“We don’t know everybody,” Hannah reminds me. “Maybe it’s someone from Roswell. It’s become nearly as big as Buckhead over the last twenty years or so. Maybe he’s from there. Or out of town?”
I start tapping around. “I’ll search him on the internet.”
“What time is your meeting?”
My fingers pause before returning to the calendar. “Oh no! I have to leave!”
“It’s now?”
“Eleven minutes!” Grabbing my things I run for the door. “She was just here, Hannah, and did not tell me that!”
“Either Cora is setting you up or she needs a vacation.”
With sunglasses awkwardly in my hand, purse-strap on my arm, bag swinging from it, and still holding the phone to my ear, I wrestle the office’s lock into submission. “Vacation. Cora is tired, angry and hard to work for, but she’s not evil.”
“Emma! You know what you are?”
Running to my car I grin, “I’m a Cocker, dammit!”
“That’s right! Sell that house! Pay off that car! Show your boss you’re to be respected! And now I’m going to have my coffee. Oh, you didn’t tell me, what’s his name? Maybe I know him and can help you out!”
Sliding into my waiting Lexus and throwing my bag on the passenger seat, I don my sunglasses as the car starts itself, activated from the remote sensor. My pre-set music player also turns on automatically, and Gabriel Cocker’s voice croons through the speakers as I tell his sister, “Hannah, if I don’t know him, you don’t know him.”
“That’s probably true.”
Excited, I pull onto the street, convertible top down, announcing to all of Atlanta, “His name is Tanner Hamilton, and after this, he won’t know what hit him!”
CHAPTER 3
T ANNER
“Dan, I need you to send flowers to Sunaya.”
“It’s over then?”
My eyebrows raise and I mutter, “It never began and you know it.”
“I was joking.”
“I’m in stitches.”
He mutters, “You never laugh.”
“You’re never funny. Now about those flowers, I don’t want you delivering them yourself this time.”
“She’ll throw them in my face?”
“She would. Have the florist take that burden.”
“Oh God.” Dan’s voice shifts to grim. “I’ll warn them.”
“Warn them and tip them one hundred percent, not my usual thirty. And buy a thicker skin while you’re at it. See if they sell one in size P for pussy. Anything I need to know about?”
His tone becomes mechanical as he reads off his notes, “The Atlanta Woman’s Club has somehow discovered you’re in town. Why it’s woman and not women I don’t know. Must have been an oversight when it was established in 1895. I made sure they were legit. Beautiful old house they–”
“Get on with it, Dan,” I sigh.
“They asked you to take part in a fundraiser. I figured it would make you look good to the community if you showed up, help your standing there, you know, as an outsider. I’ve marked it in your calendar. Also, The Elite, the meeting is in Vail, Colorado again this winter. Marked it down and sent confirmation of your attendance. Oh and the team on this new project of yours is coming up with great ideas. Insurance has been locked down as soon as you give the green light. You want to hear the top interview contenders?”
“Later. Anything else, Dan? And where is my realtor…” I mutter, staring off down the quiet, upper class residential street.
“She’s late?”
“One minute, yes.”
“She’ll regret that. You’re scheduled for a massage this afternoon, but you’ve also got a haircut.”
“How did that happen?”
“You ran into the barber you used to like, and made the appointment verbally without checking with me.”
I rake a hand through my wavy hair. “Oh, I thought it was your mistake.”
“And yet it wasn’t,” he says with an audible smile.
“Fix it.”
“Which is more important?”
I dryly ask him, “Which do you think?”
“I’ll move the massage to tomorrow.”
“Smart man. I didn’t want the damn massage in the first place. Stop trying to get me to relax. Anything else?”
“Nothing I can’t handle, Tanner.”
“That’s what I like to hear. Oh and Dan, the spa charges a fee for same day changes to appointments so take that out of your pay.” At his silence I mutter, “I’m fucking with you. Get a sense of humor,” and hang up, shaking my head.
Turning around, my eyes land on a white convertible Lexus slowing down like this is its destination. The street is quiet, only the occasional chirping of unseen birds can be heard, and the electric car doesn’t disturb the peaceful setting as it parks in front of the property. I frown as the driver waves at me. That young woman is not Cora, which doesn’t make me happy in the slightest.
She pawned me off on an underling?!
The sun dances on the beauty’s high cheekbones as she unleashes her ponytail and shakes out long, brown waves. Gliding out in a knee-length dress that matches her car, she quietly shuts the door while looping an arm through a designer purse. Tipping the sunglasses atop her head she warmly smiles, whiskey colored eyes sparkling with friendliness.
I exhale with irritation. Cora thinks sending this eager young thing will close the sale?
“Mr. Hamilton?”
“Who else would I be? You, however, are not who I expected.”
She waves red fingernails. “Cora fell ill. I’m terribly sorry. But you’re in good hands with me, Mr. Hamilton. My name is Emma and I know everything about this gorgeous property that there is to know.”
It always feels odd to shake hands with a woman.
I rarely do it.
So I slide mine in my pockets rather than extend one.
Women are to be stroked not shaken.
Emma and I stare at each other, neither making a move. My eyes narrow on her youthful face, impatiently thinking that there is no way this girl can handle the complicated plans I’ve got in the works.
