Page 51 of Emergency Exit
“Well, what did he say?” asked Harper doubtfully.
“He didn’t have to say a damn thing. He was way more relaxed than the last eight times I’ve seen him, so clearly, she’s having an impact. And she was great with Olly, I’m just… I don’t know. Rowan and Forest are normal people, you know? They don’t do weird things. Well, I mean, not anymore. Forest did have a bit of a wild phase in his twenties, but he’s Mr. Responsible now. And you said it yourself, his business is huge. Anyway, bottom line, Rowan wasn’t hurt that bad, his girlfriend was nice, Forest was not in freak-out mode, and I taught Olly to saygive me your booty!”
“What?”
“He was a pirate for Halloween. It was funny.”
“That sounds like something only uncles think is funny,” said Harper, but chuckling.
“Rowan did laugh pretty hard,” agreed Ash.
The conversation wandered through re-heating the leftovers and her getting fries and finally finished up when she said she had to wash her face. Ash reluctantly hung up and went to work on his own nighttime routine. When he flopped into bed, it was with a smile, but he sighed in discontent once the lights were out. The bed would have felt better with someone on the other side. Was it possible to miss someone who’d never spent the night?
16
Harper
Code Words
Harper was glad to be back on the calendar with Ash, even if it meant that somehow the kiss never got talked about. Piper advised her to ask, but Harper couldn’t work up the courage. Of course, Piper also said Harper needed to ask Ash about the ten thousand dollars. Harper didn’t want to do that either. She didn’t want to risk losing Ash again.
On the other hand, Thanksgiving and a visit back to Denver was right around the corner, and she didn’t want to face Cooper without being able to pay him back. Harper vowed the next date that she would gather the courage to say something, but she wasn’t looking forward to it.
Their next event turned out to be a grand opening for a new children’s wing of a hospital. Which was nice, but Harper found peculiar. Ash said there was a Ven diagram of people with the financial standing to invest, interest in world-changing technology, and enough social acumen to leave the house. Therefore, given the well-documented Seattle freeze when it came to meeting new people—the best way to meet potential investors was to be a patron of non-profits. He also sat on several boards and consistently worked with local college organizations to assist STEM students.
“OK,” said Ash as they surveyed the crowded room. “I see the hordes are about to descend.”
Harper could also see the cluster of individuals moving toward Ash. She got the feeling from the way non-profit people greeted him that he donated a lot of money.
“But I want to talk to those people over there,” he jerked his head toward another group standing by the windows. “And there are those engineer people that you liked over there.”
He pointed to a group that Harper thought were probably the ones who had designed and built the new wing. They had an indefinably practical look about them. She couldn’t quite put her finger on what made them different from the other guests. Ash was always happy to talk to them, but he never targeted them as part of his business.
“Oh, I like Tina! She’s so Swedish.”
“I don’t know what that means,” Ash said.
“She’s from Sweden.”
“In that case, I do know what it means. Will you be OK if I leave you alone for a bit? I don’t think you want to be here for all the schmoozing.”
“Yeah, no problem!”
Ash grinned at her. “OK, then we rally at the emergency exit in twenty minutes, and by seven, I’ll be taking you someplace fun for dinner.”
“Limited quantity socializing, maximized fun,” said Harper cheerfully. She loved that Ash didn’t make her strain her allotment of people energy.
“Exactly! Go, Team Smoak and Ash!” He held up his hand, and Harper high-fived him with a laugh. His fingers closed around hers, and they held hands for a moment. “See you soon, Smoak,” he said with a smile that made her heart do backflips.
Harper dutifully talked to her engineering friends and then made her way toward the rally point. The room had become crowded, and Harper had to edge her way through knots of people all chattering loudly. Harper avoided an older woman’s cocktail as she emphasized a conversational point with her arm, sidestepped a large man, and then found herself eye-to-eye with Stephanie Richland.
Stephanie paused and looked Harper up and down with a tight smile. Like at the birthday party, her blonde hair was sleekly swept up, but it was in a French twist this time. She was in a black and white patterned shift dress that Harper thought was Balenciaga. Stephanie was staring. Harper wanted to look away but felt like they had entered a glaring contest.
“You’re here,” said Stephanie. “What a surprise.”
Harper didn’t know how to react. She thought Stephanie didn’t look surprised—she looked pissed.
“Cute dress,” said Stephanie, “Loewe does drape so nicely. I take it Ash is buying your clothes now. Funny, he usually can’t keep track of designers. Emma used to pick out his clothes, you know.”
