He thought Devon worried too much about Ashley’s potential reaction. She loved him, wasn’t that enough? It had made Devon cringe that apparently the whole world knew she was madly in love with her husband to be.
Besides, William pointed out that as disinterested in the family business as Ashley was, the chances of her actually putting it all together were slim. William’s advice to Devon? Keep her busy and happy.
Suddenly in the midst of Ryan’s report, a sound jangled over the room. There was a series of starts as his employees looked down and then around. Devon frowned. What the hell was it? It sounded like a ring tone, but it wasn’t one he’d ever heard before.
Then slowly everyone’s gaze turned to him and it was then he realized it was his phone going off in his pocket.
“What the hell?” he muttered.
Cam snickered.
Devon yanked his phone out of his pocket to see Ashley’s name on the LCD. He nearly groaned aloud.
“Excuse me a moment,” he said as he rose. “I’ll take this outside.”
He hurried out the door, irritated by Cam’s look of amusement. He knew damn well who was calling Devon.
As soon as he was outside the conference room he punched the answer button and brought the phone to his ear. “Carter,” he said tersely.
Ashley wasn’t even remotely put off by his greeting. Or lack of one.
“Oh, hi, Dev! How’s your day going?”
“Uh, it’s good. Look, was there something you needed? I’m kind of in the middle of something here.”
“Oh, nothing important,” she said cheerfully. “I just wanted to call and tell you I love you.”
An uncomfortable knot formed in his stomach. What was he supposed to say to that? He cleared his throat. “Ash, did you change the ring tone on my phone?”
“Oh, yeah. I did. I downloaded one so you’d know when I’m calling. Neat, huh?”
Devon closed his eyes. The cheerful cascade of noise that sounded like a cross between Tinker Bell sneezing fairy dust and a waltz at some damn princess ball would make him the laughingstock of the office in short order. Not to mention that Cam would never, ever let him live this down.
“Neat,” he lamely agreed. “Look, I’ll see you tonight, okay? We still on for dinner at nine?”
“Yes, that’s perfect. I’m at the shelter until eight so if it’s okay I’ll just meet you at the restaurant.”
He frowned. “Do you have a ride?”
“I’ll get a cab.”
He shook his head. “I’ll send a car for you. Stay put at the shelter until it arrives. I’ll arrange it for eight.”
She sighed but didn’t argue further. “Have a good day, Dev. Can’t wait until tonight!”
“Thanks. You, too,” Devon said but she’d already hung up.
He stared at his phone for a long moment and then punched a series of buttons. How did you even change the ring tone? He’d never designated a special ring tone for a person. His phone rang, the contact showed up, and if he wanted to answer he did. If he didn’t, he let it go to voice mail. No way he wanted sparkly Tinker Bell music to play every time Ashley called him. What if she made a regular habit of it?