Aspen was speechless.

Andrew had shamelessly milked Derek for all he was worth, then turned around and declared himself the man's loyal sidekick like it was nothing. She honestly had to admit—even she could not compete with that level of shamelessness.

"Even if you did call Mr. McCormick for backup," she said uncertainly, "do you really think someone that high up would bother helping us?"

Andrew stayed calm. "If he does, great. That saves me the trouble of handling this myself. If he does