worried about refusing him yesterday. Would that come back on me later? If so, how bad? And would Ashley let him get away with it? I seriously doubted she would, but I was still feeling so far out of my depth right about now.
"Go to work," Ashley told him. "And take your flunkie with you. You're scaring my best friend."
Ian smiled at me and stepped back. "The point isn't to scare her. It's to take good care of her. Elena, I promise I don't bite." His voice had turned into one of those sensual rumbles. The bastard even winked before both he and Pax stepped through the door.
All I could do was groan. Yeah, I hated to admit it, but that had been kinda hot. Mostly the overly confident smile he wore as he said it. Now, if only Ashley had missed that part, I'd be set.
But no such luck. "So, I don't know how to break this to you, but my brother has a crush."
I just lifted a hand. "Can I please get the basics of my job down before we start talking about your brother? Because yes, Ashley, I have questions. Lots of them."
"Kinda figured." And then she started giving me the tour, beginning with my desk.
CHAPTER 10
The first part of the day covered all of my duties. Ashley promised I'd be learning more over time, but right now, answering the phone and knowing which applications to get filled out was enough. In other words, this job was easy. Most of it was responding to emails with premade replies. Often, the price tag scared away the people inquiring, but supposedly it was negotiable for the right families.
Although I did learn one very important thing: we did not sell the houses. This really was the leasing office, and all of the homes were still owned by Henry Langdon. He rented them out, but to prevent issues with evictions, the deeds never changed hands. My job would be to handle new clients while Ashley focused on monthly billing and our current customers.
The whole concept of an exclusive rental community was strange, but I figured it had something to do with the elitist nature of this place. For me, it would've been a deal-breaker to pay so much for a house I could never own. I kinda needed the equity, but since I couldn't afford anything but a lease, it didn't really matter.
Eventually, though, the stack of weekend inquiries vanished, and we were left with nothing else to do. All morning, Ashley had let me pretend like nothing had happened between Ian and me. Not anymore. Pointing at the cute plush chairs in the corner where Pax had been when I showed up, she headed toward the coffee pot. In other words, this was going to be a strong drink kind of chat.
"How do you take yours?" she asked.
I tried to wave her off. "It's a little late for coffee. If I have one now, I'll be up all night."
"Ok, so decaf. Cream? Sugar?"
"Two of each," I said, giving in.
She turned her focus to the Keurig - or so I thought. "Wanna tell me what happened at the cookout with my baby brother?"
"Not really," I admitted.
She chuckled as she switched cups. "Good try. Spill it."
"Nothing to spill. He asked me out, and I said that wouldn't be a good idea. Situation handled."
She hummed once, the sound almost matching that of the coffee maker as it finished brewing the cup. Then, holding a handle in each hand, she made her way over, passed me a cup, and sank into the chair beside me. Proving she was the same best friend as always, she slipped off her heels and pulled her feet into the chair with her.
"He really does like you," she said. "He made sure to ask me about you."
All I could do was take a sip to buy myself time to think. "Ash, why am I in the house beside your brother and not you?"
"Because Dad lives beside me. We discussed putting you on the other side of him, but that's a five-bedroom, and the family beside that place has a boy Gabby's age. Figured it might make things a little too easy for a teenage girl. So, the two of you fit nicely in the three-bedroom, so that's what you got. I made the decision, and it wasn't anything more devious than that."
"And forgot to mention your family owns the place or were living beside me?" I reminded her.
She gestured