He looked at Laney. “What was your name again?” he asked.
“Don’t look at her,” I said forcefully. His gaze snapped back to mine, surprised. I softened my voice. “She’s just here to observe. This is between us, Chuck.”
“You want me to fix this stuff,” he said dumbly.
“Yes. Tomorrow.”
“I can’t. That’s impossible.”
“Chuck.” I leaned back in my chair, shaking my head. “You’re a man of means. You can handle it.”
“I’m telling you, this stuff will take weeks to sort out.”
“Chuck, do you like owning a building?”
“Of course. What does—”
“Then do what I’m telling you to do.”
He stared at me, shocked.
For my part, I was having so much fun. I loved playing a role, loved lying to this guy, loved pushing him around. He was a scumbag and an asshole, and I loved playing on his emotions. I wanted to punish him, and the punishment was so much sweeter when it was slow.
“I can’t,” he said simply.
“Listen to me, you fat, stupid, disgusting oaf,” I said. “You will fix this fucking horrendous garbage, and you will fix it tomorrow. If you don’t, I will take away your building.” I stood up.
“You can’t talk to me that way!” There were equal amounts of rage and confusion playing on his face.
“Yes, I can, because you are at my mercy. Mrs. Arnsdot?” Laney stood up.
“I’ll tell your supervisor!”
“Please, do that. Then they’ll come and do their inspection. Which is exactly what you don’t want.” When he didn’t respond, I turned to Laney. “Mrs. Arnsdot, please make a note to compliment Chuck here on how polite and helpful he has been in your report.”
“Yes, Mr. Greenspan,” Laney said.
I wanted to kiss her. It was so perfect.
“You can’t do this,” the asshole said.
“Tomorrow,” I replied, and then I nodded to Laney. She walked out and I followed.
Then we were out the front door, down the front walk, and moving fast back toward the car.
I felt elated, excited, energetic. I laughed out loud as we climbed back into the car, cackling.
“Did you see his face?” I asked. “What a fucking idiot!”
Laney shook her head, grinning ear to ear. “That was insane. Why did we pretend to be government people?”
“Always works better than just straight-up threats. He’ll figure out that there’s no bureau of rentals or whatever, and he’ll be even more freaked.”
“What if he doesn’t do anything?”
“Then I’ll go back alone and say a few more convincing things.” I started the engine. “But we don’t have to worry bout that.”
“Why?”
“Because he’s going to do it. I’ve done this a few times now, and I can tell.”
“You’re crazy.”
I grinned at her. “Yeah, probably. But you were great, Mrs. Arnsdot.”
“What’s with that name?”
“Who knows. But he was looking at you like he wanted to rip your clothes off.”
She blushed. “No, he wasn’t.”
“Sure he was. He’s a fucking creep.” I leaned closer to her, smirking. “But you do look fucking sexy as hell, especially when you’re lying straight-faced to a prick.”
She blushed even more. “Okay, that’s enough. Let’s get out of here.”
“You got it, Mrs. Arnsdot.” I pulled out and drove back toward the office.
I felt great. I always felt this good after something like that, but it was different. Somehow, having Laney around made me more confident, like I wanted to impress her or some shit.
But that wasn’t me. I wasn’t the type to show off for a woman. I had never needed to before, and I sure as shit didn’t need to now.
Still, that knowing smile she gave me, the way she blushed when I talked dirty, it all drove me wild. My heart was pounding, and I wanted nothing more than to pull over and fuck Laney until she screamed my name right in the back of my car.
Instead, I took her to Starbucks and bought us both coffee. I’d fuck her brains out later.
5
Laney
“Senior Easton, thank you so much!”
I watched as Easton practically squirmed in Mrs. Suarez’s embrace.
“Just did my job,” he mumbled.
She hugged him tighter. “You saved us. You saved all of us.”
I grinned at him and he mouthed get her off me. I just shook my head and crossed my arms, loving his discomfort.
But he did deserve the praise. After our little visit to the Biggest Asshole Landlord Ever, we staked out the apartment building for a few more days. Sure enough, we watched as groups of workers came and went, making repairs and cleaning the place up.