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“It’s my treat,” she replied, the awkwardness emanating o her contagious.

Carmela barely looked at her while she o ered a weak,

“Thanks.”

“You too all right? What’s going on here?” Liz asked as she pulled o her reading glasses. “Rhi was just telling me how great it all went last night.”

Carmela’s full lips sputtered into a tight smile. “Yeah, it really did. The prospective buyer is flying in from Barcelona tonight. He wants to see the house.”

“Shut up!” Rhiannon cried before shoving Carmela lightly. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Whatever weirdness Carmela had been experiencing dissipated just a little. “I’m telling you now, Rug Rat. The agent just called.”

“That’s a good sign, right? He wouldn’t fly all the way here if he wasn’t interested,” Rhiannon guessed aloud.

“He owns a house on Miami Beach. I think all he did was add us to his already planned itinerary, but he’s at least well-qualified to buy and he owns homes in all the usual points of prestige: Aspen, Jackson Hole, Paris, Manhattan, Hong Kong. The whole deal.”

“I hope he’s not another tax evader,” Liz joked. “That deposition was four stressful hours I’ll never get back.”

“You’ll have to spill all the tea on that one,” Rhiannon joked.

Liz and Carmela exchanged puzzled looks until Liz looked down at her drink. “Why would I spill it?”

The room seemed to close in on Rhiannon as the women stared at her. “It’s just a saying.” She laughed awkwardly.

“Right,” Carmela said, really looking at her for the first time. “Do you want to call Mr. Yeardsley and see if he’s still out of town? The last time we spoke it appeared as though he’d be gone until the fall, but we should confirm and ask if

he’s okay with us showing it at eight o’clock. I don’t prefer to show it in the evening, but it’s our only option.”

“You got it. I’ll send him an email now. It’s still early in California, but I don’t think that man sleeps,” Rhiannon replied before darting out of the room.

“What the hell does spill the tea mean? Is that some kind of slang?” Carmela whispered when Rhiannon was out of the room but still in the hallway.

“Urban Dictionary says it means to gossip,” Liz replied.

Rhiannon winced as she picked up her speed to get out of ear shot. She’d been too relaxed. Too unprofessional in front of Liz. The last thing she wanted was to appear too young for the job or make Carmela doubt her maturity. In one fell swoop, she’d managed both.

LUCA PRIETO-MARQUEZ WAS A LARGE, boisterous, and handsome fifty-something year old man that exuded an unreal amount of warmth and friendliness. He was, without a doubt, the most likable and gregarious person Carmela had met in a long time.

When he’d invited them all to dinner after touring the mansion, she wanted to politely decline, but found herself accepting despite her rules about fraternizing with people already represented by another agent. She never wanted to be accused of poaching, but when Fabrizio insisted they join them, she couldn’t think of a reason to say no. Rhiannon’s eager face might have helped sway her. Maybe.

All through dinner, Rhiannon, Luca, and Fabrizio regaled each other in Spanish. Carmela did her best to keep up, but they talked so fast and with di erent accents. It was all she could do to understand every few words. At least if her parents had bothered to teach her the Italian they grew up

speaking, she’d have a better grasp, but they’d intentionally kept her from learning so they could talk privately right in her face. All she had in her toolbox were basic phrases and swear words. Not helpful.

Normally, she would have been irritated to be left out of the loop, wondering what Rhiannon was saying and if she was making a misstep, but so far they hadn’t talked a moment of business, so she relaxed and enjoyed her sparkling water. Something like pride blossomed in her chest as she watched Luca become absolutely infatuated as he listened to whatever story she was telling.

At least it had been easy to interact with Rhiannon again without feeling awkward. Having a task like selling the house had taken up all the conversational bandwidth and helped put aside the weirdness she’d felt the night before. Her fretting had been unwarranted. Just because they both dated women didn’t mean anything, and watching Rhiannon lay on the charm, she realized it was just her personality.

It’s not like she’s attracted to me, she thought as she chewed on a piece of bread for lack of anything else to do.

Despite her best e orts to follow along, her brain became exhausted with the constant mental translating, and her eyes drifted toward the girl on her right. Rhiannon was positively glowing with every smile, and Carmela forgot she was nearly sixteen years younger and brand-new at being an agent. She exuded grace and experience.

Well after they’d finished eating, but just before Luca picked up the hefty check, he politely explained that he loved the house but wouldn’t be ready to buy until he sold his property on Miami Beach.

Carmela watched Rhiannon’s confident, cheerful expression falter for a moment before she told him about historically low mortgage rates. When Luca explained he didn’t believe in owing anyone money, especially not a bank,

Carmela reached under the table and gave her hand a little squeeze. Rhiannon wasn’t experienced enough to read the gentle let down or his body language while looking at the house. It was an obvious shock to her, and Carmela wished she could explain that this was part of the process.