Page 14 of Erik's Salvation
But he didn’t. He turned and, yep, there she was, standing too damn close.
“Hey.” Hannah smiled. “I’ve been thinking. I really hope that since we’re neighbors, we could try to get along. We could even be friends.”
He bit back a sigh. He wasn’t going to be friends with this woman. Not only because he couldn’t, what with his hands twitching to touch her every time she was near, but because if she knew even the CliffsNotes version of the fucking shitstorm that was his life, she’d run as far from him as possible.
“You don’t want to be my friend, Hannah.”
Her lips parted. “Why not?”
He lowered his voice. “Because you’re good, Angel…and I’m not.”
CHAPTER5
We appreciate your interest in selling our property. In this instance, we have decided to go with someone else.
For a moment Hannah was tempted to throw her laptop to the floor of her office and stomp on it. She’d been so sure she had that contract. What was going on? The last three properties she’d been approached to sell, the owners had gone with someone else just before the contracts were signed. Her only current saving grace was that Angelo hadn’t made his decision, so it wasn’t a no…yet.
Oh man.She needed more work. How was she going to pay her bills or her damn mortgage? Or buy her insulin?
She dropped her head, thudding it against the solid wood of the desk.
Screwed. She was screwed. And what was more, every evening job prospect she’d approached had told her they weren’t hiring. So unless by some miracle she found a handful of properties to sell, or managed to sell the few she still had listed, those bills on her kitchen counter would turn into living, breathing debt collectors.
“I take it you didn’t get the Wilfred account?”
She peeled her forehead off the desk, unable to muster even the smallest smile for James, who stood at her door. He was cute in a clean-cut kind of way, with his perfect sandy-blond hair and button-up shirt.
“Nope. And no reason was given.” None. Squat.
“Maybe you’re losing your touch.”
She knew he was joking, but it still stung. She was a people person. Shealwaysgot the listing after the meeting stage, but lately that wasn’t the case. “Maybe I have. Maybe people have realized I’m a grouchy diabetic who barely has her life together.”
Taylor stopped beside James. “Hey.” When her eyes fell on Hannah, they softened. “No luck on the Wilfred account?”
Taylor was the third realtor at Reuben’s Real Estate. She was in her mid-thirties and a single mother, which made her a great agent because she was motivated to sell. They were all feeling the pinch right now.
“No.”
Her voice gentled. “Competition is tough with that new office in town taking all the houses. Did you ask why they went with someone else?”
“I askeveryonewho goes with someone else, but I only seem to get wishy-washy, polite responses that tell me nothing.” She blew out a frustrated breath. “How are both your sales going?”
“Not great,” Taylor said.
A crease formed in James’s brow. “Terrible. But I’m confident they’ll pick up soon.”
Well, at least one of them was.
“I’ve got to go pick up Elliot,” Taylor said. “I’ll see you both later.”
James tapped the doorframe. “Try to have a good night, Hannah.”
With a heavy sigh, she turned back to her laptop and quickly typed out a reply to the email, then packed her stuff and left the office. The second she slid behind the wheel of her car, she turned her key in the ignition.
The thing didn’t start.
She tried again. Nothing.
