She was someone he genuinely liked and could talk to. Someone he also desired with a passion the likes of which he’d never experienced since their one fateful, heated kiss. He didn’t care how young they’d been, he’d wanted her. He still did.
She was the only person he’d ever confided in about his mother’s death, his father’s infidelities, his problems in school. He remembered sitting up late at night spilling his guts. She’d listened and vice versa. He’d heard her when she’d admitted how much she resented her mother’s jumping from wealthy man to wealthy man, how lonely she was in her new home.
If only he hadn’t let his dumb hormones lead him around, her life might have been different. He owed her for that. He wanted to make it up to her for pushing her out of what should have been a safe place. For upending her life.
More than that, he wanted to see what could be between them now that they were adults. And to do that, he needed her to see the man he believed he could be. One who was willing to go after what he wanted.
And what he wanted was Ashley.
* * *
Ashley stood in the kitchen, drinking a cup of coffee, waiting for the caffeine to make its way through her system and wake her up. She needed that jolt to get going in the morning. She took another long sip as the doorbell to the new apartment rang. She was still getting used to the place after only a few days, but at least it came with a Keurig.
She placed the mug down on the counter, tightened the sash on her light blue silk robe, and walked to the door, surprised to see Sebastian when she looked through the peephole.
She drew a deep breath and opened the door. “Hi,” she said warily, looking into his light blue eyes. She noticed he was dressed for the day at the office in a dark suit, fitting well around his broad shoulders, giving him a sexy, stunning appearance, while she was too aware of how little she was wearing.
“Hi,” he said, leaning against the doorframe.
She raised her eyebrows, waiting for him to tell her what he wanted on her doorstep so early.
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a king-size Hershey chocolate bar and extended it between them. She couldn’t mistake it for anything but what it was. A reminder of their shared past and a peace offering. He knew her mother hadn’t kept chocolate in the house, knew Hershey’s was her favorite candy especially at that time of the month. He’d sneak her candy bars at night and they’d share one over their late conversations about their parents, life … everything.
He studied her with those intense blue eyes, waiting for a reaction. Despite herself, the corners of her lips twitched in amusement and she grinned.
“Fine. Come in,” she said, snagging the candy bar and sashaying back inside, touched and surprised he remembered the small gesture that had meant so much to her once upon a time.
She headed for the living room and he followed her lead. Finally, she reached the sofa and turned to face him.
“I know you want nothing to do with me,” he said when he had her attention. “But I have some things I need to say, and I don’t want to do it at the office, where we have an audience.”
She nodded in understanding.
“Can we sit?” he asked.
She inclined her head and chose a spot on the sofa, keeping her legs princess style, tucked together and to the side.
But that didn’t stop him from staring, his gaze a laser on her exposed skin. She had the urge to shift around, but she couldn’t move her legs without exposing her panties beneath. And with his stare hot on her bare calves, she couldn’t afford to draw his attention farther up her thighs.
She cleared her throat. “What did you want to talk about?” she asked him as he sat in a chair across from her.
With him dressed impeccably in his suit, looking so handsome and sexy, it was hard for her not to squirm as they stared at each other.
He leaned forward and said, “I gave a lot of thought to what you said yesterday. About what you heard in my father’s study and how I didn’t stand up for you. How you think I haven’t changed.” He sounded sober, intense.
She nodded, aware she’d been very hard on him. Hurtfully so. But it had been the first time she’d seen him in years, the first time she was able to express her anger and hurt in his presence. She’d needed to express her bottled-up feelings and she had.
But now she realized she’d probably gone too far. “I shouldn’t have mentioned your current behavior. I really don’t know you anymore.”
She rubbed her palm along the silk of her robe, feeling the soft fabric as a distraction from his large presence. The scent of his cologne had followed him into her apartment, and every time she inhaled, she breathed him in. It was all she could do not to uncross and recross her legs, admitting to her discomfort and awareness.
“Much as it hurts to admit,” he said, unaware of his effect on her, “you had valid points. About the past and the present.” He met her gaze, his expression contrite but no less handsome for the regret she saw in his face. “I’m sorry, Ashley. For being selfish when we were kids and for you paying the price for my actions. Or lack of action, as the case may be.”
She blew out a breath at his unexpected admission and apology, taken off guard and affected by them. What could she say to that? I still want to hate you? I still blame you?
Wouldn’t that be petty when he’d obviously done a lot of introspection in the last twenty-four hours, taking her words and feelings seriously?
“Thank you,” she said instead, finding she meant it more than she would have thought.
“I need you to know, I never thought Dad was going to send you away. And when I heard your mother talking about it with a friend, I went to his study and asked him not to do it.” He clenched his hands together as he spoke. “But he’d put it in motion, paid the deposit. I couldn’t undo the damage I’d done.” He blew out a breath. “The truth is, I was young, selfish, and I let it happen. I’m sorry.”
She glanced down at her hand, slowed the nervous movement on the soft fabric. “Thank you for that,” she whispered, her voice choked with emotion. She hadn’t expected such sincerity from him, such frank self-awareness.
