Teasing you, p.11
Teasing You, page 11
“So what happens now?”
“The fire inspector’s coming out tomorrow to look over the building and we’ll take it from there.” Shifting on his feet, he paused. “You should probably talk with him since you’re certified as an inspector, and I’m guessing that’s your end goal, right?”
He nodded.
His expression looked defeated when he replied, “Things are going to get awkward fast, Reid. You need to be prepared that your girlfriend might be arrested for arson.”
“But…”
“And chances are, people are going to be looking at you too—especially if they try to say that you’re the one who showed her how to do this.”
It was too much for him to even wrap his head around so he simply nodded and went back to finish what he was doing on the engine truck. Luckily his shift was just about over, and he calmly put his stuff away before wishing everyone a good night and leaving.
The entire drive home, he agonized over what he was going to say to Ashlynn. There was no way he could keep this from her. He didn’t want her to be blindsided by the accusations; he wanted her to be prepared.
And he seriously hoped this was all just a major misunderstanding.
As for his own feelings about being implicated…well…he’d just have to wait and see.
When he got to the complex, he contemplated going up to his place and calling her, but when he stopped on her floor, he knew he needed to see her right now. The longer he waited, the worse he felt.
Knocking on her door, he let out a long breath. He just hoped…
“Reid!” she cried happily, dragging him into her apartment. “Guess what? Guess what?”
“Um…what?”
“We got approved for the loan!” she said excitedly. “I’m going to get to open my salon! Isn’t that amazing?”
And then she was in his arms and he was hugging her and for a moment, he was able to forget what he was actually here to talk to her about.
“So…uh…what happens now?” he asked as he slowly disengaged from her and sat down on the sofa.
“We’ll go sign some papers tomorrow and then I guess we get with the landlord to see about getting the building set up for what we need. You saw the place yourself; there wasn’t even any drywall up, so I’d like to get a timeline for when that’s all going to be done. Then we’ll work with…someone, I don’t even know who yet, about designing the layout.” She sat down beside him and was still smiling broadly. “I have so many ideas! Plus, I’ve been going on this site online and looking at chairs and cabinets and stuff, and I can’t wait until we can start ordering!”
“That’s…that’s great, Ash. Really. Good for you.” Reid knew he was smiling, but apparently it wasn’t enough because her smile fell.
“Hey, what’s going on?” she asked. “You look like you’ve got something on your mind.”
“I…” And dammit, he couldn’t do it. This was a big day for her and he didn’t want to ruin it. But when she continued to stare at him, he knew it would potentially be worse if he didn’t say anything and someone beat him to it.
“Reid?”
Reaching over, he took one of her hands in his. “Okay, I have to tell you something,” he began carefully. “Something was…brought to my attention today and I wanted you to hear it from me rather than someone else.”
“You’re kind of scaring me,” she said with a nervous laugh. “What’s going on?”
I hate this…
“Becky put it out there that…that she suspects arson,” he told her. “And she’s pointing the finger at you.”
“What?!” Pulling her hand from his, she looked positively horrified. “Are you serious?”
He nodded.
“But…but…why? How? I mean…nobody believes her, do they?”
“The fire inspector’s coming out tomorrow to investigate.”
“Holy shit! I can’t believe this!” She stood up and began to pace. “Why…I was with you, Reid! You know I didn’t do this, right?”
“I do, Ash, I really do. But…she’s put it out there and it seems like she’s painting a case for you being a disgruntled former employee.”
“But that’s crazy! Everyone knows she’s the one who’s been taunting me! I haven’t been the one initiating anything! You have to tell them that! You have to make them believe you!” she cried.
And then she was crying and he was pulling her into his lap to console her. “I don’t want you to worry. It’s all going to be okay. I’m going to try to get involved and talk to the inspector, but my captain knows we’re dating so I’m not sure how much they’ll let me know.”
That just made her cry harder.
Shit.
“Ash, sweetheart, I’m sorry. I…I hated that I had to tell you this—especially after you got such good news— but I didn’t want anyone coming into the coffee shop and dropping that kind of a bombshell on you.”
He held her close, kissing her cheek and murmuring words of encouragement, but he felt like the world’s biggest villain. He’d ruined her big day and he hated himself for it.
“Do you want me to call someone? Your sisters? Your brother? Just tell me what you want me to do and I’ll do it.”
“I don’t even know,” she said tearfully. “I don’t even know what to think right now. I just…can you just…just hold me. Don’t leave me. Just…I just want to stay right here.”
He nodded. “I’m not going anywhere, Ashlynn. I’ll be right here with you for as long as you need me. I promise.”
“Thank you.”
He held her and gently rocked her until the apartment got dark. His leg was falling asleep and his arm was cramped but there was no way he was going to let her go.
After some time, she finally lifted her head and looked around sleepily. She sniffled and wiped at her face before crawling off of his lap so she could turn on some lights. The pure devastation on her face was almost more than he could bear.
