Page 2 of Last Chance Seduction (Montgomery Ink Legacy #9)

Chapter One

Mercy

I t would truly make a better day for all involved if Mr. Darcy would stop glaring at me. That attitude of his was nothing new, but for once, it would be nice if he’d blink at some point.

I stared down at my all-black cat, and knew if I blinked first, it would be all over.

I would have to get up from my desk, walk to the back door, and let my lovely cat out on the catio.

Not that catio was an actual word, but I went with it anyway.

Because my beautiful, darling, adorable son, Mr. Darcy, needed to be outside, but I wasn’t about to let him roam through the neighborhood to either get hit by a car, eaten by an animal, or adopted by another family.

Hence the catio was where he was usually allowed to be.

My beautiful porch was now screened in and an oasis for me considering the mosquitoes during certain times of the year.

“Mr. Darcy, I have to get back to work. I can’t be outside with you. And the last time I left you alone on the catio for too long, you learned how to unlock the door.”

Mr. Darcy finally blinked, but didn’t stop staring at me as he lifted one paw and licked it. Then he proceeded to bathe, leaning back so he could lift his back leg and show me exactly how annoyed he was with me.

“Really? That’s how you’re going to play it? We both know I’m not that flexible, and seriously, gross.”

I shuddered as he continued to clean himself and went back to my paperwork.

I needed to get in the booth soon, as I had a deadline coming up. And other than speaking with my cat, I hadn’t used my voice for most of the day. Vocal rest was important in my line of work. I opened my notebook and highlighted a few starred items that would be needed later.

“This shouldn’t take long,” I muttered to myself, keeping my voice calm.

I only had to record a short story today, and with the amount of effort I had put into the prep work, I should be able to have it down as long as my mouth didn’t get tongue-tied on a few words that I usually messed up.

And they were never difficult words. My mind just decided to be a little silly when it came to reading a book out loud.

I grinned, thinking how I’d had the same issues when I had been a drama student back in college—a theater kid at heart. I always tangled myself up over the easiest things, focusing on making sure I was perfect on the most difficult words and themes.

I was sure there was probably some psychological explanation to that, something I didn’t want to get into too deeply. After all, I read books for a living, as well as a few other voice acting skills. I didn’t need to dive deeper than that.

Mr. Darcy immediately jumped on my desk, startling me.

“Are you serious right now?” I asked the cat as he delicately pawed his way over my desk, knocking my pen to the ground and proceeding to lay on his side half over my notebook, his other paw dangerously close to my hot tea.

“Oh don’t you dare,” I warned, narrowing my gaze at him.

I wasn’t quite sure when I had become the woman who merely spoke to cats for a living. But here I was, alone in a home that I had bought with my own money, as well as the bank’s, and spoke to cats more than I spoke to people.

Yes, one of my good friends came over occasionally, but she was also a voice actor, and both of us in the same house doing the same work wasn’t physically possible. Not when I needed to get in my booth and start working.

“Okay Mr. Darcy, I’m going to have to set you on the ground. You know I hate doing that, as you deserve everything in the world, but come on.”

He leaned forward, moving his paw to press something on my keyboard.

The computer made a sound, and I looked up at the screen, hoping he didn’t email my client something or somehow send money to his own special bank account off in the Cayman Islands.

I snorted, wondering exactly when I had lost my mind, thinking that my cat had somehow siphoned money off from me.

“You need to get more sleep.” I glared through the side window, knowing the source of my irritation wasn’t exactly my cat, or my new working schedule.

No, it was them .

And as if they knew I was talking about them, the sounds of hammering echoed through my home.

My beautiful, peaceful, quiet home.

Or rather, formerly quiet.

Workers spoke and shouted to one another, laughing with one another, as they continued to do their jobs.

I didn’t want to hate them for doing their jobs, after all, they seemed to know what they were doing and were efficient about it.

But why on earth was my new neighbor deciding to expand his beautiful home already?

Of course, it wasn’t as if I had met the new neighbor.

No, the elderly couple who had lived in that home for most of their lives, had moved out to be closer to their children, and the new person had found their way in.

