needed to approve of the buyer, she decided online marketing wasn’t the way to go and was working on a series of open houses with the intent to invite as many witches as possible. Since the house was seeped in magic, that seemed to be the most logical course of action. And the sooner the better. The house had already been on the market for far too long.
In an effort to think outside the box, Grace composed an email to a master mailing list of witches in the area, inviting them to tour the magical old home that weekend and asking them to bring anyone who might be interested in purchasing a piece of Premonition Pointe’s history. She’d just hit send when Nina appeared, hovering over her desk.
“Mr. Landers wants to see you in his office,” the assistant said.
Grace glanced up at her and was pleased to see the acne was fading. If she had hexed the younger woman, it was good to know her hex wasn’t permanent.
“What are you staring at?” Nina demanded and then touched her fingers to the fading breakout on her chin. “I usually have really clear skin.”
“I was just thinking that you looked nice today,” Grace said, trying to make peace with the woman. Petty office politics had never been her thing and accidental hexes aside, she really did value a positive work environment.
“Um, thanks.” Nina dropped her hand and gestured to Landers’ office. “He’s waiting for you.”
“Thanks.” Grace closed her laptop and went to meet with her boss.
“Congratulations, Valentine,” Kevin Landers said, meeting her just outside his door. “It looks like you definitely have the chops to work at Landers Realty, and anyone who can sell one of the haunted properties at full asking price is on her way to being a star.”
He moved to Nina’s desk and picked up one of the full champagne glasses that had been prepared. “Nina, pass these around, will you?”
“Sure, boss.” Nina strode over on her impossibly high heels and made sure everyone in the office had a glass, including Owen, who had snuck in when Grace hadn’t been paying attention. Grace smiled at him, but then frowned when he averted his gaze. What was that about? Normally Owen was flirty at all times. But it seemed like he was irritated with her. Or maybe she was just reading too much into it. It was possible he just wanted to keep the office professional and if that was the case, she certainly didn’t blame him. In fact, she was one hundred percent on board.
Nina shoved a glass of champagne into Grace’s hand and whispered, “He never does this, you know. Never. You must’ve really impressed him.”
Grace blinked. Had Nina just complimented her? She had. Maybe Nina was ready to drop the office bullshit, too. “Thanks, Nina. I appreciate it.”
She nodded and moved on until everyone had their own glass.
Landers raised his glass in the air and said, “A toast to our newest and brightest agent. It’s not only impressive that Grace managed to get a house under contract within her first two weeks here, but it’s also one of the houses this agency has struggled with since the beginning. No one who has taken it on has even come close to finding a buyer, including myself. So cheers to Grace. I think we have a star on our hands.”
Her fellow agents all cheered and then downed their champagne. Grace just stood there gaping at her boss.
Landers chuckled. “What is it, Grace? Did you think I wasn’t capable of acknowledging good work?”
“I…” She shook her head, stunned. “Sure. But not mine. You did, after all, make my employment conditional on selling one of those houses, knowing full well they are some of the most difficult on the market. And you did it because I used to work with Bill. It’s not exactly the best look for you.”
He pursed his lips thoughtfully and nodded. “You’re right. I did do that. Maybe it wasn’t my finest hour, but you did run the office of my biggest rival for two decades, Grace. I needed an easy way to let you go if you turned out to be like Bill.”
“What do you mean ‘like Bill?’” she asked. “What does that even mean?”
Landers eyed her for a moment before he shrugged and said, “Your ex poaches clients and isn’t above coloring the truth significantly if he thinks it will get him the sale. That’s not how we work here. I needed to make sure