Page 237 of Tormented Billionaire Romance Series

“Is that any way to talk to your best friend?”

I started, jerking my head up. Maggie jutted out her hip, her hands planted on her waist. She grinned down at me.

“Maggie!” I said. Without thinking, without caring about what had happened between us, I went around the counter and hugged her.

Maggie bent over me and squeezed me tight. “I am so glad to see you, Megyn. I missed you so much.”

“I missed you too,” I murmured to her shoulder. I pulled away and looked over my shoulder. “Are you guys okay if I take my break now?”

No one minded, and this afforded them a bit of time to get Yancy familiar with the register, anyway.

Maggie grabbed my hand and pulled me outside. After the stifling heat of the coffee shop, the chilly wind was like heaven on my face.

Maggie leaned back on the building. “I’m sorry for betraying your trust, Megyn.”

I took her hand and shook my head. “I forgive you. But it’s not like I’m entirely innocent in this whole thing. I overreacted. I’m just…glad you’re still my friend. I’m glad you’re still here with me.”

“Hey,” Maggie said suddenly, “have you checked your phone today? Has anyone expressed interest in the house?”

“The agent said…” I stopped. I hadn’t checked my phone, and Maggie sounded as if she knew something and was trying not to give it away.

I pulled out my phone and found several missed calls and even more messages, all from the realtor who was working for me. She had left a voicemail.

I showed my phone to Maggie. “What do you know about this?” I asked suspiciously.

Maggie avoided my eye in a rather uncharacteristic way. “You should listen to it and see what it’s about.”

My suspicions grew stronger.She knows something. She’s been plotting something behind my back again.

I pressed the button to check my voicemail, put it on speaker, and held the phone to my ear. There was an awkward pause, typical of voicemails, where the caller is busy summoning words after listening in silence to the beep. Then, my realtor spoke in her unhurried manner. “Hi, Megyn, I have some great news for you. Your house has been bought. Someone has made a very high offer of $150k for it. I went ahead and initiated the process myself, as I’m sure you’ll gladly sell to them. Please call me back at your earliest convenience and if you have any questions or concerns, don’t be afraid to ask. Thank you.”

The call ended.

The phone slipped through my numb fingers, clattering on the ground. I put my hand over my mouth, my heart beating so fast I could hardly feel it. My vision swam. $150k? That was so much more than the house was worth. Could there have been some mistake? But the agent would have known if it was and wouldn’t call me with the knowledge it was wrong. She had already initiated everything, it seemed like. All I would have to do was sign some papers and—

And I could move.

Maggie was smiling as she picked my phone up off the ground.

I grabbed her and pushed her against the wall. “What are you smiling for?”

“What?” she said. “I can’t smile?” But she started tryingnotto smile and that really confirmed it for me that she had been up to something.

“Not when you have that look on your face.”

“What look? I don’t have any look on my face.”

I pushed my fingers to her armpit and she squealed with laughter. “You do too have a look on your face! It’s a look that says you know who bought my house!”

“I can’t tell you!” she yelped, squirming around to try and get free.

“If I beg like Carter begged, will you tell? Or do I have to keep tickling you?” I wriggled my fingers up and down her sides, making her shriek and contort in on herself.

“Okay, okay!” Maggie cried. She grabbed my hands and held them, panting and laughing. “I admit it! It’s Carter! Carter is buying your house! But I swear I had no idea he was going to pay so much for it?”

I dropped my hands, stunned beyond comprehension. “Carter? What does Carter want with my house?”

“He’s buying it to turn it into your sewing store,” she blurted out.

---