“I’d like a fresh start with you.” He spoke earnestly, his husky voice full of what sounded like hope.
Her first impulse, the one coming from the teenager he’d hurt, was to tell him no. She didn’t want to trust him now. But the adult inside her understood that people grew up and changed. Had Sebastian?
She really didn’t know.
But she couldn’t be a bitch to him forever. “Okay. We can start over.” They could forge a truce, as adults with people in common. After all, they were tied together by Ethan, if nothing else.
A slow, pleased grin spread across his handsome face, relief mixed with a hint of intriguing mischievousness she didn’t trust. A sensual look in his gaze that made her very afraid she wasn’t agreeing for Ethan’s sake but for her own.
Because there was still something very compelling about Sebastian Knight.
* * *
Ashley adjusted to the pace of New York City easier than she’d thought she would, finding herself enjoying being back in the United States. In the beginning, she kept busy enough baking for Ethan, bringing him his favorite cranberry muffins each morning along with fresh Starbucks at the office and helping him clean out Mandy’s things, something he asked her to handle. He didn’t want to deal with her clothing or personal effects, requesting only that she save the photographs and things Ashley thought might have had meaning to Mandy.
Ashley donated a lot of items to women’s shelters and Goodwill, using the time to make conscious choices about where Mandy’s things would do the most good. To her surprise, she wasn’t as bored as she’d have thought not working at her day job, from which she’d taken a leave of absence.
As a forensic accountant, she was basically a fraud investigator, digging into accounts and researching where people hid money. She was good with numbers, liked being busy, and spent her days looki
ng to prove insurance fraud, among other things. Since she’d rarely taken vacation days, she appreciated the time off now.
The apartment Ethan had offered up for her to stay in was immaculate, comfortable, well-decorated, and on another floor from Sebastian. Even after his apology, she’d expected to see an array of women coming and going, especially on the weekends, but since his visit, it had been quiet, making her think maybe that part of him had changed.
She wished she could say she didn’t think about him but she did. Too often. He was too much a sexual presence for her to pretend he didn’t affect her, yet she managed to keep her distance, and that was what she knew she needed.
* * *
Sebastian didn’t appreciate being summoned by Ethan, but he strode into his office anyway, surprised to find Ashley already there.
Her soft hair fell over her shoulders, her beautiful profile relaxed. Because she didn’t know he was there.
“What’s with the summons?” he asked his brother.
She swung around, obviously surprised to see him.
“You, sit, too,” Ethan said.
The fact that he was used to Ethan’s demanding personality didn’t lessen the annoyance he felt. “I don’t appreciate the commands,” he muttered, but sat in a chair anyway.
“Ethan? What’s going on?” Ashley asked, sounding confused.
“I’m still waiting on Parker, but while I have you two, I have something to say.”
Ashley leaned forward in her seat. Sebastian leaned back, waiting.
“You’re both driving me fucking insane.” Ethan held up a hand before they could speak. “I know you both mean well, I know you’re worried about me, but I can’t take the hovering.”
He glanced at Sebastian. “I don’t need my hand held at every meeting. I don’t need my mail delivered by you, as an excuse to check up on me every damned day.” He turned to Ashley. “And I’m sick to death of cranberry muffins.”
“I could make blueberry,” she offered, tongue in cheek.
Sebastian grinned. She met his gaze, her soft lips lifting as they shared their first joint chuckle in what felt like forever, and it felt good.
But he hadn’t realized he’d been smothering his brother. He’d just been worried about him, as Ethan had said.
“I need space.” Ethan looked at Ashley. “Do you plan on going back to London soon?” he asked, his voice gentle.
Sebastian held his breath, waiting for an answer, not ready for her to leave. Not when he hadn’t had a chance to spend time with her, to make headway, showing her the man he really was.
“Honestly? I’m not ready to leave you alone,” she said to Ethan, and Sebastian blew out a relieved breath. “I know you have your family around you, but I feel like it’s so soon, and I want to be here for you.”
His expression softened at her admission. “You know I appreciate everything. Both of you.”
“Sorry I’m late,” Parker interrupted, joining them then, walking in without knocking.
Sebastian wondered why they were all gathered here as Ethan acknowledged Parker with a nod.
“Now that we’re all here, I need to let you know about what’s going on with our San Francisco office and Keystone project on which they’ve been working.”
Sebastian knew they’d won a bid to provide the high-tech locks on all the doors for Keystone, a multimillion-dollar defense contractor, building a new, secure headquarters building in northern California. As far as Sebastian knew, things had been progressing as planned.
Ethan glanced at Sebastian, letting him know without words that he was deliberately including him, trusting him, making up for what he hadn’t done when it came to Mandy.
Sebastian swallowed hard. “What’s going on?”
“Of all the stupid shit that can go wrong, the electronic door locks aren’t closing securely. The prototypes worked fine, but once installed, they’re failing. One piece in the automation is screwing with the entire thing. The whole campus relies on that security. We need to throw money at the problem to determine what’s going wrong, but there’s no extra money to be found. And we all know Mandy had been running that project.”
