Page 26 of Reckless Harmony

“Don’t, Mom,” he said. “She’s the enemy, remember?”

“Isaac, how can someone so dedicated to saving innocent animals be the enemy?”

“She’s deliberately not selling me her property because she hates me,” he said.

“You don’t know that for certain,” his mother said.

“I do. The property is great, but the house is falling apart. The amount I offered her is way above the value of her property. I’m being nice, and she has no reason not to sell it to me.”

His mother laughed. “No one has ever accused you of being nice, sweetheart.”

He ignored the little jab of hurt he felt. His mother wasn’t being malicious, and besides, she was right. He wasn’t a nice guy and never would be.

“Have you tried asking her why she wants to keep the property so much? Maybe if you can find common ground, you can -”

“We have nothing in common, Mom. She’s a plumber who runs an animal rescue, and I’m… me. She has a million animals at her house, and all of her clothes come from Walmart.”

“Don’t be a snob, Isaac.” His mother’s tone lost its playfulness. “I didn’t raise you to be judgmental about others.”

“Sorry, ma’am,” he said.

He knew why she was so pissed. He had sounded scarily similar to his father, and he hated that there was even a part of him that was anything like his old man.

“It won’t happen again,” he said.

“See that it doesn’t,” she said, her voice still sharp.

There was silence before she sighed. “Sorry, dearest. I shouldn’t take my trauma over your father out on you.”

“You didn’t. I was being a judgmental asshole and deserved to be called out on it,” he said. “I’m sure Rayna Abrams is a perfectly nice person, but she has something I want and -”

“And you’re not used to being denied what you want,” his mother said.

“Pretty much,” he said.

She laughed. “Oh, my love, I do adore you. Try not to be the big bad wolf to the poor girl, though, would you? Take it down a notch and maybe be her friend, or at the very least, be civil with her.”

“She’ll probably feed me to a dog if I show any sign of weakness around her.”

His mother laughed again. “Well, I do hope she doesn’t turn you into dog chow, dearest. Listen, I must run. I’m having my usual Thursday night dinner with Sandra Wilkinson, and you know how she abhors tardiness. Love you, my boy.”

“I love you too.”

Stark ended the call and stared blankly at his computer screen before leaning back and spinning his chair around to stare out his office window. Snow fell softly, and he studied the flakes for nearly five minutes before rubbing one hand against his jaw.

He was tired and in a bad mood. Work had been nothing but putting out fires all week, and he was seriously considering leaving tonight for New Cassel instead of tomorrow night. Lucas, James, and Hollis could handle anything that came up at the office, and it had been forever since he’d had a three-day weekend. Hell, it’d been forever since he’d had a weekend. As much as he wanted to deny it, he was a workaholic and didn’t see that changing anytime soon. Not when he had nothing else in his life.

Whoa, where did that come from?

He muttered a curse and shut down his computer. He liked his life. No, he fucking loved his life, and just because he’d had a bad week and was feeling rattled and out of sorts didn’t mean he was suddenly questioning every decision he’d ever made.

Besides, everyone felt lonely occasionally, even assholes like him.

He stuck his laptop in his bag, grabbed his phone and shut off the office light. He would go to New Cassel tonight. He’d relax in the luxuriousness of his penthouse, drink five hundred dollar scotch, and enjoy the company of a beautiful woman.

His mind immediately conjured an image of Rayna, with her fiery brown eyes and how her lips looked soft and lush, even when thinned with anger. He pictured those lips wrapped around his dick and said appendage immediately hardened.

He grunted with annoyance and banished Rayna’s image from his head. He adjusted his dick, waiting impatiently for his erection to subside before leaving his office. He popped his head into Hollis’s office. “Hey, I’m taking the day off tomorrow.”

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