Always(Time for Love Book 4)(16)

“Hi,” Ash said, his eyes sweeping her from head to toe. She blushed, hoping Ash liked her outfit. She’d deliberately worn one of her sexiest dresses and matched it with a pair of equally sexy high heels. She’d been looking forward to his reaction.

His gaze went back to her face and he gave her a tight smile. “Ready?” he asked, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“Uh, sure. Let me grab my purse,” she replied, leaving Ash standing in the doorway as she retrieved her handbag.

Well, she wasn’t expecting that response, was she? She’d imagined him telling her she looked great. Then she’d thought he’d kiss her hello—almost on the lips—while giving her a tight, lingering hug. Because wasn’t this what he’d been waiting for for so long?

Yet he hadn’t done any of those things. In fact, he looked uncomfortable. Wasn’t he looking forward to a hot date with her? Doubts crept in, making her question the wisdom of her plans to flirt outrageously with him tonight.

She exhaled gustily and walked back to him, smiling widely.

“Do you have a particular place in mind for dinner?” Ash asked as they left her apartment.

She swallowed her disappointment, keeping her smile in place. How silly of her to assume that Ash would arrange to take her somewhere romantic for their first date. Yes, she should have been the one to book a place. After all, she had done the asking out.

“Actually, no,” she answered. “I’m sure we can find plenty of places to go to without a reservation.”

“What do you feel like having?” he asked.

She shrugged.

“Let’s go to one of your favourite restaurants,” he said. “After all, this is a thank-you dinner for all your hard work today.”

Ouch. So this wasn’t even a date for him.

She forced out a chuckle, not wanting him to see that something was wrong. “Does that mean I get free dinners every night for the next two weeks? I intend to work hard every day, you know.”

Ash laughed. “Sure. It’s the least I can do.”

Darn, maybe her friends had been wrong all along. Maybe all Ash felt for her was an itsy-bitsy crush that he never intended to act on. Or maybe he preferred Sophie.

Unfortunately for her, it was impossible to stop the tidal wave of emotions. Ash was so very easy to fall in love with. All it took was one final flick of a switch and here she was, free-falling.

She breathed deeply, trying to rally herself. She still had a chance, didn’t she? Weren’t these two weeks all about getting him to consider a romantic relationship with her?

She just hoped this sudden ache in her heart would go away soon. It was making her feel weepy—and weepy didn’t go hand in hand with flirtatious.

*****

“Are you doing anything on the weekend, Ash?” Brenna asked as they reached her door after their fourth dinner in a row. “Are you seeing Sophie?”

“No. I’ve no plans to see her,” he responded. “So what do you think of Dora so far, now that you’ve worked with her for four days?”

Brenna repressed a sigh. While it was good news that Ash didn’t have any plans to see Sophie, he was diverting the conversation back to work again. He’d been doing that for the last four nights, and it was frustrating the hell out of her. Worse, he hadn’t responded to any of her flirtations. Either she’d been so subtle that he simply hadn’t noticed, or he’d chosen to ignore them. Regardless, he was keeping his distance.

“I really like Dora,” she answered, unlocking her door. “I think she does a very good job.”

“Yeah, I agree. She’s an asset.”

“Would you like to come in, Ash?” she asked.

“I better not. I’m a bit tired,” he said with an apologetic smile.

“Okay.” She smiled to hide the sadness she felt. He’d also declined all her previous invitations to stay for coffee. “Thanks again for dinner. You know you don’t need to take me out every night.”

“A deal’s a deal, Bren. I promised I would.”

“I could cook for us instead.”

He laughed. “No way. You’re not cooking for me while you’re working for me.”

“You’re making it sound like you’re not paying me for my temp job,” she said, making a face.

“I don’t think I’m paying you enough for what you’re doing, Bren. I think you deserve much more.”

“We’ve already discussed this, Ash. Dora does the payroll, and you can’t have her wonder why I’m not getting paid receptionist rates. I’m only there for two weeks. You don’t want unhappy staff because of me.”

“I know,” he said with a sigh. “That’s why I’ll continue taking you out to dinner until the end of next week.”

She smiled. “Well, I’m not complaining.” Ash might not consider these nights with her as dates, but she did. And she wasn’t giving up this opportunity to spend more time alone with him.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Ash.”

“Goodnight, Bren,” he said, leaning down to kiss her on the cheek.

Well, she’d had enough of this friendly treatment. So she grabbed his face and kissed him on the lips instead. Then she opened her door and went inside, not game enough to see his reaction.