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Imagine that.
“Not a problem at all,” I said, walking into my office and pushing the door shut. “It’s my pleasure. I’ll talk to you soon.”
“Thank you for all your wonderful work today. The houses are simply gorgeous.”
Casey came to the door, eyebrows raised.
I frowned. “Of course, Mrs. Wellington. Goodbye.”
As soon as she said her goodbye, I hung up.
Casey stormed in and slammed the door behind her. “I thought your viewing was this afternoon?”
“Andrew Lockart canceled, and Antonia was able to come out early. What’s the problem?”
“The problem?” she hissed. “You bailed before I could introduce you to Mallory so I had to ask Mom to look after Tilly until three! Poor Mallory had to deal with Jemima Carlton while I was pumping in the kitchen!”
That was almost enough to put the fear of God in me. Jemima Carlton was a lioness on the best of days.
“Did she survive?”
“Oh, she survived,” Casey said with a snap. “Apparently, Jemima demanded to be put through to you, but she either has grandparents as eccentric as ours or a closet two-year-old at home because she soothed her enough to get her to call back tomorrow. And. You. Were. Not. Here.” She jabbed her finger in my shoulder with every word.
I held up my hands. “All right, all right. Why don’t you go calm down, and I’ll come to meet her officially in a second?”
“I don’t trust you, so no. I’m bringing her in here.”
Before I could say a word, Casey stormed out of my office and turned toward the desk.
Shit.
I was in trouble.
I took a chug of water from the bottle on my desk and stood, straightening out my suit. Regardless of anything, I was still the boss here, and I’d get her back at some family function sooner or later.
I followed Casey out into the hall. The woman I assumed was Mallory was sitting behind the desk, looking up at her and nodding.
Dark brown hair fell in curls over her shoulders, and her attractive features gave her the perfect profile—the kind of one a kid in school made silhouette artwork out of. Pouty lips, a button nose with just the right amount of curve on her nose, and a sleek jaw that was currently slightly dropped as she took in whatever Casey was telling her.
She nodded again, her hair bouncing as she did so, then paused. As if she could feel my eyes on her, she turned her head toward me and met my gaze.
She was fucking beautiful.
Her dark-blue eyes widened, recognition and panic flashing in them, and her cheeks flushed pink in a wave that started at her neck and finished at the top of her high cheekbones.
Hell, I think it ended at her hairline—half of which was obscured by bangs that swept over her forehead in a style similar to Casey’s.
Speaking of… My cousin’s eyes flitted between us for a second before she stepped forward. “Cameron—Mr. Reid—this is your new assistant, Mallory Harper. Mallory, this is Mr. Cameron Reid.”
Mallory stood slowly, her cheeks still flushed. It took her a good moment to meet my eyes again and hold my gaze. When she did, though, all hints of recognition and shyness were gone.
In their place was resolute determination.
She put her hand out in an offering. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Reid.”
I couldn’t help the slight upturn of my lips as I took her hand in mine. She had a surprisingly firm handshake, but I couldn’t tell if that was her actual handshake or her gripping onto me for dear life.
Either way, it was endearing.
“The pleasure is mine, Miss Harper. Or would I prefer that I call you Mallory?”
“Mallory is fine.” Another blush colored her cheeks as she dropped her hand, but it seemed as though it didn’t bother her. “Unless you’d prefer Miss Harper?”
I wanted to grin at the glint in her eye. It was almost…challenging. “Well, you’re not my insufferable cousin here,” I said, eyeing Casey.
She rolled her eyes.
“Oh, you’re cousins?”
I raised my eyebrow. “Case, I know you generally try to claim you were adopted, but didn’t you think that was important?”
Casey didn’t bat an eyelid as she straightened a file on the desk. “Not at all. Like you said—I claim I’m adopted on a regular basis. Especially in the last few months, given your propensity to fire all your assistants, I chose to keep it quiet this time.”
Mallory’s lips curled to the side, and she dropped her gaze for a heartbeat.
My cousin side-eyed me for a second before turning her attention to my new assistant. “Mallory, I’m terribly sorry I didn’t tell you that this hunk of frustration is related to me by more blood than I care to admit. By all means, feel free to throw the sugar in the trash and skimp on the sweetener, too.”
It was incredibly hard to be professional around her. “Casey, you can go now.”
