After a few minutes, his blood pressure had finally reverted to the more normal range, and he exhaled a sigh of relief. It took a lot to get Alex riled up, but today everything seemed to be stacking up against him. Even the thought of seeing Ashleigh was getting him worked up but for an entirely different reason.
Alex exited the truck, glancing at Ashleigh’s Tahoe parked in the driveway. At least she was home. It would have been the perfect end to a shitty day for him to have driven all the way there to find out she wasn’t.
When he made it to the front door, he rapped his knuckles on the wood, pacing back and forth in front of the door while he waited. A good minute later, he figured she wasn’t going to answer. Thrusting his hands in his pockets, he stood on the porch for a minute, wondering where the hell she might’ve gone.
Glancing around toward the side of the house as he walked back to his truck, he stopped. It was worth a shot.
Alex turned the corner and saw Ashleigh sitting at a table on her back deck, her fingers flying furiously over the keys on her laptop. For a brief moment, he just watched her.
She was breathtaking. Her hair was piled on top of her head in a clip, and from where he stood, it didn’t look like she was wearing makeup, which made sense because she was still in her pajamas. He couldn’t ever remember a time when he was still in his pajamas at three o’clock in the afternoon.
“Hey,” he called out, not wanting her to see him standing there staring at her.
Ok, so maybe he startled her. There was a little squeak, a little jump, and now she was staring back at him with her hand clutched over her heart.
“What the hell are you doing?” She asked, obviously not shocked for long.
He grinned. “I could ask you the very same question.”
Alex made his way up the steps, his eyes glued to the woman standing before him, dressed as though she had just crawled out of bed. He’d like to drag her back there.
“What are you doing here?” She rephrased her question, her hands now on her hips.
“Bored.” He lied, but smiled as he said it.
“I find that hard to believe. Dylan said you guys are busy, so I know that’s not it.”
“Ok, I just wanted to see you. That better?”
The smoldering look in her eyes told him that she definitely liked the answer, but he was willing to bet she wasn’t going to verbally agree.
“What are you writing?” He asked, glancing down at the computer that sat on the table between them.
Ashleigh glanced down, her eyes wide before she slammed the lid closed. Obviously she didn’t want him to see what she was writing. If he had to guess, she wasn’t writing about horses and owls like she’d told him before. He grinned again.
No, he grinned still. Since the moment he laid eyes on her, he’d had a permanent smile on his face.
“Nothing.” She covered quickly, looking slightly embarrassed.
“Nothing, huh?” He was tempted to grab the computer, just to see what she’d do. He knew about her pen name, he knew exactly what she was writing about, even if she wouldn’t admit it.
But, he wasn’t in the mood to get slapped at the moment. Ashleigh wouldn’t take too kindly to him intruding on her personal space, so he kept his hands in his pockets.
“Well, since you aren’t working,” he made a point to look back down at the laptop, then back up at her, “I was thinking we could do something.”
“Something?” The skeptical look in her eye had him biting back another grin.
“Sure.” He said, closing the distance between them. “What else you got on that list?”
Ashleigh surprised him when she didn’t take a step back, allowing him to stand close enough to inhale her fragrant scent. She smelled like vanilla and sunshine. It should’ve been outlawed in all fifty states. It was that damn good.
“I’m thinking... swimming.” Because he wanted to see her in a damn bathing suit. Or nude would be fine with him. Either way.
“Swimming?”
Was it him or was she tongue tied? She wasn’t smiling, but nor was she frowning. She looked confused.
“Yes, you know, water... pool. It’s heated and it’s nice out.” And you would be in a damn bathing suit which would be hot as hell in itself.
“Ok.”
He cocked his eyebrow, staring down at her suspiciously. Sure, he definitely liked the idea of getting Ashleigh wet – in more ways than one – but he got the distinct impression she was up to something. His Ashleigh would’ve come up with an excuse to make him leave. Instead of questioning her, because he wasn’t an idiot, he slid the back of his finger down her smooth cheek. “Ok, then. Go get your stuff and I’ll wait right here.”