Page 27 of Dirty Desires
They were good friends; I had to admit that. But they weren’t thinking things through. “This isn’t healthy for Ashton, you guys. Being all alone, all the time, isn’t good for a person. And leaving your friend alone, just because he thinks that’s what he wants, is okay, but only for a short amount of time. It’s Friday. It’s been an entire week. That man has come in early every day to get into his office before anyone can see him. He leaves later than everyone else for the same reason.”
Duke shrugged. “Maybe it was the black eye at first.”
Artimus frowned at him. “Whatever it was, if he wanted anyone to know, he would’ve said something. He hasn’t said a thing, so neither should we.”
Man, these guys are tight-lipped!
“While I’m stoked to see you two are truly Ashton’s friends, if you really want to help him then you’ve got to do something to get him out of this funk he’s in. Look, if he’s second-guessing whatever happened between me and him last weekend, I can understand that. I’ve never pushed him, and I never will. He deserves to know that, doesn’t he?”
Duke nodded. “Yeah.”
“I just need him to get out of his office for even a few minutes. If I see him, then I know he’ll talk to me, and we can set things straight.” Looking at Artimus, I implored him, “Can’t you get him out of that office for some reason today?”
With a deep sigh, Artimus nodded. “Yes, I think I can. I’ll ask him to come up to see me. Give me a half hour. You’ll have two chances to see him then. One when he’s coming up and one when he’s going back down. That’s about all I can do for you, Nina.”
With a nod, I had what I wanted and got up to leave. “Thank you. Once we talk, he’ll come out of this funk. You’ll see.”
I went down to my office and waited to catch Ashton walking down the hallway, right past my open door. There was no other way to get to the elevator.
Pretending to be typing away on my laptop, I made sure to keep my eyes locked on the hallway. And sure enough, Ashton walked by. And he walked by so quickly, not even turning his head the slightest bit in my direction, that it shocked me.
My chance had come, and I bolted out of my chair. As soon as I was in the hallway, I shouted out after him, “Ashton!”
He stopped, his body stiff, but he didn’t turn around. “I’m in a hurry.” He began walking again, as if that would be enough to stop me.
He was wrong. I hurried to catch up to him before he could get on that elevator. “Ashton, just wait a minute.” I got close enough to put my hand on his shoulder. “Please.”
Stopping once again, he didn’t turn around to look at me. “What?”
I got in front of him, so he didn’t have any choice but to look at me. “What the hell have you been doing all week?”
“Working.” He cut his eyes to the side, avoiding me still.
“You’ve never worked this way before. So why are you being so reclusive now?” I asked him, and then put my hand on his chin to force his face to mine. His eye was no longer black. There was no evidence of the injury he’d sustained from the volleyball accident at all. “Your eye looks like it’s back to normal. You look like yourself again. Handsome as ever. Come on, Ashton. Just be honest with me. What’s wrong?”
When he finally looked into my eyes, my heart froze. There was so much sadness behind them. It tore at my heart to see that sadness again. “You wouldn’t understand.”
“Try me.”
He shook his head. “I don’t want to.”
I was perplexed. I had no idea what the hell to say to the man. But I came up with something. “Please.” It was all I could think to do. Appeal to his caring nature. At least the one he used to have.
With another shake of his head he tried to walk around me. “I’ve got to go.”
“To your meeting with Artimus?” I asked as I caught him by the arm to stop him.
Now his eyes narrowed at me. “How do you know about that?”
“Because I asked him to get you out of your office, so I would have a chance to see you. To talk to you. So there’s no need to rush. He won’t be freaking out when you don’t come up to see him. He’ll know I got to you.” I smiled at him to let him know I wasn’t going to be a bitch about whatever rejection I was sure would be coming my way. “Come on; we need to talk. I won’t be mad about anything you have to say to me. Even if it’s something I don’t want to hear. I promise.”
The way his face turned red told me he was less than pleased about my little plan with Artimus. “What the hell, Nina? You went behind my back—bothered my friends, not to mention my boss, and for what? I have my own reasons for staying in my office.”
“And they are?” I asked.
He jerked his arm out of my hand then headed back to his office. “To stay away from you!”
Stunned, I stood there, watching him storm away from me.
What did I do to deserve that?