For six months, Mandy had gone back and forth from New York to California, even living there part time while the project got up and running. She and Ethan had been bicoastal, but it seemed to work for them.
“What I don’t know is where Mandy got the money for her drugs. Now there’s money missing from the Keystone project. Coincidence? I don’t think so. I was blind because I needed to trust her or I had no marriage. And I missed the fact that something was going on right under my nose.” Ethan set his jaw tight, clearly tense and pissed off.
“Shit,” Parker muttered. “What’s the plan?”
Ethan met Parker’s gaze. “I’m going to stay on the software people.” The keys weren’t physical, per se, but used via a smartphone or special key configured to wirelessly perform the opening and closing process. But there were also mechanical parts, and those had been purchased via the California office.
“I want you and Ashley to head out to San Francisco,” Ethan continued. “Figure out which parts aren’t working in the damn locks. Ashley, you can dig through accounting and Parker, you can calm Stephan Romano, who’s losing his fucking mind. We can’t afford to lose this project. Our reputation will take a hit, and financially it’ll kill us.”
“You want me to look at the books?” she asked, sounding surprised. “I thought after I turned down your offer to come work here after I graduated, you handed things over to your friend’s firm.”
Sebastian’s gaze grew wide. Ethan had offered her a job? She could have been back here much sooner? Damn.
“I don’t hold grudges,” he told her. “Besides, I need you. I don’t want anyone getting wind of the fact that we’re having problems with such a lucrative project. I trust you,” he said gruffly.
She nodded in understanding. “Of course I’ll help.”
“When do we have to leave?” Parker asked.
Parker, who’d never been meant to have a desk job. He’d been a skiing phenomenon, destined for the Olympics until he tore his ACL on a downhill run and did permanent damage to his knee. Sebastian often did a double take when he walked in here and saw his middle brother in a suit and tie. Parker was a man more comfortable in the outdoors than in the office. He knew the pain his brother felt at being forced into a role he’d never wanted.
Sebastian looked from Ashley to Parker, not surprised that Ethan had chosen Parker to go out and handle Romano. Sebastian had begun to realize they’d put him on deals that were already secure, the lack of trust permeating through his placements in ways he hadn’t recognized until now.
“I’ll go,” Sebastian said, recognizing that this was his chance. The opportunity to show his family he could step up and handle a crisis. Be the man they could rely on.
Beside him, he felt more than saw Ashley stiffen. Going away with him was not in her plans, he thought wryly. But he focused on Ethan, meeting his brother’s gaze, not blinking, not wavering.
He wanted this. Not only because it meant spending time with Ashley but because he needed to prove to everyone, including himself, that he could be trusted.
Ethan’s gaze slid to Parker, who merely shrugged. “Whatever you decide is fine with me.”
Parker’s easygoing demeanor stemmed not only from the fact that he was the middle child, who found it easy to let the chaos of four siblings go on around him, but from the fact that he’d come into this business as a last resort and was willing to do what he was told.
Ethan studied Sebastian, thinking about who knew what, holding Sebastian’s fate in his hand, before nodding. “Fine. You two leave tomorrow.”
Sebastian blew out the breath he’d been holding, before turning to Ashley with what was a deliberately sexy grin on his face. This might be business and it was important, but so was she. And he had no issues mixing business with a bit of pleasure.
Chapter Fo
ur
Ashley found herself on an evening trip via private jet to San Francisco with Sebastian, totally taken off guard by the sudden turn of events. She hadn’t expected to do any work for Knight Time Technology while she was here and certainly hadn’t anticipated being sent on a business trip with Sebastian.
During the discussion in Ethan’s office, she’d sensed the tension between the brothers when Ethan had ordered Parker to go with her to San Francisco. It seemed to go deeper than just the fact that Sebastian had wanted to be the one to go away with Ashley, although his last dizzying look at her had made that point loud and clear.
Yet here she was, on a private jet, something she’d never flown in before. The luxury was addicting, she mused. There was no comparison of the sheer space on the plane compared to flying commercial. Not even first class could equate to the cozy leather lounge chairs, the mahogany tabletops, the stocked bar, and the flight attendant who knew when to make herself scarce.
She glanced out the window and into the night sky, overwhelmed by the darkness. Inside the plane, the yellow glow of lights illuminated the as she settled in for takeoff, Sebastian beside her.
He seemed preoccupied, and after takeoff, he took out his laptop, keeping busy, tapping away, probably making preparations and setting up meetings for tomorrow at the office. She held her iPad in her hands as they sat in comfortable silence, which she was happy to let go on. With a six-plus-hour flight ahead of them, she wanted to keep things peaceful between them.
A little while after the plane leveled out, Sebastian excused himself to go to the restroom, and Ashley focused on her iPad, checking email and texting her friend Nicole in London. The time difference made it difficult to talk at the same time, so she just checked in, knowing she’d hear back from her tomorrow.
When the ding of a text message sounded, it took her by surprise. It was one a.m. in London and she hadn’t expected an answer. She’d just wanted to drop a note to say hello. She opened the message app, surprised to see Jonathan’s name pop up on the screen.
Take Me Again Page 4
