"I wanted to do it,” she said. “And I enjoyed it. And I liked the money. But recently, I've kind of ... not really liked some things about myself."

"Oh, Ash. Does this have something to do with Zach Montgomery?"

She looked down at her fingers twisted together.

"I know you told me it was none of my business last time I asked, but this time I'm not asking as your boss. I'm asking as your father."

She felt her throat tighten up. “I don't know what to say. He's the nicest man I've ever met, and I screwed things up with him."

"Maybe you can fix it."

"I don't think so,” she choked out. “He was pretty angry about the fact that when I met him, I was actually on a job. Of course, he figures everything I said and did that night was just an act. It started out like that, but I really did like him. And when I found out what a mess I'd made of things, I was afraid to tell Jessica Montgomery, because I knew when Zach found out he'd hate me. And he does. Only, he hates me even more because I didn't tell Connor what I'd done and put him out of his misery. He doesn't get it that I couldn't do that."

He nodded. “He'll get over that."

"Maybe.” She lifted a shoulder. “But the worst thing is, I told him I don't trust him and can't trust any guy."

Her father frowned. “Why is that? What do you mean?"

She sighed. “It's partly because of the decoy work. Seeing all those guys willing to cheat on their wives doesn't inspire a lot of faith in men."

"Partly,” he said slowly. “But what else?"

She looked away, her throat tight. She blinked a few times. “Well, also because of you."

His mouth dropped open in astonishment. “Me?"

"You know.” She struggled to get the words out. “You and Mom."

He gaped at her. “Me and your mother? How does our divorce lead to you not trusting men?"

"Not the divorce part. It's the fact that you were cheating on her.” She stared out the window.

"What! What the hell are you talking about?” he demanded, outraged. “I never cheated on your mother."

Huh? She turned her head and squinted at him. “But all those times you got phone calls and you left ... all those times you'd be gone overnight, or even days..."

"That was work, damn it! Strictly work. You know what this job is like, Ashlyn. Something would be going down, and I'd get a call, and I'd have to go. Sometimes you don't get a second chance to do surveillance or talk to a witness. And sometimes I had to work overnight or go out of town.” He shook his head. “I love your mother,” he said with feeling. “I know she suspected I was screwing around. I swore to her I wasn't."

Ashlyn stared at her father. “She didn't believe you?"

"No. I couldn't make her believe it. She didn't trust me."

Ashlyn stared at her father. All these years, she'd blamed him for the end of her parents’ marriage, and he was claiming he'd never cheated? She gave her head a shake. “But ... she loved you.” Oh, Zach.

"Yeah.” Her father's voice was gruff, and her heart expanded with love for him, love she hadn't let herself feel since he and her mother had split up. She suddenly picked up on the fact that he'd used the present tense when he said he loved her mother. “She said she did. But ... she didn't believe me. I didn't know how to convince her."

And their marriage had ended because of it.

"I don't know how to convince Zach either,” Ashlyn whispered. “He trusts everybody—except me.” Her eyes stung, and she brushed a hand across them.

"I thought you were the one with trust issues?"

She stared at her dad. She was the one with trust issues. But that wasn't what this was about. Confusion played with her brain, sent her thoughts spiraling uselessly around in her head.

Her dad looked down at the papers on his desk and then back up, and he smiled faintly. “So you don't want your job back. Are you okay for money?"

She took a breath, gathering her wits. “If you pay me for all the hours I put into this"—she nodded at the papers she'd given him—"I should be okay. I've had a few interviews, and I should be hearing back soon.” She gave him a little smile. “Now, I better go start studying. My last exam is on Friday."

She left the building. For once, her thoughts of Zach were pushed to the background by her father's profession of fidelity to her mother. Could it be true? She'd always loved her dad, but her beliefs about his behavior all those years had been reinforced by all the guys she'd met doing the sex decoy job. It was just the way men were.

Or was it? Were there actually men who didn't cheat?

Connor Montgomery? And Zach?

She wanted so much to believe it, and especially wanted to believe her father was one of them. Could she talk to her mother about this?

It saddened Ashlyn that her dad had implied he still loved her mother. When she got home, she called her mom. They chatted about school and unimportant things, until finally, Ashlyn felt she could bring up the topic she really wanted to discuss.

