“I let Citrine run the pre-appointment meetings,” she said. “I’m trying to stay as hands-off as possible now that I’ve given them a lot of training.”
“Why do they need a manager?” Kelsey asked. “Citrine seems pretty nice.”
Robbie gave her a sardonic look, dark eyes twinkling. “That’s the problem. He couldn’t control them at all. Especially Adrien.”
“Why do they do this?” Kelsey asked, watching Citrine point at Adrien and hold something up on his phone to show him. Adrien just folded his arms and turned away, making Citrine turn an unflattering shade of red. “Does it pay that well?”
Robbie shook her head. “I haven’t really been able to figure that out. They are picky with clients and turn down almost everyone. Meanwhile, the overhead on this building is sky high. No, they have money, so it’s not for that.” She shrugged. “It’s not really my business, though. As long as they pay me, I’m good. Still, I admit to being curious.”
“Do they just like women to fawn over them, then?” Kelsey asked.
“No,” Robbie said. “In fact, Adrien, in particular, hates it. I’m not even sure why—if he just has problems with women or what.”
“Is he gay?” Kelsey asked.
“I don’t think so,” Robbie said. “Not that I’ve asked. I get along with Adrien in a way. Better than the other ‘dragons’.”
“Dragons?”
“This place is called Date-A-Dragon,” Robbie said, lowering her brows. “That’s another mystery. But they refuse to change it.”
“What’s their reasoning?” Kelsey asked, liking that she was in the middle of a mystery.
“That they’re so hot it’s mythical,” Robbie said, rolling her eyes. “But anyway, what’s your story?” She studied Kelsey. “I’m more curious about that. You come out of nowhere and get our resident misanthrope to fight for you. I can’t believe it.”
“I can’t either,” Kelsey said. “I don’t know what the answer is, except maybe he doesn’t hate people as much as he seems to. As for me, not much to say. I don’t really… I don’t know if I want to talk about it now.” She’d just escaped one nightmare after another; she didn’t really want to revisit them.
“I understand,” Robbie said. “But if you ever do feel like talking about it, I’m here. We could hang out, too. After all the time I’ve been spending with these crazy guys, some girl time would be very welcome.”
Kelsey sighed in relief that Robbie wasn’t going to ask any other questions and grinned. “Girl time. Yeah, I could use some of that.”
“We’ll go shopping,” Robbie said.
Kelsey opened her mouth to tell her she didn’t exactly have money for that, but Robbie held up a finger. “Oh, they’re getting started. Let’s watch.”
“Again, what am I watching?”
“I watch for any sign that they are behaving inappropriately with the women. Being mean or loud or uncouth in any way that would result in a bad review.”
“Bad review? This place has reviews?”
Robbie pulled her phone out of her pocket, scrolling through it. “Here. Our reviews.” She giggled. “Read them.”
“Oh my gosh,” she said, scrolling through the reviews and stifling a snort. “Are these real?”
“Sadly, yes,” Robbie said. “You’ll notice they’ve improved since I got here. Since I stopped doing open houses also. They were too unorganized. Plus, the women were handsy, and that drove Adrien crazy.”
“Understandable,” Kelsey said. “It’s disgusting to be touched when you don’t want to.”
Robbie frowned. “Yes. I suppose so.” She checked her watch. “They’re almost ready for their first appointment.” She pulled out her clipboard again. “Looks like we have two women coming in today. One has a private appointment. The men will probably turn both down, though hopefully they can be polite about it. I wish I knew what criteria these men were using or what they were looking for. They seem to turn everyone away.”
That did seem weird.
There was a knock on the office door, and Kelsey sat up in attention. “Who’s that?” she asked Robbie.
Robbie raised an eyebrow at the door. “Who is it?”
“Dante,” a voice called back. “And Ella. Let us in. We have to see the woman who changed Adrien.”
“I didn’t change him,” Kelsey muttered. “And I’m not some kind of museum item.”