She stiffened upon realizing she was sitting in the bathtub.
A scream ripped from her throat.She yanked her hand from her face and scurried backward out of the tub.Her palms slammed against the closed door while she panted and looked around.
There was nothing amiss.
It wasn’t even a tub.
It was a normal shower.
“What the—” she trailed off, prying herself off the door and approaching the mirror.
Bags were beneath her eyes.Her braids were fuzzy.Her head was throbbing.Last night’s memories were muddled as she tried to make sense of what happened after she got home.
Her attempt was futile.She was left distracted, causing the day to pass by in a haze.Ashari barely listened while Charlie raved about a guy she met at the grocery store last night while shopping for cupcake sprinkles, but she woke up completely after the last kid left, and in walked a person she never expected to see.
Charlie squealed before running toward the man, causing Ashari’s eyes to widen.Charlie threw her arms around him, and he smiled while returning the hug.Breaking the hug, she smiled at Ashari.“Here he is!His name’s Dimitri.”
Ashari quickly regained her composure.She forced a smile while walking toward Dimitri, who watched her through calculated eyes.“Hi!Me hear so much ’bout you already, and unu only meet last night,” Ashari said, glancing at Charlie while offering Dimitri a hand.
Dimitri tightly squeezed her hand as he shook it, forcing Ashari to smile through the pain.“Charlie is amazing.Feel like me know her fi a long time.”
“Plus, we’ve met before!”Charlie announced as they freed hands.“Few days ago deh a waa open house, he was there.It nice fi stumble in a him again.”She smiled at Dimitri before stepping backward.“I’ll be out soon, then we can leave.Me have fi help Ash clean first.”
Dimitri smiled.“No problem.Tek yu time widAsh.”
Ashari returned Dimitri’s fake smile.“Weh unu a go?”
“Another open house,” answered Charlie, who’d already begun cleaning up.
Ashari kept a close eye on Dimitri while they cleaned up.Dimitri ignored her, too engrossed with discussing property taxes with Charlie.Wondering if this was a sick prank, Ashari snuck away to the bathroom.She texted Senior to put a tail on Charlie.She’d hate for a civilian to get caught up in this mess.
Senior didn’t answer, and Ashari scoffed, knowing it’d been a long shot.She exited the bathroom to see Dimitri laugh at Charlie’s complaint about the stresses of purchasing property.Ashari was taken aback.Dimitri was acting nothing like the man she’d researched.
He seemed relaxed.Happy.The opposite of Jediah’s bodyguard.
So, if Dimitri was here, where was Jediah?Ashari’s studies showed that Dimitri rarely, if ever, left Jediah’s side.
Or maybe her research was wrong.Just like she’d heard that Jediah shouldn’t have been able to find out anything about her beyond her cover, yet here she was, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
“Neva realize seh yu come back,” Charlie said before walking over.She hugged Ashari.“Mi will see yu tomorrow.”
“You wan’ me bring you home after you view the property?”Ashari asked.
“Mi will bring her home,” Dimitri said, and Ashari looked at him.He still wore that silly smile on his face, and she wanted to wipe it off.
“Okay,” Ashari forced out before turning her attention to Charlie.“Be safe.See you tomorrow.”
Charlie nodded and exited the building while firing off more questions at Dimitri.Ashari turned the lights off, closed the door, then went to her car.She went home to see Lyssa moving about the kitchen and cooking up a storm.
“Big chef!”Ashari joked, trying to shake the unease Dimitri gave her.
Lyssa smiled over her shoulder.“You’ve been working so hard on this case.You deserve a nice dinner.”
Ashari’s stomach grumbled, and Lyssa chuckled.Ashari smiled, allowing Lyssa’s familiarity to put her at ease.Maybe Charlie and Dimitri were a coincidence, but she couldn’t discuss it with Lyssa.Lyssa would find a way to get jealous, and Ashari couldn’t bother going over the no attachment agreement they’d come to since they’d started messing around while preparing for the case.
“I appreciate it, Lyssa.I’m gonna shower.Be right back,” Ashari said before running to the bathroom.When she returned, the lights were on low, and dinner was plated beside a glass of red.Ashari raised a brow as she sat, staring at Lyssa through the steam rising from the plate of shrimp pasta.
“This isn’t supposed to be romantic,” Lyssa rushed out.“But I know wine makes you wetter, and it’s been a while since…”