Then, There's Love (Revealing)

by Rena Manse

  What would Aaron say? She rubbed her forehead, and Jonathan caught her watch on the inside of her wrist.

  “Time to get home before the boss gets back.”

  She smiled weakly, glad Jonathan worked within her schedule, knowing Aaron wouldn’t understand Val giving her an extra day off. The older woman enjoyed her jaunts of freedom with her friends. Today she’d gone out with Richard in search of fabrics to redo the library and social room. What Aaron didn’t know couldn’t hurt her.

  “Tick-tock,” she said.

  “Tick-tock.”

  “Can I drive?”

  “Ashley McKenny, do you remember what you did to my suspension on that last bump?”

  She sat up. “I didn’t see it. Why don’t they mark their speed bumps correctly?”

  “Stripped gears.” He winced as if in pain.

  “I drive that baby better than you.”

  “I’ve raced Indy,” he reminded. He dragged her to her feet and they debarked. Jonathan led the way to the car. “Catch.” Keys came flying over the car top.

  “How about a stroll through the park instead?”

  He folded his arms on the roof and drummed his fingers. “Tell you what. If you get home before Aaron, I’ll cook you dinner myself tonight.”

  Punching the fob to unlock the doors, she couldn’t get behind the wheel fast enough, but after checking her watch, she wasn’t sure she’d make it.

  Praying Aaron’s plane was delayed, she honed all her driving skills to the road. She couldn’t believe the man instilled fear in her. Fear. And such annoyance, that she dared to play to his whim.

  After a brief linked phone call to give her estimated time of arrival, Richard informed her of Val’s poor condition. She’d insisted on spending most of the afternoon in the sun again, and forbade any calls to shorten Ashley’s day. Sometimes Ashley wanted to tie that woman down.

  She rounded a bend, accelerated on the last stretch home. Jonathan laughed, looking impressed she could handle his machine. From the corner of her eye a flash of silver came out of nowhere.

  Slamming breaks, she tensed. The car turned, skidded, straightened, skidded. The silver—Mercedes—swerved only yards away, barely avoided ramming into a tree on the other side of the road.

  “Hoh!” Ashley jolted as she screeched to a stop, jarred into something that threw both her and Jonathan forward and to the left. Airbags threw them back.

  White-out vision, stinging everywhere down her front, she felt Jonathan’s hand take hold of her arm, then roughly grab her chin to turn her face to him. His door opened, and he was gone. Adrenaline overrode her shock. She flung open her door, stood in the opening, and stared in dismay at the large rock where the front wheel should be. Oh, not good. She glanced over the car’s top toward her victim.

  Ashley shook when Aaron fully emerged in all his rage and glory. Sinking back to her seat, she mustered the energy for her death march, and shakily started toward the other car. She’d be six feet under if not for Jonathan. The men were talking, but over Jonathan’s shoulder, stormy slits held her in stasis.

  “You did this?”

  “Aaron. We’re all okay.” Jonathan held up his hand. “I challenged her in a bet, we got carried away, but we’re all okay.”

  “Jonathan, you weren’t the one behind the wheel.” The storm didn’t drift from raining on her. “How fast were you going?”

  Too shocked to remember. She’d catch her breath and tell him so when every bone in her body stopped quivering.

  “Aaron, if you’re all right I’d like to take Ashley home. We’ll talk about this there.”

  Ashley shook her head and pointed at his car. “Wheel. It’s broken. Sorry.”

  He sighed through a tight jaw and his face flinched. He must be so upset.

  She reached for his arm to check his status. “Jonathan. I’m really sorry. Come sit down. Let me take a look at you, and we’ll figure everything out in a minute.”

  He bypassed her efforts, reached for her body, and they held each other.

  Finally, something secure to hold on to. Remembering their third party jerked her brain and her body from receiving comfort. She looked up to Aaron’s menacing gaze. “I’ll be okay,” she whispered, knowing all kinds of pain would hit her later.

  Neither man took rest or medical attention, though. After cleaning off white airbag powder, and a few minutes of inspecting damage, they confirmed Jonathan’s Bugatti was going nowhere.

