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.

Chapter Fourteen

A black leather bustier plumped Ashlyn's breasts up and out, and a miniscule pair of black leather shorts exposed sleek legs made even longer by spike-heeled sandals.

"Jesus Christ,” Zach said under his breath as he nearly went into cardiac arrest. He glanced over at the other man and saw the look on his face. This guy, whoever he was, was hot for Ashlyn, too.

Zach's eyes returned to her. He wanted to throw a blanket over her.

She stopped in the hall, her mouth a round O of astonishment.

"Zach!” She let out a breathless little laugh. “What are you doing here?"

He wasn't sure if he actually had the ability to speak; he opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before words came out. “I just stopped by to see you. I wanted to see you."

"Uh. Well ... um..."

"Where are you going, Ashlyn?” he asked softly, regaining his wits somewhat.

She looked at him in silence, clearly debating what to say. “Work?” she said weakly.

He shook his head. “You apparently have a job you haven't told me about."

He felt pressure building inside him. What the hell was going on here?

"It's not what you think."

"Maybe you could tell me what it is, then,” he suggested, his voice very soft, very controlled.

The other guy just stood watching all this, and Zach glared at him. He glared back.

Ashlyn noticed. “Uh. Zach, this is my roommate, Ben. Ben, this is Zach.” She waved a hand.

"I figured,” Ben said darkly, making no move to shake hands.

Oh. Roommate. Okay, so she had a male roommate. That was no big deal. Except this Ben looked pretty possessive of her.

"Come to my room,” Ashlyn said with resignation.

Zach followed her down the hall and into her bedroom. It was neat and tidy, except for a pile of clothes on a chair in the corner. A plain blue comforter covered the twin bed, and a desk with computer equipment occupied one whole wall. That kind of boggled his mind.

He shook his head and turned to her.

Blood pooled in his groin as he looked at her. The bustier pushed up her full, plump breasts, to the point that he was amazed her nipples weren't popping out. He dragged his eyes from her chest down to those legs. Sweet Jesus, her butt cheeks were showing, the shorts were so tiny.

Her hair hung silky and straight. But her face—holy shit. She had all this dark stuff around her eyes that made her look a little slutty, and her shiny red lips looked ready to be fucked.

"You have a job as a hooker?” he asked sharply, angry at the arousal he felt looking at her.

"Zach,” she said calmly. “Of course not."

"Then what the hell?” he asked, gesturing. “Or are you going out on a date?"

"Zach.” She sighed. “Okay, here's the deal.” She paused again. He could literally see her mind working, and then she gave another long exhalation. “I work as a ... um ... honey trapper.” He looked at her blankly. “A sex decoy,” she continued, licking her lips.

"What!” His mind was boggled.

"I work for my dad. One of the services Farrell Investigations offers is fidelity checks. Wives who think their husbands could be cheating on them hire us. I go and meet up with the guy somewhere, like it's by accident, and see if he comes on to me."

He stared at her incredulously.

She bit her lip. “I don't do anything,” she quickly assured him. “I just see if they try something. I tape it and give a report to the wife."

"It sounds dangerous,” he said slowly. “What if he tries something and you can't ... stop him."

"I always can,” she said confidently. “I'm always in a public place, and I make sure the office and Ben and Doug know exactly where I am."

"Ben and Doug?"

"My roommates."

"You have two male roommates?” he nearly shouted. “You never mentioned that."

"I didn't?” She blinked. “I guess I never thought it was worth mentioning.” She waved a hand. “It's no big deal. It's just Ben and Doug. Ben and I have been friends since middle school, and Doug is a friend of his from work."

"Ha,” he said. “Ben is nuts about you."

Her mouth dropped open. “He is not!"

"Oh, yeah, he is. But getting back to this job ... your dad knows about this?"

She laughed. “Of course! He hates it, but he gets lots of business. There are three of us that do this. And, I'm pretty good at it."

"Well, yeah, I guess so. Look at you.” He gestured. “What guy could resist? It is kind of not fair. Especially if you dress like that. Jesus."

Her cheeks grew a little pink, and she looked down at herself. “Oh. Well, I don't usually dress like this. Tonight, the guy I'm meeting up with supposedly hangs out at this fetish club. His wife wants to know if he does, and what he does there."