28
ISABELLA
Igroaned internally.What the hell is he doing?
Parker was saying all the right things, but he had zero charm and not a hint of interest in what he was saying anymore. Since he seemed disinterested, I could see the buyers quickly going the same way. He’d engaged them brilliantly at first, but they didn’t seem immersed in him at all anymore.
In fact, in my mind’s eye, it was easy to imagine them falling asleep as their interest in signing a deal with us waned. And fast.
For all the good he was doing, I might as well have recorded the pitch and handed them all a set of headphones to listen to it while they gavethemselvesa tour of the damn gym. Looking around desperately for something that might intrigue them, ensnare them in the uniqueness of the activities available in this gym as opposed to any other, I perked up when my gaze landed on the dance machine.
It was one of those loud, brightly lit things that one found in arcades all over the globe, and there were two women energetically bouncing around on this one. Their cheeks were red and glowing with the effort, but they were locked in battle and obviously both aiming to win.
There were also already a few other people waiting their turn, all of them with their workout partners against whom they would be going up. Parker spotlighted a fun activity each week, and this week’s activity was dancing. If a member didn’t have a workout partner, they could give their names to the staff and they would be paired with another member working out alone.
The prize for winning was a free smoothie, which wasn’t exactly groundbreaking, but people were literally lining up for it. It was the perfect thing to point out and drive home to the potential buyers. The interest in the contest and the motivation of those participants was, in this very moment, glaringly obvious.
Clearing my throat to draw his attention, I jerked my head at the machine. Instead of taking the hint, however, he glared at me and scoffed out loud.
For fuck’s sake.
Mr. Winston and his colleagues all frowned, finally awake again but also seeming confused about what was going on. With no choice but to step up before he blew another possible deal out of the water, I offered them a wide smile. “Will you excuse us for a moment? There’s an urgent matter that requires Mr. Holmes’s attention for just a minute.”
My smile fell flat as soon as I turned, taking Parker’s arm and pulling him to the side without waiting for them to respond. Once we were a safe distance away, I didn’t even try to keep my expression schooled as I scowled at him.
“What is your problem?” I demanded, my hands coming to my hips. “Do you not want to sell? Is that it? Because I’m honestly not convinced that you’re even trying to get them to buy this place.”
There was no trace of warmth in the deep brown pools of his eyes today. In fact, it seemed to be the complete opposite. While the color of his irises was obviously still earthy, they seemed to be glazed over with ice. Those pools were chilly and unwelcoming.
“What’s my problem?” he repeated, his voice cool and detached. “I’m tired of you henpecking me. I don’t need you by my side twenty-four-seven telling me what to do. It’s not working for me.”
The icy barbs in his words embedded themselves deep underneath my skin—a place nothing he said should ever have been allowed to reach. My arms came up automatically, folding across my chest to defend myself.
“I’m just trying to do the job you hired me to do,” I hissed, not willing to speak louder and allow him to hear the hurt he’d caused. “You’re literally paying me to tell you what to do in order to get a sale. That’s all I’m doing.”
“No, it’s not.” He scoffed again, taking a small step back as if he couldn’t stand to be quite so close to me but also knew that he couldn’t move much farther away without the buyers realizing something was up. “I’m paying you to help me with my brand, not to treat me like a toddler who needs constant supervision.”
“Maybe if you stop acting like a toddler, I can stop treating you like one,” I snapped, wanting to stuff the words back into my mouth as soon as they were out.
I’d never spoken to a client that way in my life—until Parker had come along. He affected me in ways I couldn’t explain, but also in ways I couldn’t allow. Which was making me push back at him harder than I’d ever pushed back at anyone before.
Unfortunately, that meant having to endure him looking at me the way he was right now, like he hated me and couldn’t wait to get me out of his life. “If I’m a toddler, then this is my playground. Either way, it’s mine. I don’t need you breathing down my neck and trying to control every move I make.”
I exhaled slowly, knowing that he was right to a certain extent. I was getting much too involved. “I’m sorry, okay? I just want this to go well. Maybe you can cut me some slack since I’ve also been attending these weddings as your fake fiancée.”
“It’s just like you to complain about free trips around the world,” he replied, and this time, he wasn’t joking. Not in the slightest. “It’s a good thing you’re not my real fiancée because I couldn’t live two minutes with such a nag for a wife.”
My crossed arms didn’t do a thing to defend me from the sting of those words.Shit.
“At least if someone is nagging, you know they care about you.”
His eyebrows swept up. “No, people don’t nag because they care about you. People nag because they think you’re so stupid that you’ve forgotten what they said when they first brought something up. Or because they think you need seven thousand reminders. Or because they think you’re not capable of seeing something through. Take your pick, but don’t pretend to care.”
I do care, though. That’s the fucking problem. “Fine, if I’m such a nag, tell the buyers I had better things to do than to watch you sink yet another deal.”
“Gladly,” he said. “As long as it means you’ll let me sink it myself if that’s what happens, I’ll happily let them know that the great and mighty Isabella Atkins decided that I didn’t even really want to sell. Imagine their surprise when I tell them that, despite your all-knowing thoughts on the matter, the companyisup for sale.”
Every word he uttered, every sentence he completed, and every jagged-edged look he gave me hurt more than the one before it. I didn’t know how we’d gotten here, but I was pretty sure this was what rock bottom looked like.