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Much to her surprise, Yeardsley was thrilled with the terms. With the exception of his artwork, he had no interest in keeping anything. Including it in the sale instead of lowering the sale price saved him some hassle. The sixty days to closing Luca wanted suited him just fine, even if it was a little longer than usual.
A few hours and some paperwork later, they were celebrating with a mini-champagne bottle in the kitchen. It was still so unreal. When she woke up that morning, Carmela had no idea an o er was going to fall in her lap.
“I can’t believe we’re under contract,” Rhiannon said, her light brown hair piled high in a messy bun on top of her head, her blazer and shoes discarded in her o ce.
Carmela smiled and clinked her glass against Rhiannon’s once more. “And he did it his way.” She chuckled. “Closing on his Miami Beach house in forty-five days and then buying the new one fifteen days later. No mortgage.”
Rhiannon laughed the kind of laugh only possible after working too hard for too long. “Some people have all the luck.”
“Well, it’s not luck he put in an o er. He was really enamored after that party. That was your idea and I’m pretty sure it sold us a house.” Carmela watched her as she sipped the dry bubbly.
“We wouldn’t have even been there if you hadn’t agreed to partner with me,” she countered with a lopsided grin.
“I didn’t do it for you,” she replied with a raised brow. “If I could’ve found a way to shake you and work the deal on my own, I would’ve. And guess what? I sure as well wouldn’t be celebrating right now. Luca might be more in love with you than the house.”
Silence nestled between them, long and heavy. Carmela didn’t know what else to say. The deal wasn’t over yet, but the adventures in selling it were. That meant no more reason for them to spend so much time together. An acidic pit capable of taking down dinosaurs opened in Carmela’s stomach.
“Maybe we should do this again,” Rhiannon suggested, snapping Carmela back to the present.
“Do what? Drink champagne while barefoot in our o ce kitchen?” Carmela responded, her heart skipping beats. If she didn’t know better, she’d think Rhiannon was reading her mind, and the prospect made her nervous.
“Work another deal together,” she snapped in exaggerated annoyance. “We can be the Real Estate Thelma and Louise,” she added, apparently without hint of sarcasm.
“You know they intentionally drive o a cli at the end, right?” Carmela laughed. “What are you trying to sell me here?”
Rhiannon’s slim cheeks flushed pink. “I’ve never actually seen the movie, but since when do romances have tragic endings? It’s not French, is it?”
Carmela shook her head, unable to stop grinning. “I don’t even know where to start with that.”
“Okay, terrible analogy aside, I’m serious. I owe you.
Though I wish it weren’t true, I would have never gotten an opportunity like this without you. I never forget when people do something for me. So if you ever want my help or want to work with me, all you have to do is ask,” Rhiannon said, her tone serious.
The sincerity and the proximity of her perfume made it hard for Carmela to think. She wanted to say yes, to talk about working some small deals with her. Maybe mentor Rhiannon the way Liz had helped her all those years ago. The longer she stared into her eyes, the more obvious it became that she couldn’t. More complication was the opposite of what she needed.
“Well, if you want to pay me a kindness you can go to my ex’s wedding for me,” she joked to break the tension mounting at a break-neck pace.
Rhiannon cocked her head to one side, a clear sign of a dangerous idea gathering like a tornado in her head. The grin that crept slowly onto her lips made Carmela regret her words. “Or I can go with you? Make your ex eat her heart out.
. .”With widening eyes, Carmela scrambled for a response, but under the weight of Rhiannon’s gaze, she couldn’t string
together a single thought.
“Anyway, I’m serious. Think about it,” she said before striding out of Carmela’s o ce, leaving her with a hammering heart.
IT WAS late and Rhiannon was nearly alone in the o ce dreaming of the ways to spend sixty thousand dollars. She could barely wrap her head around a payday like that. In one day she’d be able to move out of her parents’ house and get her own car. A proper adult. Shoving the success in her sister’s face would be a nice bonus, too.
When the only other person still toiling at ten o’clock at night stopped in her doorway, Rhiannon looked up from apartment shopping and smiled.
“Calling it an early night?” Rhiannon joked.
Liz smiled and pretended to flip her short blonde hair.
“Maybe trying to sneak out before the boss sees me.”
“I hear she can be a real hard ass,” she countered, leaning back in her chair as she crossed one leg over the other.
“You have no idea,” Liz muttered as she sat down across the desk from Rhiannon. “Congratulations on the Yeardsley house. I have to say, I’m impressed . . . though I’m not surprised. I knew if you could get past that unfortunate first meeting, you and Carmela would make an unstoppable team.
