Panic paralyzed her.
What was Ashton doing in her room?
How did he open it?
What was she going to do?
A thousand questions ran through her mind.
She was only wearing a towel and her hair was down!
The door seemed to open in slow motion and making a split second decision, Emmaline launched herself towards the door rather than away from it.
Was she crazy? Probably.
Was she also desperate? Yes.
As Ashton stepped in, Emmaline threw herself bodily at him, covering his eyes with her hands and praying she didn't miscalculate her aim.
Ashton stopped short when Emmaline's slim hands smacked into his face.
To his credit, he didn't hit her back or fall backwards.
"Em?" He asked, sounding slightly buzzed from the alcohol.
Emmaline prayed he would be drunk enough to forget this tomorrow.
One of his hands came up to touch hers, "Em?"
"Uh, I-" Em struggled to keep her voice low in her stress, "I need to get changed, can you wait outside?"
Ashton didn't even falter, "Yeah, sure. Sorry, you okay?"
Some of the tension dissipated from Emmaline.
"Just surprised," She muttered in as male a voice as she could muster right then, "I'll, uh, open the door when I'm done."
Gently, with her hands still over his eyes, she walked him backwards until he was over the threshold of the door and then quickly, she removed her hands, ducking behind the door as she did so.
With a speedy swing of her arm, the door shut neatly, if a bit sharply, in Ashton Wright's face.
All of the remaining tension seeped out of Emmaline and she slumped to the floor, clutching her towel as if it would save her.
Oh my god, what a disaster!
She couldn't let her guard down.
In record time, she did up her disguise, thankful that she got the chance to shower at the very least.
When she pulled the wig over her damp hair, she winced but she didn't have time to fully dry it now.
When she pulled the door open, she blinked.
Then she looked around.
Where was- Oh, there he was.
Ashton Wright was on the floor, his head pillowed on his knees, and his long legs curled up into his chest.
Asleep.
Emmaline didn't know whether to laugh or to cry.
Placing a light hand on his shoulder, she shook him awake.
He frowned a little, still not fully awake and like this, he looked kind of cute.
Emmaline resisted the urge to laugh at him.
It was such a contrast from the cool young businessman or the flirtatious heir she usually saw.
"Em?" He murmured.
"Sorry, you can come in now," Emmaline pulled him to his feet, "Why did you come if you were so tired?"
He looked confused as he sat down on the bed, "That's why I came? To sleep?"
Emmaline felt a blush rise on her face but managed to stutter out, "Oh, but I thought- Isn't this- I thought I was sleeping here."
Ashton gave her another puzzled look, "This is my room."
What?!
He noticed her mortification and shook his head, "I normally stay in an apartment in the city. But this is my old room so whenever I stay here, this is my room. I think they assumed that since we're together…"
Oh, right. They were a couple.
Emmaline weighed it in her head.
"I can sleep in a different room if it makes you uncomfortable," Ashton offered, already getting up.
"No!" Emmaline, who was still standing, slammed him down so hard that he landed eagle spread on the bed.
If someone came in right now, it would look like a scene from a boys love comic!
"No, I think it's more convincing if we share a room," Emmaline explained.
Ashton nodded sleepily, "If you're sure. I can take the floor."
Emmaline relaxed a little.
From the beginning until now, Ashton had never given her any reason to feel unsafe with him.
He had never made her feel uncomfortable or pressured despite the fact that he was paying her to look like she was in love with him.
"I can take the floor, I can't steal your bed!" Emmaline insisted.
Ashton made to argue but he looked so exhausted that Emmaline knew that if he stayed on the bed for just a while longer he might fall asleep and save her the convincing.
"I did want to ask you something about Donovan though," She hedged.
Something flashed in his green eyes, making them look sharper and yet, more weary than usual.
He threw one arm over his eyes as if to block out the light, "I suppose you want to know the story behind it."
Gingerly, Emmaline perched on the edge of the bed.
"Actually, I wanted to know if you're alright," She said quietly, "I know he wasn't meant to be here today and the things he said were quite harsh."
