Page 98 of Crave Me

With a sigh, I reach for the report I need to read before meeting with my engineers. I skim through it, frowning when something catches my attention on the second page. I cross out the microcontroller Keller chose, subbing it out with the newer model I’ve been researching, that is thinner, lightweight, and the material is stronger.

Someone knocks on my door as I scribble a question in the margins. “Come in,” I say, not bothering to glance up. The wiring the new lab intern suggests appears promising. I make a note to speak with John about hiring her, upon the completion of her doctorate.

“Hello, Evan.”

Ashleigh’s voice stops my pen in place. I remove my glasses and set them on the desk, cocking my head when it occurs to me how much she’s changed. If she hadn’t spoken, I wouldn’t have recognized her straight away.

Instead of her hair pulled up and away from her face, it hovers above her shoulders, held in place by the sunglasses perched on her head. The color is different too, dark yellow in tone rather than the white blonde I was accustomed to.

I only remember Ashleigh in suits, but today she’s in a sundress, the thin straps appearing to dig into her slender shoulders. She’s lost a fair amount of weight, though it’s not her appearance that makes her look softer. It’s her demeanor.

She’s not scowling, and her posture, while straight, isn’t as rigid as it once was, the familiar sense of superiority replaced by a quiet calm I would never expect from her.

“Still working hard, I see,” she says, motioning to the pile of work in front of me.

I don’t’ reply, waiting for her to explain why she’s here. “I, ah, thought I’d have trouble seeing you,” she says. “And I changed my mind about coming here more than once.” She looks around. “I expected you to revoke my clearance, which I assume you have, but you never banned my access into the building.”

“No,” I agree. My human resources and tech supervisors made sure Ashleigh was removed as an employee and that any attempts to take information would be blocked. But while she angered and insulted most of my staff, I never took that extra step to bar her from the premises. I couldn’t ignore the fact that I’d unintentionally hurt her, or that my father had insisted I show women kindness, regardless of how my mother had used and mistreated him.

Not that I miss Ashleigh, or welcome her presence. “What are you doing here?”

“Are you still seeing Wren?” She glances down when my features steel. “I thought you might be.”

I stand, prepared to come to Wren’s defense.

Ashleigh doesn’t go on the attack. At least not as I expect. “I’m here for you, Evan. To caution you,” she says, her palms opening. “She’s not who you think she is.”

“You’re referring to the woman I plan to marry. I warn you, watch what you say.”

Ashleigh’s lips part in shock. She straightens, her voice quivering. “Evan, she’s an amateur porn star—”

“What?” I storm around the desk. “Of all the lies you could spew and your attempts to disparage her, this is what you choose to tell me?”

“It’s true,” she says, angry tears forming in her eyes. She fumbles through her purse and removes a jump drive, holding it out at arms-length. “The link to the site is on here. Take it. You can see for yourself.”

My glare lifts from the jump drive to her face. “For crying out loud, Evan,” she says. “I’m not trying to hurt you. I’m trying to help. The firewall and all the protection you have will detect any virus before it can infect the system. There’s nothing you have to lose by opening it, so look.” Her voice softens as her tears spill from her eyes. “Please. Do this for yourself before you make a mistake that will cost you.”

I’m ready to throw her out, this time the right way, with security escorting her off the premises. Yet everything about Ashleigh is different, reinforcing that at the very least, she believes what she says.

I take the jump drive from hands, not because I trust her, but because I trust Wren. The moment I insert it into my computer, Alfred’s program latches onto it, searching for anything that can harm.

“Alfred status,” I say.

The system opens to a file titled “Evidence”.

“Safe passage, no malware detected,” Alfred says. “Open document and follow link?”

I frown in Ashleigh’s direction. “It’s the only thing on the drive,” she says. “It will show you everything you need to see.”

“Follow link in safe mode,” I say, my annoyance surging and my patience running thin.

“Safe mode initiated, iCronos systems blocked, opening link.”

My computer monitors light up one by one when Alfred reaches “Delicious Divas”. The name alone has me rolling my eyes, my distaste growing as each projects women in multiple positions and locales, their images fuzzy from poorly lit rooms and antiquated lens quality.

My gaze skips over each one. I scoff, wondering why hell I bothered to placate Ashleigh when my eyes fix on the bottom right corner.

“Come on,” the lovely brunette with sparkling eyes teases. “Don’t you want to fuck me?”

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