AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She didn’t need to soften up, was my first traitorous thought. And my second thought, far more violent, came on the heels of imagining my brother attempting that warmer approach.
I took a step closer. “Don’t flirt with her.”
At the warning tone in my voice, a smug smile spread over Ian’s face. “I cannot wait to tell Greer about this.”
“Shut up, Ian.”
He hooted with glee. “This is the best day of my life. I am so glad I moved home.”
“Shut up, Ian.”
Fucked.
I was fucked.
Spending an hour and a half in an elevator with Ivy ended with my hand up her skirt and my tongue in her mouth.
Now I was looking at working with her.
Working for her.
As I passed, I shoved at Ian’s shoulder. “Greer was right, you’re not nice enough to come on these meetings. I’m gonna banish you to grunt work if you pull that again.”
But my asshole brother simply smiled. “Worth it, just to see you knocked on your ass by a woman for the first time in your entire life.”
I started snapping pictures of the front porch. “I wasn’t knocked on my ass.”
“You’re right,” he said. “You only drooled a little when she got out of her car. I’m sure she didn’t notice. It’s perfect, actually. Half the single female population of Sisters has planned your imaginary wedding, so it’s nice to see your ego checked by someone who was so keen to avoid such a fate that she lied about knowing you.” Ian hummed contentedly. “What a beautiful day this is.”
Wearily, I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Go. Away.”
He whistled as he did, and I ascended the front porch, eyes skimming the face of the house. Windows were in good shape, with nothing rotting around the edges.
With the twist of a key, I was inside, and it took a moment for my eyes to adjust. The furniture was covered with white sheets, which gave the place an eerie, haunted look.
Slowly, I tugged at the corner of a sheet covering a chair, and it slid off in a slight cloud of dust.
Uncovering that one piece of furniture made the house seem more real. Like someone actually lived there.
I wandered the rooms, taking measurements and pictures, pulling sheets and piling them at the entrances to the spaces where I’d found them.
Ian joined me after about fifteen minutes, and we worked our way through the second level, tugging off sheets as we went.
“Why are we uncovering all this?” he asked. “Isn’t that her job?”
“I’m curious.” I ran a hand over the footboard of the bed in the primary bedroom. “It’s all in pretty good shape, isn’t it? Even though it’s been sitting here for so many years.”
He hummed. “Big kitchen. Good sized rooms, too. Wonder what she’ll sell it for.”
“This much land? Even with basic upgrades, she could turn this for maybe seven, eight hundred thousand?”
“Happy birthday to her,” he drawled. “Must be nice.”
Why was she here? I wondered. She clearly didn’t want to be.
“You’re thinking hard over there,” my brother said.
I blinked.
