Catastrophe Queen

Silver linings and all that.

“Morning.”

I smiled up at my new boss. He was wearing the same, hot as hell light-gray suit he’d worn each time I’d seen him. “Good morning, Mr. Reid.”

He quirked a brow, his lips tugging to one side. “You can call me Cameron, Mallory. I’m not my father.”

I blushed. “Okay.”

“I have to make a quick phone call. Would you mind making me a coffee and bringing it in with my breakfast, please?”

“Not a problem.” I got up, almost knocking the keyboard off the desk. I slid it back, not willing to make eye contact with him.

It was too soon for him to know he’d hired a total klutz.

“Thank you,” he said, amusement tingeing his tone. “I’ll leave the door open for you.”

I nodded, not looking up until I knew he’d disappeared. My cheeks were burning—over a goddamn keyboard.

This wasn’t going to end well, was it?

Making sure not to touch anything else, I edged my way into the kitchen and shut the door behind me. As the coffee machine whirred to life, I removed his bagel from the fridge and stared at me.

He’d need a plate, but was I supposed to take it out of the paper bag?

Oh, crap. This was a nightmare.

I stared at it. Surely he didn’t want me touching his food. I didn’t want to touch his food.

Wait—why was this an issue? It was a bagel, not his damn penis.

I put the bag on a plate, shaking my head, and fixed his coffee. Why the hell was I so nervous? It was coffee and a bagel. Was it because of the whole almost running me over thing?

He was kind enough, from the few words we’d exchanged. With any luck, there would only be a few words right now, and those would be, “Hi, thank you.”

I was never that lucky. My name literally meant ‘unfortunate.’

I stirred the sweetener into his coffee and grabbed both the mug and the plate. Somehow, I managed to make it through the door and across the office hall to his open door without tripping over my own feet. God only knew my stomach was flipping uncomfortably with nerves, so that made it an even greater feat.

At my high school graduation, I’d been so nervous I’d tripped over nothing. Literally nothing.

Peeking around the door, I saw that Cameron was no longer on the phone. “Knock knock.”

He looked up, eyes brightening when he saw me. “Come in. Thank you. I’m starving.” He moved a folder on his desk for me to put his things down. “Oh, good. You left the bagel in the bag. One girl kept taking it out, and I had to fire her when I saw her use her nail to scrape earwax out of her ear.”

I shuddered, taking a step back. “Don’t worry—I promise to always bring it in a bag and never pick my ears.”

He laughed, sipping his coffee. “How’s the morning been?”

“Quiet,” I replied, clasping my hands in front of me. “Two phone calls. One from a Mrs. Townsend whose husband is looking for a house with an outdoor workshop and some land. She didn’t have a budget as she was just looking for a ballpark.”

“Did you send her any?”

I nodded. “I sent her every property for sale with at least an acre of land and either the outdoor workshop already in place or with a structure that could be easily converted.”

“Great.” He pulled out the bagel. “Who was the second call?”

“Oh, uh, my mom.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Not if you live in my house right now,” I muttered.

He raised his eyebrows in question.

“Um.” I laughed nervously. “My grandfather and great-aunt are here for his eightieth birthday. They’re…temperamental.”

Cameron laughed quietly, wiping the corner of his mouth. “That explains so much.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Yesterday.” He paused. “Casey said you’d had a call from Jemima Carlton and had managed to convince her to call today. She said you either had a toddler or demanding relatives. Something like that.”

“Oh.” Now, it was my turn to pause. “Jemima Carlton. Shouts a lot, right? Lost the ability to use the word please after the first sentence?”

He winked at me. “That’s the one.”

“Well, I can’t wait for her to call back.” I tried my best to keep the sarcasm out of my tone, but I didn’t do a very good job if Cameron’s low chuckle was anything to go by.

As if on cue, the phone rang, and his chuckle became an all-out belly laugh. “Looks like you’ve tempted fate.”

I pursed my lips, giving his handsome face my best unimpressed look, and went back to my desk to answer the phone. “Good morning, you’ve reached Cameron’s Reid’s office at Reid Real Estate. Mallory speaking, how can I help you?”

“Good morning, darling! This is Jemima Carlton. We spoke yesterday.” Her nasally tone was utterly grating, and I had the urge to offer her a tissue to blow her damn nose.