Page 22 of The Fix

“Jeffers, I claimed this room,” Anna states, her shoulders squaring off like this is some kind of competition or argument she can win. “Go pick another one.”

“Uh-huh.” My tongue flicks over my grinning lips. “I saw you brought your shit back but not mine. It’s cool, though.”

“We are not rooming together.” She grabs the strap of my duffle to keep me from stepping backward. What she doesn’t realize, though, is that she’s dropped her protective blinder and stepped closer to me, the heat of her rage radiating from her and crashing against my bare skin.

Her frustration makes me giddy, her proximity tingling me with excitement.

“Except—”

“No,” she grinds out through gritted teeth, that reddish tinge stuck on her face.

“—you claimed the only room in the house.”

Chapter Eleven

Anna

No.

No frickin’ way did I just hear him say that.

“Seriously?”

“Yup.”

Yanking the strap of the duffle until Toby relents, I take the bag and walk into the main living space of the cabin.

I saw stairs. There’s more than this here.

Adamant and determined, I hike the bag on my shoulder and round the back of the couch to the narrow stairway.

I grumble despite the chuckles that follow me so close I swear I feel his breath on the backs of my legs. Dread settles into my stomach with each creaking stair I climb. My stomach churns when I breach the surface of the second floor, then drops completely as I reach the final step. It’s a barren loft-like space that overlooks around the chimney spouting up from the fireplace below where Toby stood naked only a few minutes ago and hosts …

Nothing.

Only a few boxes litter the wooden floor; its surface not even finished and covered in a sheen of dust.

“No.”

“There you go with that word again.”

“Uggghhhh!”

Spinning, I shove the bag into his chest and push past him, rushing downstairs, and barrel across the cabin's belly, snatching up my laptop as I pass.

By my next breath, I’m barricaded behind the locked door of the only room livable in this house with my phone.

“You didn’t tell me!” I yell into the phone before Leo even has a chance to finish his groggy greeting.

“It’s four a.m. here,” Leo sighs out. “What are you talking about?”

“That there’s only one damn room in this whole place.”

“Whoa,” he mutters, the rustle of sheets echoing over the line. “Hey, now. Let’s take a breath for a sec, Anna.”

“No!” I bellow, much louder than I intend and totally out of character for me, because despite the banter and bickering with my boss, I do still try to remain tactful and professional. I do need this job, after all, if I’m ever going to find the answers I’m looking for. “No breaths, Leo. You didn’t warn me there was only one freaking bedroom in this whole house.”

“Ah,” he sighs. “I hadn’t got to fixing the lounge up yet. Is it dusty?”

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