  Aaron’s was drivable. He stood and scrubbed road dirt from his trousers after looking under his fender. “I hate that you got mixed up in this, Jonathan, but you’re sure you’re not hurt? Can I give you a lift?”

  They stood in the middle of the unpopulated road and, in concert, all looked over to the Bugatti. “I’ll stay with the car. It shouldn’t take long for my mechanic to get out here with a flatbed. Just take care of Ashley.”

  As Jonathan answered his ringing cell, Aaron swayed close, fixing his focus and cold whisper on her. “Get in.”

  Numbly, she did. Again, he and Jonathan spoke briefly. Then Aaron paced while giving her a minute to talk with Jonathan. She assured him she was okay, more in shock than anything, and apologized profusely for her dumb actions. He spoke softly to her through the open passenger door, and she dropped her head into her hands, feeling the onset of a headache.

  “I’m coming for you tonight,” Jonathan told her, stroking her arm, but she shook her head. She didn’t want him any more involved. And she’d ruined a Bugatti.

  “I ruined your car. How can you be so nice about it?”

  “It stings, but I’ve ruined a lot in my day. I know how it can happen. Racecar driving is a good prep school for this kind of thing. Look, if I wasn’t comfortable with you behind the wheel you wouldn’t have been there. It wasn’t your first time driving, and it’s only the axle.” He kissed her hand covering her cheek. “Ashley, I know Aaron, he’s no golden boy behind the wheel. It’s just the shock talking. Go home. Check on Val. I’m taking you to the hospital later.”

  She tried to smile, positive he’d never seen the Aaron she’d come to know. She couldn’t tell him it was the morgue he’d be driving her to.

  Jonathan closed her door and walked around the car. She stared out at the dirt roadside and heard Aaron’s door slam.

  “Let me get this straight. You abandoned my grandmother for the better part of the day, which made you ignore the speed limit on a commonly traveled road to fake being home so I wouldn’t find out. Oh-h-h, Ashley.” His growled grimace and sinister eyes were accompanied by two raised fists against the steering wheel. He started the engine.

  Tires squealing, Aaron set the car on the road and drove in the direction of the house. From being ignored to being the center of his rage; not the attention she’d had in mind.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Aaron couldn’t hold his peace. Halfway down the road, he pulled to the shoulder and peered at Ashley. One fist balled in her lap, the other’s elbow perched on the closed windowsill as she long-ways gnawed the tip of her thumb.

  His anger didn’t rise as it should. After the maddening week he’d had, she’d set herself up as the unsuspecting victim of his rage, and he waited for the pin to drop to set him off.

  Nothing.

  She’d almost killed three people.

  Nothing?

  A smile tugged his mouth. To look at her, one would call her a pushover, but she had a hard-as-nails core that kept her rigid and bouncing back. He liked that. The core part. He could do without the rigid part.

  “What’s your peeve with cars, Ashley? I—”

  “I don’t want to hear it!” She sprang the latch, slid out, and slammed the door.

  Where does she think she’s going? Aaron watched her figure tromp up the barren road, then he ran out after her.

  “If either one of us had been driving a second faster, we could have ended up like my grandmother.” He hooked her arm and turned her around. “Or worse, the woman driving the pickup
truck. Or, you could have killed Jonathan, did you think about that? Do you think at all? Are you women addicted to danger?”

  “What kind of a snide, chauvinistic remark is that? There are a lot more drunk men on the road than women.”

  What was she talking about? He was referring to her, his grandmother, and the woman who T-boned Val in the middle of an empty intersection. But since Ashley ignorantly generalized the comment, he couldn’t help but fire back, “None of them almost murdered us, did they?”

  Really. If looks could kill... “I’m sick and tired of your word games.”

  She ended with a short gasp, eyes closing. Aaron seized her other shoulder, no longer compelled to prove his point. He flinched with remorse for not taking her condition into consideration.

  “Get your hands off me.”

  “You’re shaking.”

  “Like you care.”