Ashton lifted the arm draped over his face to stare at Emmaline for a while.
"He's my cousin," He explained, "Many years ago, his dad poisoned my mom so that she would be unable to carry children."
Emmaline gasped aloud.
The truth was so horrific and so shocking that it was beyond anything she could possibly have imagined.
"When they caught my uncle, they stripped him of his shares and told him never to step foot in this country again," Ashton continued, "But it seems like Donovan feels that he shouldn't be exiled as well."
That was a mild way to put it.
Emmaline understood that Donovan was not responsible for his father's actions.
However, it was also not right for him to treat the Wrights, and Ashton especially, as if they were wrong for exiling his father.
"I'm alright, thanks for asking, Em," Ashton's voice was like honey, dark and thick with sleep.
"You did perfectly, as usual," He mumbled and then he was out like a light.
Emmaline silently got up, covering him with a blanket and then stood there for a while.
She studied the face of the prince of Wright Enterprises.
Despite his ready smiles, today had shown her just how cutthroat his world actually was.
At every turn, there was someone waiting for him to fall, hoping for him to fail.
Yet, he never showed the strain of bearing such a heavy burden.
She moved quietly, putting an extra set of bedding on the floor and then deciding that if she had to sleep in her wig, she would at least dry her hair before she left it on all night.
This time, she learned her lesson and she went out into the balcony, keeping her wig and pins on hand to let the night air run through her hair.
***
One hour ago…
The moment Em had left to go back to the room, Layla had rounded up on Ashton.
"You have no idea what you're doing, do you?" She smirked, taking a sip of her cocktail.
Ashton frowned, "Of course, I do. What do you mean?"
Layla looked around surreptitiously before she whispered, "You told me that Em was just a contract to get your inheritance."
Out of everyone in Ashton's life, the only person who knew the truth about Em was Layla.
Ashton knew he could trust her with his life and she had treated Em as if she was none the wiser.
"That's right," Ashton called for another drink, foreseeing needing one to get through this conversation that Layla was determined to have.
"Oh, you don't even know," Layla looked like the cat that got the cream. Gleeful and practically rubbing her hands together, that was a look that Ashton knew all too well.
It had gotten them into far too much trouble as children.
"Don't know what?" Ashton downed half his drink, annoyance beginning to crease his forehead, "Spit it out."
"You, my friend, my sweet, sweet child," Layla crooned, wrapping an arm around Ashton, "You have, as they used to say, caught feelings."
Ashton was so startled that he laughed before pushing Layla off playfully.
"I am not your sweet child, I am older than you," He tapped her on the nose and finished his drink in one gulp before calling for another, "Secondly, I like women."
"It doesn't matter what you like," Layla looked like the Cheshire cat, casually eating the fruit that had come with her drink, "You like Em."
"I'm straight," Ashton hissed.
Layla shrugged, "You know what they say, so is spaghetti until it's we-mmfph."
Her very crude statement was cut off by Ashton's hand covering her mouth.
"I am going to bed," Ashton announced, downing his new drink, "And we are going to pretend we didn't talk about this tomorrow."
Ashton very pointedly did not think about what Layla had said all through Em acting weird, kicking him out, agreeing to sharing a room…
But he did think about it as he drifted off to alcohol laden sleep.
No one had ever kicked him out of a room so unceremoniously.
Heck, no one had even politely asked him to leave a room ever!
But when Em did it, he didn't really feel very offended.
Instead, Ashton felt… Concerned?
Was that the normal feeling for a friend?
Were they friends?
Em had been worried about him because of Donovan.
Not about Ashton Wright, the heir to Wright Enterprises. Em didn't seem to care that Donovan was threatening his position.
Em seemed to care about him, Ashton. As a person.
Something warm bloomed in Ashton's chest.
That night, as he slept, he dreamt of a beautiful woman with Em's face on his balcony.
In his dreams, the midnight breeze played with her long black hair and this way, Em was finally within reach.