I pinched his business card between my fingers, still smirking from ruffling his feathers, and heard the front door click shut a moment later.

My gaze cast to his name.

Nolan Foster.

Then I flipped the card over and saw that he had handwritten his personal cell on the back.

Of course.

Now I knew what he meant by anything at all.

I glanced over my shoulder to the door, shook my head, and flicked the card on the counter.

I should have known the chances of seeing the man who’d nearly collided into me on my arrival were good. It wasn’t like the town was all that big to begin with. But twice in less than an hour? And he owned this condo? Sienna would say that it was a sign of the universe conspiring to bring us together.

I, on the other hand, would say that it was pure coincidence.

Padding over to the dishwasher, I opened it up. Water dripped from the test the boys had run. I lifted my gaze to the counter and laughed.

They had forgotten to take the women’s underwear with them.

There was something about those boys that I liked. Travis was young and easygoing, but Nolan…Nolan was the responsible elder that got under my skin and made me want to challenge him at every turn. And he took it well, with a calm grace that I could appreciate. And God knows that I needed it after my day—and after having to deal with the narcissistic men I worked with.

Spinning around, I opened the fridge.

The corners of my mouth curved the moment my eyes landed on the bottle of merlot from Sienna. It was the only item in the fridge and it looked beautiful.

Reaching out, I wrapped my fingers around the bottle’s neck and swiped it off the shelf. Closing the fridge, I began my search for a corkscrew. Two drawers later, I had the top off and was drinking straight from the bottle.

It didn’t matter; I was alone. And I sure as hell didn’t need a glass. This was my mini-vacation away from the men who’d screwed me over and taken what was supposed to be mine. I could do whatever I wanted.

A minute passed and I found myself holding Nolan’s card in my fingers when my cell chirped with a message from the back room. Setting the bottle and card down on the counter, I scampered to retrieve my phone. It was a message from Sienna saying she hoped that the bottle she’d gifted me made it into the fridge. I told her it had, suddenly feeling selfish for ditching her on our planned weekend. The next message she sent choked me up and nearly brought me to tears.

You’re amazing. Don’t forget that. Everything happens for a reason. Maybe now is the time to start that business you’re always telling me about? We’ll talk more about it later, but first, go ENJOY yourself and forget the bullshit at work. I’ll make sure to save you some wedding preparation for when you get home :-)

I told her I loved her but I couldn’t keep my thoughts from drifting back to work.

Work was my life. The office was the once place I poured all of my creative energy into. It was the institution I sacrificed my life for. And it—they—betrayed me.

My body temperature rose as my jaw locked.

I was so angry at how I was deceived into thinking that position was mine. But now I knew. Knew that I’d been lied to and that I was surrounded by a bunch of two-faced assholes. Worst of all, I felt used.

Stomping to the kitchen counter, I caught the bottle inside my hand and tossed it back.

The liquid was warm and sweet, and I was already getting a nice buzz thanks to the high elevation. My blood was thin and I was feeling empowered by Sienna believing in me.

I knew she was right.

I could break out on my own.

Become my own boss and hire only female employees.

Feeling my smile spread to my ears, I snickered as I moved to the big windows and stared up into the deep shades of greens coating the ski hill. My mind raced with possibility as I soaked up inspiration from the wildflowers, grasses, pines, and aspen trees that were beautiful in their natural state. The sun was shining across the valley and it made me believe in a brighter future.

Together, in perfect harmony, I knew that would be the culture I would create if I had my own business.

Women’s voices would be heard.

They would be more than a good piece of ass to flirt with.

They would be empowered with confidence, skills, intellect, and, as a result, the business we would create together would flourish.

It was such a nice idea. A pipedream…

Closing my eyes, I dropped my chin and tucked it into my chest, laughing lightly.

If only it was as easy as it all sounded. In reality, I knew that starting my own business wouldn’t be easy. I would need to get my hands on start-up capital and work my ass off—even harder than what I was already doing to make someone else rich. And if I thought my dating life sucked now, I could kiss any hopes of a relationship out the window for good.

I turned back to the bottle of wine with a bent spine, smoothing down my clothing.

This pipedream was exactly that—a dream. Something fun to talk about with my girls, but we all knew the life trajectory I was on. Single at thirty with no prospects for a happy ending. Though Sienna and Monica would never say it to my face, we all thought it.

Loneliness crept up on me and took me by surprise.

Taking another healthy pull from the bottle, I couldn’t stop myself from thinking that maybe I should have focused more on my relationship with Raymond when we were still together. Maybe I would be better off having a man instead of a career. My friends seemed happy and Sienna was psyched to be getting married.

Suddenly, loud voices and yelling started coming from the front of the building.

Needing to know what the commotion was, I hurried to the front window and quickly peeked out from behind the curtain. My heartrate quickly lowered once I saw that it was only Nolan and Travis. And though they were in each other’s faces, I couldn’t help but to laugh.

They were comical, from start to finish. Everything about them made me feel good and it all started with the fact that I already knew, deep down, they were both boys trapped in men’s bodies.

Pulling back the curtain further, my eyes followed them as they moved across the parking lot.

Both were tall and muscular with broad shoulders that were evenly proportioned to their heights and weights. And though both were well over six feet tall and two-hundred pounds, Nolan had his brother by an inch. But Travis had the tattoos.

They continued to argue and I amused myself with thinking they were fighting over me.

It was a nice thought, and though I could safely assume that I had nothing to do with what they were fighting over, I couldn’t help but want to hear for myself.

Discretely, I reached up and unlocked the latch before twisting the handle to crack the window open. And just as the outside air came rushing in, Travis pushed Nolan in the shoulder and turned around and started walking away.

I frowned as I watched him disappear into a tiny sports car. I had missed the action.

Then I turned back to Nolan who was still standing there with his hands rooted into his hips. His strong jawline was set as he kept his gaze fixed on his younger brother. I couldn’t help but admire the look of concern he had in that moment. Something about that look made me believe that he was a good one—had a kind heart—and was a family man.

He glanced up at me—as if feeling me watching him—and I quickly ducked to the floor with my heart racing.

“Shit.”

A few seconds later, I peeked over the ledge hoping he hadn’t seen me eavesdropping on his life. Because if he did, then he’d know that I was interested, and I wasn’t sure that I wanted my weekend to be filled up with testosterone. I’d had enough of that today, and, besides, I’d promised myself this weekend was to get away and reflect.

Slowly, the crown of my head lifted further to the ceiling.

I held my breath, hoping he wasn’t still looking up here.

And when my gaze traveled to the spot I had last seen him, I sighed and my heart sank.

He was gone.

Standing, I watched Nolan Foster get behind the wheel of that very same pickup truck that had nearly run me over earlier this afternoon. Beside him, in the passenger seat waiting, was a woman. And she was beautiful.