Brooke slept like the dead—she always did after practice—but still woke up in a foul mood. The iced coffee from PJ’s helped some, as did the prospect of meeting with three potential clients over the course of the day. She got to the office early and managed to snag twenty minutes with Cassie before any of the other agents pounced. They’d just put the final details on the open house she’d scheduled for Saturday when Pam emerged from her office.
“Everyone, I have an announcement.”
She glanced at Cassie, rolling her eyes but smiling. As managing broker, Pam liked making big announcements even though there were rarely more than four or five agents in the office at any one time. Cassie and Brooke stood and moved to the doorway of Brooke’s office. Indulging Pam kept her happy, and a happy Pam meant a happy office.
“We have a new member of our team joining us from the Acadiana branch. She’s just relocated to be closer to family.” She took a step to the side, revealing the person who’d emerged from the office with her. Brooke blinked, disbelief quickly giving way to dread.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” It couldn’t be, but it was. Just like at practice. Brooke closed her eyes for a second and shook her head.
“What? What’s wrong?” Cassie asked.
Brooke opened one eye, then the other. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a figment of her imagination. Or a case of mistaken identity. Or any other thing she could think of that would make the person standing across the office anyone but Riley Fauchet. “Nothing.”
She looked away to avoid any chance of eye contact and found Cassie studying her with a look of exasperation. “Well, clearly that’s not true, or you wouldn’t be cussing at work.”
Brooke laughed in spite of herself. Despite being twenty-three, Cassie was a total prude. Not a prude. Proper. Like what Brooke would be if her mawmaw’s Catholic upbringing had stuck. “I know her.”
Cassie angled her head in Riley’s direction. “Her? The new agent? How? Oh my gosh. Did you sleep with her?”
Why did Cassie assume knowing someone and not liking them meant they’d slept together? Aside, perhaps, from the fact that Riley was exactly the kind of woman she’d sleep with if everything about the situation was different. “Jesus Christ. No. And keep your voice down.”
Cassie frowned, although it was hard to know if it stemmed from being scolded or Brooke’s use of Jesus Christ in a less than reverent way. “How do you know her?”
Pam was making her way around the room with Riley, doing personal introductions. Riley smiled and shook hands, looking easy and relaxed. There was no way to escape without drawing even more attention to herself. What a fucking disaster.
“Remember the bout last September, the last one of the season?” Cassie had come with her girlfriend at the time. They hadn’t lasted, but Audrey had joined their JV squad and was showing real promise.
“The one where that blocker took you out in the final seconds and cost you the whole championship?”
Even though she’d been the one to bring it up, the description still stung. “Yeah. That’s the one.”
“What about it?”
“She’s the one who laid me out.” The memory remained as fresh as the day it happened. The bruise on her hip had faded. She wanted to say the same for her ego, but it didn’t mean she had any intentions of forgiving or forgetting.
“Oh.” Cassie drew the word out, understanding growing with each added second.
“And now she’s on my team.”
“Wait. What? What do you mean?”
Brooke stole another glance at Riley. She’d either not noticed her or was playing it exceedingly cool. Both possibilities irritated her. “She showed up at practice last night as a transfer. She moved here from Lafayette.”
Another “Oh,” this one even more drawn out than the first.
“And of all the fucking offices in the entire fucking city, she has to show up at mine.”
“Brooke.”
Apparently, that was one too many fucks. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay. I mean, I get why you’re mad. I wouldn’t want to have to work with her, either.”
Understatement of the century. But before she could process it any further, Pam and Riley were right there in front of her. “This is Cassie Sanchez, our rock star receptionist and queen of details, and Brooke Landry, one of our very best agents. Ladies, Riley Fauchet.”
Riley shook Cassie’s hand before turning her attention to Brooke. Her smile might have been sincere, but it looked to Brooke like a self-satisfied smirk. “Well, hello again.”
“I’m sorry. Do you two already know each other?” Pam asked.
“Something like that.” Riley extended her hand, all laid-back charm. So infuriating.
Brooke couldn’t refuse it without looking rude. “We’ve met.”
“Oh, excellent. Then I’ll charge you two with showing Riley around, making sure she has everything she needs to get settled in.” Pam turned to Riley. “I’m leaving you in the best possible hands. I’ll see you for our meeting at three.”
And with that, Pam disappeared back into her office. Brooke tried to summon something to say, but all she came up with was her mama’s adage about not having anything nice to say. Seconds, each one feeling like a minute, ticked by.
Cassie, God bless her, picked up on the awkward and took control of the conversation. “So, Riley, are you moving to New Orleans for the first time, or are you moving back?”
“First time. I wanted to be closer to my sister and her kids.” Riley smiled as she spoke, which should have earned her some points. Too bad Brooke didn’t have any to spare.
