Page 49 of Fool Me

“Corbin,” the blond in the middle greets us, his eyes flicking to me and dropping to our joined hands. “Seems Canyon was mistaken about at least one thing.”

“And what’s that, Blake?” Harlowe asks.

To her credit, she pulls off looking confident and unbothered. The steel grip she has on me is the only tell that she’s teetering on the edge of losing her cool.

It’s the one with the burly beard next to him that smirks, saying, “Just bragging about how, now that he’s back, he’s going to snag Travis’s job and you.”

Echo plops his furry butt down in the dirt with a groan like he hates this as much as I do.

“What did he say?”

I don’t how she manages to sound so bored when I feel like I could uproot a tree from how aggravated I am.

There’s a snort from the third guy. “He said, ‘She won’t even be disappointed in losing the job to me when she realizes she gets the bigger prize.’”

I see red. Not crushing her hand in mine requires all my concentration, and it’s the only thing keeping the words I want to say trapped behind my teeth.

Not a fucking chance.

“It seems he was wrong on both counts. Not surprised though, he’s always been a few bales short of a haystack, hasn’t he?” Harlowe infuses a sugary sweetness into her tone, giving the dig a playful tone when it’s anything but.

The three of them laugh in agreement. Like it’s all just a cute joke.

Their deep chuckles push my anger to the brink. They don’t see the line they’re forcing Harlowe to walk. If she sounded bitter, it would be at a detriment to her getting the promotion. But ignoring what my brother did makes her look like a pushover.

She’s forced to be everything all at once—strong, happy, professional. Her true feelings are buried beneath what these guys need to see to take her seriously. It’s not fucking fair and knowing she deals with this every day makes me want to knock their heads together until they see the position they’re putting her in.

“You ready for your interview next week?” the blond asks, his smile as insincere as they come.

“Of course. I’m looking forward to it.”

He glances at the approach shoes clipped to her backpack. “Does he know what he’s doing?”

“He does,” I answer for her, sick of this guy talking about me like I’m not here. Sick of it all.

He barely spares me a glance and I don’t like the way his eyes linger on Harlowe a bit too long before he adds, “Watch out for the fourth bolt—it’s loose. I’m coming back to make the fix. I didn’t have the tools . . .”

Harlowe stops him with a hand patting her backpack. “I’ve got a wrench. I can check if it needs to be tightened or pulled. Wouldn’t want anyone getting hurt before you can get back.”

He lifts his chin in acknowledgment, and then they file past us. When they’re gone, I realize my back aches with the tension I’ve been holding and I have to drop Harlowe’s hands to roll out my shoulders.

“Please tell me those guys aren’t part of the interview team.”

“I wish I could. Brady, the one with the gross man bun, is the county’s search and rescue coordinator. He’s part of my interview this week, along with his boss, the Teton County Emergency Management Director. Interagency collaboration and all that.” She waves a hand like it’s nothing and then adds, “Thank god they don’t work for Timberline Peak, all of them are insufferable pricks.”

I hang my head. The trail side encounter encroaches on the stress of this morning’s surgery and wraps around my spine pulling my muscles taut again. “I hate this for you.”

“I can handle Brady. He’s friends with your brother, but he’s almost as slimy. If it’s to his advantage to turn on Canyon, he will.”

“Which means he’d do the same to you.”

She rolls her cheek against her tongue, nodding. “True, but he only gets a voice, not a vote.”

“Do you think that seeing us together hurt or helped?”

“It made Canyon look stupid, and that’s a win as far as I’m concerned.” Her lips tug down just a touch. “But you seem more anxious than before.”

I roll my lips together, not answering.

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