I hadn’t lived here long, but long enough for me to feel as though I’d finally found my home. But I hadn’t met this new person.

And whoever this person or family was, decided to make my life a living hell.

Because even though the booth that I had spent far too much money on was soundproof, it didn’t block as many sounds as one would like.

Namely the sounds of a jackhammer breaking through whatever stone happened to be in the ground back there. Part of me had wanted to research that stone, to figure out what could possibly be making that terrible racket, but I had work to do.

Work I now had to do in the evenings and nights, because I couldn’t very well narrate a book with construction going on.

This was not what I signed up for when I had bought this home. And whoever had moved in next door was going to rue the day they had ever decided to build onto their home and restore it without asking any of the neighbors.

Jason and Nancy on the other side of me were also perturbed because they had two-year-old twin girls who still needed their nap time, and of course the construction went on.

However, apparently, they had spoken with the neighbor when I had been out of town and had known ahead of time that the construction was happening.

I grumbled to myself, because it seemed whoever this new neighbor was, had spoken to nearly everybody on our cul-de-sac, giving them a baked good, as well as a thank-you-for-welcoming-me-to-the-neighborhood present, to explain there would be construction.

I attended a conference and had missed out on meeting the new guy. And I wasn’t grumpy at all that I didn’t get a baked good or welcome gift. No, instead I got the sound of hammers hammering themselves on my brain and making my job twice as hard.

Mr. Darcy rolled onto his stomach, then stood up before stretching to his heart’s content, yawning as he did so.

“Ooh, good stretch,” I said and rolled my eyes.

Why did I say that every time my cat stretched? And I knew I wasn’t the only one who did it. It was like a reflex at this point.

My phone chirped beside me, and I smiled down at the readout, grateful for the distraction. Because there was no way I was going to get actual voice work done until they were done hammering whatever the hell they were hammering today.

“Hello Posy,” I answered.

“I was going to ask how you were doing, but I can hear the hammering from here,” my closest friend said with a laugh.

I paused at that thought, wondering if Posy was my closest friend.

Maybe she was my closest friend locally, I had a huge group of friends online, because I hadn’t lived in Colorado for the past couple of years.

I put my hand over my heart, rubbing at the sharp pain there, thinking of why I had moved away.

But no, I wasn’t going to think too hard about that.

I was better now. Breathing, finding my happiness.

And I was building a local community. With my neighbors who weren’t annoying the hell out of me, and with people like Posy, who made me smile.

“It’s never ending.”

“Have you met your neighbor then? I mean, has he even explained what he’s doing? The houses aren’t that old. What could he be adding?”

“I have no idea. He hasn’t said a darn thing to me. Which is very annoying. So I have no clue what he’s doing over there. But it’s not like I have a choice in the matter. He didn’t have to tell anyone or ask.”

“I’d say you can come over here and work, but I’m on as many deadlines as you. I shouldn’t be upset that we have work, but it is a little overwhelming.”

“I am grateful for the jobs, but you’re right. I’m just having to become an owl now.”

“I’m sure there’s a ‘whoo’ joke in there, but I’m tired after finishing that fantasy novel.”

“How many words did you have to ask the author to pronounce for you?”

“I’m not even going to count at this point.”

We both laughed, and I shook my head, petting Mr. Darcy as he found his way onto my lap.

“Anyway, I just wanted to check in on you. Because I have to go back into the booth.”

I leaned into my chair, comfortable for the first time in a long while. “Thank you, I’ll get back into the booth once the hammering ends.”

As soon as I spoke the words into existence, the sound of a saw whirling echoed through my home, and I groaned. “And apparently saws.”

“You know, if you go over there, maybe you could ask the contractor or owner what’s going on. I know that they have a job to do, but you never know, you could find a window during the day to work.”

“We all know that construction crews never work on time.”

“Maybe this one does. I know that the one Cullen works for is usually decently on time.”

“So how are things with you and Cullen?” I asked, teasing.

“We’re having dinner tomorrow.”

“And is dinner all you’re having or are you just calling yourself dinner at this point?” I asked dryly.