Page 104 of Nanny for the Firefighter

Knowing what time it is, I have about three hours before Mason gets home.

I just hope that I can come up with something to say in that time.

THIRTY-TWO

Mason

The door closes behind me as I push my way into my office carrying the for sale sign. The Jamesons loved that house so quickly that I’m pretty sure it’s the fastest I’ve sold a property.

Cassie’s sitting at her desk as I pass by, and she gives me a smile, her eyes going wide.

“You already sold it? Damn, well done, Mason.”

I laugh, stopping to lean the for sale sign against the wall behind her desk. I’ll take it to the back closet later.

“I barely had to do anything.” I put a hand on my hip, shaking my head, still a little shocked. “They were so cute. The Jamesons. They’re expecting their first kid, and they just loved the ambiance. They said it was perfect for living out their ‘cottagecore lesbian’ lives. Absolutely adorable.”

Cassie laughs, and I let her know that I have a few things to finish up in the office and to hold my calls so that I can try to push through it all before going home.

“Sure thing, Mason.”

“Thank you.” I wave over my shoulder as I walk back to my office and take a seat at my desk.

The heat is oppressive today, and I sigh as I unbutton my suit a bit and try to fan myself with my shirt.

My eyes are closed, my head back against my chair, when the phone rings. I sit up and look at the thing, a little confused since I just told Cassie to hold my calls.

Maybe she hasn’t switched it over yet.

I grab the receiver, tucking it under my ear as I wiggle the mouse to my computer to wake it up.

“Hello?”

There’s no response, and I wonder if the phone did something weird when Cassie was trying to hold my calls.

“Hello? Can you hear me?”

There’s nothing again, and I’m pretty sure at this point that the wires just got crossed when Cassie was forwarding the calls to her desk.

I’m about to hang up when I hear it.

Someone breathing.

“Hello? Did the call go through? Can you hear me?”

They don’t respond, but I can still hear that breathing clear as day.

“Look, I can hear you breathing, so if you’re some kid who thinks this is funny, knock it off. Yeah?”

Still no response, but the line doesn’t hang up either.

“All right, well, I have way too much to do. So go prank call someone else.”

I hang up, shaking my head as the annoyance flares in my gut. I hate prank calls, and when I’m already hot and tired, that’s not the way to get the cranky mood to back off.

Quiet returning to the room, I concentrate on my email replies for a few minutes before I see the time, and I decide to give Bridget a call before I finish up here and go home.

Using my cell, I pull up Bridget’s number and swipe to call. It rings a few times, and then I hear her sweet, familiar voice, which immediately eases my nerves.

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