Catastrophe Queen

“Absolutely. Don’t worry about that. Your appointment with Mr. Reid is booked for Wednesday at two p.m. We’ll see you then. Buh-bye.” She hung up the phone and sighed, then tapped the appointment into the calendar we shared on the computer.

“Hey,” I said. “I’m going out to grab lunch. Do you want me to bring you anything?”

She looked up, that same bright smile on her face. “Nope. I’m all good. I brought something with me today.”

Seriously. What was wrong with her?

“All right, then.” I tugged on my shirt collar, tapped my pants to make sure I had my wallet with me and left her to it.

She started humming as she clicked around on the computer, and I jerked my head back to look at her. I had no idea what she was singing to, but it fit with this weird, over-friendly demeanor she’d had going on all morning.

“Hey, Mallory?”

“Yep?” She looked up at me.

“I believe I promised you dinner for helping me yesterday.”

Something flashed in her eyes. “You do?”

“I do. I owe you dinner. Are you free tonight?”

“I—”

“Great. I’ll pick you up at six-thirty.” I winked and turned before she could turn me down.

Look at that. There was a little of my mother in me after all.

***

I successfully managed to avoid Mallory for the rest of the afternoon thanks to two viewings that took a while for me drive out to.

Now, I was pulling up outside her house, ready to take her to dinner.

I couldn’t lie and say that I was doing this out of the goodness of my hearts. I wanted to spend time with her—as inappropriate as I knew that was—and I wanted to address what had happened at my house.

Her extra niceness was obviously so she could avoid talking about it. Her cheeks had been so red when she’d left, and if I were her, I wouldn’t want to bring it up either.

I honked my horn so she knew I was here. I waited, tapping my fingers against the steering wheel. The clock was ticking, and she still wasn’t coming out. I was half tempted to call her.

The last thing I wanted to do was to go to her front door and get corralled by her family again. I didn’t think her grandpa would be best pleased to see me, and her aunt was sure to question me again.

Fuck.

I checked the clock. If she didn’t come out in another few minutes, I’d bite the bullet and go to the front door.

Unfortunately, sitting here allowed me to get inside my head, namely to ask myself what the fuck I was thinking. Taking my assistant for dinner was a terrible idea. She was young, beautiful, and if she weren’t my assistant, I’d be doing everything I could to get to know her better.

Hell, it looked like that’s what I was doing anyway.

It was dangerous. I knew it was how people fell in love, I knew it was how my parents fell in love, but it was a testy line to walk.

What happened if the relationship didn’t work? Then what? It wasn’t like I could leave my job, and I had no desire to ever fire anyone just because we’d broken up.

Jesus fuck, it was so much easier when Casey was my assistant.

I took a deep breath and checked the clock. Mallory still hadn’t come out, so I blew out the breath and pulled the keys from the ignition.

And braced myself for her aunt.

Maybe that was where Mallory got her hurricane tendencies from.

I locked the car and walked up to the front door. There was some shouting from inside, and I hesitated before I knocked. I didn’t want to interrupt or get in the middle of any family argument.

Before I could make a choice, the door swung open and I came face-to-face with Mallory.

“Quick,” she hissed, pushing me back so I almost tripped down the step. She yanked the door shut and grabbed me, pulling me to the car. “Before she comes out here!”

“Before who comes out?”

“Aunt Grace!” She turned when she got to my car. “Cameron!”

I didn’t know what was going on. I was, honestly, completely and utterly confused, but I did as she wanted. I hurried to the car and went to open the door for her, but she shook her head.

“No time! Let’s go!” She tugged the door open and was in and belted in before I’d even gotten my door open.

The front door of her house opened, and I slipped into the car before anything could happen.

Mallory released a deep breath as I drove away from the car. “Thank you.”

“What the hell was all that?”

She adjusted her purse in her lap and peered over at me. “My aunt thinks you’re trying to date me and wanted to quiz you about your intentions.”

“Thank you for rushing me.”

She laughed. “I told her it was just a business dinner, but she didn’t believe me. Wanted to know why realtors needed business dinners and why you couldn’t function professionally without someone to hold your hand.”