“Stop. No more. You’ll make our working relationship uncomfortable if you continue in this vein. Robert and I are colleagues, and that is all we’ll ever be.” She cast him a quick glance, her gaze bouncing away when it connected to his. “Blame it on my brother and his rugby-playing mates, but I favor more intellectual men. I dated men of my brother’s ilk, but they grunted, and that does not a conversation make.”
“Interesting,” Josh teased. “Who knows of your preference for intellectuals?”
“My family. My close friends.”
“Why haven’t I met your friends or heard you discuss them? I need names so I can check them out.”
“Josh! No, I won’t have you investigating my friends.”
“Ashley.” Josh strove for patience. He got it. He did, but couldn’t she see that the nuisance notes had increased in frequency? Someone had broken into her home. Hell, he hadn’t informed her of the dummy wearing her underwear yet.
Maybe he should. He hesitated, not wanting to spoil her day more than he had already when she was on such a high. Then, he remembered Frog—his demand to watch his sister. He had to keep Ashley apprised of what was happening. This was her life.
“When Louie installed the alarm, he had to leave for an hour. When he returned, someone had left a dummy by your mailbox. They’d dressed it in your missing lingerie, and the person who’d left it had cut off the dummy’s head. The severed head lay a few feet from the dummy.”
“That’s sick.” Ashley swallowed hard. “Why would someone do that to me? What could I have done to attract this attack?”
Josh reached over to grasp her hand. He squeezed it before returning his grip to the steering wheel. “Don’t worry. We’ll find whoever is doing this to you. Each time they do something, they’re leaving clues. All we need to do is put them together and see where they point.”
“You make it sound easy.”
“Don’t worry. You’re safe with me here.” He’d make sure of it, and tomorrow, he intended to demand she received protection from the cops. If he told them everything, they’d change from their previous stance, especially now that she’d be more prominent as the leader of the opposition.
Once Josh turned off the motorway, the streets were quieter with less traffic. Ten minutes later, he pulled into Ashley’s driveway. The extra security light he’d asked Louie to install along with the alarm bathed the side of Ashley’s house with brightness.
“Oh! That’s brilliant. I’ve meant to get a security light in that spot for ages. Matt told me I should have one there.”
“Now you do,” Josh said. “Wait here while I check out the house.”
“Don’t treat me like a child,” Ashley snapped. “I’ll stay behind you and keep my wits alert, but I will not quiver in a corner. I refuse to give this person power over me.”
Josh had seen her fear, and he mentally cheered her bravery. “Come on then. Let’s get our bags so we don’t need to make more than one trip. Then you can get on with your work while I cook something for dinner.”
“I can cook.”
“I’m sure you can, but why don’t I do it, so you don’t have to work late into the night? You have a heap of meetings and public speaking gigs scheduled. You need your rest, so take my offer and hit the ground running.”
“Thank you, Josh.” With that, she exited the car and grabbed her handbag, laptop bag, and one piece of luggage.
He followed her. “I’m only behaving like a fiancé.”
“Huh!” Ashley snorted. “Most of my past boyfriends expected me to wait on them. Another bad quality of brawny, grunting men.”
“Hey.” Josh prodded his broad chest and bulky biceps and narrowed his eyes at her. “I don’t grunt. I’ve known lazy intellects too.”
“You don’t grunt.” Ashley’s chin dipped, but not before he’d glimpsed her far-away, almost wistful expression. “Your admirable qualities far outweigh your cons. It’s a pity this engagement is fake because I’m starting to enjoy your company very much.”
Stupid. Stupid.Stupid.Ashley castigated herself as she followed Josh to the rear of her house. A second security light lit the yard, and no one lurked where they shouldn’t.
Josh unlocked the door and reached around to get the passage light.
Ashley held her breath until she saw everything was as she’d left it. Her breath eased out with relief. She hated the teetering-on-eggshells sensation that stalked her. That was the reason for her proposing to Josh earlier. Plus the euphoric remnants of joy from learning she was the one the party deemed suitable to lead them to victory at the election.
Yes, the two moods combined and had her mouth motoring out of control.
Matt had warned her Josh was a player who never settled with one lady. Matt had also told her he’d trust Josh with his life, and he presented the best solution to keeping her safe and on track to obtain her goals.
Her brother’s warning had slipped away in the wake of the kisses and sleeping in the same bed. Heck, a woman just had to look at Josh before she was aching to test those hard muscles beneath her fingertips. Being the recipient of his charming smiles and cheeky winks turned her to mush. She defied any red-blooded woman not to experience the same reaction. On top of that, he could hold an intelligent conversation, he was supportive of her work even if he didn’t agree with her party’s policies, and the man was plain nice. He was respectful, charming, and insightful.
