Page 41 of Smokey's Distraction
“I’m not worried about it,” she replied, her temper sparking.
Smokey shrugged. “Seems like something’s bugging you.”
“Maybe it’s because you disappeared for the last three days. The night of our business dinner, you said you’d let me know the next morning about when we could get together to go over the marketing campaign, but you didn’t get back with me.” She crossed her arms and shook her head. “What the hell is your problem?”
“Are you pissed because I didn’t call you?”
A dry laugh escaped her. “You can’t really be this clueless. I’m here to do a job, and you don’t seem to give a crap about it. I dragged my butt to this town and left everything behind to do this.”
Smokey stared at her, not saying a word.
Ashley cleared her throat. “What I’m trying to say is, I feel like I’m wasting my time.”
Running a hand over his face, he leaned forward, touching his knee to hers, making her shiver.
“You wanna go back to Denver?” he asked in a soft, low voice.
For a split second, the thought of leaving and never seeing Smokey again sent a shot of panic through her. “No, that’s not what I’m saying.”
“Then what?”
“I just want some respect. I work hard, and I do a damn good job, but when you don’t even give me the courtesy to meet so we can discuss the project, it makes me feel like you don’t care.”
“About you? Fuck, don’t thinkthat. I was just busy as hell with a job my crew was screwing up. The client paid out a ton of dough for it, and I had to make sure everything was perfect. Believe me when I say, you’ve been on my mind.”
“I meant that you didn’t care about your business, not me,” she scoffed, while shoving down the thrill of knowing he’d been thinking of her.
Smokey shifted away from her, and she instantly missed the warmth from him being close.
“Don’t accuse me of not giving a damn about my company. I worked my ass off to be where I am. You don’t know shit, lady.”
The sudden change in mood surprised her. Reaching out, she placed her hand on his.
“I didn’t mean to upset you, and what I said wasn’t fair. I know you work hard for your business. I’m feeling like the marketing campaign has been at the bottom of your list, when for me, it’s at the top of mine, seeing it’s my job.”
When he eyed her hand, she quickly pulled it back and placed it in her lap.
His gaze darted to hers and held it for a long second, then said, “Yeah, the marketing stuff was not at the top of my list. Like I said, I had some shit that needed taking care of at a job site. But you”—he reached out and brushed two fingers across her cheek—“were way up on my list.”
Ashley tried to pretend that he wasn’t having an effect on her, but it was hard to do since her stomach was doing somersaults. To keep him from seeing her reaction, she turned away.
“We have an appointment on Monday, so I shouldn’t have made a big deal about it. I guess I’m just feeling a bit homesick—you know, missing my friends and all that.”
“Do you have a guy in Denver?”
She jerked her head back. “No. But what does that have to do with work?”
“Nothing.”
Silence grew between them. She took another sip of coffee, then asked, “How’s your brother doing? I wanted to ask you about him, but you’ve been out of the office.”
The fine lines around his mouth tightened. “He’s fine.” His tone was curt, telling her not to ask any more about it.
“That’s good.” Picking up the bill from the counter, she sighed. “Well, I have to get going. I’m working on another campaign for a company in Aspen, and have a Zoom meeting with the owner during my lunch hour tomorrow.”
“Yeah, Zach mentioned it.”
She rose to her feet. “I’m glad we bumped into each other. I feel better knowing we’ve cleared the air between us.”
