Page 23 of Ashes to Ashes

ChapterNine

Rae

“This whole damselin distress thing isn’t nearly as sexy as it sounds in the books,” Charlotte said into the phone as she also munched on a carrot stick.

I laughed. “What books are you reading? Because I’m not sure hiding out from a deranged killer has eversoundedsexy.”

“I don’t know,” she answered. “Aren’t there a bunch of stories where a strong, handsome prince rescues the wayward princess from the clutches of an evil mastermind?” She sighed, as if she could use her own handsome prince.

“I take it Gage isn’t living up to your fantasies?”

She huffed. “He acts like I don’t even exist. We’ve spent zero time together since we got here. I think he might be avoidingme.

I scribbled a random doodle in my notebook as I stared out the windows at the Sitka spruce that seemed to stretch from here to eternity. “I’m tempted to ask where ‘here’ is, but since you’re not supposed to know where I am, my guess is the same rules apply to your location.”

She chuckled, and then sighed. “Let’s just say the BBQ doesn’t live up to thehype.”

“So either Texas, Tennessee, or North Carolina,” I guessed.

“I sometimes forget how serious you are about yourmeat.”

“You know I never joke about meat,” I told her, picturing Ash as he’d walked from his home gym to the back of the house, his sweat-soaked chest glistening and his muscles rippling with each step he took. “Hot, juicy, mouthwateringmeat.”

As if she could read my mind, Charlotte asked, “Speaking of, how are things going withAsh?

“About the same as you. I already told you what happened in the car on the way to the airport, and then on the plane.”

“You don’t know that he’s slept with her,” Charlotte countered. “I mean, maybe she was just appreciating his fine masculineform.”

“No, she’s slept with him before. A woman doesn’t look at a man like that unless she knows exactly what he’s workingwith.”

“Awkward.”

I nodded, but then remembered she couldn’t see me. I’d been worried what it would be like to be separated from Charlotte, but we talked at least once a day so I hadn’t had a chance to miss her yet. Sometimes I forgot she wasn’t sitting there next to me. “The worst of it is while I’m sitting there wracking my brain trying to remember that night, she’s sizing him up like she can’t wait to repeat the experience.”

“Ugh, I’m sorry.”

I sighed. “It isn’t even that she fucked him too. I can hardly complain about that. I’m just jealous, youknow?”

“And you haven’t talked again? It sounds like you were making headway with each other and for him to just drop it seemsodd.”

“Nope,” I answered. “Like I said, I think he’s avoiding me. He does his morning rounds of the property and then he disappears for hours at a time. He ran into town yesterday to pick up a huge grocery delivery. When he dropped the bags off in the kitchen, he confirmed he’d found the paprika I asked for and that was it. Not another word since.”

She groaned. “I hatethat.”

“Me too,” I sighed. I was so confused about the way Ash behaved toward me now. It was like we were practically strangers. If I was being honest with myself, after our interlude in the SUV and then our conversation on the plane, I thought we’d grown close. Or rather, closer. I hadn’t expected him to treat me like a pariah.

“What are you going to do?” Charlotte asked, snapping another carrot stick between her teeth.

“I guess I’m going to keep doing what I’ve been doing. I need to finish choosing songs for the record, and then I’ll ask him for help. I’m still skeptical he can run the boards, but it is what it is.” I sighed. I hadn’t been looking forward to recording this album in the first place, and having an amateur in charge of the equipment was one additional reason to shelve it until I could do it properly. But no. I’d made a commitment to the label, and after everything else I’d put them through, keeping my word now was paramount. They hadn’t needed to stand by me when my name was dirt, but they had. This was the least I coulddo.

“Worst case scenario is I end up with some demos I can make sense of once I’m back home. The label is giving me a long leash with this one, so that’s a huge relief. I mean, this isn’t exactly what you’d consider ideal working conditions.”

“No, I can’t imagine it is,” Charlotte agreed. “But I have complete faith inyou.”

“Thanks,” I said, closing my notebook. “You’re probably the only one who does, but it still means a lot tome.”

I heard a loud noise in the background and then Charlotte said, “Hey, I gotta go. I’ve got purple dye on my head I need to washout.”

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