Chapter 2
Two
GENEVIEVE
W as he on to her? Genevieve had applied to hundreds of places under the pretense that she’d previously worked as an advertising manager for a Caribbean resort chain, and she hadn’t had a bite, not even a nibble, until Brendan King. Brendan Carter King , to be exact. It was ironic—here she was, a desperate fraud with an ex from hell, and she’d secured employment using a fake identity right under the number master’s nose. A Colorado ski resort town wasn’t her first choice to hide—she’d have preferred a bigger city—but perhaps Jed’s thugs would never think to look for her here.
Aspen was like nowhere she’d ever been. Early fall had arrived, and with it, fresh powder sprinkled across the blended green and golden blades of grass. The reflective silver sparkles that bounced off the white snowbanks were nothing like the flashy multicolored city lights and noisy casinos she’d grown up with in Reno. Aspen was peaceful—a vacation haven and tranquil mountain paradise with kind people, fashionable boutiques, and trendy breweries. She could live here forever—if only life were that simple.
Genevieve bit her lip as Mr. King melted into her eyes through his thick, square-shaped glasses, and a pitter-patter set off in her chest. He was the strangest man. Was she crazy to think he was into her? A freaking millionaire? He’d better run. She wasn’t girlfriend material—not even close. Her stupid ex had seen to that. He’d slandered her name with a felony record and so much debt no company on earth that did their research would ever consider employing her.
Her marketing degree was legit. She rocked at drawing new clients into businesses, but her legal name with her hard-earned diploma from the University of Nevada was now junk. All because her ex had convinced her to sign documents for his shady operations in an attempt to trap her by his side. As if she’d stay after she learned how greasy he really was! She wasn’t a doormat, and she wasn’t a criminal. But her real identity said otherwise now—she falsely held three warrants. How do you recover from that?
The guy in Reno she’d paid with the remains of her meager money to forge her new identity had snickered as he’d handed her a fake social security card, passport, and driver’s license. Gigi Goddess Green. Really? Who was she? Carmen Sandiego? At least Carmen had a sexier-sounding name. If a cop ever pulled her over, they’d take one look at Goddess etched boldly across the center of her license and arrest her on the spot. And good luck traveling through an airport—they’d probably call the FBI before she got through TSA. But that’s why the guy had done it, just to screw with her, and there was nothing she could do about it because having any kind of ID was better than none. Welcome to her world.
“The Goddess is on a Saturday, the weekend after next.” Mr. King said, his voice cracking as he ripped his heated dark brown eyes away from her slightly open blouse and fixed them on her curious gaze. He sat up stiffly in his chair. Shoot, she really should have been more careful to button up her top all the way. She didn’t want to make him uncomfortable. “I was thinking we could leave the Friday before,”—he gulped down a breath—“tackle the three-hour drive, and then get settled at the hotel holding the event. Your thoughts?”
Genevieve crossed her arms over her cleavage, and a guilty look flashed across Mr. King’s narrow features. She tried not to eye him suspiciously. “Why exactly is it called The Goddess? What does this event have to do with advertising? Or BC King Enterprises?”
“Um, it’s a finance marketing private event. A friend of mine is putting it on. Pretty private.”
His lips twitched, and Genevieve held her eyes steady to keep from rolling them. She could smell a liar a hundred miles away after the damage her ex had done. But she was also a liar. So what now?
“Wouldn’t it be better if the marketing director or VP attended with you instead of me…like usual? I mean, bringing your advertising manager could be important for some conferences, I get it, but unless it’s related to client campaigns, then…” She shrugged.
Did she really just challenge the CEO regarding a work event? She evaded them all the time, but he’d directly asked her this time. Even if Mr. King was lying about something, if he fired her, she was up a creek because any company that did their homework would discover Gigi Goddess Green didn’t exist prior to three years ago.
Mr. King blew out his cheeks, swiping a hand across the back of his neck. “You might be right. I should probably turn the conference down altogether.”
“Oh, no, don’t do that.” She forced a smile. “If you need me, I’ll attend. Have Chris forward me the details.”
Genevieve swore she’d never travel with Mr. King again after she’d made a risky television appearance by his side on a couples’ reality TV show. She’d made the snap decision when she’d just started working for him and had been terrified that he’d terminate her employment before it even began if she didn’t accept his professional invite. He’d been without a partner and needed to help out his childhood best friend, Hannah. Thankfully, she and Mr. King only had to remain on the show for a short time—an episode or maybe two, and then Hannah no longer needed their help, and they’d left.
Genevieve had purposely never watched the show back because it would have just stressed her out. What if Jed saw her on TV and sent his goons after her? But Jed hated reality TV, so if she was lucky, the chances of him spotting her on the show were slim. On top of that, her hair was now its natural honey-brown color streaked with concealing thick fire-red highlights instead of the pale champagne blonde shade she’d dyed it throughout her entire relationship with Jed. She’d also tossed out all her favorite plum-shaded lipsticks, now opting for brighter shades of red. She looked different enough, right?
“Knock, knock,” Quill said, walking in and plopping his broad frame down on one of the blue leather office chairs facing Mr. King’s large desk.
Quill, Mr. King’s Chief Operating Officer, had joined BC King Enterprises within the first month of its launch. The man was a whiz at programming, logistics, and a ton of other things. Aside from Hannah, Genevieve sensed that Mr. King trusted Quill the most. What would it be like to have friends you could trust? Other than her mom, Genevieve had never trusted a soul.
Quill dumped some water from a stainless-steel bottle onto his hand and dampened his shoulder-length, sandy blond strands, brushing them back from his face. “Ready for the gym, bro? And maybe a run in the hills afterwards?”
Mr. King quirked a grin. “Bro? Really? In the office?”
Quill shoved his water bottle into the side of his gym bag and flipped his palm up with a shrug. “You keep asking all of us to act more casual and stop calling you Mr. King. You can’t have it both ways. ”
Quill winked at Genevieve, and she smiled in return before reverting her eyes back to her boss. Come to think of it, Mr. King’s long arms were more defined than when she’d first started working for him. His chest was broader, too. He wasn’t bad on the eyes, she decided, never having considered him or anyone for that matter as more than an acquaintance since she’d fled her toxic ex. But Mr. King was the opposite of toxic—respectful, reserved, and refined. She’d never been into glasses on a guy before, but his were kind of sexy in a cute, intelligent way.
She pulled her lower lip into her mouth with her teeth, nibbling on her cherry-red gloss while she scanned him over from head to toe. Mr. King shifted into a rigidly straight pose as her eyes assessed him. Could he not handle the heat of a woman checking him out in return? What if he was into her? She’d never dated a nice guy before. Smart…sure. Shady…definitely! But nice? Fresh out of college, she’d thought that nice guys were more trouble than the shady ones. Who wanted to commit? Why not just have fun? But she’d been wrong. Oh, so wrong!
And to consider Mr. King simply smart was an understatement. More like a friggin’ genius. Who self-earned over a hundred million dollars before they even turned thirty? Those were the rumors she’d heard anyway. He was a one-in-a-billion catch. Should she lead him on? No, leave him alone! You’re dangerous. He’s too na?ve. She’d never even seen Mr. King go on a date.
Genevieve tore her eyes away, forgetting the reason she’d returned to his office in the first place. “Well, I’ll leave you boys to it.”