Dream Girl

Chapter Thirteen

Ashlyn's job interview Monday morning went surprisingly well, considering how distracted she'd been the last few days. When she wasn't thinking about Zach and his hands and his kisses, she was feeling guilty about her screw-up and trying to decide what to do. No—she knew what she had to do, she just didn't know when to do it. No, that wasn't right either. She knew she should do it now. She just couldn't bring herself to.

For one thing, she dreaded her father finding out. He would be pissed off. Majorly pissed off. But even more, she dreaded Zach learning the truth. Maybe if she just put it off a little longer, they could get to know each other better. She would break him into the idea of what she did in her part-time job, and it wouldn't be such a shock when he found out about the totally innocent mistake. She sighed. No. Now.

During a break between classes, Ashlyn phoned Farrell Investigations and spoke to Brenda. “I need Jessica Montgomery's number."

"Why?"

"I just do,” Ashlyn said.

There was a short pause before Brenda said, “Okay, I guess it's all right."

Ashlyn heard keys clicking on the keyboard and then Brenda said, “Home or office?"

"Both.” She jotted the numbers down and ended the call. She took a deep breath in and out; then she determinedly punched in Jessica's home phone number. As she'd expected, there was no answer, and voicemail picked up. She disconnected, not wanting to leave a message. Then she called the business number.

"Ambience Design.” A woman answered the phone.

"Could I speak to Jessica Montgomery, please?” Ashlyn closed her eyes, her stomach tight.

"I'm sorry, she's out of town. Can I take a message?"

"When will she be back?"

"She'll be back in the office next Monday. A week from today."

Shit.

"Is there any way I can reach her?” Ashlyn asked a little desperately.

"No, I'm sorry.” The woman's voice was polite but firm.

"I'm a friend of hers,” she tried. There was a pause.

"I'm sorry, she's gone on vacation, and she said she didn't want any calls."

Ashlyn sighed. “Okay. Thank you. I'll call back next week."

She went to her next class, adrenaline still pulsing in her veins, and she couldn't sit still. Relief expanded in her like a balloon, though she knew she still had to talk to Jessica, and she dreaded the thought of waiting another week. What else could she do? But there was also a happy little flutter inside her—for now, she could keep seeing Zach.

Later, she got a call from Brenda about another job, and she arranged to meet with the wife the next evening.

Zach called her that night. Talking to him was almost as much fun as being with him.

"Hey,” he said softly. “How was your day?"

"Um ... okay,” she answered nervously, trying to keep her voice steady.

"I had a hard time not thinking about you all day,” he confessed, his voice low and warm.

"Really?” Her body went soft and needy.

"Oh yeah. So have you learned anything from that computer stuff you did?"

"Oh. No.” She sank into a chair and rubbed her face. “I haven't had time to do anything. I was going to start tonight."

"Okay,” he said cheerfully. “I don't really understand it, but I'll let you do your job."

"Like I don't really understand beer and yeast,” she teased. “You were very impressive yesterday."

"Really?” His voice deepened. “That's good. How so?"

"You're so smart,” she said softly. “You know so much. And your brewery is huge."

"What did you expect? Me stirring a couple of five-gallon plastic pails of brew?"

She laughed. “I don't know. It was just ... impressive."

He laughed too. “You can show me how impressed you are the next time I see you. When will that be, by the way?"

"I'm ... not sure...” Where were they going with this? And was there any point? The truth would come out some time. It would be such a relief to just confess and get it over with, instead of having this weighty burden on her conscience. But she couldn't. She sighed.

"Tomorrow I'm busy with stuff for the Pooch Picnic,” Zach said. “Maybe Wednesday night?"

"Maybe,” she answered, not sure about this new job she'd just gotten.

"Okay.” He sounded disappointed. “I'll call you anyway. Maybe later in the week we'll get together."

"Okay."

She hung up, her mind a jumble of relief, confusion and guilt. She was playing a risky game here. Why was she doing this?

Zach hadn't seen Ashlyn since Sunday. He needed to see her. A run on the beach with Rocky hadn't been enough to burn off the restless energy.

He decided to drive over to her place and see what she was doing. Probably homework. Or maybe looking at the hard drives she'd copied and doing whatever she did to investigate them. Man, for a hot blonde, she must have a brain like Einstein to do what she did.

He rang the doorbell and waited. To his shock, a guy answered the door. Zach eyed him. Who the hell was this?

"Uh ... is Ashlyn home?” he asked.

The guy stared balefully back at him from behind butt-ugly black glasses. “You're Zach, aren't you?"

"Yup.” He waited. “Uh ... Ashlyn?"

The man scowled but let him in. “Yeah, she's home, but she's just going out."

"Oh.” Damn. He hadn't expected she'd be going out.

"Ashlyn!"

Zach eyed him. The guy wasn't as tall as Zach, kind of stocky, with sandy hair.

"What?” Her voice came from behind her closed bedroom door.

"You have a visitor."

The door opened, and Ashlyn came out.

Both men's jaws practically bounced off the floor.