Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Ashley

A shley was annoyed and didn’t want to deal with anyone else’s crap today. Her plan was to go to her yoga class and then back home, the end. She didn’t want to chat, go for a drink, or even offer a fake smile to a friend.

She would offer the fake smile, though, but that took all her mental energy. Nearing the end of her time in college, she was drained. The work was exhausting and the classes were repetitive.

It was hard to learn anything when your professor was boring you to sleep. She knew her classmates felt the same, but there was nothing they could do. Last week, Ashley had started recording classes and getting them transcribed. It was a hell of a lot easier to read it than listen.

She had three papers due next week that were in various stages of completion. This weekend was dedicated to finishing them all.

“Ashley, wait up,” a man called.

She groaned, recognizing the voice of Julian. He had asked her out many times, but she’d declined, nicely. The man was irritating as all hell. She didn’t want to talk to him more than anyone else.

Julian would drone on and on about nothing and usually ended it with asking her out for drinks again, as friends of course. There was something about him that rubbed her the wrong way, and she didn’t know what it was.

“Hi, Julian. I’m headed to yoga.” Ashley jiggled her bag on her back with her yoga mat sticking out.

“I can see. I just wanted to ask what you’re doing this weekend. A couple of people are having a party, and I thought maybe you’d like to go.”

She didn’t bother to hide her sigh from him. “I have papers due. I need to get them done so I can graduate. Don’t you?”

He waved her off with one hand. “It’s not that serious, just a few papers. They’ll get done.”

“I wish I had your confidence, but I need to study and do the work. Have a good weekend.” She turned and left him standing there on the sidewalk.

Ashley never turned around to see if he’d waited for her or stormed off. No doubt she’d pissed him off, but she didn’t care.

Her phone rang in her bag, and she shifted it to pull it out. “Hello?” she answered. It was her brother, Luke.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

“Going to yoga. What’s up?”

“Call me after class. I need to talk to you about some things I’ve learned recently about my father.”

If she rolled her eyes any harder, they’d jump out of her face. “I don’t really care what he’s up to now.”

“This impacts you. Call me after class, okay?”

“I have so much work to do this weekend. I’ll try.” She didn’t intend to try.

“Call me back, Ash, or I’m coming up there to talk to you face-to-face.”

“Fine. I’ve got to go. Class is about to start.” She ended the call and walked into the yoga studio.

Her hope had been that this class would help clear her head and get her ready for the weekend. That was looking less and less like a possibility. Whatever Luke wanted wasn’t going to be good.

Ashley rolled out her mat and tried to focus on the instructor. Luke had made that a challenge, and she knew she’d have to deal with whatever he wanted before she could focus.

The class was a struggle for her to get through. No matter how hard she tried to clear her mind and focus on her breathing, she couldn’t hold the peace. Her mind wandered to what Lucas wanted and how long before Julian bothered her again.

When it came to Julian, she should have lied and told him she was going out of town because he’d no doubt text her now that he knew she’d be home. At least he never showed up at her place.

As she packed up from class, Laura, the instructor and one of her friends, came over. “You okay?” she asked.

Ashley sighed. “Is it showing that much?”

Laura nodded. “Anything I can help with?”

“Sadly, no. I just keep running into distractions, and all I wanted was to clear my mind in this class and get ready to study and write these papers.” Somehow, that had been too much to ask.

“If you need anything, give me a call.” Laura walked away, talking to other people from the class.

Laura was one of few people in her life that didn’t need a lot of maintenance to keep the relationship with. She understood that people had other things going on and didn’t act all put out about not being the center of attention.

In return, Ashley gave her the same respect. They were both there for each other, but if they didn’t hang out for a while, neither of them were offended.

The short walk from the yoga studio to her apartment was thankfully uneventful. She thought she saw Julian once up ahead of her, but as soon as she thought it, he was gone. Probably her mind playing tricks on her.

She dropped her bag right by the front door and debated calling Luke. Deciding it was best to get it over with, she grabbed a protein shake from the fridge and dropped on the couch as she dialed him.

“Ashley,” he answered.

“I have three papers to write this weekend and no time for whatever drama is going on.”

“You know, there was a time you used to beg me to call you.”

“There was a time that I didn’t have grad school to get through, too, but here we are,” she countered.

