Page 4 of Last Chance Seduction
“Really?That’s how you’re going to play it?We both know I’m not that flexible, and seriously, gross.”
I shuddered as he continued to clean himself and went back to my paperwork.
I needed to get in the booth soon, as I had a deadline coming up.And other than speaking with my cat, I hadn’t used my voice for most of the day.Vocal rest was important in my line of work.I opened my notebook and highlighted a few starred items that would be needed later.
“This shouldn’t take long,” I muttered to myself, keeping my voice calm.
I only had to record a short story today, and with the amount of effort I had put into the prep work, I should be able to have it down as long as my mouth didn’t get tongue-tied on a few words that I usually messed up.And they were never difficult words.My mind just decided to be a little silly when it came to reading a book out loud.
I grinned, thinking how I’d had the same issues when I had been a drama student back in college—a theater kid at heart.I always tangled myself up over the easiest things, focusing on making sure I was perfect on the most difficult words and themes.
I was sure there was probably some psychological explanation to that, something I didn’t want to get into too deeply.After all, I read books for a living, as well as a few other voice acting skills.I didn’t need to dive deeper than that.
Mr.Darcy immediately jumped on my desk, startling me.
“Are you serious right now?”I asked the cat as he delicately pawed his way over my desk, knocking my pen to the ground and proceeding to lay on his side half over my notebook, his other paw dangerously close to my hot tea.
“Oh don’t you dare,” I warned, narrowing my gaze at him.
I wasn’t quite sure when I had become the woman who merely spoke to cats for a living.But here I was, alone in a home that I had bought with my own money, as well as the bank’s, and spoke to cats more than I spoke to people.
Yes, one of my good friends came over occasionally, but she was also a voice actor, and both of us in the same house doing the same work wasn’t physically possible.Not when I needed to get in my booth and start working.
“Okay Mr.Darcy, I’m going to have to set you on the ground.You know I hate doing that, as you deserve everything in the world, but come on.”
He leaned forward, moving his paw to press something on my keyboard.
The computer made a sound, and I looked up at the screen, hoping he didn’t email my client something or somehow send money to his own special bank account off in the Cayman Islands.
I snorted, wondering exactly when I had lost my mind, thinking that my cat had somehow siphoned money off from me.
“You need to get more sleep.”I glared through the side window, knowing the source of my irritation wasn’t exactly my cat, or my new working schedule.
No, it wasthem.
And as if they knew I was talking about them, the sounds of hammering echoed through my home.
My beautiful, peaceful, quiet home.
Or rather,formerlyquiet.
Workers spoke and shouted to one another, laughing with one another, as they continued to do their jobs.I didn’t want to hate them for doing their jobs, after all, they seemed to know what they were doing and were efficient about it.But why on earth was my new neighbor deciding to expand his beautiful home already?
Of course, it wasn’t as if I hadmetthe new neighbor.No, the elderly couple who had lived in that home for most of their lives, had moved out to be closer to their children, and the new person had found their way in.I hadn’t lived here long, but long enough for me to feel as though I’d finally found my home.But I hadn’t met this new person.
And whoever this person or family was, decided to make my life a living hell.
Because even though the booth that I had spent far too much money on was soundproof, it didn’t block as many sounds as one would like.
Namely the sounds of a jackhammer breaking through whatever stone happened to be in the ground back there.Part of me had wanted to research that stone, to figure out what could possibly be making that terrible racket, but I had work to do.
Work I now had to do in the evenings and nights, because I couldn’t very well narrate a book with construction going on.
This was not what I signed up for when I had bought this home.And whoever had moved in next door was going to rue the day they had ever decided to build onto their home and restore it without asking any of the neighbors.
Jason and Nancy on the other side of me were also perturbed because they had two-year-old twin girls who still needed their nap time, and of course the construction went on.However, apparently, they had spoken with the neighbor when I had been out of town and had known ahead of time that the construction was happening.
I grumbled to myself, because it seemed whoever this new neighbor was, had spoken to nearly everybody on our cul-de-sac, giving them a baked good, as well as a thank-you-for-welcoming-me-to-the-neighborhood present, to explain there would be construction.
