The Perfect Candidate (31 page)

There had been a time when Michael would have agreed with this sentiment whole-heartedly, but he wasn
’
t now sure if he would ever willingly change the circumstances that had brought Ashley into his life.  If only he hadn
’
t been so blind where she was concerned!  She had been working for him for months, why couldn
’
t he have discovered her delights on his own- then all of the little misunderstands could have been avoided?

“Well, it’
s too late for that now,
”
murmured Michael distractedly, not exactly sure what “it” was that he was referring to-  not changing their plan or not realising that Ashley was so right for him earlier?  He gave his head a tired shake. 
“
We
’
ll have to go through with things as we originally arranged.
”

“Right,” Norm nodded.  “I’
m glad to hear that we finally agree!  I know a doctor who can-
”

“That won’
t be necessary,
”
Michael grunted. 

“But Michael-!” 

“Leave it, Norm,” Michael said, a note of warning in his voice.  “Trust me, I know how to handle this situation.” 

“All right, well, I’
ll leave you to it then,
”
Norm said slowly.  He sniffed the air again, and frowned at the papers he had just noticed lying on the floor. 
“
Ugh- here,
”
he said, pulling a piece of paper out of his pocket. 
“
Those are the numbers you said you wanted.
”

“Thanks, Norm,” Michael muttered, glancing over the list of dog breeders, as his campaign manager made a hasty retreat out of the office.  Once he had been gone for a safe amount of time Michael called out to Ashley.  “You can come out now.  He’
s gone.
”

The closet door creaked open, and a still delectably rumpled Ashley stepped out into the room.

“You didn’
t have to hide you know,
”
Michael murmured. 
“
It might have taught Norman a lesson if he had found us together,
”
he snorted, casting a glare in the direction of the door.

“You don’
t mean that,
”
Ashley said coldly.

Michael
’
s frown deepened when he heard the cool distance that had crept into her voice. 
“
Ash?
”
he murmured, taking a step towards her, but she evaded his grasp. 
“
Ash?
”
he repeated her name, and then looked guilty. 
“
You
’
re not mad- about earlier?  I know, I shouldn
’
t have- but I couldn
’
t stop- you didn
’
t- you didn
’
t
want
me to stop?
”
he stammered.

Ashley
’
s cheeks burned fiercely, as she gave her head a quick, silent shake. 
“
No,
”
she whispered. 
“
But we shouldn
’
t have- have
done that
.  It was
…
stupid of us,
”
she said quietly.

Michael hadn
’
t stopped frowning.  Hadn
’
t she said, earlier, that she
wanted
to have his baby?  What was the cause of this sudden change? 
Well, she had probably just come to her senses!
  He told himself harshly.  It was a pity that he seemed to be so much slower in grasping what a disaster it would be if he
did
get her pregnant!

“So… we’
re back to the original plan of me leaving you at the altar?
”
Ashley asked.  It sounded like she was trying to sound casual, and not entirely succeeding.  Michael stared at her curiously.

“So it would seem,” he murmured slowly.  “Unless you have a better idea?”

“I- well, I-” Ashley stammered uncertainly.  How could she possibly reply to such a question?  Not with the answer that she
wanted
to give- that was for certain!  Because
…
what she would
really
like to suggest was that they get married for real
…
it was ludicrous really, they hardly even knew one another, but it just- it
felt
so impossibly right with Michael!

“Exactly,” Michael sighed, dragging a hand through his hair, mussing it even more than it had been mussed to begin with.  Ashley was sure that she wasn’
t imagining the gleam of regret in his eyes, and it gave her a small sliver of hope.

“Well, I suppose I should go,” Ashley murmured, when he didn’
t say anything else.  She had managed to repair her appearance a little when she had been shut up inside the closet, although, not nearly well enough for her to want to bump into anyone!

Michael looked as though he wanted to say something on that score, but he held his tongue- until she reached the door at least. 
“
Ash, are you doing anything this weekend?
”
he asked.

“I don’
t think so,
”
Ashley said, slowly shaking her head, trying to remember if she had anything arranged.

“Excellent,” Michael grinned broadly.  It took Ashley’
s breath away to finally see his handsome features slip into a smile again. 
“
And, how do you feel about puppies?
”
he chuckled.

“Puppies?” Ashley frowned, puzzled.  “What are you talking about?” she asked curiously.

“I’
m getting a new dog,
”
Michael announced, with a glow of boyish excitement.

“I didn’
t know you had an
old
one,
”
Ashley said, a little suspiciously.

“Well, I haven’
t, not for a while now, but-
”

“The President needs a pet?” Ashley asked silkily.  She didn’
t know if she should be amused or insulted by Michael
’
s habit of obtaining the
‘
things
’
he needed to fit the perfect presidential model.

“Hey!  I resent that!” Michael cried, although the slightest hint of embarrassed color had risen to his face, highlighting his cheekbones. “I
like
dogs!  I
’
ve been meaning to get one to replace Buster for a while now- I
’
ve just never- got around to it before,
”
he finished weakly.

“Maybe you just never had a
reason
to get another one until now?
”
Ashley couldn
’
t resist teasing, although she felt a pang of guilt when she saw that Michael had taken her comment seriously.  She hurried back across the room and placed a light kiss against his cheek. 
“
Oh, don
’
t look like that!
”
she pleaded. 
“
I promise I
’
ll come and pick out a cute little Chihuahua for you.
”

“A
what?
”
Michael choked.  Ashley giggled. 
“
We
’
re getting a
proper
dog, Ashley!
”
he declared.

She smiled, a little sadly, at his use of “we”, he didn
’
t mean it in the way it had sounded of course, but that hadn
’
t stopped Ashley thinking about it in that way.  I

“Well, we’
ll see,
”
she said sweetly. 
“
I
might
let you get a spaniel.
”

25

For the remainder of the week Michael was as good as gold.  He worked
hard
on the campaign, hardly pausing to eat or sleep, and he didn
’
t let himself see Ashley.  It was part test, and part punishment.  He wanted to see if he could manage without her, but he also didn
’
t trust himself to have her close. 

The way that he had behaved in his office was unforgivable!  He couldn
’
t believe he had been so reckless, and he couldn
’
t risk losing control like that again.  He kept Ashley at arms length, until the weekend rolled around, and then he planned to reward himself for his restraint by spending the while day in her presence.

Michael picked Ashley up early on Saturday morning.  He was driving his own old Jeep, which would be much more suitable for driving along the country roads and farmers tracks than any of the sleek cars he was chauffeured around in on a typical day. 

Ashley had started off the day a little cool and distant.  Michael flattered himself that she was upset that he hadn
’
t called on her earlier in the week, but there was something about cute, fluffy little puppies that worked in his favor, and quickly softened Ashley temper.