Font Size:  

Ashley’s hand, which had still clung to the steering wheel, reached out to clutch his arm. “Let’s not argue,” she implored. “It’s time to stop this fighting before it gets to the point where it can’t be stopped.”

For a breathless instant, there was silence. Snowflakes gathered on the windshield, providing a protective curtain from the rest of the world. His eyes searched the innocent wisdom in her gaze.

“Why did I ever let you go?” he asked himself, his blue eyes filled with dark self-mockery.

She swallowed against the dryness in her throat as, slowly, he lowered his head and his lips brushed tenderly against hers. How long had she waited for this moment? She sighed and one hand slid beneath his jacket to touch him gently on the neck. Old emotions, long dormant, began to assail the most intimate parts of her. His kiss was flavored with the hint of Scotch and reminded her of a time, somewhere in the distant past of her carefree youth, when they had made love in a fragrant field of clover.

“I’ve missed you,” he whispered as he reluctantly pulled his lips from hers. “Dear God, Ashley, I’ve missed you.” His strong arms held her close to him and he buried his face in the thick ebony strands of her hair. “Stay with me.”

A sob, filled with the raw ache of eight forgotten years, broke from her lips. The warmth and protection of his embrace was all she had ever wanted. She leaned her forehead against his neck and she closed her eyes against the feelings ripping her apart. She had vowed never to let this man touch her again and yet she couldn’t let go.

She could hear the sound of his heartbeat, feel the warmth of his breath as it whispered in her hair. Her heart wrenched painfully as she remembered how brutally he had thrust her out of his life and she knew that she could never trust him again.

“I . . . I have to go,” she stated, her voice quaking with the small lie. She couldn’t allow her vulnerability for Trevor to overcome her common sense.

“Why?”

“I have things I’ve got to accomplish.”

“Such as?”

“Such as start looking through the company books. At your request.”

Gently he released her. His lips were pulled into a thoughtful line of disbelief. “That’s just an excuse, Ashley. You’re afraid of me, aren’t you?”

She let out a ragged breath. “No, Trevor, I’m not afraid of you, as a man or as a senator. But I am afraid of what becoming involved with you might mean.”

“I don’t understand.”

She avoided his gaze and stared out the partially covered windshield. “I’ve worked a long time to become an independent woman. All my life I’ve had some man telling me what to do. First Dad, then you and finally Richard.”

At the mention of her ex-husband’s name, Trevor’s muscles tightened. “I don’t want to get involved with a man for a while,” she murmured. “Not until I’m certain that I can stand on my own two feet.”

“Haven’t you been doing that?”

She nodded. “For several years. But now I have to prove myself—to myself.”

“With the timber company,” he guessed. “The last thing I would have expected from you, Ashley, is that you would turn into a latent feminist.” He raked frustrated fingers through his chestnut-colored hair. “I thought you liked living in the lap of luxury.”

She turned her mysterious eyes back on him. “There are a lot of things you don’t know about me,” Ashley suggested, smiling wistfully. “Maybe someday we’ll talk about them. But . . . right now, I need time, Trevor. Time to think about you and me, about what we meant to each other and about everything that has happened between your family and mine.”

He frowned, his dark brows blunted in vexation, but he seemed to accept what she said. “This is your decision, Ashley,” Trevor reminded her. Then, with more dexterity than she thought him capable of, he opened the door of the Jeep, climbed out of the vehicle and walked, head bent, toward the front door. As he opened the door to the rustic Lambert home, he turned toward her. Ashley imagined that he was inviting her inside. She swallowed against the ache in her throat at the sight of him standing in the snow.

Somehow Ashley managed a weak wave before she put the Jeep in reverse, released the brake and headed back to her cabin. The picture of Trevor standing on the small porch in the darkness, with snowflakes clinging to his wavy chestnut hair, stayed with her on the short trip home.

Once back in her own cabin, she brushed the snow off her shoulders, hung the jacket on the hall tree and hurried into the den. After checking her watch and contemplating the wisdom of her actions, she dialed the number of John Ellis, accountant for Stephens Timber Corporation.

The young accountant answered on the third ring. “John, this is Ashley. I know it’s late, but I need a favor.”

“Anything,” was the congenial reply.

“Can you send me a copy of all transactions that have occurr

ed at the company for the last eight months?”

There was a weighty pause on the other end of the line. “What do you mean by ‘all the transactions’?”

“I mean everything—general ledger, checkbook, computer entries, expenses, payroll, the works.”

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
Articles you may like