“Mr. Allen,” Rosie interjected with a squeaky voice. “I have a request of sorts, I—”
“Let me guess, you’d like me to prioritize your apartment over Mr. Brown’s? Or to get this expedited, Miss Graham?” he spat out with such disdain that I felt myself drifting forward until positioning myself partly in front of Rosie. Not that Psycho Landlord wasdeterred, because his tone rose and he added, “If you’re not happy with how I handle repairs inmyproperty, feel free to break the lease. I’ll have a new tenant in…” He trailed off. “How did you phrase it?In no time. As you might already know, apartments like this one go on and off the market in a flash.”
Rosie sucked in a breath, but she recovered quickly enough to say, “There’s no reason to be unreasonable and—”
“?‘Unreasonable’?” he bristled, his face morphing, as if he was getting a kick out of this. As if this man was enjoying playing power games with Rosie. I felt my blood rise to my head, the temper that so rarely manifested in me, boiling to the surface. “Miss Graham,” he said in a tone that had me straightening, “don’t be a—”
“Don’t,” I cut him off, getting in his face so he had no choice but to look at me. “I suggest you don’t finish that sentence.”
The man held my gaze, but there was no mistaking how his throat bobbed.
“In fact,” I pressed, noticing my voice dropped down, “I suggest you stop talking altogether.”
The man limited himself to gawking back at me, not responding. Slowly, ever so slowly, even daring to smile. Just like the Psycho Landlord he was, hefuckingsmiled.
I felt my body move forward, eating away the last inches of space between us, to do what exactly, I’d never know, because something stopped me before I could find out.
Delicate fingers wrapped around my forearm, pulling at me. When I didn’t back down, they pulled again, and that second time it was hard to ignore what they meant.Stop. You’re crossing a line. Back down. But I didn’t want to. I’ve never liked bullies.
But Rosie pulled at me again, so softly I barely felt it, and I had no choice but to return to her side.
“How uncivilized. Some friends you have, Miss Graham,” the openly relieved man in front of us muttered.
I expected Rosie to side with him, as I probably would have after what I’d just done, but instead, her fingers shifted, gripping my wrist. The pad of her thumb slipped inside my sleeve, falling againstmy skin and grazing it softly. As if she was trying to tell me that it was okay and that she wasn’t mad.
And because I clearly had no respect for boundaries, I turned my hand and clasped hers in mine.
“There’s nothing uncivilized about him,” I thought I heard Rosie murmur.
A part of me wanted to take notice of that, to look at her, but Psycho Landlord said, “Aiden, let’s go. Mr. Brown is waiting.”
And with that, he turned around and headed for the door.
Only after he disappeared, Aiden said, “He’s an asshole.” He sighed. “I’ll try to get that quote as soon as possible.” And with a nod of his head, he disappeared after Psycho Landlord.
Rosie stepped away, severing the contact between our hands. When I finally glanced at her, she was looking up at the ceiling.
“Well, that sucked,” she said under her breath, her hands coming to rest on her waist. “I wonder… How much space will the crew and whatever equipment or tools they bring in take.”
I frowned at that.
“If you think about it,” she continued. “Kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom are… free.”
Free?I didn’t like where this was headed.
And I liked it even less when Rosie’s brows met in her forehead as she inspected her ceiling, thinking really hard about something. And—
A sound must have come out of my mouth because Rosie’s attention was back on me. “Are you okay?”
Was I?“Please tell me you’re not thinking of staying here.”
She worried her lip but didn’t answer.
“You can’t stay here, Rosie.” I tried to bend my mouth into a smile but failed, judging by her reaction. In fact, I was probably scowling.
She crossed her arms over her chest, her expression one of shock. “You don’t need to worry about me. Or babysit me.”
“Rosie.” I breathed out a bitter laugh. “I’m not babysitting you.”