Free Everything by Melissa Pearl Page A

give my boss a good impression, and there I was screaming over a spider, ignoring how much my reaction was terrifying Angel...and then the mess. Aw, man, the mess!
    “Seriously, Jody, you’re useless!” It’d been a week since my utter humiliation, and I still hadn’t gotten over it. I couldn’t even look at Leo when he came to do his weekly check-in the day before, and I actually chickened out this morning and just dumped his groceries outside his door so I didn’t have to face him.
    It wasn’t that he was being mean or anything, but the next time I saw him, I wanted to be able to look him in the eye and know that I was in full control.
    “Like that’s ever gonna happen!” I tutted, rinsing out yet another freaking baby bottle. I couldn’t wait for Angel to be past this stage. I was so over washing copious amounts of plastic!
    The only thing I did have going for me was that my duties as assistant building manager were running smoothly. I was keeping up with all maintenance requests, tenants seemed to like me, and the one short-term stay we’d had since I’d been working here went really well.
    I was proud of myself for that, but it did mean I was falling behind on everything else. When I lived at home with Morgan and Dad, my only responsibility had been Angel and a little laundry, so it meant that when she napped, I could put my feet up, but that never happened anymore. It was so tempting to call it quits and move back home, but I couldn’t do it. I’d hate myself forever.
    And that look on Dad’s face. UGH! Forget it!
    I was going to make this work if it killed me.
    The phone rang behind me. Flicking the water off my fingers, I dried my hands, glancing at the half-finished piece of toast on the kitchen counter. I had made that over two hours ago and still hadn’t gotten back to it.
    I could say one thing: this whole single parenting/working thing was definitely helping me shed my pregnancy weight. I never had time to eat; some days I’d get to lunch and realize I hadn’t had breakfast yet. I’d been too busy to even feel hungry!
    Glancing at the phone screen, I let out a loud sigh before pasting on a smile.
    “Hi, Ms. Thornby. How are you today?”
    “Not well. The man upstairs is making a terrible racket. I can’t even hear what’s going on in The Bold and The Beautiful and this is a very important episode!”
    “The man upstairs from you?” I cringed, squeezing my eyes shut and praying she’d say no.
    “Yes, Mr. Whatever-his-name-is. His TV is up so loud I can barely hear myself think. It’s not fair! Why should I miss my show just because he’s deaf? I need you to go and tell him to be quiet.”
    “Of course, Ms. Thornby. I’ll deal with it right away.”
    “I should think so. Good luck, dear.”
    She hung up, and I placed the phone on the counter with a heavy sigh. Mr. Kransten. Apartment 3B. “Oh, joy,” I mumbled, snatching the baby monitor and making sure it was working. I had tested it out in my first week, and thankfully it had a really good range, meaning I could leave Angel sleeping in her crib and not have to worry about missing her cries if she needed me.
    Locking the door behind me, I muttered my way down the stairs, hoping Mr. Cray-Cray would go easy on me today. If he screwed up my six-week trial in any way, I’d be tempted to kill him. So far, I’d managed to keep all his annoying antics out from Leo’s radar, but going down there to tell him off? The guy had already told me exactly what he thought of me, and he was not going to take kindly to this little visit.
    Pasting on a cheery expression, I knocked on the door until my knuckles stung. That TV was ridiculously loud. I held my breath, hoping he heard me...and also kind of not.
    “Please be nice this time,” I whispered.
    “What!” He threw back the door, barking at me like a police dog. The already-loud TV sounded a million times louder with the door ajar.
    “Hello, Mr. Kransten!” I smiled. “I’ve had a