Page 17 of The Grump I Loathe

I stared at her, the thrill of victory thrumming through me. Gotcha. I stepped back, releasing the elevator.

Eddie bolted back across the lobby, thrusting her arm between the closing doors. They bounced back open. Her gaze was fiery, bright, like she was staring at her future on a silver platter. “If you’re screwing with me, I’ll?—”

“You’ll what?” I challenged. She didn’t say anything. “That’s what I thought, Edith.”

Her eyes narrowed. “That’s Eddie to you.”

“I’ll have Darius send you the contract today. Including the provision about appropriate workplace wardrobe.”

“Don’t you dare,” she said.

I smirked as the doors started closing on her scowling face. “I look forward to seeing you in proper business attire,Edith.”

6

EDDIE

“Shouldn’t you have finished reading thatbeforeyou signed the contract?” Cassie asked, walking into my room holding a white dress shirt and a pair of black slacks from her closet. I’d usually never wear something soblah,blahboring, but thankfully Cassie’s Studio Wren clients appreciated classic neutrals. “Here. These should work.”

“Thanks.” I dropped the page of the contract I’d been reading onto my bed. “I’m just reviewing it again properly. It’s like eighty-nine pages with size eight font!” Good thing there was vision care in there, because I was gonna need it.

“Checking to make sure Connor kept hisAlterbotpromise?” Cassie asked.

I barked a laugh. “Oh, that was the first thing I did. Lord LockMill’s not pulling a fast one on me.”

If I was going to have to work with his highness, I was going to hold him to his end of the distribution deal. SeeingAlterboton a shelf in an actual store was all the motivation I needed to slap a smile on my face and squeeze my ass into Cassie’s slacks.

“From everything you’ve told me, I’m not sure he’s gonna be a fan of this Lord LockMill nickname,” Cassie said.

“Because he has zero sense of humor.” I wriggled out of my pajama shorts and into the pants. They itched.

“They’re a little long.” Cassie hummed. “Let me roll the cuffs.”

“If hedidhave a sense of humor,” I said, slipping the white shirt on and working the fiddly buttons over my chest, “he’d be honored to receive such a great nickname.”

Cassie glanced up at me from the ground. “Kind of likeEdith?”

“That’s not a nickname. It’s just my name, which I’ll rock when and if I ever choose to. Until then, I absolutely hate thathe’susing it. Makes me sound stuffy and pretentious.”

“Can you blame him after the hot sauce incident?” Cassie climbed to her feet.

I winced, shrugging into the oversized jacket I’d tossed over my bed post. “Okay, maybe I feel a little bad for ruining what was meant to be Grace’s lunch, because she’s actually really great.” Which she clearly didn’t inherit from her dad. “But I didn’tknowit was hers at the time. And Connor was just so—gah! You would have been locked and loaded with the hot sauce bottle too.”

“Well, that guy is your new boss,” Cassie said unhelpfully. “So maybe take it easy with the condiments.”

“More like my boss’s boss,” I muttered. She gave me a look that silently saidexactly, which I chose to ignore. I was also choosing to ignore how the man’s good looks actually made my heart flutter. It was a pity it came with his personality. “How do I look?”

Cassie took a step back, assessing all the angles as I twirled in front of my mirror.

“Pretty hot, actually.” She handed me the black clip-on tie.

I grinned. “Going for Lord LockMill chic, but I’ll take it.”

“You’re sure this isn’t going to blow up in your face?”

“They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Right?” I definitely wasn’t going for flattery and Cassie knew it.

“I’ve literally never heard anyone say that.” Cassie tucked a piece of clear quartz into my pocket. “For luck.”