Page 3 of Mister Curb Appeal
Lover boy,
Call Lexi ASAP. She’s got a new deal for you. Is that code for something? Xoxo
This day may be looking up after all.
Chapter Two
LEXI
“Lake Haven?” I furrow my brow as I read the instructions on the screen. There must be some mistake.
My boss, Alison — who I love dearly and is like a second mom to me — sent me some weird ass email from her sick bed at some ungodly hour last night. Clearly she’s hallucinating, because the last time I checked, we didn’t trail our asses two hours east of LA to inspect properties for clients. It’s not our turf, so this is either one of three things.
One: Alison overdoing it on her cough medicine — highly likely, considering I sent her home yesterday after disinfecting the entire office with a whole can of anti-bacterial spray.
Two: Alison has finally lost her marbles.
Three: Alison may very likely have a VIP client who she can’t say no to.
Really, it could be any of the three, or all of them combined.
One thing I know about my boss is that she’s a workaholic, and I’m about to test that theory. I pick up the receiver, press 1, and the phone begins to dial.
She picks up after two rings.
Two!
“Alison Archer, that had better not be you answering after only two rings,” I warn. “I’m sure you were sent home yesterday by yours truly, and yet you’re sending emails out willy-nilly at all hours of the night. This was a test and I’m sorry to say, you failed miserably.”
Cough. Splutter. Wheeze.“I still need to talk to you,” Alison manages after a stealthy bout of sneezing, sounding like she’s on death's door.
I hold the phone away from my ear. “Please tell me you went to the doctor.” I facepalm myself. “If you haven’t, I’m calling Tristan.”
“I did!” she protests. “I was told only bed rest would help. He wouldn’t give me any good drugs to make this go away faster.”
I roll my eyes. “I’m sorry to say, you’re also lucid dreaming, because I checked my stars this morning, and in no way did it indicate that we now do business in Lake Haven. Unless you’ve opened up a new office I wasn’t aware of.”
“Do you know how bossy you are?” Alison huffs.
“Taught by the best,” I sing.
“It wasn’t a lucid dream, or my hallucinating, before you ask. I have a client who begged me to check out a lake house for her this weekend.”
“And they don’t have agents in Lake Haven?”
It’s a pretty little place surrounded by trees, moss and outdoorsy things like squirrels. And, you guessed it, a huge lake. I haven’t been there in years, but I’ve heard it’s the Hamptons of California.
“You know what a certain A-list celebrity is like.” She blows her nose while still talking and I wince. This call needs to end.Pronto.“Monica is very particular, and since I found her favorite home in Beverly Hills, she’s attached to me. I can’t help it if I’m the only one she trusts. I have to be there.”
Monica Chase is a very popular soap opera actress, and she just got her first big movie role.
“Puh-lease,” I scoff. “Unless you make a miraculous recovery in the next twenty-four hours, that’s not going to happen. Plus, we don’t need your germs spreading around the office, or anywhere else for that matter. You’re lucky none of us got sick.”
“You drink that green congealed gunge every day, your immune system will be fine.”
I choose to ignore that jibe, however much it may be true. “I’ll deal with Monica. I have my license for emergencies like this. Holding her hand and taking her through the house will be a breeze. She’ll be fine.”
“You’ll drive all the way out to Lake Haven?”