  In her line of work, he imagined she’d grown used to pain, but not from her side of the fence. Physicians never could heal themselves. “Ashley,” he called bluntly.

  She looked at him, giving up some of the fight.

  “I apologize for not checking on your state of mind first, but I am trying to help. Just swallow the bitter pill and accept it.”

  The absolute I-dare-you fire in her eyes captivated him. They were darker than usual. She liked to pretend she didn’t need help from anybody—or from him alone—but what called to him from the glassy orbs went against his better judgment. Dig a little deeper. Go on. Push.

  He wanted under her skin, that tough exterior, to the furnace. That she put out all this energy for him was his inner pyro’s dream.

  “Ashley, let’s get you home. You feel like a leaf in the wind.”

  Her entire body quivered but she didn’t budge.

  “We both need rest so come back to the car. Or is it that difficult to let me help?”

  She struggled for freedom, her unfocused gaze locked somewhere on his collar. “You haven’t lifted a finger to do a sincere thing for me since I set foot in your house, so don’t start now. You’ve proven you have nothing to offer.”

  Aaron watched her try to pry free, letting his eyes roam to her lips reciting all the reasons he shouldn’t help. No makeup, smelling fresh from a shower and lotions... Lucky Jonathan. He had no right to intrude on their relationship, but Aaron wanted to assuage her fears with what he did have to offer.

  He crept his fingers round to the back of her neck to let her know what was coming. The incessant chatter increased in volume. It pleased him that his touch didn’t go unnoticed. Haven’t lifted a finger, huh? Bet if he lifted a finger now she’d miss it down to her toes. Instead, he tightened around the back of her head with a sturdy massage. A small noise escaped her. Other than that, her lips parted and stilled. Perfect.

  He dared her to move as he nipped her bottom lip. She made a small plea when he covered her mouth. Hands flattened against his chest and a hiccup shivered her wild enough for him to feel through his lips. As soon as the sensation passed, he felt the fight leave her for good, her sweet mouth’s eager return.

  The squeal of tires and crumpling metal crashed through his mind, and he relinquished his manners in search for comfort. Far from the tame bathroom encounter, he gave up to instinct, turning his search into a needy, aggressive hunger.

  Deep within her, Ashley had the answer. He was sure of it. And he would find it. She returned his vigor with more force than expected. Aaron widened his stance and narrowed the grip in her hair to gain stable access. She crumpled against him, even in her rebellious strength, as she pushed in to their kiss.

  If he wasn’t careful he’d let this woman ruin his life. She’d already reset the parameters of what he liked. She came out to fight and to play at the right intervals, and didn’t give a clue of what would come next. But it would be good.

  From what he’d learned about her over the course of this week, other attributes of her goodness were confirmed. Reliable, honest, irritating. Safe. Then again… He jerked when one of her hands twisted his shirt collar. The other, her sharp nails a deviant pinch in the back of his neck. …no, she wasn’t safe for him.

  He sealed their mouths. What he wouldn’t give to have her in a private place so he could show her what they could really do for one another. When he breathed gruffly, he caught a faint scent of orchids, positive it differed from two weeks ago. He searched deeper. Her subtle taste of chocolate and strawberries clung to his senses.

  Aaron ran his hands down her sides and eased her closer as he pressed his tongue against her invasion. They fought against, and clung to each other at the same time, but when her body trembled like a wave, he knew it was more than their visceral clawing for the elusive consolation.

  He bore some of her weight but longed to shield her from shaking again. A bear grip might work, but she’d wonder what he was doing. What was he doing? He shouldn’t have kissed her. Aaron raced for a remedy. When women were frightened they liked to be held. Assured.

  His own state of shock set in. That alone explained his hands floating off her giving body; why his dumb, parted lips froze in numb suspension as he contemplated his actions.

  Ashley’s flesh stilled before she slowly shoved away, her eyes round. He stared back. Okay, not the best way to end a kiss. Like he’d been disgusted and couldn’t wait for it to be over.

  “Can’t even get that right.” Her nostrils flared, her breathing uneven. “If you want comfort, find another solace. But don’t you paw me to get off. You disgust me.”

