn’t. She started ...”
Jason paused and took another deep breath. He came back and sat down next to Ashley, careful not to touch her.
“She started doing things.”
“What kind of things?”
“Once, I found pictures in my nightstand. They were of her naked, tied to my bed. She looked scared. I don’t know how she took them.” He shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. “I confronted her about them. And she got that look again in her eyes. She told me that if I didn’t do everything she asked, she would tell our parents that I was raping her.”
Ashley closed her eyes and fought the sickness growing in her belly.
“I st
arted locking my room every time I left. I found her favorite t-shirt in the backseat of my car ripped open like someone had shredded it.”
“Did you tell your father?”
Jason shook his head. “I didn’t think he’d believe me. It would have been her word against mine, and I didn’t think he would take my side over his new wife’s. She started making me do things for her. Covering for her when she lied. I took the blame when she wrecked my father’s car. I even paid her fine when she was busted for underage drinking. I was living a nightmare in my own home.
“When I left for college, I thought it would finally stop. By that time she had other targets in her sights. I thought she would forget and finally leave me alone. To be safe I stayed away. I went to college out of state and took summer jobs there so I wouldn’t have to come home.
“During my junior year. I met someone. Her name was Jordan. It got serious. We started talking about our lives after college. And for the first time since my father married Victoria’s mother, I started to feel hopeful about the future. And then I made a mistake. I brought her home on Christmas break to meet the family.”
Jason plucked a blade of grass form the ground and rolled it between his fingers.
“Victoria pretended to befriend Jordan. I was so scared to leave them alone together. But Victoria arranged a girls day out, and I couldn’t say no without seeming like a control freak. When they came back, Jordan was in tears. She packed her things and told me she never wanted to see me again.
“Victoria drove her to the airport, and when she returned she told me what she did. She told Jordan that I had been sexually abusing her for years and that she felt strong enough to tell Jordan the truth because she wanted to save her from the same fate.
“Jordan transferred to a different school and I never saw her again. My father and Victoria’s mother divorced shortly thereafter. But it wasn’t because he was sleeping with just any coked up socialite. It was because he slept with Victoria.”
Ashley gasped.
“She got him drunk one night when her mother was away on one of her spa trips. It was right before she turned 18. She did it to get back at her mother for something stupid. It was all a game to her. Self-destruct her mother’s marriage, treat people like puppets. In the end, my grandfather made a payout to her and her mother to keep them quiet. But she just kept coming back. That’s why she works at his company.”