Tequila, Tequila

He looked at my legs. “Are you aware you aren’t wearing pants?”

“More aware than you normally are,” I retorted, grinning. “By the way, I got the job.”

His face lit up. “Great. How long until you move out?”

“Around the same time you start listening to the alarm I set you.” I blew him a kiss and ran up the stairs.

It was going to be a long, long day.

CHAPTER THREE – MALLORY

The building that housed Reid Real Estate wasn’t intimidating by any means. No, like much of the downtown area in Dansville, Colorado, where I’d grown up, it straddled the line between the affluent neighborhood and the regular area.

I didn’t want to say poor. It wasn’t poor. Working class? I wasn’t sure, but it wasn’t mansions like the other side of town was, that was for sure.

Anyway. Reid Real Estate was a simple, three-story building that had once been home to the town’s founder. It’d apparently been snapped up in an auction in the early nineteen-hundreds by Cameron Reid’s great-great-grandfather so his son could open his own business buying and selling houses, and aside from a couple of name changes to keep up with the times, nothing about it had changed.

The exposed brick façade meant it blended in with the rest of Main Street, especially the buildings at the more luxurious end of the street, but the pristine, white sign with stocky black lettering made it stand out.

I’d pulled out my best clothes for today—a fitted black dress with a high collar and sleeves that cut off at the shoulders. I’d partnered it with a cream blazer and shiny, black flats.

I didn’t need any encouragement to fall over today.

Nerves rolled in my stomach as I approached the building. I wanted—no—I needed this job. I needed to get back my independence, and the salary for this job would mean I’d have a down payment for a rental apartment within a few months. I’d probably have to use some patio furniture for a while, but we all had to make sacrifices.

I needed not to screw this up. It was a tall order, really, considering that screwing things up was what I did best.

No.

I couldn’t think like that.

I had to go into this building like I owned it, and that was exactly what I was going to do.

I opened the front door and stepped in. Unfortunately for me, there was a tiny step, around three inches in height, that I’d completely missed. I stumbled but quickly managed to right myself thanks to my flat shoes and a death grip on the door handle.

My cheeks burned as I looked up and around to make sure nobody had seen me.

I wasn’t so lucky.

Casey stood at the bottom of the staircase that lead to the top floor where Cameron Reid’s office was. She grinned.

“Well, this is off to an excellent start,” I said, letting go of the door.

Casey laughed, pushing a wisp of blonde hair from her face. “Don’t worry. You’d be surprised how many people do that. At least you’re wearing flats. The last girl we trailed had gone out to get coffee in four-inch-heels and missed the step.” She winked.

“Yeah. If you knew me, you wouldn’t be surprised if I said I’ll probably do that at some point. Without the heels, though. Flats are clearly dangerous enough.”

She laughed again, holding her hand out for me to shake. “It’s great to see you again, Mallory. The other agents mostly keep their own hours, but we have a couple of new hires who’ll show up around nine to get a head start on their portfolio. I’ll give you a quick tour before we head upstairs.”

And it was a quick tour. There wasn’t a lot to show, really. The main area where the front door was housed two desks and a receptionist’s desk that Casey explained belonged to the new agents and the secretary who ran everyone else’s business. The stairs in the hallway were surrounded by three rooms—a restroom, a small kitchen, and one private office for one of the more successful agents.

Upstairs was much the same. The hallway was set out as a waiting area with two cream, leather sofas, bushy green plants, and magazines scattered. It’d been renovated to provide three offices, one of which was currently empty. Apparently, Reid Real Estate was picky about who they hired full-time, and only one of the new hires would get a permanent place here.

Then, Casey waved me up a second flight to stairs to the top floor. It was more spacious than the others, mostly because two rooms had been knocked through to make one large office for Cameron Reid. Like downstairs, there was a small waiting area with another two spotless cream sofas just a few feet away from what was, now, my desk.

“Let me finish showing you here, and then we’ll get stuck into the desk.” Casey lead me over to a swinging door that lead to a smaller hallway with two doors. “Down here is Mr. Reid’s private bathroom and kitchen. They are for the use of him and yourself only. The only exception made to this bathroom is pregnant ladies.” She winked. “Otherwise, this area is off limits to both employees and clients.”