Page 12 of His Hot Mess

“I’m sure it won’t take long, will it Chris?” said Charles.

“Nope.”

Chris gave me thatlookagain. The almost-smirk.

“You don’t mind, do you Sadie?” asked Charles.

I pushed down the irritated heat in my chest. “Of course not,” I bit out, trying to sound easygoing.

No problem. Happy to have this smug, annoyingly handsome man who smells like… pine needles and fresh soap and…manin my personal space.

“Do you have time now, Chris? I’d like to make sure everything’s in order before leasing the commercial unit. I’ll pay you for the inspection, of course.”

“Well—” Chris began.

“Great, it’s settled then,” Charles said. Clearly this was a man who was used to having people jump when he said boo.

Chris made like he was going to protest but I shot him a look.Don’t you dare mess this up for me, buck-o.

I brightened when I remembered I had a half-used box of tea over the stove. I could offer Charles tea while we waited for Chris. That was civilized! But Charles started to move towards the door.

“Are you leaving?” I asked. Panic ran through me. If Charles left, he’d have time to think about options for the shop. He might want to do a renovation before leasing it.

I had to secure the store before he left. My whole new life depended on me getting this shop.

“I have a four thirty back in Millerville,” Charles said.

“I’m extremely interested in the unit downstairs,” I blurted out. “Please.”

Was I supposed to play it cool in these situations? Negotiate? Hiding my emotions was not my strong suit.

For a moment, Charles was silent as he paused at the doorway, weighing my future in his hands. We had already discussed my ideas for the shop downstairs. I’d even shown him my drawing.

“I can pay three months rent upfront,” I said. I hoped I didn’t sound desperate. I considered smiling coyly, or flipping my hair. Then hated myself for even thinking that. Even the old Sadie didn’t flirt her way out of problems. Not often, anyway. And not very well.

“Alright,” Charles said. “How about this. If Chris doesn’t find any major damage, and if you contract Grayscale to do whatever improvements you want to make to the unit—after running them by me of course—I’d be happy to let you lease the shop.”

My heart just about jumped out of my chest. “Thank you,” I whispered, trying not to gush. I cleared my throat. “Thank you,” I said, louder.

“We’ll start with a yearlong term, see how things go.”

“Yes. Yes sounds good,” I said. I wanted to throw my arms around the guy, or at the very least jump up and down and scream. But I managed to clasp my hands in front of me and stay put. Like a professional. “You won’t regret it.”

Too much. But to hell with it, this was my win of the century.

Charles smiled, thankfully looking pleased rather than put off by my enthusiasm.

I practically bounced out of my shoes as Charles made for the door.

“Let me know how it goes with the inspection, and I’ll have my assistant do up the paperwork,” he said, stepping out my door.

“What?” I whispered, as I brushed past Chris to walk Charles down the stairs.

“Maybe you should have waited until we made sure there wasn’t anything majorly wrong with the place before jumping to sign a lease. You’re showing your hand—”

“Shh!” I hissed, anger rising. “He’s right outside!” It was seriously like Chris didn’t want me to get the place.

“Sadie?” Charles called. He popped his head back inside. “You coming? I’ll need you to send some details to my assistant.”

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