Addie gave him a dry look. “Of course not.”
“Then it’s probably not going to upset me,” he said. “Just tell me what it is.”
“Nova rented the upstairs apartment across from yours,” she retorted, her expression telling him that she knew it was going to upset him no matter what he said.
“Please tell me you’re joking,” he said.
Addie shook her head. “When I hired her, she mentioned she was looking for an apartment and I told her about the empty one upstairs. All her references checked out so I gave her the rental agency’s number and they approved her to rent it.”
Torin rolled his eyes up toward the ceiling and prayed to the gods for patience. “Please tell me it’s month-to-month.”
He rolled his eyes back down to look at Addie, who was shaking her head. “No. She signed a six-month lease with a contingency for six more months if she likes the apartment.”
Torin couldn’t bite back his sigh. It was huge, loud, and long. “So, not only am I going to be working with her five days a week, I’m going to be her neighbor, too?”
Addie shrugged. “If I had known about your history, I wouldn’t have suggested it but…”
“It’s too late now,” Torin filled in, his voice heavy.
“Yep.”
“Get out of here so I can curse at you in peace,” he said.
She grinned at him. “Don’t you mean pout?”
He made a noise that was half growl, half bark.
“I’ll just, uh, get back to work,” she said.
Torin watched her go and forced himself to remain where he was. None of this was Addie’s fault. It wasn’t even Nova’s fault.
It was his. He never should have rented out that second apartment. He should have kept it for when his friends or family came to town and used it like a guest pad.
It seemed that he and Nova Eckhart had another chat in store before the night was over.
ChapterFive
Nova pressed a hand to her lower back and stretched.
“Okay, it’s time to go,” Addie said, drawing Nova’s attention. “Everything is done and, I don’t know about you, but I amtired.” She punctuated those words with a huge yawn.
Nova yawned, too. “Dammit, Addie, stop doing that around me,” she said. “That’s the third time tonight.”
“Just making sure you’re not a sociopath,” Addie retorted. “They’re the only ones who don’t have a sympathetic response to other people yawning.”
Nova shook her head. “What about psychopaths?”
Addie cocked her head. “Aren’t they the same thing?” she asked.
“No.”
“Okay, well, either way, I don’t think you’re a psychopath or a sociopath,” Addie said. “I’ve firmly stablished that.”
Nova had to laugh. She had no idea where Addie came up with this stuff.
“There’s something you should know,” Addie said.
“What?” Nova asked, organizing the few items on top of the hostess stand.
