Page 4 of Emergency Exit
“No, I said, Richland, as in Mason Richland. It’s his fortiethbirthday. Whose party did you think it was?”
“Rich Landers! It’s his fortieth anniversary at the firm!”
Ash burst out laughing.
2
Harper
The RichLAND Party
Harper looked on in disbelief as handsome Ash Valkyrie doubled over in laughter.
“Ash!” she protested.
She had been so happy with how the party had been going. Usually, she got overwhelmed in a crowd and ended up talking to other nerds in a quiet corner. But being with Ash had seemed to make everything easier. She hadn’t had to resort to fiddling with her bracelet or any of her other nervous habits. And the fact that Ash was a six-foot-tall hunk of adorableness with shoulder-length sandy brown hair and hazel eyes just made her evening perfect. Only her flawless moment had just gone up in flames. Her sister was totally going to call this a Harper Moment. How did she get herself into these situations?
“Ash! Stop laughing at me!”
“I can’t! Oh, God, I’m going to cry.”
“Ash!” She whacked his arm with her clutch, which only made him laugh harder.
“Ash! You have to get me out of this!”
“Why?” he asked, still chuckling.
“You got me into this party. You have to get me out!” Harper knew that probably wasn’t rational, but she didn’t think she could face slinking out of the party alone.
“But I don’t want to,” he said, smiling at her. Harper smiled tentatively back. He really was incredibly handsome. He had a lovely square jaw and dimples, and those eyes… They were practically gold.
“Ash! You made it!”
Harper made an involuntary squeak of horror as the host, Mason Richland, approached. Harper took a step, intending to make a run for it, but Ash chuckled and wrapped an arm around her waist. The warmth and strength of his arm was both steadying and exhilarating.
“Hey Mason. Meet my date, Harper Smoak.”
“Nice to meet you,” said Mason, looking as though he genuinely meant the polite sentiment. He was a trim-looking man with dark brown hair. He looked younger than forty, more contemporary with Ash, who was maybe in his early thirties.
“Hi,” said Harper, knowing that she was blushing. Ash was still holding her tightly to his side.
Mason scrutinized the pair of them. “Is this guy being a pain?” he asked conspiratorially.
“Yes,” said Harper. “But what he doesn’t know is that Iwillkick him in the shins.”
“Going to risk it,” said Ash grinning unrepentantly. His smugness made Harper laugh. It was a relief that he was standing by her. The angry, silent car ride home from the baseball game flashed in her memory, but she buried it.
“Mason and I have known each other since I was in college,” said Ash helpfully. “We work together periodically.”
“Oh, that’s nice,” said Harper, wondering what exactly Ash did. Several people had described themselves asoccasionallyworking with Ash. She wasn’t sure what that meant. She smiled tentatively at him and felt Ash relax his arm.
“Yes, periodically,” said Mason drily. “Speaking of which—Ash, call me on Monday. There’s a situation with Steph’s Dad. I want to chat about some opportunities.”
“Yeah, of course,” said Ash. “Anytime.”
“Enough work chat,” said Mason, smiling directly at Harper. “How did you two meet?”
“Funny story,” said Ash. “We met in an elevator. Harper was on her way to a party, and we accidentally sexually harassed each other.”
