“Why are you asking me that?” Ashley shot him a puzzled look, thrown off by the sudden jump in topic.

“Because you didn’t even hear your secretary’s phone ringing.”

Ashley’s lips parted in surprise before she gave Vance a sheepish smile.

“Sorry… it wasn’t that quick. I was so locked in on what I was doing I didn’t notice a thing. Honestly, even if you’d walked in quietly, I probably wouldn’t have realized you were here,” she admitted, embarrassed.

Vance arched a ...