Page 10 of Cakewalk
“We can’t really charge that much for the place,” Courtney said, already forgetting all about Madison. “It’d probably only cover forty hours a month for the part-timer.”
“I’ll see what I can negotiate,” I insisted. “Just let me handle all of it, okay?”
Courtney gave a shrug and a huff. “Fine. I can’t believe I just fired my sister, though.”
“You didn’t fire me. I quit, remember? Now, get back to your cupcakes.”
With one last semi-suspicious look, Courtney turned and disappeared into the kitchen. She was going to find out who the tenant was sooner or later, but as long as I could hold off the discovery for a few months, maybe that’d be enough for her to get things running smoothly again.
I just had to hope Griffin was still in the market for a tiny ramshackle apartment above a cake shop.
Chapter 4
Jade
Griffin metme in the alley behind the store around noon. He had a new phone and new attire, though this time he was wearing a casual T-shirt and jeans. When I looked him up and down, he stated, “What? I had a meeting this morning. I don’t always dress up.”
He wouldn’t be hearing any complaints from me. Not with those tattoos and muscles on display. “So, uh, funny story,” I began.
“The last time you told a ‘funny story,’ it was to your sister, and it was about throwing her cake at me.”
“I didn’tthrowit, okay? I thought we agreed that you ran into me. But anyway, I’m out of a job.”
“Your sister fired you?”
“No, no. I quit. I wasn’t doing her any favors. Quitting is actually the biggest favor I’ve done for her in a while. But it doesn’t really work out unless…” I just now realized that my entire brilliant plan depended on Griffin’s cooperation, and maybe a bit of pity.
“Unless what?”
“Well, now she needs the money to hire someone. And I was thinking she could get that money from renting out the apartment upstairs.” I nodded up at the metal stairs that led to the separate apartment on the second story of the brick building. “And you needed a place to rent, right?”
Griffin squinted up at the rather neglected exterior of the apartment. If only he saw the inside—then he’d really be having second thoughts. “Oh. I hadn’t planned for it all to happen… today.”
“Yeah. I sorta didn’t plan on quitting either. I’m not a very good planner.”
He looked at me with very serious eyes. “What about you? Don’t you have your own bills to pay?”
I hadn’t even thought about myself until now. “Oh. I’ll figure it out. I need to make sure my sister’s all set first, though.”
Griffin pulled out his wallet. “How much is the rent? I’ll pay up now so she can hire somebody immediately.”
“Wait, don’t you want to look at the place?”
He waved me off. “I’ve been in worse places, I’m sure.”
Griffin Reed, CEO of a multi-million dollar company, in worse places? I doubted that. “The rent is… err…” I had no idea what exact number would leave my sister in the green if she was to hire a part-timer.
“How about three thousand per month? Would that cover it?”
I gaped. That’d cover a mansion in this town. “There’s no need to overpay.”
“I’m paying for convenience. Though I don’t usually carry that kind of cash on me. I can pay part of it now and get the rest to you by Monday.”
I was too flabbergasted to put up a fuss. “S-sure?”
“Email me the lease agreement at your convenience and I’ll have it signed straight away.” He proceeded to ramble off his email address as I fumbled to put it in my phone.
“Okay,” I said after typing it in. “But just one thing. Could you try to stay incognito while coming and going from the apartment? My sister’s too busy to probably even notice, but I’d like to be careful.”
