Page 17 of His Hot Mess

Please. Please let me have this.

There was a long pause on the other end of the phone.

“Have you ever negotiated for real estate before?” Charles said finally.

“Never,” I confessed, unable to bluff further. All I had left now was to hope my honesty was charming enough to get him to at least cover some of it. Even if he threw in five grand I could back down on some of the more expensive upgrades. The thought of compromising on my design was painful. But not as painful as not getting the shop at all.

“Alright listen, Sadie,” said Charles. “I like your determination. You remind me of me when I was just starting out. If you can knock the price down and still make it look as much like the picture as possible—and if you can make me a personal promise to do your best to up our numbers in town this summer, I’ll cover say… fifteen grand.”

My heart flew to my throat. I looked up at Chris, unable to hide my giant smile. I was shaking. If I was careful with building costs, I wouldn’t have to dip into my credit cards. I wouldn’t have to ask Lucy for money. I could do thisall by myself.

I willed myself to keep my voice steady.

“It’s a deal,” I said, as if totally expecting this mind-blowing development. “What time should I come by?”

As Charles talked particulars, I walked towards Chris, my whole body imbued with a newfound self-confidence.

Look at what I’ve done!

Chris looked alarmed as I came up close. What did he think I was going to do,kisshim?

Ishouldkiss him, just to see what kind of reaction I’d get. I mean, get a couple drinks in me and it was totally something I would do.

I had to remind myself I didn’t want to do that with Chris. I didn’t want to be the old Sadie, who fell for anyone I had the hots for. I didn’t want to be involved with anyone at all. I wanted to focus on me and my new life.

But I did want to take Chris Slade down a notch.

So I leaned forward, Charles still chatting in my ear about his ideas for the other stores on the block that were part of his portfolio. I slid my hand around Chris’s side, feeling him stiffen. Then I plucked the bright pink fabric stuck to him, pulling it out and dangling it on my finger.

It was a pair of my underwear. A lacy, high-cut thong I’d bought as a “new life, new me” present, and promptly abandoned at the bottom of my closet because it was so uncomfortable.

But Chris didn’t need to know that. He didn’t need to know I was currently wearing a pair of well-worn, comfortable-as-hell granny panties. He could think I was a high-powered woman who wore expensive lingerie and took no prisoners.

“Did you mean to take these?”I whispered.

I was close enough to see the skin at Chris’s throat pulsing as his face reddened.

It was glorious.

CHRIS

Icranked the faucet up as hot as I could stand it, letting out a breath as the shower went from steamy to scalding against my back. I should turn it to cold. Maybe then I’d get Sadie fucking Fulham off my mind.

Even as I thought it, I knew it wouldn’t work. I’d still want Sadie so badly it would make my whole body ache. And then I’d been freezing to boot.

It had been a week since I’d been wearing her fuckingunderwearon my shirt in front of her. A week since I was in her apartment, which was as wild and disorganized and…aliveas the rest of her, and I hadn’t been able to stop thinking of her.

I still couldn’t get over how she’d plucked fifteen grand out of Charles Haverford just by being savvy and charming. She’d done it all with the power of simple suggestion, and it had been a thing of beauty to witness.

Just like her.

Squirting shampoo onto my palm, I inhaled the clean, woodsy scent, trying to cleanse Sadie Fulham from my mind. I hadn’t been able to stop smelling the scent of her shampoo—or whatever it was in all those toiletries that smelled like her when she’d stepped up close to me.

I scrubbed the stuff into my scalp rougher than necessary.

Sadie.

When I met up with Graydon back on the job site after leaving her apartment the other day, I’d shared everything that had gone down on the inspection with him.

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