As quickly as her personal little twister had arrived, she was gone, bounding toward the SUV. Carmela had to admit she was impressed the brat had found some decent prospective buyers. She couldn’t begin to guess how someone with such limited contacts would have someone at the ready when Carmela hadn’t found a single suitable prospective buyer in her portfolio.
Impressed as she was, she wasn’t going to let Rhiannon’s inexperience cost them the deal. Before Rhiannon could tackle the well-dressed couple stepping out of a vehicle that cost more than most people’s houses, Carmela slipped out, card in hand, and stepped in front of Rhiannon to make the first introductions.
With flared nostrils but mercifully clenched jaw, Rhiannon didn’t stop her from taking control. Sweeping through the main floor, Carmela turned her charm up to eleven. When it was time to go upstairs where all the bedrooms were, she reached for Rhiannon’s wrist to keep her from following the couple up the steps.
“What are you doing?” Rhiannon whispered as soon as the prospective buyers were out of earshot.
Carmela resisted the urge to roll her eyes despite the accusatory tone, as if she were the one that didn’t know what she was doing. “You want to give them some time alone.
Clients talk di erently to each other in private,” she whispered back.
“But what if they don’t notice the best features?”
Rhiannon asked, her bright gray eyes searching her face.
“That’s why in about ten minutes, one of us goes up there and asks them what they think about that stunning balcony
and killer sauna,” she replied with an easy smile. “That way they don’t feel pressured by us, or overly sold to, and we make sure we highlight what counts. The master suite is usually the only game in town on the second floor anyway.
There’s not much to miss.”
Rhiannon considered her for a while as if shocked that her choices were by design. “That’s pretty smart. I bet it makes them feel more in control too.”
“You got it,” she replied, buzzing from the good mood selling always brought on. “Plus, one of them will always like the house more than the other, and they’ll start convincing their partner. In this case, my money is on the husband.” Carmela turned away from the stairs and toward the kitchen to rest her feet. “I want to show them the backyard last. That way we leave them in the guest house and they can really talk it out while imagining themselves drinking co ee while overlooking the pool in the morning.
Everyone’s idealized morning, though I’m sure no one ever actually does it.”
As Carmela walked away, she could feel the weight of Rhiannon’s gaze on her body. She stifled a grin and reminded herself that the little shark was using her to squeeze every ounce of hard-earned knowledge out of her for free. In that moment, she didn’t care. It was kind of nice to pass the information on, and not just because it made her feel a little superior.
“So what if you’re showing the house to just one person?” Rhiannon asked as she reached for a bottle of water from the fridge.
Carmela’s eyes widened in horror. “Are you taking his water?”
Rhiannon’s brows furrowed. “What do you think I am? An animal? No,” she snapped. “Part of the reason I got here so
early was to bring water and snacks for the showing. Jesus.
Do you think I was raised by wolves?”
Without waiting for a response, she tossed the plastic bottle at Carmela and grabbed two more for the couple upstairs. Carmela’s cheeks heated, but she only muttered oh before opening the bottle, too embarrassed to apologize.
“So, you didn’t answer me. What if the buyer is alone?”
Rhiannon asked after draining the bottle in a single go.
Grateful that Rhiannon didn’t harp on her mistaken assumption, Carmela explained her usual tactics. The baby shark listened intently, leaning forward over the counter as if desperate not to miss a single drop of intel. Her laser focused attention was strangely addictive, and Carmela couldn’t keep herself from revealing the tricks of her trade.
She would’ve continued for hours, hypnotized by the gray eyes and intensity boring into her, but she caught sight of the time on the oven.
“It’s been long enough,” Carmela announced, checking her watch out of habit. She started to stand but stopped herself. “Make sure you point out the sauna. It might be obvious that’s what it is, but it’s better to err on the side of caution and spell it out. And because it’s infrared, it requires very little cleaning and maintenance.”
Understanding brightened Rhiannon’s face slowly, like the sun emerging from behind a cloud. “You’re not going to fight me for it?”
Carmela rolled her eyes to hide her amusement with the woman’s delighted expression. “Don’t forget that I only agreed to this because I’m the senior agent and I’m calling the shots,” she warned. “And right now my feet hurt from these new shoes and I have a few calls to return,” she lied.
“So go before I change my mind.”
Rhiannon grabbed the bottles she’d taken out a few minutes earlier and all but sprinted out of the kitchen.