Too Hot to Handle (Jackson Hole 2)

“I came to rock climb.”

“And just be generally rich?”

“Look, I’m sorry if you have a chip on your shoulder, Merry, but I’m doing well. It’s a good time to be a lawyer in Chicago. Do you want me to apologize?”

No. No, but Crystal’s success made Merry feel like shit, and sometimes she couldn’t tell if Crystal intended it to or if it was all in Merry’s head. The paranoia drove her to distraction whenever her cousins were around. “Why did you want to see me?”

There it was. That arrogant glint in her eyes. That flash before she said something really—

“You’re my cousin, Merry. I worry about you. I know how hard it can be for you to find your footing sometimes, and I wanted to be sure you were…okay.”

“I don’t have trouble finding my footing,” Merry said, sinking lower in her seat to get more comfortable while she stared into her disappearing drink. “I like to take chances. I like new experiences. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“No, there’s not. As long as you’re happy.”

“Exactly,” Merry snapped, as if she weren’t sleeping on a pull-out couch in her best friend’s living room. As if she weren’t actually a glorified temp worker.

“Great!” Crystal patted her hand. “I’m glad you’ve finally found a good situation.”

Yes. Finally. As if Merry had stumbled over a lucky coin in the dirt. “Well.” She set down her empty drink. “It’s been great catching up, but you should probably get back to the villa.”

Crystal looked shocked. Merry was usually more timid around her, afraid to push back out of fear that Crystal would point out just how inferior she was. The problem wasn’t her pointing it out, of course. The problem was that Merry found herself believing it.

Not anymore. She couldn’t do it anymore.

“Merry—” Crystal started, but Merry cut her off.

“I’m sorry, Crystal. I’m tired. I’m starting this place from scratch and it’s a lot of work. Let’s just leave it at that.”

Crystal set down her drink with a shrug. “Whatever you say. I’ll tell my mom I did my duty.”

“Perfect.”

On their way out, Merry already felt guilty. She was no good at being mean to people. It felt awful, and she worried that Crystal might actually have feelings and that Merry had hurt them.

“I do hope you have a great trip, Crystal,” she said over her shoulder. “The rock climbing sounds amazing.”

Crystal said something back, but Merry didn’t hear her, because she was just registering that Shane’s truck was parked at the curb ahead, and he was walking around the bumper.

Oh, shit. She didn’t want him to see Crystal.

But of course, he wasn’t blind, and he looked up and caught sight of Merry just as he stepped onto the sidewalk. “Hey! I was just coming to knock on your door. I thought I’d see you on-site tonight.”

“Sorry, I…”

His eyes slid past her and locked on Crystal.

“My cousin’s in town,” she said quietly. “Shane, Crystal. Crystal, this is Shane.”

“Pleasure to meet you, ma’am.”

“The pleasure’s all mine,” she purred.

God. He was probably eating this up. Platinum-blonde beauty with a husky voice. Merry hated that she was standing right next to her. “Thanks again for coming, Crystal.”

Her cousin smiled at Shane as she walked past him, but she left without another word to Merry. Shane watched her go, of course.

When he turned back to Merry, he frowned. “You okay?”