Aspen nodded. “They throw a really big, ostentatious party every year…” Her voice trailed off as she finished connecting the dots. She knew a couple of people who were regular attendees, and neither of them ever had anything complimentary to say about its hosts. “Fuck, dude. Don’t tell me—”
“Those are Eve’s parents. It’s their gala, and her slimy bastard of an ex will be there with the girl he cheated on her with and then dumped her for once he was caught.”
Aspen scowled. What a dick. “I could just kick his ass, instead,” she offered.
“While I’m sure she’d be tempted, I don’t think Eve will go for that.”
“Yeah, well, I can’t believe her father is still employing the cheating asshat.”
Michael chuckled, but the sound lacked any mirth.“Her parents are of the belief that it’s Eve’s fault because she wasn’t willing to uproot her life in Manhattan to move to DC.”
“Maybe I should kick their asses too, for good measure.”
“Pretty sure even I can’t talk your way out of that one,”Michael replied, though, this time, a note of amusement crept into his tone. He sobered as he added,“Look, Aspen, Eve is a genuinely wonderful person and I’m not saying that just because she’s my friend. The least she deserves is some backup for a few days. You know I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.”
“No, I know,” Aspen sighed. She scrubbed a hand over her face. Being the week before Christmas, it was going to be a logistical nightmare, but she’d figure it out. “I’ll find someone to take my charters. Is she flying into ASE? Or driving up from Denver?”
“Aspen airport,”Michael confirmed.“Her flight lands in two hours. She’s expecting you. I’ll text you a pic, so you know what she looks like.”
“She’s in the air now?! What would you have done if I’d said no?”
“You wouldn’t have,”Michael replied confidently. Aspen hated that he was right, but what she hated more was the self-satisfied smirk she could hear in his voice as he added,“Have a good week!”
Aspen gritted her teeth and resisted the urge to hurl her phone across the room. Michael was her favorite cousin—and not just because he could talk his way out of a paper bag—but, god almighty, sometimes she wanted to punch him in the face. Her phone buzzed with an alert, and she hummed under her breath as she opened the message to see the picture Michael had promised. She licked her lips as her gaze roved over the image of the stunning redhead with bright blue eyes that she’d be shuttling around town for the next few days, and couldn’t help but smile as she murmured, “Maybe this won’t be such a hardship, after all.”
Her phone buzzed with another alert, and she snorted at the message Michael had sent as a follow-up to the picture.For thelove of god, Aspen, please treat her right. I love her like a sister, and I really don’t want to have to kick your ass.
Aspen smirked. If she’d just happened across Eve Morrison on her own, she would definitely be tempted, but her cousin’s best friend, no matter how gorgeous, was definitely on the Do Not Touch list. Still, she couldn’t resist goading him just a bit as she shot back,I’d like to see you try. Don’t worry, Mikey—her smirk widened at the nickname her cousin absolutely hated—I’ll be on my best behavior.
She had no trouble imagining the way he undoubtedly rolled his eyes as he replied,That’s exactly what I’m afraid of.
Eve scanned the crowd of people huddled around the edges of the baggage claim. Except for having to sprint to make her connection in Dallas, the flight from New York to Aspen had been mercifully uneventful, which was both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because she honestly couldn’t handle one more thing going wrong so close to what were sure to be a hellish handful of days, but it was also a curse because it left her plenty of time to think. And wonder.
And worry.
It was one thing to drag Michael into this snake pit—he knew her parents and had acted as her plus-one on at least a half-dozen occasions in the past—but it was honestly a little cruel to subject someone she didn’t even know to the whole thing. If Aspen was anything like his cousin, he would be charismatic and handsome and everything her parents would approve of, which meant that Nolan, who hated to lose, would undoubtedly be a colossal dick to the poor guy.
Nolan had his good qualities, too, but he was also the epitome of the Washington DC elite, and he wielded his position as the youngest person to make partner at Morrison & Young like a cudgel to get what he wanted. From tables at booked out restaurants, to tickets to events, and to pretty former coeds who were seduced by his snakelike tongue and devilish smile, therewasn’t much of anything he couldn’t get his hands on.
And, okay, she might still be a little bitter, but most of those observations were thanks to time, distance, and hard-earned perspective. She hadn’t necessarily been happy with Nolan, but she’d been content, and her parents had approved of him. Which was more than they’d approved of anything else she’d done in her life—from declining her admission as a fifth-generation legacy student at Harvard, to eschewing any career they deemed appropriate as she followed her passion, instead. To them, photography was a hobby, not an artform, much less a career. She’d hoped her professional success would prove them wrong—she’d won several awards for her work and headlined gallery exhibitions in New York, Chicago, London, and Paris—but it hadn’t happened yet.
Eve’s heart skipped a beat before thudding heavily into the base of her throat when she noticed a someone standing amongst the crowd holding a piece of white cardstock with her name inked on it in bold, black letters.
Shit. Okay. Here we go,she gave herself a little pep-talk as she wound her way through the crowd.
She wouldn’t say the floor at the Aspen airport had issues, but she absolutely blamed the smooth tile for the way she tripped over her own feet and stumbled into a poor, unsuspecting family with two small children when she was finally able to see the person holding the sign.
She’d just assumed Michael’s cousin that he’d called-in to take his spot was a guy because of his comment about Aspen knowing how to wear a suit. And the glaring absence of feminine pronouns when he told her about his cousin.
But Aspen wasn’t a man.
She was a woman.
A tall, fit, incredibly handsome woman with dark hair that was short on the sides and left long on top to fall rakishly overher forehead. Beneath that lay regal cheekbones that hinted at Native American heritage, a jawline to die for, and full, pink lips. Even from this distance Eve could tell that Aspen’s deep brown eyes shone with an almost secretive playfulness as she leaned against a pillar, her left booted foot crossed casually over her right as she idly scanned the crowd pouring into baggage claim from arrivals. Her dark wash jeans must have been tailored to perfectly hug her powerful thighs, and she wore a slimming mock-neck black cable knit sweater with the sleeves pushed up to reveal a large aviator’s watch with a thick black band and an impressive amount of ink on her right forearm.
She was fucking gorgeous.
But while Eve appreciated the view, she knew that her parents most certainly would not. For as much as they’d disapproved of her choice of college and career, that disapproval had nothing on the absolute disdain they held for her bisexuality.
