Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 74407 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74407 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
Well, that was an easy one. “Sure, why not. Plenty of room here.”
“What’s the catch?” Ashley asks, even as relief floods her face.
I frown. “What do you mean?”
“You agreed to this awfully easily,” she points out.
“There isn’t a catch. As you pointed out, we’re going to be married soon. How would it look if you were crashing on someone’s couch instead of being here? And it’s not like you’re going to get wasted every night and smash my apartment up. Right?”
“Right.” She grins. “I only do shit like that on Thursdays.”
She surprises me with her quick humor and I laugh.
She laughs with me.
“I’m hardly ever home anyway, so you’ll mostly have the place to yourself, but when I am home and I’m working, I expect you to stay out of the way and not disturb me,” I add. I swear it’s like a disease. The second I start to feel at ease with Ashley I say something idiotic to remind her why she doesn’t like me.
Thank God, she doesn’t take my words too seriously. “I think I can manage that,” Ashley pipes up with a big smile.
“Good,” I say. “Let’s put that to the test then, shall we? I have a video conference in fifteen minutes and I don’t expect to hear you banging around or anything in the background.”
“Got it.” Ashley nods. “But seriously. You have a work thing at this time?”
“The client is in a different time zone,” I explain. “And getting his business could be a real pivotal moment for us. It’s worth working late for.” I stand up before she can start asking a ton of questions. “I’ll give you the tour.” I smile.
Ashley stands up beside me.
I wonder if I should grab her bag. She picks the bag up herself and my moment to look like a gentleman is lost. Oh, well. I figure it’s a little late to try acting the gentleman with Ashley now, anyway. She’ll probably think I have an ulterior motive and we’d end up in a fight about it.
I point behind me. “So obviously, that’s the kitchen and dining area. Like I said I’m hardly ever home, and when I am, I don’t relish cooking. I don’t keep food in the house for that reason, but if you’re ever hungry, look in the top drawer and you’ll find a bunch of menus. I have accounts at each of those places. Feel free to order whatever you want.”
“You have no food at all in the house?” Ashley asks.
I shake my head. “Nope.”
“You’re weird.”
“And you’re very judgmental for someone who has nowhere else to go,” I point out with a grin.
“Fair point.” She laughs. “I take it back. It’s completely normal to have a state of the art kitchen and use it to store take-out menus.”
“Exactly.” I hide my smile and lead Ashley through a door and into a hallway. “That’s my room,” I say, pointing to the first door on the left. “And beside it is my office. I don’t expect you’ll need to be in either of those rooms. The next door on that side of the hall is a gym which you are welcome to use. The first door on the right is a bathroom which again, you are welcome to use, although obviously, you’ll have your own en-suite. That last door on the right is your room.”
“And that middle door on the right? Is that the mysterious room I’m not allowed to go in because all of your secrets are in there?” Ashley asks with a wicked gleam in her eyes. “Is that where you keep the bodies of your business rivals who’ve crossed you?”
“Well, actually it’s a linen closet, but I like your version better,” I explain with a grin. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I really do have to go and get prepared for this meeting. Make yourself at home, okay?”
Ashley nods and she makes her way down the hallway to her room.
I catch myself watching her ass as she walks away and look away quickly before I duck into my office.
9
Ashley
I’m feeling kind of strange as I step into Finn’s guestroom. I came here because honestly, I have nowhere else to go. Both Mariella and Janice, my two best friends live with their boyfriends and it would be awkward for me to dump myself on them. And anyway, since they got their men, they have had a lot less time for me.
I guess I could have gone to my aunt’s house, but I didn’t want to have to go through the argument with her and I knew Finn wouldn’t care enough to ask me what the argument was about.
The argument with my dad was really just the usual shit. My dad telling me my work is dangerous and me reminding him it’s not half as dangerous for me as it is for the kids on the streets. He then went on to point out that’s not my problem and as always, it escalated from there. And this time, it didn’t stop at its usual place. It turned into a whole bunch of personal insults, and I knew by the end of it that I couldn’t stay there.