Priceless Treasure(17)

“What are you three doing down here?”

The sound of Ashton’s voice sent a shiver down Savannah’s spine, as it always did, but she was getting much better at covering it up. She didn’t even turn to make eye contact with him this time. Take that.

“We’re here to visit with Savannah,” Richard said to his son. “By the way, I don’t understand why you have her scooping up garbage. The woman has a master’s degree, for goodness sake.”

Savannah’s cheeks flamed up.

“I wasn’t complaining,” she assured her boss, finally looking at him. Dang it. Yep. There was the zap, the electricity, that she’d been trying to avoid.

“Is there something wrong with a good day’s work?” Ashton asked her sharply.

“I just said I don’t have a problem,” she snapped. “Of course, you’ve always done a good day’s work, haven’t you?”

The glare he sent her should have been intimidating. Instead, all it did was make her want to push him into the water that she was busy cleaning up. But then that would just be another piece of garbage she had to scoop back out. Before he was able to answer her, Richard intervened.

“This woman has too much class to complain,” Richard informed his son. “I’m the one who thinks her being out here in the hot sun doing menial tasks is a waste of her talents.”

“Sorry if you feel that way, Dad, but I’ve done my fair share of crap work,” Ashton told him.

Richard’s eyes bored into his son. “And do you still?” he asked. “And were you always that engaged in hard work? I seem to remember …”

Savannah was curious about this change in topic. She really didn’t know much about Ashton. Was his dad insinuating that he’d once been lazy? Now that the focus was getting off her, the conversation was much more interesting.

“I remember too,” Ashton said. But he obviously wasn’t going to mention his attitude toward work in his trust fund years, at least not in front of Savannah.#p#分页标题#e#

“Then let’s see it,” George told his nephew. “If you help get this dang task done, we can take Savannah to lunch.”

Ashton stared daggers at the three men before turning and shooting Savannah a warning look. She just gazed back in an I-can’t-stop-this expression.

“Go to lunch,” he growled. “They won’t lay off me unless you do.”

“I’m perfectly fine doing my job,” she told her tormenter. “I don’t expect special treatment.”

Ashton took a step closer. “I said, ‘Go to lunch,’ Savvy. Do you have a problem with following orders?”

“No, boss, of course not.” Savannah probably couldn’t have injected any more sarcasm into her voice if she’d tried.

“Good.” He turned to walk away.

“We’re taking one of your boats over to Orcas Island and eating at the Loft at Madrona,” his father said. “You’ll join us, son, and captain the ride, of course.” Richard took Savannah’s arm and threaded it through his as he made his way toward Ashton’s favorite sailboat.

“I have work to do, Dad. I don’t have time right now.”

“Didn’t you just tell Savvy … I like that name, by the way, very fitting,” Joseph said. “Sorry. I got off track. But didn’t you just tell Savvy that there’s no use in arguing? Why in the world would you argue?”

Ashton blew out a breath and rolled his eyes before deciding to follow them all. “Fine. But we can’t be out long,” he said with a heavy sigh.

Savannah was in shock that he’d caved in so easily. He didn’t seem to be the type of guy to be pushed around. Then again, when faced with three giants, he was probably wise to just go ahead and do exactly what they wanted.

“I love it when they behave,” Richard whispered in Savannah’s ear. “Don’t you?”

She blushed another time and decided that dishonesty was the best policy. These men were way too overwhelming for a mild-mannered woman like her, so she didn’t reply.

They boarded the most beautiful sailboat Savannah had ever stepped on. She was growing more uncomfortable by the minute, but she was stuck on this journey for now, so there was no use in being negative.

Before long, they set sail to a nearby island, and Savannah kept to herself in the back of the ship while the men raised sails and helped Ashton get the boat from point A to point B and so on. She would have loved to help them, but either she, or all of them, would probably have ended up taking an unexpected dive into the water.