I turned to him slowly. Was he actually interested in learning about my life? We’d never gotten into our backstories during our time in Aspen, preferring to live in the moment.
The very sexy, rarely dressed, sweaty and delicious moment. My skin flushed as the memories hit me. Tangled sheets, his mouth on my neck, his hands running down the side of my body…
Those same hands were right here, just a glance away. Shockingly big, with buffed nails and the veins to prove he worked out every day. I forced myself not to remember them caressing my body. How they could go from strong to tender in an instant.
“Gwen?”
“Right!” I jerked back to reality. “My background? Um, I actually started my PR journey with none other than Hildy Bartholomew.” I waited for him to look impressed, but he just shook his head with an apologetic shrug.
Okay, maybe name dropping didn’t do much when you were talking to someone who didn’t know the key players in your industry. “Trust me, she was a legend. Contacts so deep she could get the CEO ofThe New York Timeson the phone any time of day.”
Harrison bobbed his head. “Impressive. So she taught you everything you know?”
“Basically. I consider myself very lucky because she took me under her wing. But then she had to go and retire.” I half smiled. “The jerk.”
“Yeah, I was going to ask how you went from a nurturing boss to those assholes at McPherson.”
There was a layer to the story I wasn’t in the mood to discuss with him. Instead, I kept it to the basics. No need to dwell over stuff not worth mentioning. It was all ancient history anyway.
“Hildy sold her business to another firm. I worked there for a while, but I wound up, uh, needing to make a move, so I jumped at the chance to join McPherson. It felt like a no-brainer because they have a great presence in the industry. Little did I know it’s run like a frat house.”
“So I did you a favor by getting you out of there?” Harrison asked smugly.
I wasn’t about to let him take all the credit for my bold move. “I was on my way out; you just gave me a speed pass.”
“You’re welcome,” he replied as he settled back against his seat.
As much as I wanted to say something wise-ass, I finally realized my oversight. “Oh my God, I never said thank you!”
“Don’t worry, it was implied.”
“And now I’m saying it outright. Thank you, Harrison Ashford, for saving me from the horrors of the frat house and sending me in this new direction.”
We both went quiet at the same moment, and I caught a glimpse of the Harrison I’d known in Aspen. The one I’d tried to convince myself had never been real in the first place. Sure, he’d beenconfident bordering on cocky and brusque when he got caught up in his thoughts, but there was a well of kindness deep inside of him. Maybe that really was legit.
Hell, I’d seen him snuggling puppies, so Harrison couldn’t be all assassin.
“I did my homework,” he replied, finally putting his phone down. “I have my two sound bites about the courthouse incident. I was there dealing with a challenging personal matter, no further details given, and my phone was missing so I was stressed about that.”
“Eh,” I tipped my head back and forth. “Decent, not great. The phone thing might be believable as an issue for regular humans, but you could snap your fingers and have a dozen peons lining up to deliver you a new iPhone. Let’s go deeper on the personal stuff instead. Why were you at the courthouse? And don’t worry, this is for me, not the rest of the world.”
He flinched. “Listen, I’m not comfortable sharing that sort of stuff. And isn’t that why you’re here? To spin?”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “But in order for spin to work, there has to be a grain of truth in it. So please expand on what was going on that day. I promise I won’t use anything you don’t want me to.”
His eyebrows drew down and he frowned at me. “That’s unnecessary, Gwen. And personal. Just tell me what to say.”
I swallowed back a huff of frustration. Yes, he might be kind deep down, but the a-hole attitude he kept on the surface? It could be a real pain. I got that he wasn’t into sharing, but I was the person hespecifically hiredto help clean up his mess. How could I do that if he wouldn’t even tell me what kind of shit I was supposed to be shoveling away?
“It’s personal, but if you’re too cagey about it, people are going to start digging on their own. Public records and all of that. Do youreallywant to unleash teenage detectives with too much time and unlimited data packages?”
“Everything about my case is protected, so let them dig.”
“Yourcase?” My voice went high. “I’m not liking the sound of this. Were you arrested again?”
He scowled at me. “Oh, come on. No, I wasn’t arrested.”
Harrison started shuffling papers on the desk in front of him and rearranging his laptop.
