around his left arm, and Grace was forced to admit that Lex had been right. He was hot for an older man. “Coffee?”
“Yes, please,” Grace said, desperation clear in her tone. She’d woken up late and hadn’t had time to make any at home. If she didn’t get a shot of caffeine soon, she was going to climb over the counter, put her lips to the coffee dispenser, and suck it right out of the commercial pot.
“I don’t have time,” Saint said, wrinkling his nose at Carl as if the man reeked of a foul scent.
“Muffin? Cupcake? Lemon bar?” Carl asked pleasantly, ignoring Saint’s rudeness as he poured Grace a cup of pure heaven.
“Um… coffee cake?” Saint asked.
“Coming right up. Grace? The usual?”
She nodded. “Thanks, Carl.”
“Always my pleasure, Ms. Valentine.” Carl winked at her and slipped back behind the counter.
Grace poured a bit of cream into her mug and then took a sip of her coffee.
“Four minutes, Ms. Valentine,” Saint said, tapping his bare wrist where a watch would normally be.
Grace gritted her teeth. He was being a condescending ass, and after the past three months of dealing with an ex who’d tried to get her to sign a divorce agreement that would’ve given her less than a quarter of what she was entitled to, she was completely done with men who underestimated her. “I toured your homes yesterday, and here are my suggestions.” She slid a report over to him. “The Victorian on Seaside needs the outside painted and some entryway rot taken care of. The cottage overlooking the ocean is gorgeous, but there’s something there that needs to be eradicated. You should call in a professional ghost hunting team. And the craftsman—”
“Needs the floors done,” he interrupted, narrowing his eyes at her. “I already know all of this. You’re wasting my time.” He turned to go, paused, and strode up to the counter, no doubt not wanting to leave his coffee cake behind.
Grace jumped out of her chair and ran over to him. “So you’ve already been advised that your places need work in order for us to move them, but you don’t want to put more money into them. I get it. If that’s the case, then we should talk about lowering the prices because—”
“Ms. Valentine,” Saint ground out. “I don’t have time for this. Talk to Kevin Landers. Once you’ve done that, give me another call.”
Carl handed Saint a wax paper bag and a cup of coffee to go. “On the house,” Carl said to him. “Hope your day is a pleasant one.”
Saint eyed Carl and then chuckled as he shook his head. “I intend it to be.” He shoved a tip into the jar, raised his cup and pastry bag in a mock salute, and then took off.
Grace eyed the tip and was surprised to see he’d left twice as much as what his bill would’ve been. So he wasn’t a cheap bastard. At least not when it came to tipping kind bakery managers. But houses that needed work in order to find a buyer? That was apparently an entirely different story. She sighed and slipped a few bills over to the register. “Carl, let me pay for his order.”
“Nope.” He slid the money back. “No charge today. You look like you could use a break.”
“You have no idea.” She ran a hand through her hair and groaned when she remembered she was supposed to meet Lex at the spa. She needed to talk to Kevin, but she wasn’t sure she had time to get to the office, find out what information Kevin had kept from her, and get back across town before her noon appointment.
It didn’t matter. She had a short period of time to sell those properties. She couldn’t afford to put off the chat with Kevin. After sucking down the rest of her coffee and ordering another blueberry scone, she waved at Carl, hurried out to her SUV, and took off down a side street, hoping to avoid the summer traffic on the main drag.
“Listen, Nina, I appreciate that Mr. Landers is working on contracts, but it’s important that I speak to him,” Grace said, trying desperately to not throttle her boss’s assistant. “Can you just let him know I’m here and need to talk about the Saint properties?”
“Sorry, Ms. Valentine,” she said with a saccharine smile. “He said he wasn’t to be disturbed this morning.”
Grace glanced at the wall clock in the office and groaned. If she didn’t get in to