Chapter187
Meru
Ashley cleaned up and prepared to shower. Chase and Sam hadn’t closed the door. Thinking Chase wouldn’t be back, she went to close it, only to run into him returning. She stepped aside, assuming he was getting something. His luggage was here. But he closed the door behind him–clearly planning to stay.
Ashley froze. Before she could speak, he walked past her into the room. She caught the faint scent of Tanya’s perfume on him. And… there was a faint lipstick mark on the collar of his pajamas. He’d just showered and changed; the scent and mark were fresh. She’d thought his lips looked a bìt red earlier, assuming it was a trick of the light. Apparently not.
He sat on the bed. He was staying. This was unexpected. But with Grandma’s spies around, it made sense that he wouldn’t be with Tanya. Tanya coming to look for him meant she didn’t trust him to be alone with Ashley. She was worried something might happen. Considering the a passionate kiss after leaving. perfume and the lipstick, they’d likely shared
Ashley stopped thinking.
Half an hour later, when she emerged from the shower, Chase was reading a book–one of hers. Her face fell; she disliked his presumption. Just as she was about to speak, he looked up. Noticing her expression, he said, “Do you mind?”
She did mind, but the book didn’t contain any sensitive company information beyond her personal annotations, so she calmed down.“A little.”
- 4.
