Seducing powerful men into telling her all of their secrets is Scarlett Ambrose's specialty. Ace Hardwood is probably no exception.
*
The gorgeous, confident and charismatic Scarlett Ambrose is perfect candidate to help Terrence Burke take down the...
"It wasn't a waste of time if you learned something."
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Scarlett's brow never unfurled the entire night.
She clung to her sheets and her pillows; her eyebrows knitted together like she was in the midst of a constant nightmare. She was curled into a ball under the covers, earbuds in her ears.
Even at two-thirty in the morning Ace Hardwood stood at the entrance to her room, arms crossed over his chest, watching her sleep, with a frown on his face.
Scarlett hadn't uttered a word, other than 'No'. She had repeated that word under her breath continuously until she had finally fallen asleep.
Ace had had to hold her until she stopped trembling, which hadn't been until the thunder finally silenced. He had managed to coax her into getting into bed and found earbuds for her to block out any noise. After she did climb into bed, he had surrounded her with pillows. Ace had no idea whether it would help, but he was unable to fathom what else he could do.
It was strange to see someone as charming and outgoing as Scarlett become such a mess. Something about seeing his social butterfly of a PA become a trembling mass of tears shook something deep within Ace.
He rubbed his bloodshot eyes with the base of his palms and sighed. He had been up for almost forty-eight hours at this point.
Closing the door, he walked into his own room and flopped on to his bed, falling asleep almost instantly.
The next morning, Scarlett was already seated at the breakfast table, dressed perfectly, red lipstick on and ready to take on the world when Ace walked in.
He approached her, slowly, as she read the comics section of his newspaper and laughed.
"You're awake," he said.
Scarlett smiled and jabbed her finger at the paper. "Isn't Marmaduke the best?" she asked, with a laugh.
Ace went over to put on a pot of coffee, but saw that it had already been brewed. "Did you put on a pot of coffee for me?"
Scarlett nodded, closing the paper. "I asked Belinda to teach me how to work it."
Ace poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down across the counter from her and eyed her. "Are you alright, Ambrose? You freaked me out a little."
Scarlett's smiled softened. "I'm fine. Thank you for what you did."
"Are you afraid of thunderstorms?"
"Hmm," Scarlett murmured, but explained no further. "You look tired. I'm sorry I kept you up."
Ace smirked. "I've stayed up longer and survived."
Scarlett shook her head, making her hair, styled like a vintage starlet, dance.
"You can stay here, if you like," he said, waving his mug as a gesture, "You don't have to come in to work today." He was concerned.
