Landlord Wars(22)

Max looked up, caught sight of me pushing past my sister, and lifted one eyebrow. He watched me intently as I made my way toward the kitchen. Then he slowly reached back, grabbed another chocolate truffle, and popped it in his mouth, chewing it with a glint in his eyes.

He knows the chocolate is mine?

He was dead.

I stormed into the kitchen and pointed my finger in his face. “What kind of rich guy can’t buy his own chocolate?”

Jack’s head snapped up from inside the fridge. He looked at his friend, eyes narrowing on the open gourmet chocolate box. “Dammit, Max, those are Sophia’s. Learn some manners.” He closed the fridge and walked over, shaking his head. “Max is a rich guy who forgets he’s wealthy. Sorry, Sophia. It’s an old habit for him. He’s been raiding my cupboards since middle school.”

Ignoring Jack, I inched closer to Max until we were toe to toe.

Max, sorry? He didn’t look sorry. His smirk had dropped, but his eyes were defiant cobalt orbs I wanted to jab with my finger.

“Can I help you?” Max said, as Jack wisely eased back and closer to my sister.

Elise snickered behind us, and I shot her a glare over my shoulder. She motioned zipping her mouth.

I turned back to the man who was about to become a eunuch. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Landlord Devil extended his hand, holding the last truffle—he’d eaten all of them! “Want one?”

I breathed in, then slowly out, closing my eyes to concentrate on my breathing and not strangling the six-foot-plus man in front of me.

While I attempted to calm myself, Max said, “I better get going, Jack. Catch you later.”

My eyes popped open as Landlord Devil swiftly eased past me and sauntered to the front door, walking out while my mouth still hung open.

Elise approached. “Wow. I like him. He’s good for you.”

I squint-glared. “Have you lost your mind?”

“No,” she said smugly. “It looks like you have this under control.” Was she giggling? “I’ll come by in a couple of days.”

That jarred me from my anger stupor. “But I need your help now!”

“Bye!” she called as she ran out the door behind Max.

What in the hell was happening?

I turned to Jack, who was rummaging in his wallet. “I’m so sorry, Sophia. I should have warned him as soon as he came over. Here,” he said, and shoved another twenty at me—fifty percent of the cost of the chocolates that the devil had consumed. “I promise to remind Max about the candy. I keep forgetting what a chocolate hog he is.” He chuckled. “You guys are so much alike.”

I nearly choked on my spit. Were Jack and Elise living in some alternate reality? “Alike?”

“He’ll have to bring his own chocolate next time,” Jack said, as though this were the solution to all my problems.

“Next time,” I mumbled like a madwoman. “There won’t be a next time,” I said and stormed after Landlord Devil.





Chapter Eleven





Sophia





Before I could take the time to contemplate what I was doing, I marched to the top floor of the building and knocked on Maxwell Burrows’ door. I also did more breathing exercises, because I was ready to kill him with my bare hands.

After a long pause, I heard the bolt shifting, and he answered the door, his eyes widening as though he were surprised to see me.

My mouth went dry, and my thoughts scattered. Max had changed out of his sweater and into jeans and a ratty T-shirt, and he’d done it in a hurry. His hair was sticking up in the back, as though he’d pulled the sweater over his head and hadn’t time to smooth it into place. The T-shirt he now wore was so thin it hugged the muscles in his shoulders and chest, and the jeans hung low on his narrow hips. All of this combined to blow a fuse in my brain, because Max didn’t look like his normal self.

He looked like the easygoing hot cousin.

His brow pinched, but it wasn’t a scowl. More like a look of guarded perplexity. “For your information, my office already has a plant person.”

My jaw clenched. In one fell swoop, he’d insulted my profession and accused me of soliciting. And nearly made me forget why I’d come.

Ignoring the hair sticking up that had him looking almost human, I said, “I’m not here to sell you something. I want out of my sublease, and I want my deposit back.”

He leaned a shoulder against the doorjamb—and there was the scowl I’d expected. “Why?”

For some annoying reason, my face heated. “You take every opportunity to insult me, like now with the plant dig, and”—I paused, calming my breathing—“you’re stealing my chocolate. The chocolate is the last straw. I work hard to afford those chocolates, and they don’t belong in your grubby hands.”

He blinked as though shocked. As though we hadn’t been at each other’s throats the last two weeks. Then his expression turned to ice, and he studied my face for a long heartbeat. “Jack could charge you for breaking the lease.”

“He wouldn’t do that.” I didn’t know Jack wouldn’t do that, but I was banking on his being a decent guy.

Max’s gaze narrowed. “I warned you not to use Jack just because he’s a nice person.”