Page 18 of Good as Gold
“I would never. Besides, you closed the deal.”
“With coaching.” I lean in and give her a one-armed hug. “Thanks. I needed that.”
She turns to me with a warm smile. “Wine?”
“You think it’s okay?” I glance toward the stairs. “I’m kind of on duty.”
“Unless you’ve become a super lightweight in the past decade, I think a couple glasses are fine.”
I take the glass she’s poured me and thank her again. “Come and sit down with me. Didn’t you also bring those spicy cheese puffs?”
“Of course. I’m still a big believer in snacks. Not everything has changed around here since you left.”
I guess it hasn’t, because I’m still wildly attracted to Leila. Maybe even more than I ever was before.
That’s the real reason we can’t get drunk together. I’ll probably blurt it out, like an idiot. Even when I was a lovesick teenager, I’d managed not to do that.
It’s kind of a miracle, really.
We go into my sister’s generous living room and sit on the sofa. Leila kicks off her shoes and plunks down next to me.
“I thought you’d be out tonight,” I tell her as she opens the cheese puffs and puts two napkins down on the coffee table. “Living the single girl’s life.”
She sniffs. “Like I’d even remember how that works. A lot of my friends are at home with their own children.”
“Yeah? That’s one thing I love about Aspen—there’s always a party somewhere.” Even if the partygoers are starting to look like kids to me.
“I can’t even imagine.” She eats a cheese puff and offers me the bag. “Can I ask you something?”
“Anything.”
“What’s wrong?”
A cheese puff stalls on its way to my mouth. “With me? Not a thing. Especially now that Sir Screams-a-lot is sleeping.”
Leila tilts her head to the side, as if considering my answer. She sets her wine down on the coffee table and turns to me on the sofa, tucking her feet underneath her body, and the action is so familiar that I’m hit with a powerful wave of nostalgia.
“Try again,” she says quietly. “I’ve known you a long time. And while I’m glad you found a reason to pop in for Alec’s wedding, I can tell that something is going on with you. Do me the honor of not lying about it.”
Shit. I guess Leila is still smarter than pretty much everyone else I know. I take a sip of wine to stall. “It has been a terrible year, and it’s not that much fun to talk about.”
“Oh, please. I recounted all my embarrassing troubles toyouthe other night. That was super fun.”
I laugh. “Fair.”
“So.” She pats the sofa. “Spill the tea. What’s got you looking so exhausted? Bad breakup?”
“Nah. It’s actually worse. My business partner—and best friend—died in a snowboarding accident. And I was there to witness it.”
She takes a sharp breath. “Oh honey, I’msorry.”
For some reason I shrug. As if that would make it less tragic. My throat is as dry as dust. There’s a reason I keep this stuff to myself.
“How did it happen?”
Because we’re both idiots. “We ride a lot of big-mountain terrain, yeah? A lot of it is pretty wooly. Sean was kinda famous in Aspen for riding stuff that other people feared. But…”
I stop and take a fortifying sip of wine. The thing is, picturing Sean on a mountaintop always used to make me smile. He had years of grand adventures and good times.