“Oh, that’s nice. Nothing more important than family.”
“Agreed.”
The idea that she would uproot her life and career to be closer to family did not jibe with the egotistical, self-absorbed impression Brooke had gotten from their interactions thus far. Not that it mattered. Even assholes could be noble when it came to the one or two things they cared about. “It’s a very different market. You’re going to have your work cut out for you.”
Rather than a snarky comeback, Riley offered an affable smile. “I’ve been doing my homework.”
The friendliness did more to irritate Brooke than snark would have. “If you say so.”
Cassie, as if sensing the conversation would only get worse, cleared her throat. “Let me help you get set up in your office, show you where everything is.”
“Thanks.” Riley grinned at Cassie, then turned her attention to Brooke. “I’m looking forward to working with you.”
Brooke couldn’t bring herself to agree but knew that disagreeing would be both rude and unprofessional. She settled for a curt nod and retreated to her desk. When Cassie and Riley had disappeared from sight, she indulged in pressing her thumbs to her temples. Really, what were the odds? And more, what had she done to deserve such an unfortunate turn of events?
* * *
“So, I hope this isn’t too forward or anything, but does she hate everyone? Or just me?” Riley angled her head in Brooke’s direction.
Cassie blushed, which was probably all the answer she needed. “What do you mean?”
She shouldn’t press. If Cassie had loyalties to Brooke, asking might alienate her and do more harm than good. Unless Brooke was half as frosty at work as she was on the rink, and everyone she worked with knew it. If that was the case, then it would behoove her to learn it sooner rather than later. And whether her bitchiness was reactive or something she went out of her way to inflict on people. “Did she tell you I joined her derby team?”
Cassie hesitated as though unsure she should acknowledge it. Eventually, she nodded. “Yeah.”
Either Brooke had told Cassie the whole story and now Cassie was leery of her, or Brooke was an absolute tyrant in every aspect of her life and had Cassie terrified of retribution. Which was more likely? And perhaps more importantly, what did that mean for her?
She could play this a dozen different ways, but direct was her style. And friendly. No matter what Brooke might think or say, she was a nice person. She needed her new colleagues to know that and to give her half a chance. “We might have gotten off on the wrong foot, but I’m really hoping we can get past it.”
Cassie smiled, but it seemed more polite than genuine. “I’m sure you will.”
Riley offered her most charming smile in return. Not a challenge exactly but maybe a little. “I mean, it looks like we’ll be spending quite a bit of time together, so we might as well get along, right?”
“Right.”
Okay, this wasn’t getting her anywhere. Time to change tactics. “I hear you’re the resident expert on how the office runs. I hope you’ll tell me everything I need to know.”
The change in topics seemed to help Cassie relax. She showed Riley the supply and break rooms, walked her through the quirks of the copier and fax machine, and offered to order whatever she needed to get her office situated. By all accounts, Cassie was competent, warm, and easy to work with. Reserved, maybe, but not set on disliking her. “Is there anything else you need right now?”
“Other than some fairy dust for Brooke, I think I’m good.”
Maybe she shouldn’t have made the joke, but Cassie snickered. She took that as a good sign. Cassie looked away, but her eyes came back to Riley’s quickly enough. “I’m at extension two-two-three if you need anything.”
Riley offered another smile. She already liked Cassie and really wanted the feeling to be mutual. “You’ve already been a lifesaver. I’m sure I’ll come running for help before too long.”
Cassie blushed, an entirely different kind of blush from the first time. Not that she was looking to collect crushes, but she couldn’t help the flash of satisfaction at winning her over, even a little, on her first day. Yes, it boded well for her settling into her new office. Even more, it was much more in line with the reaction she was used to getting from people, women or otherwise.
She took some time arranging her office and setting up the standard-issue laptop. She set out photos and the handful of personal items she’d brought with her and hung her diploma and a couple of certificates on the wall. It might not feel homey, but she didn’t anticipate spending all that much time in it. She liked being on the go and meeting clients where they were comfortable. It suited her personality but also served her well in terms of landing and keeping more clients than anyone else at her previous broker.
She launched the MLS and pulled up the listings currently attached to her new office. She’d scoped them out before, but now that she’d met folks, she wanted to get a feel for each agent’s niche as well as the number of listings they had in their portfolios. Without hesitating, she pulled up Brooke’s listings first.
She might be a bitch, but she was clearly good at her job. She had more listings than any other agent, and they were diverse, both in terms of geography and price point. Riley respected the range more than the number. She’d always believed people with modest homes deserved a great agent as much as those with million-dollar listings.
She worked her way through the rest of the search results, making notes on who seemed to have a territory or a property type. By the time she finished, it was clear that she and Brooke had the most similar styles. Who’d have guessed she and her reticent teammate would have such a thing in common? Maybe there was hope for them after all.