Free A Healer's Touch by Ashlynn Monroe Page A

then shut it again.  Frowning at her, he cleared his throat. 
    “Ms. Penn, I am certainly not here to sell yo u anything or apostolate to you.  I’m here for the rent.”  His voice was as sexy as brandy and velvet but his words made her bristle.
    Phoebe’s familial magic gave her a good sense of people and she instantly disliked this man to the marrow of her bones.  He was fingernails on the chalkboard to her chakra.  Her rent was not late, it would be late at the end of the week but it was not late today.
    “Mr . Rent Collector, my money isn’t due until Friday so kindly get the hell out of my way so I can go make the money to pay it.  Do you work for my landlord?  Old Man Sterling never struck me as the type to pay a goon to shake up the tenants of his slums for money.”
    “ Do NOT speak ill of my grandfather.  He is very ill and has turned over the operations of his businesses to me. My name is Fabian Sterling and it seems I am your new landlord.  I see my grandfather has been charging you a very generous rent and your lease is up in March.  Your rent will be increasing by one hundred and twenty dollars each month, if you decide to renew your lease.  I’ll be informing the other tenants of the same information as well.  Grandfather didn’t impose a late fee, that will also be changing when you renew you lease.”
    She had enough trouble paying what his grandfather had milked her for each month for the decrepit apartment.  The old man had a monopoly on rentals in Willow Lake so she was lucky to have found anything in her budget.  She decided to turn the whole landlord-renter-obligations-finger-pointing back at him.
    “I sure hope this means you’ re going to shut the window that never shuts and replace the stove.  Only one burn has ever worked.  The bathroom faucet leaks and the carpet in the living room is horrible.  I noticed the refrigerator doesn’t seem to cool very well anymore, too.  When can I expect those repairs to be done?”
    He glared.  She glared right back.
    “You may submit a list of your repairs to my office.  Here is my card, bring the list in and I’ll have the items fixed within a week.”  There wasn’t any humanity in his tone.
    “I’ m not late on my rent.  I personally paid for the pluming to be done last month, so your grandfather gave me an extension for my payment until Friday.  I’d have just preferred he reimburse me for the money I had to spend, but you Sterlings' aren’t exactly known for your fairness or generosity.”
    “He didn’ t keep the record of this extension or repair.  I certainly can’t just accept your word.”
    Greedy bastard . She knew it was no good arguing, not with a tight wad Sterling. Stomping over to her purse, she pulled out checkbook containing the receipt for the repair.  When she returned to the door, she noticed her son had his arms crossed over his little chest and he and her new landlord were staring each other down.  Ha, the little man of the house doesn’t like you either.   Phoebe handed him the receipt and her check registry.  He looked them both over carefully and finally when he spoke she was surprised.
    “I see.  My grandfather was not in a very hale frame of mind these last weeks.  I certainly will honor the extension for Friday and please take this bill off your rent.  I keep meticulous records so please photocopy those items and have them ready for me when you pay your rent short to cover our debt to you.  Good afternoon, Ms. Penn.”
    He left without another word.  She watched him walk over to her neighbor’s apartment. As she hurried outside, a smile lit her entire face. It’ll be so worth being late to watch you meet the boys. The men who lived next door were cable access superstars, in their own minds at least. J. T. Kirk and Joss McCoy undoubtedly not the names on their driver’s licenses operated their own late night public access cable show. Tales of the Unexplained, they exposed the