Page 36 of Obsessed Mate

“Then whatareyou saying?”

“I don’t know.”

Snap. Well, there went the railing. Good thing Xavier was here making edits to the downstairs apartment. He could slide up here and replace the damn rail, one piece of which was caught in my agitated grip.

I held it up, and it would have been a comical sight if I hadn’t been furious.

Sadie covered her mouth. “Youdidn’t…”

“You’ll mention this to no one.”

“I mean, how can I not? You just broke the rail.”

I gritted my teeth and walked into the living room—intomyspace.

Where she evidently felt free to follow me. “Andres, you can’t possibly be that wound up over seeing me hug someone.”

“It’s not the hug, Sadie. It’s the fact that you did it deliberately to hurt me.”

Guilt returned as it rightfully should. She was caught in a lie, and I wouldn’t rest until it was exposed.

She rubbed her elbow. “Yeah, well…”

“Well,what?”

“I’m sorry about that, I guess.”

Laughter snapped from me faster than I could contain it. “That’s a joke. You have to be joking, Sadie.You guess.”

“Hey, if you don’t want my apology, thenfine.” She stomped out of the living room and flicked the broken railing. The rest of it tumbled to the floor below. “Screw your apartment. Screw your agreement. Screweverything.”

Did she seriously think she was going to live here with that attitude?

At the sound of her resolute steps down the stairs, the answer was yes. Yes, indeed, she did.

***

Loathe as I was to admit it, no one else would have been qualified to finish the edits for the downstairs apartment in so little time as Izdor. The man was skilled in carpentry alongside my brother. His power provided him an edge, but his wandering eyes told me he thought Sadie was up for grabs.

That was unacceptable.

Hours had gone by since I’d last seen Sadie. The landing was our last encounter—well, the living room of my abode upstairs had actually been more accurate. But who was counting at this point? We were simply trying to find a static way of existing, right?

So much for this being a good idea. I’d fumbled before, but never this hard, and I was already regretting everything. The job, the proposition, the luncheon…

Though it was true that Sadie had improved the process of gaining clients. She was incredibly gifted at speaking to people, she never raised her voice, and she promptly provided whatever information was needed. My workspace had been taken over by vanilla and honey. I was probably just agitated because I was used to being by myself.

Xavier would have said something smart about me sharing space. Spencer would have quipped that our separate apartments hadn’t ever been enough. I was starting to wonder if Sadie would soon grow tired of me and my specifications, my agitation, and my roundabout way of getting to the point.

But were those things truly me? Wonder took flight as I settled into the recliner between the fireplace and window. I shook the afternoon paper out and held it high, creating a barrier between the rest of the house and me. My private time was my most prized possession. It was the only way I could handle the world.

Except for the fact that every time I tried to focus on the inky words in front of me, I saw Sadie’s face. I saw her creamy hair, her sweet grin, her lemon eyes. Just thinking about her brought her scent to mind, and then the scent materialized, inviting me to lower the paper.

There she stood in the doorway of my apartment wearing shorts and a tank top. Darling curves outlined by the taut fabric of her clothes dragged me from my chair and across the room. Casual movements led me to her, and I folded the creases of the paper neatly before setting it aside.

I glanced at the clock. “Ah, it’s time for dinner. Would you like leftovers?”

“No.”

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