“Ash, I…”
But she held up a hand to stop him. “Thank you for not pushing me to talk and giving me time to just think.” She let out a small breath. “The thing is, I know I didn’t do anything. I had nothing to do with that fire and the inspector is going to discover that too. I haven’t been in the salon in over a week, and there are plenty of people who will vouch for me.” With another sniffle, she walked to the kitchen and came back with two bottles of water, handing him one.
“I hate that this is happening,” he told her.
“Oh, believe me, I do too. But I refuse to let this get me down. I have no idea what caused that fire and that’s all there is to it.”
Her voice got stronger with each word and he could see that she was starting to feel better. Relief washed over him, even though he knew this was far from over, for both of them. If Becky was looking to start a war with Ashlynn, she had succeeded and he greatly doubted she was going to give up easily.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Of course.” When he hesitated, she reached over and rested her hand on his bicep. “The last thing I want is for you to treat me like I’m too fragile or to handle me with kid gloves, Reid. I’m going to need you to help me figure this whole mess out so if there’s something you need to know, then you can’t be afraid to ask.”
He knew she meant that in theory, but he had a feeling the reality was going to be a little trickier to navigate.
“Okay, the biggest question is…why? Why would Becky tell anyone that you’re responsible for the fire?”
“If I had to take a guess it would be to shift the blame off of herself,” Ashlynn told him calmly.
“Now that opens a whole other can of worms, Ash! You’re saying that she burned her own business down? Why?”
“Because she’s a psycho, Reid! How the hell should I know? It seems obvious to me that if this were really a freak accident, why say anything at all? Insurance would cover it! But if her initial reaction was to start pointing fingers, I’d sure as hell be curious to know why and not just take her word for it.”
“No one’s taking her word for it,” he said slowly. “But they do have to investigate it.”
“Good,” she said defiantly. “Then they’ll see that she lied and then I’ll sue her for slander!” When she stormed out of the room, he hung his head.
This is going to get messy…
He waited for a solid five minutes. When she didn’t come back out to the living room, he went to the bedroom to try to calm her down.
And froze in the doorway.
She was naked except for a thong and was bent over pulling some other article of clothing out of her dresser.
It was wrong to be turned on, but…Ashlynn had a spectacular ass, and right now, he needed to touch her.
Walking up behind her, Reid put his hands on her hips and slowly began to grind against her. She let out a low moan of approval.
“Tell me to stop,” he said gruffly.
She was still bent over but she shook her head. “Don’t. Don’t stop. More…”
With a low grunt, his hand gripped her a little harder as he pulled her more firmly against him, and he wished he weren’t still in his uniform. “You like that?” he asked.
“Mmm…I do,” she purred, arching her back. “Take your pants off.”
“Great minds,” he said and reluctantly released her. Taking a step back, he kicked off his boots as he unbuckled his belt. Ashlynn straightened and faced him, bracing her hands behind her on her dresser. She was breathless, her hair was a long, wavy mess, and her breasts looked spectacular. “You make me so hard, Ash. You look like my every damn fantasy right now.”
She licked her lips and smiled seductively at him. “When I got home earlier, I was thinking about you coming in here in your fire gear and throwing me on the bed.”
Moving in close, he lifted her and did just that before crawling up onto the mattress and pulling his shirt off. “I know it’s not my gear but…”
Her smile was everything. “That was perfect,” she panted. “But seriously, take your pants off.”
“I’m on it…”
It was a little awkward and clumsy, but he finally got them off and kicked them off the bed before settling between her thighs. “I like the thong.”
She blushed. “Thanks. I was going to surprise you with it later.”
“I’m glad I walked in when I did,” he said before lowering his head and sucking her nipple into his mouth. “You taste so good…”
“Reid,” she whispered, “I need you…please…”
Rearing up, he looked down at her. “You have me, Ash. Always.”
And he’d never meant anything more in his life.
Chapter Eight
“Why would she do that?” Chloe cried the following night. “How can we stop her from spreading lies like that? It’s just mean!” She shook her fork for emphasis. “And I hate mean people!”
“Me too.”
“It’s like…she’s mean just for the sake of…of…being mean!”
“Oh, I agree.”
“Although, Becky’s always been a bit of a mean girl,” she went on. “A mean girl who is just…”
“Mean?”
Her sister groaned. “It’s not fair.”
“Yeah, I know. Believe me,” Ash said dryly as she stabbed a dumpling with her fork. “I’m seriously just trying to lay low. I had to tell Jade that I couldn’t work at the coffee shop because I’m kind of scared of someone coming in and spewing lies and making things awkward.”
“Seems to me someone’s already spewing lies.” Chloe let out a tiny growl that was supposed to be fierce, but ended up sounding cute. “Ugh…I can’t even sound tough. I’m the worst.”
“No, you’re not. I knew exactly what you were going for and I appreciate it.” Ashlynn sighed. “I just hate this. It was a great day yesterday and then it all fell apart. It’s like she did it on purpose.”
“Well, it’s quite possible that she did. After all, didn’t you say that she found out about you trying to open a salon from someone at the bank?”
Ashlynn shrugged. “I can’t prove it was someone at the bank specifically, but someone clearly told her.”