"Mom, can I ask you a personal question? It's kind of important."

There was a brief silence, and then her mother said, “Sure, Ashlyn. What is it?"

"How come you didn't trust dad? When he told you he never cheated on you?"

Again, silence. “Why do you ask that?” her mother asked carefully.

"Because today ... he and I were talking ... and he told me he never cheated on you. And I ... I believe him."

Silence. “Why do you believe him?"

Ashlyn swallowed. “I don't know, actually. Just ... a feeling, I guess.” A gut feeling. Oh, God, Zach.

She heard her mother's sigh. “Well, all the times he was gone, those phone calls he'd get and leave, all those times he was away overnight ... all that seems to mean more than his word."

Ashlyn closed her eyes. “But you were married to him,” she whispered. “You loved him."

"That's why it hurt so much."

"Oh, Mom.” It was so sad. Her parents’ marriage destroyed because of a lack of trust. Yeah, her mom had had reason to suspect things—much like Jessica Montgomery. But things weren't always what they seemed. Ashlyn's chest ached as she thought of how miserable Connor had been without his wife. And how miserable her parents were without each other.


A few days later, Ashlyn got a call from Securitech telling her they wanted to make a formal job offer. They were going to courier the papers over to her that day. She would have been ecstatic if she hadn't been so heartbroken and confused. After all the interviews she'd been on in the last few months, this was the company she most wanted to work for. Finally, at least something was going right, but she couldn't get up the energy to care.

Right after that, she got another astonishing call. It was Jessica Montgomery wanting to meet with her. She gulped.

She did not want to see Jessica. Her inclination was to blow her off. She just wanted all that to go away. She and Zach were done; she wanted to forget this whole painful mess. But somehow, Jessica convinced her to meet with her again at Java Jack's.

Ashlyn arrived at the coffee shop and waited in a booth for Jessica, folding a paper serviette into smaller and smaller squares. When Jessica arrived, Ashlyn couldn't help but notice how happy and relaxed she looked now. Now her marriage was safe, and she knew her husband loved her.

Jessica's glossy black hair was smooth, her face perfectly made-up with smoky eyes and dark red lips. Her exotic beauty glowed. Ashlyn reluctantly admired her expensive-looking red suit and tan pumps as she slid onto the seat across from her.

Jessica eyed her assessingly. “Now you look like hell,” she said. Ashlyn's mouth dropped open. “Sorry. No offence. Zach looks even worse."

Ashlyn sighed and let the waitress fill her coffee cup. “Thanks.” She smiled up at the girl.

"Okay.” Jessica leaned forward. “Zach and Connor talked me out of suing you or your dad's company.” She shrugged. “I can see I do have some responsibility in this."

Ashlyn's eyes widened. “It was my mistake...” she began. Jessica held up a hand.

"Wait. There's something you need to hear. The reason I ended up telling Connor the truth about what I'd done."

Ashlyn waited curiously.

"Last week I still had this ... stupid idea that I needed to know if Connor would cheat on me.” She shook her head. “So I found another company that has sex decoys. One of them went to test Connor last Thursday night."

"He was out with Zach,” Ashlyn said slowly. “Playing pool. I was home studying."

Jessica shook her head. “Connor went and had one quick drink, but he wanted to get home to me.” A smile flickered on her lips. “So, Zach was sitting there alone when the decoy walks in, and guess what?"

"No!” Ashlyn's eyes widened.

"Yup. The girl thought he was Connor and did the routine. She had to get pretty aggressive, because he was so not interested."

Ashlyn just looked at her. “Did you not tell her what happened last time? So she'd know?” How could she be that stupid?

Jessica's eyes dropped to the table. “No. I was too embarrassed to tell her this was the second time I was doing that."

"All right then.” Ashlyn shook her head.

"When Connor got home early, I freaked out,” Jessica said. “He didn't know what was wrong, so I had to tell him what I did.” She gave a crooked smile. “He wasn't too impressed with me. But we've been through a lot lately, and he actually still loves me. Despite all my paranoid screw-ups."

Ashlyn smiled. Connor was a good guy. Just as loyal and faithful to those he loved as Zach was.