The Perfect Candidate (6 page)

“You looked a little wobbly,” he grinned, as if he had read her mind.  He thanked the
maitre d’
, who handed him Ashley
’
s coat, expressed his gratitude that Michael had chosen their restaurant to dine in and hoped that he would have the pleasure of serving them again.

“Thank you for dinner,” Ashley murmured, as she allowed herself to lean into Michael’
s a body a little more.  She looped an arm around his waist to help with her balance, and was pleasantly surprised by the hard physique she was able to feel. 
“
You were in the army, weren
’
t you?
”
she blurted, her mouth running away with her before her brain had time to engage.

Michael stared down at her curiously. 
“
I was a Lieutenant Colonel, yes,
”
he said slowly. 

It looked like he was trying to work out what had prompted that question, as Ashley didn
’
t want to confess that it had anything to do with the powerful, toned body that she could feel rippling beside her, she asked,
“
What was it like?  What did you do?
”

“Well… I was a Field Commander for a tank brigade in the First Gulf War-” he stopped speaking however when they stepped outside and were met by a couple of reporters.

Michael didn
’
t stop to wish them more than a polite good evening.  One of his bodyguards appeared from out of nowhere and hurried both him and Ashley into a waiting, unmarked car. 

He didn
’
t look terribly pleased when they were settled inside on the leather seats. 
“
I wonder who tipped them off,
”
he mused, frowning. 

“You mean
you
didn
’
t?
”
Ashley asked doubtfully.

“No, of course not!” Michael growled.  “One of the restaurateurs must have tipped off the papers.”

Ashley licked her lips and pushed a strand of loose hair behind her ear, trying very hard to make her disorientated mind focus. 
“
But I thought you
wanted
people to know that we
’
re- well-
”
she waved her hand around
“
-I mean we
’
re not really, but you want to them to think that we
’
re- um- a couple?
”

“Yes, but not-” Michael ground to a halt and dragged a hand through his head.  He scowled out of the window for a moment, but when he turned back to look at Ashley his expression was neutral.  “Well, it might not do any damage,” he said calmly.  “We’
ll just have to wait and see.
”

Ashley rubbed a hand over her forehead. 
“
I don
’
t understand why it would do any damage anyway?
”
she murmured, struggling to get her head around what had happened and why Michael was upset.  He gave her knee a friendly pat.

“Well it might not,” he murmured again.

Ashley didn
’
t have the energy to try and work out what Michael kept hinting at, if he couldn
’
t tell her then she would just have to figure things out tomorrow when the world had stopped spinning.

The rest of the drive went by in silence.  Ashley sobered up a little bit, and had come to a horrifying conclusion.  Was Michael worried that the photographers had snapped her looking
…
well, rather less than sober?  She cringed and sank down further into her seat.

It was true that Michael had had his picture taken in one or two compromising positions before
…
but never with a woman who he had plans on forming a long term relationship with
…
not that she
was
such a woman in reality, but he did want the country to believe their little fantasy.

“Michael?” Ashley whispered, but when he turned to look her, she was too embarrassed to continue her question and ask him if this was indeed what was the matter.  “I- um… thank you again for dinner,” she muttered, blushing.

“It was my pleasure,” he grinned, although his grin was half curious, as though he could sense that she hadn’
t said exactly what she meant. 
“
I think this is your stop,
”
he murmured, looking out of the window again as the car rolled to a stop.

“Oh yes- I-”

“Let me walk you to the door,” Michael said, opening the car door and offering her his hand.

“Thank you,” she said shyly, walking with him up the path.  When they reached the front door Ashley glanced down at her feet nervously.  “Did you want to come inside?” she heard herself ask, before she had fully thought through the implications of her offer.

“I don’
t know how that would play out in the heartland.
”

“Oh!  I didn’
t mean-
”
Ashley blurted, but before she could say another word Michael
’
s lips had captured her mouth, sealing inside the rest of her protest. 

She swayed in his arms, strong arms that had looped around her body and were crushing her against his chest.  They were the only things keeping her legs from buckling, as he moved his mouth over her skin, gently rubbing their lips together before licked her with his tongue. 

Ashley shivered in Michael
’
s arms and opened to him, slowly melting in his embrace as the slick, determined muscle of his tongue learned the intimate contours of her mouth.  She couldn
’
t
breathe
when he pulled away.

“Now that they’
ll like,
”
he rasped hoarsely.

4

‘
The kiss
’
caused Ashley no end of trouble once Michael had left.  It was all she could think about as she shrugged off her clothes and crawled into bed.  Her head still felt slightly fuzzy from the wine and her brain had jammed on a permanent loop- repeating the moment when Michael bent down and claimed her lips over and over and over again in her head.

Ashley cuddled her pillow and her toes curled against the crisp sheets.  Maybe it was down to the alcohol and an over active imagination, but she was sure that had been one of the best kisses of her life.

Her dreams played along the same line as her memory
…
only her dreams didn
’
t stop at the front door!  Michael followed her inside kissing her, touching her, caressing her
…
Ashley tried to lead him upstairs to the bedroom, but he was too impatient to walk that far and took her against the wall in the entrance hall- tearing at her clothes, ripping away her underwear and then sinking into her flesh
…

Ashley woke with a start, slightly disorientated and very unsatisfied. Ashley was just about to snuggle back into her blankets when her eyes focused on the clock on her bedside table.  She emitted a shriek.

She was late!  She had slept through her alarm!

“Oh my God!  Oh God!” she gasped jumping out of bed so quickly that she almost fell onto the floor. 

Given that she was meant to be
at
work already she didn
’
t have time for a shower.  She rushed into the bathroom anyhow though, because she did
really
need to clean her teeth though.  It tasted like something had crawled into her mouth and
died
on her tongue
…
and why was that anyway?

“Oh dear…” she squeaked, as the evening’
s event came flooding back to her.  She raised a distracted hand to her mouth and glanced at herself in the bathroom mirror. 
“
What were you
thinking?
” she demanded of her reflection.

Ashley didn
’
t have time to stand around and debate the wisdom of kissing her boss with herself. 
If
Michael was still her boss- if she wasn
’
t about to be fired for missing the morning staff meeting. 
What was he going to think of her,
she wondered gloomily.

Once she had cleaned up, she dressed in the severest suit that she owned, donned her glasses (unfortunately she couldn
’
t do very much about her hair, which was loose and curly and refused to be clipped back), snatched up her purse and prepared to leave the house.  Ashley was relieved not to see any reporters hovering outside.  She almost wondered if she had dreamt the whole thing up
…
she had expected one or two paparazzi at least
…

However, any doubts she might have had about the reality of the night before vanished when she got into her car turned on the radio
…

“…
was seen dining with his speech writer, a Miss Ashley Kendall
.
”
  Ashley gasped and almost swerved into her mailbox. 
“
Popular
Reese could be our first playboy President, with two failed marriages behind him, and a string of brief relationships with glamorous women, is his speech writer really going to be the woman to catch his heart?
”

Ashley frowned, as she drove out onto the main road.  Precisely what was so wrong and unglamorous about being a speech writer?  Why
shouldn
’
t
Michael fall in love with her?  His
‘
playboy lifestyle
’
, as the media liked to dub it, was completely over exaggerated.  She listened with a little more satisfaction as the co-host of the radio show fought her corner.