“Ash, think about it. The same day that you get your loan, she starts making these accusations?”
If she allowed herself to obsess over it, there wasn’t a doubt that she’d come up with dozens of conspiracy theories on the whole damn thing. With a sigh, she shook her head. “I think it’s just a dumb coincidence. She made the comment to the captain of the fire squad right after the fire, so…”
“Gotcha. So yeah, just crappy timing.”
“Exactly.”
They ate in silence for a moment, before Chloe put her fork down. “Okay, I feel like we need to lighten the mood here. No more thinking about all the negative stuff…”
“That’s not going to make it go away, Chlo.”
“I know, but I think that maybe we should focus on something good and happy and light.” She leaned in close. “Talk to me about Reid! How’s that going?”
Ashlynn couldn’t have stopped the grin even if she tried. Just thinking about Reid was enough to make her feel better—happy.
“Uh-oh…things are serious, huh?”
Her smile fell a little. “What do you mean? Why uh-oh? I would think things being serious would be a good thing.”
Chloe’s shoulders sagged a bit as she let out a loud sigh. “I’m going to say something, and you’re not allowed to get mad.”
“I’m not…you can’t say something like that! That tells me you’re going to say something that’s going to make me mad!”
But rather than argue, her twin simply sat there and calmly looked at her.
“Fine,” Ashlynn huffed. “Just say what you’re going to say.”
“And you won’t get mad?”
“Chloe…”
“It’s just…” She paused and sighed again. “You’ve gotten to this point in relationships in the past, and then you…you know…sabotage it.”
Her initial reaction was to get mad, but…her sister was right.
“I know.”
“You can’t deny it, so…wait. Did you just agree with me?”
Nodding, Ashlynn replied, “I did. You’re right and…I realized that about myself recently and I’m trying to be a little more aware of my behavior so that I don’t ruin this. I really like Reid…like, really, really like him.”
“Aww…” Both of Chloe’s hands covered her heart. “I love that! And he seems really nice.” She nodded enthusiastically. “Of course, he was very nice back in high school too, but then he did that whole horrible thing—according to you, anyway—and I had to treat him like he was the bad guy.”
The fork dropped out of Ashlynn’s hand. “What’s that supposed to mean? According to me. What the hell?”
“Again…you’re not allowed to get mad.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake…”
The frown and look of disapproval spoke volumes. “Ugh, why do you have to resort to that kind of language, huh? Why is your go-to reaction to be mad all the time?”
“Because it just is! And you should know that since you’re my freaking other half, Chlo! This is just who I am! I didn’t choose it and I don’t know how to change it, okay? And you…you are my safety net, my safe place, and when you start giving me crap, it hurts more than anything else!” She jumped to her feet and stormed out of the room and went right to her bedroom, slamming the door behind her.
She could barely see through the tears as she collapsed onto the bed and curled up in the fetal position. She could handle people around town talking shit about her, and she could handle it when Billie or Levi did it. But when Chloe—the person who gave everyone the benefit of the doubt—starts picking on her? Yeah, that hurt.
A lot.
The room was dark, but she didn’t care.
So was her mood.
But when a sliver of light appeared, she knew her sister was coming in. It was on the tip of her tongue to tell her to leave and that she didn’t want to talk, but…she couldn’t do it. Being mean or spiteful to Chloe was something she never did.
Ever.
The mattress dipped and Chloe snuggled up behind her and hugged her. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “Sometimes I forget that even though you come off like nothing bothers you to the rest of the world, that you have a soft heart and things do hurt you. And I’m sorry that I’m the one that did it.”
Ashlynn took a moment to collect her thoughts and try to stop the tears from falling. “I hate that you think those things about me,” she said quietly. “I didn’t realize…”
“Hey, don’t, okay? I love who you are. You’re fierce and strong and flawed.” She hugged her a little tighter. “And it’s okay to be flawed, Ash. We all are.”
“I know I’m flawed, but it was the look on your face that got me. Like…like you looked at me as if you really didn’t…well…like me. And it hurt.”
Behind her, Chloe nodded. “In that moment, I didn’t. Sometimes I don’t get why you react the way you do, but sometimes you accuse me of the same thing. We don’t have to be the same or have the same emotions, but we do have to love and respect each other. I’m sorry if it didn’t come across that way.”
Shifting slightly, Ashlynn rolled over so she could face her sister. They used to do this sort of thing when they were growing up. At night, when they were supposed to be sleeping, Chloe would come and crawl into her bed and they’d talk under the blankets, especially when one of them was upset. It was something that started after their father left, and apparently it never stopped.
“I’m glad we’re not doing this under a blanket tent,” she said with a small smile. “Thank you for being the bigger person and coming in to check on me.”
“Always, Ash.” They both grew quiet.
“Are you going to tell me what you meant before? You know, the whole ‘according to me’ comment?”
Chloe’s lips twitched. “I just meant that sometimes you don’t always look at situations the way they really happen. You react, normally with anger or some other strong emotion, and you refuse to look at it in any other way.”