  He supposed ‘I did it for you’ wouldn’t work, but her accusation cut him to the bone. How could someone so mundane strike him like flint, and—fueled like an idiot—he’d want to burn her with the same flame? Seeking his recompense, he stalked forward. “Don’t pretend you didn’t need it. Now let’s go home.”

  Steeled eyes raked him when he held out his hand. Right. He shouldn’t have kissed her, but he certainly didn’t stop because he was too bored to continue. Now she just wasted time. He reached for her hand, but she shifted back. Unapologetic, and without further prompting on his part, he returned to his car and drove home. Alone.

  Aaron ate dinner half aware of what went on around him. It was a quiet affair at one end of the table. On the other, Val. But her cheerful timbre lacked luster. The inhibited personality almost caused him to sulk at the colorful array of food before him.

  She seemed none the wiser that he’d slipped out earlier this afternoon, moments after Jonathan arrived to take Ashley to the hospital.

  “You’re healthy and strong. You’ll be good as new in no time,” his doctor had told him.

  Tell that to this ribcage and shoulder. He rotated the cup, ignored showing his pain, and stared at his plate. Coming down from adrenaline and a thing called Ashley, his bruises were nothing compared to the glances he exchanged with her. He’d practically spewed her out of his mouth this afternoon when he’d ended that kiss.

  No apology could make up for it. He held her gaze as well as their mutual silence while an allergy-suffering Val sniffled at the other end of the table. He woke out of his daze to study his grandmother closely. Something wasn’t right.

  “You two are awfully quiet this evening. I’ve kept up the small talk single-handedly. Ashley, I’m sure there are things on your mind.”

  His attention shifted to the startled face.

  “We never had a chance to finish a conversation. It was awhile ago. Something about...” Val glanced at the ceiling. “...cutbacks and management. Something to do with your father?”

  The delicious Cajun takeout turned to sawdust. Aaron chewed in slow motion, then stopped to subtly spit it into his napkin when Ashley took too long to answer.

  “Just making conversation.” Her smile shook and she flicked him a glance.

  “It seemed important at the time. Aaron deals with people and numbers in his sleep. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind helping you out.”

  She shifted her plate. “He wouldn’t be interested.”
>
  Oh, Ashley. “You’ll find I have a wide range of interests,” he reminded softly. He waited for her to look at him but it didn’t seem like that was going to happen. “I’m happy to hear what sort of work your father is into.”

  Adjusting her dessert spoon, she shrugged. “He was in systems education. His company went under.”

  Information he’d ferreted by other means and wasn’t supposed to know. He’d spin it to make her think he believed it was her mother. Aaron smiled at Val. “I remember something. Never said it was her father. There’s nothing more we can do about that situation. Is there, Ashley?”

  “No. Please excuse me.”

  She stood and threw him another quick glance, and he stood slowly to watch the show.

  “I need to lie down for a while. I’ve had a long day in the sun.” She apologized to Val, who apologized right back for not noticing her fatigue.

  Watching the door, he sat, then avoided Val’s gaze to force down the rest of his food. As soon as permitted, he left her in Janet’s company and escaped to his home office to look over the reports from Toronto. Mrs. McKenny and her family weren’t the only ones with problems.

  Sitting on the edge of his desk, he reviewed the countless ways Uncle Trent DuBois found to finance the northern branch. Money fell through pockets with holes. The largest hole at the top of the list: Sandra McKenny.

  He’d believed her to be the cause of this whole mess. Getting to know Ashley, updates from Kavin, and a private investigator feeding reports on her entire family, convinced him otherwise.

  The outlandish rumors were true. His drunk and drugged up uncle had squirreled and squandered hundreds of millions of Revealing’s money before he died. Any other options for a resolution, and Sandra McKenny wouldn’t be required, Ashley McKenny wouldn’t give him the cold shoulder, and his grandmother—

  He locked the files away and headed for the door. In Ashley’s present weakened state, he needed to act to ensure she didn’t mention one word.