Page 148 of Dominion
So she’d given him an out.
She never expected to see him so affected by her words. He’d paled, fists balled at his sides, muscle ticking in his jaw.
Blinking back tears, she entered the house softly. It had gone quiet—the living room was empty, save for the giant silver wolf curled up by the door, looking pointedly away from her.
Cody must have given his bedroom to Colleen and her children, which left the couch for her.
“Cody?”
The wolf ignored her.
“I didn’t mean?—”
Cody’s lips curled back and he bared his fangs, issuing a low growl. She froze, every human instinct screamingrun for your life, even though she knew he wouldn’t harm her. She did lose what remained of her courage to try to talk to him, though.
She sat on the couch and hugged a pillow, knowing she probably wouldn’t get a wink of sleep.
13
She woke with a stiff neck and a pain in her heart. The Kentucky family were whispering in the bedroom, obviously staying in until they were sure she was up. No sign of Cody.
She made a lot of noise as she headed to the shower, to let Cody’s other guests know it was safe to come out. When she emerged, Colleen stood in the kitchen, her hand on the refrigerator door, looking unsure.
“I don’t know where Cody went, but he would want you to help yourself to anything,” she said.
“Oh, okay.” She appeared relieved. “I’m going to make some eggs, would you like some?”
“That sounds great, thanks.” She let Colleen do her thing in the kitchen.
Hoping to cheer herself with good news, she checked her email, but CJ Steele’s agent hadn’t replied to her offer. Which meant it had expired.
That was bullshit—it was a full-priced offer and the house was still listed on the market. She grabbed her phone and dialed Brad Johnson, the agent.
“Yes, this is Melissa Bell, I put in the offer on the CJ Steele Old North End house two days ago?”
The agent grunted.
“Why wasn’t it accepted? Do you have another offer?”
“No, I don’t have another offer. I’m sorry yours expired before the owner had a chance to make up his mind. You should have given the offer more time for consideration.”
She blew out her breath. “What was there to consider if it was full price and there wasn’t another offer?”
Brad made a sound of impatience. “To be perfectly frank, I got the feeling it had something to do with you, personally.”
A wash of cold went over her. Had he blackballed her permanently because of that first stupid deal? It wouldn’t be fair. All she ever wanted was a positive relationship with the man. And to live in one of his houses.
“Excuse me?”
“I don’t know. He said he had to think about it—he wasn’t sure if this house was right for you, or something.”
The cold turned into a prickly heat. “Is there any way I can contact him? Speak to him directly?”
“You know I’m not going to give out his personal information.” The condescension in his voice made her want to kick him in the shins.
She hung up without saying goodbye and hit the mousepad on her Chromebook. There had to be some listing of the guy’s phone number somewhere. On county tax records, or on the business license or something. She Googled CJ Steele Construction, and that easily produced a number.
Her thumb flew over the keypad dialing it and she stood up and paced past the picture windows, knowing the children were probably listening to every word.