Page 35 of Mr. July

“I don’t have one,” I snapped. Well besides, hammering shingles on a roof, refinishing floors and soon, mulching the gardens. Who knew owning a fixer upper was such a good workout?

“Am… am I fired?”

“That depends,” I growled again. A deeper one this time, low in my throat. “If you make me another lemon cake. Sugar and gluten free this time.” I raised my eyes, meeting hers through my glass office wall. She rolled hers.

“Fine.”

“And no more talking to reporters.”

“Noted.”

I hung up to a new notification from the rental app. Just when I thought my day couldn’t get worse. After I scanned the message, I sat up so fast, my chair rolled backwards crashing into the wall. My blood pressure was so high I expected my exploding head to pop off.

I was suspended from renting out my shore house. Ryan Hill had filed a countercomplaint alleging harassment and misconduct on my part. Her deposit was being held in the company’s escrow account pending an internal review of the both of us.

She just fucked me good and hard. All those summer renters bringing good income to pay off the house just went out the window.

Fists curled, I paced in front of twenty feet of glass. Looking out on the city below, I felt my jaw tic. She riled me. My blood was hot fire coursing through my veins. I wondered what she looked like. How old she was... What her least favorite food was so I could tie her up and force feed it down her throat.

My account was paused, not inactivated. I opened up the app, resuming our email chain conversation from the day before.

From: homeowner1278

To: [email protected]

SUBJECT: GAME ON

This is war. You don’t know who you are messing with. I’m coming for you.

Game on sweetheart.

After I hit send. I shuffled the contracts I was reviewing in my briefcase, followed by my laptop and texted Hunter to meet me at the gym. I had some major testosterone flooding through me, and I needed to sweat it out. If I couldn’t do it with a woman, the gym would suffice.

“Damn, bro that was a personal best.” Hunter racked the weight as I took a towel and wiped my forehead. “Who is she? The last time I saw that fired-up look on your face was when you saw Elena Fields at the freshman bonfire party.”

I swigged some water, following with a smirk on my lips. “And I got her too.”

“So, who is she?”

My brows furrowed. “An annoying gnat.” I quickly gave Hunter the rundown on Ryan Hill, how she played me, leaving my shore house littered with sex toys then got me suspended from the rental app.

“Did you keep any of the stuff?”

I shook my head, water bottle in hand pointing a finger at him. “and that’s why I keep you the hell away from Charlie.”

He rested his hands against his heart. “She’s it for me bro. My dream gal. If you let me have a shot at Char, I’d give up all my dirty ways.”

“Yeah, right,” I snorted. “How about never on that one?”

“Well, like your granny always said. Make lemonade out of lemons. I say we make some friggin’ spiked lemonade. You, me, and all the summer shore ladies. Forget renting it out bro. Use it. You spent all winter down there, you deserve to reap the fruits of your labor and all that.”

“It’s setting me back big time.”

“So? You’re a trust fund baby, remember?”

“That money was for my future wife and kids.”

He tapped his index finger against his skull “How else are you going to find your future wife and have those kids? What if she’s at the shore bro and passes you by because you rented out your house and never met?”

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