tonight.”
Marcus might have wished Ashley a good night’s rest, but he’d had nothing of the sort. If he was torn over how he felt about her before, he was even more conflicted now. The adrenaline rush of the fire, coupled with missing Lila, all while perseverating on the image of Ashley in his pajamas, had left him restless all night.
Yes, Ashley had created the situation that put Lila, his sister and the entire building in danger last night. He’d told her dozens of times that her contractor was reckless and irresponsible and she’d refused to listen. But then again...he couldn’t fathom her leaving them on the project if she’d had any idea what would happen.
He’d seen it the night they went out to dinner. She wasn’t self-centered, nor was she dumb. Carefree and audacious? Yes. Brazenly negligent? No. Did that leave her as the victim? Probably. Which was precisely why he couldn’t let her go to a hotel last night, even when it meant subjecting himself to the physically arduous proximity of being around a woman he knew he was falling in love with, even when he’d sworn he wouldn’t.
Realizing he’d claimed as much rest as he could possibly get, he climbed out of bed and took a shower. Getting into the office early was the best way to deal with the way she made him feel. When he’d given her his pajamas last night, he’d been fighting every urge imaginable—to take her in his arms, kiss her, admit to panicking the night of the premiere and ask for a second chance. To make love to her, if only to be able to stop the talking, the endless back and forth, and physically express how he felt. He might not be able to put his feelings into words or coherent thought, but he was fairly certain he could put them into action.
Last night, she was stuck in this unthinkable situation and had been so vulnerable, but still remained strong. How she’d kept from truly breaking down was beyond him. There had been shaky moments, there had been tears, but that was it. Had she been putting on a good face for him? Or had he actually managed to comfort her?
The rattle of dishes and closing of cabinet doors came from the kitchen. Better to get used to running into his new roommate now, rather than avoiding the situation. He sauntered down the hall but wasn’t ready for the vision that greeted him—Ashley on her tiptoes in nothing more than the shirt from his pajamas, searching through the kitchen cabinets.
He coughed, partly to get her attention, partly to keep himself from walking up behind her and snaking his arms around her waist. He did have a good ninety minutes until his sister expected him in the office. They could accomplish a lot in that much time. “Good morning.”
She dropped back down to bare feet and turned. Her hair was a sexy mess. She didn’t have on a lick of makeup—still beautiful, but in an entirely different way than he was used to. “You’re up. Is there coffee?”
“Sorry. Just tea.”
She frowned, making her chin wrinkly, which was surprisingly cute. “You have got to be kidding me. How am I supposed to function?”
Reaching past her, he opened the cabinet where he kept the tea bags. He set one of the boxes on the counter then filled the kettle with water. “There’s plenty of caffeine in English breakfast tea.”
“Wait a minute.” She pointed at him, shaking her finger while he turned on the stove burner. “I know you drink coffee. I’ve seen you come up to the apartment with a to-go cup.”
“I do drink it, but I don’t make it. Never learned how.” He got out a mug for her as she leaned against the kitchen counter, resting one of her bare feet on top of the other. Her legs were almost more tempting now than they’d been the night of the premiere. He knew everything her legs led to. “So, what’s on the schedule today?” he asked, consulting his watch, distracting himself.
She folded her arms across her chest, causing the nightshirt to hitch up and the side vent to split open, revealing an edge of some sort of pale purple temptation. “I have a million things to do. I already talked to the insurance company. They’re sending an adjuster over this afternoon. I heard from the fire marshal, and he already has one of his men working over there. I can fetch my stuff anytime I want. Suffice it to say, I won’t be going into the office today. Which is fine. I need a break.”
“Do you want me to go with you across the hall to get a few of your things? I know you weren’t up to it last night, but you can’t live in my pajamas all day long.” If you did, I might be forced to take the day off, too.
“No. It’s fine. Lieutenant Williams is going to be here in an hour. I’ll wait and go in with him.”
Great. I’ll leave her with a handsome, strapping fireman. “Ah, well, then. I guess I’ll just get off to the office. Martha, the housekeeper, will be by later this morning to clean and prepare dinner.”
* * *
Dread nagged Ashley as she looked at her phone. She didn’t like the idea of burdening her mother with anything, especially bad news. In fact, she took it as her personal charge to bring only good news. They renewed my show for another season. I’m sending more money. She hadn’t even shared the news about James dumping her until she’d flown home for Thanksgiving last year, and cracked the instant she saw her mom. Considering the fact that a story about Ashley’s fire was in the newspaper and making the rounds online that morning, she didn’t have a choice. It was time to be the bearer of bad tidings.
Her mom answered on the third ring. “Hey, baby girl.”
“Hi, Mama.”
“It’s nearly nine thirty. It’s not like you to call me from work.”
Ashley’s eyes drifted shut. Her mother’s warm, syrupy drawl brought her to tears, but she had to choke them back. She had to be strong, just like she’d been with Marcus last night. She wasn’t about to burden her mom unnecessarily. “I’m not at work. I’m taking the day off.”
“What happened? You never miss work.”
And to think she’d worried that crying would rat her out. Her mother knew something was amiss just because her workaholic daughter wasn’t in the office. “Something happened with my apartment, but I really, really don’t want you to worry.” She couldn’t bring herself to say the word. She couldn’t force herself to say fire.
“Not something with that neighbor of yours, is it? I thought you two were dating.”
Crap. She hadn’t bargained on her mom knowing about that. “Did you see that in the papers?”
“One of your brothers emailed me a link. I figured you’d call me and tell me what was going on when you were ready for me to know.”
“We aren’t really dating. It’s complicated.” Beyond complicated. “We were in a position to help each other’s businesses. And we’re trying to be friends, but we argue a fair amount. He doesn’t like my contractor. I don’t really know what’s going on between us, to be honest.”
“You’re rambling, darling. And you still haven’t told me what happened with your apartment.”
Ashley took in a deep breath. “There was a fire.”
“Oh no.” There was such finality to her mother’s words. “Are you okay? You weren’t
