Page 17 of Waiting for Acceptance
CHAPTER 9
FITZ
Sitting in the conference room back at Coleson, Lauren sits across from me with her eyes glued to the paper in front of her. She’s exhaling harder than that of a normal person who isn’t moving and every now and then I’ll see her pinch the inside of her arm.
“You seem particularly miserable this morning.”
She levels me with a glare. “Do I evernotseem particularly miserable to you?” I let out a hum then notice the scratches on her arm, barely catching myself before reaching out to touch her. I grab my pen from the middle of the table instead, giving my hands something safer to do.
“Get into a fight with your Christmas tree?” I muse.
“Hilarious, but no,” she says dryly. I stare at her blankly, waiting for an explanation. She lets out another hefty sigh and rolls her eyes, causing a new kind of tension to creep up my neck.
“I got a cat,” she mumbles and I truly can’t tell if she’s angry, embarrassed, or indifferent to the fact.
“Well then maybe don’t piss it off. Those look painful.”
“Yeah, well, the bitch scratched up my couch, pissed on my favorite blanket, and chewed through the strap of my favoriteheels, so I don’t really care if I pissed her off. She pissed me off first.” A smile makes its way across my face, watching in amusement as she gets so worked up over what I thought was considered one of the most low-maintenance pets to have.
“So glad my pain is funny to you. Can we get started now?”
“Whatever you want, Sweetheart.” I watch her small jaw tighten at my words. “Now, before we go over the files I asked you to gather, I closed on the townhouse with the Johnsons.” I pull the paperwork out and slide it across to her. “We made some?—”
“Youwhat?” The anger in her voice is palpable but her features remain as calm and collected as ever. It makes me want to push her buttons until I get an actual reaction from her. See how long it takes before she actually breaks.
“Closed on the townhome with the Johnsons. Has your morning coffee not kicked in yet? Pay attention.” Her cheeks turn a deep shade of red but she still doesn’t react. “They wanted to close over the holidays and no one else around here takes calls during the break so I made myself available to them. They took the opportunity to have me help them close before the new year.”
“You had no right to do that, and without so much as telling me first? Just who the hell do you think you are?” I almost have the mind to tell her exactly who I am, but I somehow refrain.
“I thought you were eager to get them into their new home as soon as possible. How did you put it? You wanted her to be able to pick out paint colors before she had the baby? It looked like they would need to move quickly if that was going to happen.”
“We’re done here.” She slams her notebook shut and storms out of the room.
Oh Trouble, we’re far from done.
I stand and swiftly follow her all the way to her office. Just as she’s about to slam the door in my face I slide inside behindher. She spins to face me after the door latches and I take the opportunity to back her into it, placing my hands on either side of her head. She tilts her head up, eyes flaring with anger.
“We’re done whenIsay we’re done.”
“Jack and Barbara may have hired you, for God only knows what reason, but I don’t take instructions from other agents.”
“I’m not just any other agent, Sweetheart.”
“Stopcalling me that,” she hisses.
“Now, if you’re done with your little tantrum. We have houses to show today.”
“We?” Her eyebrows jump up in surprise.
“Yes,we.” I let my eyes roam over her face, taking in every angry feature.
“Why? I’ve never shown houses with another agent. That makes no sense.”
“Get your things; we leave in ten minutes. We’ll take my car.” I pull away from her and she crosses her arms over her chest, still not moving from in front of the door.
“You didn’t answer my question,” she pouts.
“That was intentional.” I smirk and she rolls her eyes.