“Look. I know you don’t want to hear about what’s going on with my father, but it’s reached a point where you need to know. You already know about Catherine and what happened with her.”

“That you helped with,” she pointed out. He might regret it, but that didn’t change things.

“Thanks, sis. Anyway, things seem to be escalating again, and I want you protected.”

Ashley sat forward and scratched her head as she tried to make that make sense. “We don’t even know if I’m related to him for sure. I don’t want to be involved in this.”

Luke knew this man was his father, but Ashley hadn’t known hers. It could be the same man, but since he was literally insane, she didn’t even want to find out. Nothing good would come from knowing, and she’d told Luke as much.

“You might be. The point is that we can’t rule you out. I want to make sure you’re safe.” Luke’s tone was exasperated.

“How? Why?” Oh, she really didn’t need this.

“No one understands what he’s doing except him at this point. I need you to be extremely careful about who you let in your life as far as men go. This could be so much more than someone trying to date you.”

He didn’t need to tell her again about Catherine’s date-turned-stalker. Her boyfriend had killed him one night in self-defense when he’d broken into her house.

“That means I’m going to send you some help,” Luke added before she could say anything.

“What? What does that even mean?” It had better not mean what she thought it did.

“I’m sending a bodyguard your way.”

“No!” she shouted. “Absolutely not.”

“Too late. And you need this. You live alone and far from everyone else. I want you to be safe. What if Ryker hadn’t been there when Catherine’s stalker broke in?”

“That was a one-off situation. It doesn’t mean that whatever is maybe going on will be the same for me.”

“And we will keep it that way. His name is Carter, and he isn’t supposed to interfere with your life, only protect you if you need it.”

“I’m not doing this,” she told him.

“Yes. You. Are.” He enunciated each word. “This isn’t a debate. I’m trying to keep you and Paisley safe at the same time while learning to be a father. Just do this for me so I can sleep a little better at night?”

“Take sleep medicine then. I don’t want this. I told you I don’t want this.”

“And I went with it before. Now there is an actual threat, Ash. I need you to cooperate and just let this guy protect you.”

“Ugh.” She knew she sounded like a petulant child, but she didn’t care. “When?” Hopefully next week.

“He should be there any time. Just let him protect you, Ashley. That’s it.”

“There’s nothing to protect me from. I’m not dating and I’m not dumb. I just need to finish my damn classes.”

“And now you can have him tell everyone to go away while you’re in study mode so you don’t even need to talk to them. See? It’s a win.”

“I don’t like you.”

“I love you. Do this for me, please?”

She grunted and ended the call. What she had done to deserve this in her last semester of classes, she didn’t know, but it couldn’t come at a worse time.

“Get a degree, that’s all I want. I don’t even know what I’m going to do with the damn thing, but I just want to finish,” she complained to the empty room.

When school was over and she wasn’t keeping such a crazy schedule, she was getting a dog. Never really been a cat person, and she hadn’t gotten a pet yet, but that was all that would fit with her life.

Ashley reached for her laptop and opened it up. Luke’s was the first email she had. He sent her a profile and a photo of the man he’d sent to her door. She’d comply this weekend because she had no choice with all this work to do, but after that, all bets were off.

The man, Carter, was hot, she had to admit. Not that it mattered because she was going to send him away, but he’d be nice to look at for the weekend.

Her doorbell rang, and she got up to take a look through the peephole. Sure enough, there was Carter in the flesh, waiting for her to answer.

She pulled the door open and stared him down. “Just so we’re clear, I don’t want you here and didn’t agree to this. I have a lot of work to do this weekend, and I need you to stay out of my way.”

Carter only nodded. “I’m just here to keep you safe, not interfere with your life. You won’t hear much from me while I’m here.”

“Good,” she snapped even though he’d just said he was going to do what she wanted. “Spare room is through there, and the bathroom is the next door.”

She let him all the way in and closed the door behind him, taking care to lock it.

“I’ll be in here studying and writing.” And probably being too angry and frustrated to get much of either thing done.

“Great.” He nodded and went down the hall where she’d pointed.

She went back to her computer and her spot on the sofa and opened her first assignment. Above all else, she needed to get this done, even if she had the company of an unwelcome visitor.